Abstract: An automatic line equalizer for use with a T1 or an E1 repeater in a telecommunications system is disclosed. The equalizer includes a first equalizing means for equalizing an input line having a line length falling within a first range and a second equalizing means for equalizing an input line having a line length falling within a second range. The equalizer includes a line condition/length detector. The equalizer includes switch means for selectively coupling one of the first and second equalizers to the selected input line as a function of a line condition indication. The switching means prevents hunting between said first and said second equalizers.

Abstract: A method of and apparatus for reconnecting a severed multi-fiber optical cable using random splicing is disclosed. Each of the fibers of a first cable section are randomly reconnected to each of the fibers of a second cable section and it is determined which fiber interconnects each of the first units to each of the second units and a reconnection database describing such interconnections is established. Using interconnection data of an original database, established prior to cable severing, together with the reconnection database, the connection of one or more inputs to the first group of first units are switched so that the resulting connections between those inputs and the second units are the same as the connections described by the original database.

Abstract: Techniques for employing a television set and a television set controller as the control interface for devices which themselves do not have display capability and for services provided via the telephone network. The techniques involve control apparatus which is connected to the telephone network and a television set and is responsive to inputs from a hand-held controller for the television set. The control apparatus outputs a screen which contains control selections to the television set and the user employs the controller to make a selection. The control apparatus then performs the control function specified by the selection. One application is a telephone messaging system: integral with the control apparatus is a system which can answer calls and store voice messages, fax messages, character-string messages, and script messages. The control apparatus plays the voice messages on the television set and provide screens to the television set which display the fax and character-string messages.

Abstract: Optical quality molds and mold inserts include an optically flat substrate, a layer of material applied to the substrate and one or more depressions in a predetermined pattern formed in the layer of material applied to the substrate. The depth of the depressions are precisely determined by the thickness of the layer applied to the substrate. By contacting the mold with resin in a fluid state, a component is fabricated having microfeatures formed monolithically thereon.

Abstract: A digital cellular communication system provides an asymmetric speech coder for improving audio quality in the uplink channel. A high rate speech coder is provided in the uplink of the digital cellular communication system to improve the audio quality. To compensate for the higher band width consumed by this high rate speech coder, the uplink uses a channel code, such as a convolutional code, that generates fewer symbols per each input bit, thereby consuming less bandwidth. The loss of coding gain as a result of the change in the convolutional code is compensated for by applying a special power control strategy. The power control strategy increases the transmit power for transceivers using the asymmetric speech coder.

Abstract: A wavelength routing device 500 includes a pair of dielectric slabs 10, 20 that are interconnected by an optical grating 30. The first dielectric slab 10 includes input ports for receiving optical signals that are routed to output ports of the second dielectric slab 20 according to their wavelengths. Y-branch splitters 70-1 are connected to the first dielectric slab. Splitters 70-1 each include a pair of adjacent waveguides, having widths (w.sub.1), that are separated from each other by a center-to-center distance (c.sub.1). Y-branch splitter 70-2 is connected to the second dielectric slab. Splitter 70-2 includes a pair of adjacent waveguides, having widths (w.sub.2), that are separated from each other by a center-to-center distance (c.sub.2). Preferably, 4w.sub.2 >w.sub.1 >1.5w.sub.2, and 4c.sub.2 >c.sub.1 >1.5c.sub.2. Associated with this routing device is a figure-of-merit (B.sub.1 /B.sub.2) that exceeds 0.5, which represents a substantial improvement over prior art designs.

Abstract: Difficulties with prior disrupted communications restoration systems are overcome by employing for each node of a communications network a restoration processor in which predetermined functions of the restoration process are managed by respective ones of a plurality of manager modules. The manager modules are arranged to be directly interconnected only with a so-called restoration manager that coordinates the operations of the modules and provides for their interconnection needs. In a preferred embodiment, four manager modules, a) a user interface manager module, b) a digital cross-connect system (DCS) manager module, c) a distributed communications manager module and d) a core algorithm manager module, are interconnected and coordinated by the restoration manager. Additional robustness to the restoration process is provided by way of enhancements to the functionality of the core algorithm manager module.

Abstract: A three-dimensional photo mask is formed from a substrate having a first side and a three-dimensional side. A holograph is provided on the first side of the substrate. The three-dimensional side of the substrate has a photosensitive resist material provided thereon. The holograph includes information that defines features to be imaged onto the photosensitive resist material. A method and a system are disclosed for producing the three-dimensional mask.

Abstract: The goal of this invention is to offer an orthogonal modulator circuit where carrier feedthrough of the direct modulation method does not occur and there are not the two output frequencies of the indirect modulation method. A signal with the first frequency (.omega..sub.c1) enters a first and a second modulator 30, 40 and becomes two reciprocal 90.degree. phase shifted, four phase modulated signals S.sub.1, S.sub.2 that enter a first and a second mixer circuit 51, 52; a signal with the second frequency (.omega..sub.c2) is multiplied with the two 90.degree. phase shifted signals, and the output of the first and second mixer are added together in a SSB modulator resulting in the output of a single frequency signal.

Abstract: A wireless LAN includes first stations adapted to operate at a 1 or a 2 Mbps data rate and second stations adapted to operate at a 1,2,5 or 8 Mbps data rate. The 1 and 2 Mbps rates use DBPSK and DQPSK modulation, respectively. The 5 and 8 Mbps rates use PPM/DQPSK modulation. All four data rates use direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) coding. All transmitted messages start with a preamble and header at the 1 Mbps rate. The header includes fields identifying the data rate for the data portion of the message, and a length field. For a 2 Mbps transmission the length field identifies the number of bytes in the data field. For a 5 or 8 Mbps the length field identifies the number of bytes in the data field which, if transmitted at 2 Mbps, would take the same transmission time of the data field, and is thus a fraction 2/5 or 2/8 of the actual number of the bytes. With this arrangements, all the stations are interoperable in a co-existent manner in the LAN.

Abstract: The pillar structure according to the invention has a substantially longer surface path length from negative to positive electrodes resist breakdown in a high voltage environment. The processing and assembly methods in this invention permit low-cost manufacturing of high breakdown-voltage, dielectric pillars for the flat panel display.

Abstract: An icon positioning device with a keypad, telephone circuit, speaker and microphone is used as part of an interface system to a computer and a telephone network. The icon positioning device is used to control a position of an icon on the computer's display. The keypad on the positioning device is used to enter information into the computer and to control communication over a telephone network. In addition, the computer displays icons that are representative of the keys composing the positioning device's keypad. When one of the keys is activated, the corresponding icon on the computer's display changes appearance. Thus, the positioning device serves as a multi-featured control apparatus, as a pointing device, and as a telephone.

Abstract: Coding gain is improved by employing an N-dimensional trellis encoder incorporating an N'-dimensional convolutional encoder where N' is less than N. The additional coding gain is realized as a shaping gain. This unique modulator encodes a digital signal by generating a sequence of N-dimensional symbols as a function of the digital signal using an N'-dimensional convolutional encoder within the trellis encoder more than once (integer N/N' times) during each N-dimensional symbol interval. This allows the trellis encoder to produce an output of higher dimensionality than would normally be expected from the lower dimensionality convolutional encoder. The trellis encoder is applicable to television transmission.

Abstract: In an arrangement for charging a battery in a battery plant, a resistive network is situated in the charging path of a battery being charged to guarantee a minimum total resistance of the added resistance and the battery's internal resistance regardless of the thermal effect of reducing the battery's internal resistance. A diode path bypasses the resistive network during discharging of the battery to reduce power dissipation. Charging current is controlled in response to a temperature of a heat sink on which the resistive network is mounted. Ambient temperature is used as a control or in another arrangement as a controlling factor in controlling charging current. Battery temperature may also be used as a control or in another arrangement as a controlling factor in controlling charging current.

Abstract: Disclosed is a device for providing an interface between a customer and a combined telecommunications and cable TV network. The device includes a bottom portion including cable TV interdiction equipment which is connected through the top portion by a coaxial jumper cable. The top and bottom portions are mounted so as to prevent access to the interdiction equipment by the customer.

Abstract: A data compression technique for encoding a data stream of symbols processes a current sequence of symbols in the stream using an adaptive look-up table containing strings of different lengths by identifying whether a match of a longest string from the table or a shorter string would produce a lower compression ratio by "looking ahead" and identifying a match between a next sequence in the data stream and strings in the table. The compression technique identifies those situations where it is advantageous to use a compressed code identifier for a current sequence that is shorter than the longest matching sequence. Such situations exist when the compression ratio achieved for compressing the current sequence in combination with the next sequence in the stream is greater when other than the longest match is employed for the first sequence. A corresponding decompression technique to decode data encoded using a similar "look ahead" technique is also disclosed.

Abstract: Applicants have determined that the temperature sensitivity of long-period grating devices is due to differential variation with temperature of the refractive indices of the core and cladding. They have further determined that the cladding profile and fiber composition can be redesigned to substantially reduce this differential variation, thereby reducing the temperature sensitivity of long-period gratings of less than 4 nm per 100.degree. C. and preferably less than 2 nm per 100.degree. C. This design permits the use of long-period grating devices without temperature control or compensation.

Abstract: A system for high density holographic storage announced by Cal Tech is improved. The basic Cal Tech system records successive holograms by physically shifting the recording medium relative to the paired reference and signal beams. By depending on Bragg selectivity, successive holograms may be overlapped and still differentiated in the direction of overlap--in the "x-direction". The claimed system improves storage density by tilting the holographic plane to introduce a Bragg component in the y-direction, thereby enabling differentiation of overlapping holograms in that direction as well.

Abstract: For this system and for this equipment there has been provided a phase alignment device (30) which has an access for input data (50) applied to an access (51) at a rate of a first clock signal, and an access (70) for producing at the rate of a second clock signal applied to an access (71) a justifiable data stream, in which stream bits can be inserted or deleted. The data are written and read in and from a common memory (60) by means of a write counter (55) and a read counter (80), respectively. A comparing element (90) measures the difference of the contents of said counters (55) and (80). With each variation of this difference, intermediate steps are added with the elements (95), (97) and (98), so that the means (92) controlling the justification can be formed by a sigma-delta modulator which has a 0.5 threshold.