Abstract: A method and apparatus for measuring electrical noise in devices is disclosed that comprises two distinct measurement phases. In one phase, the differential output resistance, r.sub.ab, between a first terminal, a, and a second terminal, b, of the device under test is measured. In the second phase, a voltage, V.sub.L (t), is measured across a load resistance, R.sub.L, that is in series with the first terminal, a, of the device under test. Then the output voltage noise spectral density, S.sub.VL, is determined based on a fourier transform of the voltage, V.sub.L (t); and the output current noise spectral density, S.sub.ia, is determined based on the output voltage noise spectral density, S.sub.VL, the load resistance, R.sub.L, and the differential output resistance, r.sub.ab.

Abstract: A chassis for receiving power supply modules therein, including: (1) a cabinet; (2) an elongated bus bar assembly suspendable within the cabinet from a mount coupled to the cabinet at an end thereof, the bus bar assembly having a pair of conductors, the pair of conductors having terminal connectors associated therewith for receiving output terminals of a power supply module received into the cabinet (3) a shelf, oriented laterally with respect to the bus bar assembly and located proximate the terminal connectors, that supports at least one power supply module received into the cabinet, the bus bar assembly being suspendable to eliminate a need for support of a weight of the bus bar assembly apart from the mount.

Abstract: For use with a reserve battery couplable to a source of electrical power, a battery connect/disconnect circuit, including: (1) a switching subcircuit comprising a series-coupled controllable switch and diode and connected in electrical series with the reserve battery, the diode reverse-biased with respect the source of electrical power, (2) a contactor coupled in electrical parallel with the switching subcircuit and (3) a control circuit, coupled to the switching subcircuit and the contactor, that selectively closes the contactor to couple the reserve battery to the source of electrical power to charge the reserve battery.

Abstract: A radio card is disclosed that is rigid on one end and relatively flexible on the second end. The radio card's 68-pin connector and radio are mounted on the rigid end of the card, and the antenna, which is advantageously fabricated from a flexible material, is mounted on the relatively flexible end of the card. When the radio card is inserted into a PC Card slot in the wireless terminal, the rigid end (with the 68-pin connector) is inserted first. When the radio card is seated inside the wireless terminal's card slot, the flexible end of the radio card (which comprises the antenna) is flexed so that the plane of the antenna is advantageously parallel to the plane of the slot doors or housing or both of the wireless terminal. When the doors and housing of the wireless terminal adjacent to the antenna is unshielded, the antenna can radiate through the doors and housing and can exhibit favorable radio propagation characteristics.

Abstract: A two-way wireless messaging system includes a messaging network having at least one user agent corresponding to a subscriber of a two-way wireless messaging service. The subscriber receives messages from the messaging network along a first communication channel. The user agent includes a plurality of messages stored therein wherein a predetermined message is stored in the user agent and forwarded to a desired destination in response to an originating message code that is received from a two-way messaging device of the subscriber along a second communication return channel. The originating message code can be expanded by the user agent. The messages stored by the user agent can be modified so that different messages can be forwarded to the predetermined destination. The user agent also maintains location information of the two-way messaging device of the subscriber.

Abstract: The invention disclosed is a circuit for regulating optical power levels. Electrooptic attenuators are used to control optical output intensity by means of feedback loops from the outputs of the attenuators to the electrodes of the attenuators which determine the amount of light going to the outputs. The attenuators may be used in combination with an optical switch array in a wavelength division multiplexing system.

Abstract: An adaptive addressable circuit redundancy method and apparatus, e.g., an adaptive memory redundancy method and apparatus, utilizes an on-chip processor to test, analyze and reassign spare addressable circuits to replace defective or intermittent addressable circuits. The present invention is applicable both in a manufacturing environment and/or in a field environment wherein the integrated circuit is operational. An adaptive addressable circuit redundancy module intercepts a data path between the on-chip processor and the addressable circuits to reassign defective addresses as necessary to utilize a spare addressable circuit bank. In another embodiment of the present invention, a broadcast write module cuts memory test time almost in half by writing a same data pattern to a significant portion or all of the addressable circuits, e.g., memory, substantially simultaneously.

Abstract: A central contactor controller for a battery plant containing a power supply couplable to a source of AC power and a battery via a bus, the bus further couplable to a load to supply power thereto, and a method of operation thereof. In one embodiment, the controller includes: (1) a sensor that senses operational states of the power supply and the battery and (2) central control circuitry, coupled to the sensor and couplable to distributed contactors associated with the battery and the load, that provide control information to distributed control circuitry associated with the distributed contactors in response to the operational states, the distributed control circuitry employing the control information to control the distributed contactors selectively to couple the battery and the load to the bus.

Abstract: The invention provides a central location for receiving voice, video, and data signals. A plurality of user locations are connected to a single central location. Each user location is connected to the central location by means of a single coax wire, and voice, video and data are all multiplexed over the coax, so that increased data capabilities can be added to individual user locations without the need to rewire existing user locations. This is particularly advantageous where such user locations have already been wired, and where rewiring would be a difficult and expensive process, e.g., passenger cabins on board a cruise ship.

Abstract: A connector is used to repair an electrical connection between a wire and a terminal of a wire wrap connection. The connector is a conductive tubular member having a plurality of barbs extending inwardly from the sidewall thereof. The connector is insertable over the terminal having the wire wrap connection made thereon. When the connector is inserted onto the terminal, the barbs slide along the surface of the terminal and the wire to establish an electrical connection between the wire and the terminal. The connector may include a gel inside which prevents corrosion of the wire wrap connection.

Abstract: An advantageous measurement technique for evaluating the overall scheduling regularity producible by a scheduling template having particular slot assignment orderings for respective classes of events such as, for example, transmitting order of communication signals over respective virtual circuits by a node of a network. This measurement technique is used for measuring the overall scheduling regularity producible by each of a plurality of different scheduling templates to select the template having a desirable regularity measure for use in establishing a scheduling order of events for a network.

Abstract: An adjustable angle extender card is used to hot-test a circuit pack having electrical connectors that connect to back plane electrical connectors in an electrical cabinet when the circuit pack is inserted into the electrical cabinet. The extender card comprises a rigid basic board that can be inserted into the electrical cabinet and a rigid circuit pack card guide that accepts the circuit pack. The basic board includes plural replication electrical connectors, arranged along one edge of a substrate, for connection to the back plane electrical cabinet connectors when the basic board is inserted into the electrical cabinet, and plural basic board electrical connectors arranged along an opposite edge of the substrate. Corresponding replication connectors and basic board connectors are electrically connected.

Abstract: The specification describes a method for dispensing IC chips from a chip carrier tape for a flip-chip assembly operation. In a conventional assembly operation, the solder bumped side of the chip is the top side of the chip as loaded on the tape, and is normally the side of the chip that engages the head of the pick tool. For flip-chip assembly it is necessary to invert the chip for solder bonding to an interconnect substrate. In the technique of the invention, the chip carrier tape is inverted and inserted into the dispensing machine upside down. The IC chips are then ejected through the back of the tape instead of being lifted from the from of the tape. In this way the pick tool head engages the back side of the solder bumped chip and the chip is in the proper orientation for flip-chip placement and bonding on the interconnect substrate.

Abstract: An integrated circuit and method of use provides conductive vias between conductor layers so that current flows in such a manner that current crowding is reduced in at least one underlying layer. In particular, the current flows from an overlying conductor (306) down to an underlying conductor (303) by a first set of vias (307), and a portion flows through the underlying conductor towards the destination (e.g., a bondpad). Another portion of the current flows downward to a still lower conductor by means of a second set of vias (310, 311). The second set of vias is located further away from the destination than the first set of vias. Current crowding in the underlying conductor is thereby reduced. An integrated circuit utilizing the inventive technique typically has transistors formed in the semiconductor substrate, wherein at least one of the electrodes (e.g.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a method for heat stripping an optical fiber cable having a polymer coating and an optical fiber. A heat source is applied to the polymer coating causing the polymer coating to be heated rapidly to a break temperature, thereby causing the polymer coating to dehydrate, expand and burst outward detaching itself completely from the underneath optical fiber. The heat source is subsequently applied along the optical fiber cable causing the corresponding polymer coating to curl off and expose the optical fiber.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing integrated circuits using a carrier fixture. The carrier fixture does not include transport channels or openings for directing a slurry to a substrate being polished and, as a result, damage to the substrate is reduced because the edges adjacent to the substrate are eliminated. The present invention further provides a carrier fixture having an inner support coupled to a ring member that contacts a substrate during the CMP process. The present invention also provides a carrier fixture having inner and outer supports coupled to a ring member.

Abstract: Crosstalk compensation is achieved by connecting coupling devices (e.g., capacitors) between different pairs of conductors of a multi-pair connector. The coupling devices are selected to offset both differential-to-differential coupling as well as differential-to-common-mode coupling that would otherwise occur between pairs of conductors when one of the conductor pair is driven with a differential signal. The present invention can be used to achieve both differential and common-mode crosstalk compensation without relying on conductor crossover techniques.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for determining whether a wireless station is operating within a prescribed geographic location. During an initialization process, the wireless telephone measures propagation delays of pilot signals from nearby base stations and stores the propagation delays in a non-volatile memory of the wireless station. Thereafter, during a check process, the wireless station measures propagation delays of pilot signals from nearby base stations and compares them with the stored propagation delays stored in memory. If the difference between the two sets of propagation delays are within a predetermined tolerance, then a determination is made that the wireless station is operating within the prescribed geographic location. Multiple sets of propagation delays may be stored in memory such that a determination can be made as to whether the mobile station is operating within any one of a number of prescribed geographic locations.

Abstract: An information retrieval method wherein users may submit a query via a graphical bitmapping technique. The user provides an information retrieval system with a bitmap of a printed, written, or graphical query by either scanning the query with a graphical scanner, or employing a standard facsimile transmission machine. The information retrieval system then performs an optical image/character recognition process upon the received bitmap to determine the content of the query, information is then retried based upon the recognized characters and images. In a particular method of the invention, the user is provided with a bitmap of the retrieved information.

Abstract: A pixel array driver for applying gray level voltages to a group of pixels without the use of a ramp voltage generator employs an integrated circuit arrangement which multiplexes a plurality of discrete gray level voltages in staircase fashion onto a high-voltage bus, identifies each of the discrete voltages appearing on the high-voltage bus with a code word applied to a code word bus, and matches for each pixel the word on the code word bus to a previously stored data word that designates the gray level intensity voltage desired at the pixel. When the code word and the data word match, the pixel is disconnected from the high-voltage bus. Each pixel is provided with a sample and hold circuit to maintain the value of voltage reached after being disconnected from the high-voltage bus.