Abstract: A method of controlling the polarization properties of a photo-induced device in an optical waveguide and a method of investigating the structure of a light guiding body such as an optical waveguide are disclosed. A device, such as gratings, is written by exposing one side of the optical waveguide to light. The unexposed side is then exposed to an amount of light sufficient to impart the desired birefringence to the written device. The birefringence can be minimized in the written device by exposing the opposite side to light in an amount sufficient to minimize the amount of birefringence. The light guiding body is investigated by cleaving the elongated light guiding body, such as an optical waveguide, to expose its cross-section. The cleaved section is then treated to expose difference between the core and cladding. Treatment may include etching in an acid or base.

Abstract: An inductor fabricated for semiconductor use is disclosed. The inductor is formed with a multi-level, multi-element conductor metallization structure which effectively increases conductance throughout the inductor thereby increasing the inductor's Q. The structure of the inductor may also provide for routing the current flowing through the multi-level, multi-element conductors in a way that increases the self inductance between certain conductive elements, thereby increasing the inductor's total inductance.

Abstract: A facility is provided for storing in a backup memory only those blocks of a file, or disk partition, which differ from corresponding blocks forming an earlier version of the file. Specifically, a file is divided into a number of blocks and a "signature" is generated for each such block. A block is then stored in the backup memory only if its associated signature differs from a signature generated for an earlier version of the block. In addition, if two blocks of the current version of the file have identical signatures and are to be stored in the backup memory, then only one of the two blocks is stored in the memory and a simple message indicating that the other block is equal to the one block is stored in the memory for the other block. Further, the application of such signatures is advantageously applied to the opposite case of restoring a file using copies of previous versions of the file that are stored in the backup memory.

Abstract: Dielectrically isolated semiconductor devices such as DMOS and ZGBT devices comprise a substrate having upper and lower surfaces. Source, drain and channel regions are disposed along the upper surface. The drain region extends downwardly to the lower surface of the substrate and laterally beneath the source and channel region. The drain merges with an underlying region of high conductivity. The underlying region is generally flat except for an upwardly extending portion thereof laterally disposed from the source region and providing a lower resistance path for current through the drain region. The DMOS devices can be included within an integrated circuit chip containing other types of semiconductor devices.

Abstract: Improved RF shielding is disclosed. The shielding provides a joint seal that can eliminate the soldering, and the screws and gaskets, otherwise required for securing RF shield caps and walls to reduce EMI. Conductive shield caps that can be simply snap fit against the groundplane are also disclosed.

Abstract: The invention relates to a transmission system comprising at least a transmission device for exchanging transport modules in signals of a synchronous multiplex hierarchy which signals have a frame structure of columns and rows. The transmission device (5) comprises at least an adapter circuit (5) and a switching network (5). The adapter circuit (5) is provided to delay at least a higher-order transport module up to a given position in the adapted frame structured signal. The switching network comprises at least a time stage provided to write and identify column by column the bytes to be stored of an adapted frame structured signal and to read out the bytes identified column by column in a given order to form at least an outgoing frame structured signal.

Abstract: A planar waveguide and a process for making a planar waveguide is disclosed. The waveguide has a layer of doped host material formed on a substrate. The host material is a trivalent material such as a metal fluoride, wherein the metal is selected from the Group III B metals and the lanthanide series rare earth metals of the Mendeleevian Periodic Table. The dopant is a rare earth metal such as erbium. The waveguide has an emission spectrum with a bandwidth of about 60 nm for amplification of an optical signal at a wavelength of about 1.51 .mu.m to about 1.57 .mu.m. The waveguide is made by forming the layer of doped host material on a substrate. The film is formed by evaporating materials from two separate sources, one source for the dopant material and a separate source for the host material and forming a film of the evaporated materials on a substrate.

Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for controlling the communication of multimedia electronic signals representing audio, video, and/or data. These techniques operate in conjunction with a system including a network and a plurality of endpoint devices connected to the network. A novel MMS is coupled to the network and is equipped to utilize the network such that multimedia signals may be exchanged among a plurality of endpoint devices, thereby providing a multimedia conference. A Multi-Media Server (MMS) provides a multimedia conference independently, such that the reservation system utilized by existing multimedia conferencing system is no longer required. The conference is initiated by a multimedia endpoint that is equipped with a user interface device for encoding user input as BAS signals. The MMS is responsive to BAS DTMF commands issued by endpoint devices to implement multimedia conferences.

Abstract: Communications systems and methods are directed to a novel communications platform which employs a TDM bus, a TDM bus controller, a passive Ethernet bus, and a centralized Ethernet hub to provide for the communication of data, voice, and/or video signals among a plurality of endpoint devices. The TDM bus controller provides a plurality of B-Channels on the TDM bus. The centralized Ethernet hub is coupled to the TDM bus controller via a control link. Each endpoint device is connected to at least one of the passive Ethernet bus and the TDM bus. The centralized Ethernet hub operates over the passive Ethernet bus to dynamically allocate one or more individual B-Channels of a single B-Channel set amongst a group of endpoint devices, such as telephone equipment, video communications equipment, processors, and/or computing devices. The centralized Ethernet hub provides a logical control channel to each endpoint device for call establishment.

Abstract: An automated method for modifying a speech signal communicated over a telephone network by applying a gain factor in a telephone set before any side tone is added thereto. The gain factor is a function of a received signal indicative of the background noise at the location of the telephone set. The gain applied may be a function of both the background noise level and the original speech signal. Either a linear or a non-linear (e.g., compressed) amplification of the original speech signal may be performed, where a compressed amplification results in the higher level portions of the speech signal being amplified by a smaller gain factor than lower level portions. The speech signal may be separated into a plurality of subbands, each resultant subband signal being individually modified in accordance with the present invention.

Abstract: A signal processing method and apparatus including a digital finite impulse response filter wherein the error caused by slow asymptotic convergence of the filter's adaptive coefficients is reduced. A first input signal is provided to an adaptive FIR filter including a coefficient calculator, finite impulse response FIR filter and a summation device. The filter also receives a second input signal, which may, for example, be the echo of the first input signal. The first input signal and the second input signal have a first bandwidth. The adaptive FIR filter then provides an output signal to a filter, which then filters the output signal to a second bandwidth which is less than the first bandwidth. The processed signal will have less error caused by the slow asymptotic convergence of the filter than previously possible because the error-concentrated frequency components near the band edge of the first frequency band have been filtered or removed.

Abstract: A telephone set and method for controlling what calls are forwarded to the telephone set. The telephone set has a terminal processor having an internal memory in which are stored a control program and data. The terminal processor under control of the program controls operation with respect to forwarded calls using the data. In response to the data, the terminal processor can block all forwarded calls from all other telephone sets, from a predetermined list of telephone sets, or from all telephone sets except for a predetermined list of telephone sets. Call forwarding can be blocked from a single forwarding telephone set not known to the user of a telephone set by the user actuating a button during a forwarded call being processed from the forwarding telephone set. In addition, the terminal processor can block all forwarded calls except those from other designated telephone sets.

Abstract: Disclosed is a connector module which permits a make-before-break contact when inserting jumper or test access leads. The stem portions of the contacts make physical and electrical contact at two points which are aligned with slots in the module so that one point remains closed while one point opens due to lead insertion. Ribs may also be provided to guide the lead insertion and control deflection of the leads and stems.

Abstract: Human inspection of an object (12) having a light-reflective areas (20) thereon arrayed in individual arrays (21) is enhanced by first capturing the image of selected portions of the arrays via one or more image capture devices (34). The images are processed to create a single image frame in which like portions of like arrays of light-reflective are uniformly spaced and oriented in a two-dimensional array having large scale regularity. The single image frame is then displayed on a display (48) for observation by a human operator (29). Because the displayed image frame of the light-reflective areas has large scale regularity, the operator bility to detect defects associated with missing or misaligned light-reflective areas will be enhanced.

Abstract: In base station cellular telephony transmit-receive systems which provide multiple channels, the transmitter and receiver circuits which respectively, modulate baseband signals on to channel carrier waves and recover baseband signals from channel carrier waves are included in homogeneous assemblies of such transmitter circuits or receiver circuits which are surface mounted on printed wiring boards. Those transmitter circuit assemblies and receiver circuit assemblies include surface mounted combiner and splitter devices, respectively, which have multiple ports connected by microstrip transmission lines to, as the case may be, the transmitter circuits or receiver circuits of the assemblies in which those devices are includes. The described arrangement results in reduction relative to the prior art in the number of coaxial cables used in such systems.

Abstract: A new dimension for growth is presented for the generalized growable packet switch architecture. That dimension is time and by rolling routing requests around a distributed out-of-band controller ring, ATM cell traffic can be controlled and spread across two time intervals. The rolling of routing requests and the resulting time spreading of the cell traffic through the distribution network averages out bursts and localized hot spots, thereby reducing blocking and improving cell loss probabilities with only small increases in hardware cost and complexity.

Abstract: An end-user communicating device and method for enabling a user-selected communications carrier network to download data into a RAM within the end-user communicating device in response to a telephone call initiated by a user of the end-user communicating device to the carrier network to access a database within the carrier network. The data includes a carrier access code that is used to establish intraLATA toll calls and exchange numbers included in an intraLATA toll calling area associated with origination information obtained during the telephone call, such as the telephone number of the end-user communicating device. The end-user communicating device prepends the carrier access code to subsequently dialed telephone numbers that contain one of the exchange numbers included in the intraLATA toll calling area.

Abstract: Arranging switching nodes of a distributed telecommunication system into authentication hierarchical structures with respect to authentication information. If the authentication information is stored on a switching node within the authentication hierarchical structure, all switching nodes in that authentication hierarchical structure can access the authentication information. An authentication hierarchical structure allows any switching node that is part of the authentication hierarchical structure to obtain the authentication information from another switching node within the authentication hierarchical structure if another switching node has the authentication information. Only one switching node is required to retain the authentication information within a given authentication hierarchical structure.

Abstract: A PBX (14) is employed as a feature server for another telecommunications subsystem (11), such as a broadband or a multi-media subsystem or another PBX. The PBX's feature set is thus made available to the other subsystem. Also, inter-PBX feature transparency is implemented thereby.

Abstract: A surface-imaging technique for lithographic processes is disclosed. The lithographic processes are used to manufacture integrated circuit devices. An image is produced on a resist that is applied onto a substrate. The image is produced by exposing selected regions of the resist material to radiation. The selected exposed regions correspond to the image. The resist is then exposed to a silylating reagent that selectively reacts with either the exposed or the unexposed region of the resist. The silylated resist is then subjected to reactive ion etching, which forms an in situ silicon oxide etch mask over the silylated regions of the resist. The mask so formed provides etching selectivity which provides precise image transfer from the resist into the substrate.