Abstract: An asynchronous random access system includes stations which in one embodiment transmit information as packets at random times. After a path delay, all stations receive the packets. By comparing the period of activity at the station with the known packet length, all stations know when a collision occurs. According to the system protocol, all station inhibit new transmissions for a predetermined time which includes a retransmission time. Stations whose packets were involved in the collision know that their transmission was unsuccessful, and they can also determine whether their own packets were first or last in the collision, based upon the known path delay. Retransmission of the first and last packets occurs during the retransmission interval and is guaranteed to be successful, because all other stations are inhibited.

Abstract: A subsurface antenna system including at least one pair of radiating elements and feed system is buried within a subsurface medium. The radiating elements comprising the system are spaced apart at least one quarter free space wavelength at an operating frequency. The radiating elements are spaced from each other and the feed system provides appropriate relative phase to signals at the elements to produce from the antenna system a directional antenna pattern in free space.

Abstract: A television receiver which includes an automatic deghosting system synchronously demodulates IF television signals to generate baseband signals representing the in-phase and quadrature phase modulation components of the IF signals. A signal representing the phase difference between the carrier of the signal as broadcast and the carrier of the received signal, which may include ghosts, is generated from the in-phase and quadrature signals. This signal is applied to circuitry which develops signals proportional to the sine and cosine of the phase angle separating the broadcast carrier phase and the received carrier phase. The demodulated in-phase and quadrature phase baseband signals are multiplied by the sine and cosine signals in a complex multiplier to correct distortion resulting from the synchronous demodulation using the carrier of the received signal.

Abstract: A video display apparatus incorporates a picture tube, such as a square-planar picture tube, that includes a phosphor screen located on a faceplate having an aspherically curved geometry that produces a relatively flat surface contour. Deflection circuitry generates line and field scanning currents in respective line and field deflection windings to enable the electron beams of the picture tube to scan a raster on the phosphor screen. The electron beams are subject to a scanning error that results in raster distortion, such as side pincushion distortion. A parabola generator produces a parabolic modulation of the scanning of the electron beams to generally correct the raster distortion while retaining a residual error due to the aspherically curved geometry of the faceplate.

Abstract: A deflection yoke for a video display system incorporates an arrangement for the introduction and distribution of adhesive to effect assembly of the yoke and mounting of the yoke to a cathode ray tube. A single adhesive inlet location transports adhesive through delivery channels to various locations about the deflection yoke to fix the relative positions of the horizontal and vertical deflection coils as well as mounting the yoke to a cathode ray tube.

Abstract: Messages sent from an earth station to a satellite by a command link are authenticated within the satellite before being executed. Authentication is accomplished by comparing a codeword appended to the message to a codeword generated within the satellite. This codeword is a cryptographic function of the message data and a secret operating key. A key change command from the earth station causes the satellite authenticator to generate a new operating key based a secret master key, a supplemental private code, and a publicly available initialization vector. The codeword appended to the key change command is encrypted in the new key and, if it agrees with a codeword generated by the satellite authenticator, the new key becomes the operating key and the key change function is complete.

Abstract: Switching stress on the switches of a DC-to-AC inverter bridge are reduced, and fall time losses are reduced, by driving the inverter from a source of constant current, by operating the bridge in a mode in which all the switches are periodically rendered conductive simultaneously, and by tuning the load to produce resonant currents which reduce the currents through the switches of the inverter at the moment of turn-off.

Abstract: A solar array panel is formed of a matrix of solar cell subarrays and wired together to form an integral power unit. The subarrays are soldered by passing them on a conveyor through successive solder melting and solder cooling regions induced by suspended radiating susceptors which are inductively heated. The system induction generator is cycled on and off to create the desired temperature ranges in the applicable regions. The subarrays are carried through the regions by an aluminum alloy plate on a thermally inert conveyor belt. The aluminum alloy plate is substantially unresponsive to radiated heat from the susceptors.

Abstract: In a composite color video signal, a portion of the signal spectrum is shared by high frequency vertical detail information, and high frequency modulated color difference (I) information. A circuit is described which determines whether the information in the shared frequency band is vertical detail information or color difference information without degradation in the presence of a step input signal, as, for example, in the presence of lettering in the image. A composite video signal is comb filtered to generate comb filtered chrominance and luminance signals. A baseband color difference signal is produced from the comb filtered chrominance signal and the presence of high frequency information in the baseband color difference signal is detected. The bandwidth of the low frequency portion of the comb filtered chrominance signal (i.e. the vertical detail information) which is restored to the comb filtered luminance signal is varied in response to the control signal.

Abstract: An automatic deghosting system synchronously demodulates IF television signals to generate baseband composite video signals. A strong RF ghost signal having a carrier phase that differs from that of the desired signal may cause demodulation phase errors, causing quadrature distortion in the baseband video signals. The circuitry shown in this disclosure synchronously demodulates the quadrature component of the IF television signals and develops a signal proportional to the difference between the values of the baseband quadrature signal immediately before and immediately after the leading edge of the vertical sync pulse. This signal, which is proportional to the demodulation phase error, is used to control a phase locked loop that regenerates the in-phase and quadrature carrier signals used by the synchronous demodulators to substantially eliminate any demodulation phase error.

Abstract: A tape recording/retrieving system includes a tape helically-wrapped about a cylindrical headwheel. When the headwheel rotates, the tape is hydrodynamically lifted above the rotating surface of the headwheel. A plurality of tape edge guides, illustratively three, disposed about the circumference of the headwheel, provide support surfaces for the tape. The edge guides include surfaces adjacent the cylindrical headwheel surface which are also subject to hydrodynamic forces when the headwheel rotates, causing the edge guides to "fly" away from the rotating surface, thus reducing wear problems on the headwheel and the guides. Using a knowledge of the system parameters, the edge guides are fabricated with a prestress so that they fly at a particular distance above the rotating surface which provides a supporting surface for the flying tape.

Abstract: An antenna reflector comprising a face skin of graphite fiber reinforced epoxy (GFRE) material is coated with a layer of chromium. The chromium is then coated with aluminum and a protective coating of silicon dioxide is then deposited over the aluminum. The chromium has a thickness sufficiently thin to provide good coverage of the pores of the GFRE material and to minimize distortion causing poor bond due to differences in the coefficient of thermal expansion of the different materials in the presence of temperature cycles. The aluminum is sufficiently thick to provide good reflecting characteristics to minimize the polarizing effects of the graphite face skins.

Abstract: A plurality of monocrystalline silicon seeds is disposed on an insulator layer which is disposed on a substantially flat major surface of a silicon wafer. A first monocrystalline silicon deposit of first conductivity type is formed on a first silicon seed and a second monocrystalline silicon deposit, of similar configuration, is formed on a second silicon seed. The first and second deposits are then covered with insulator layers and a third monocrystalline deposit is formed on a third silicon seed. The third deposit has a top surface height substantially equal to or less than that of the top surfaces of the first and second deposits. An insulator layer is then formed on the top surface of the third deposit and first and second monocrystalline islands are formed on this insulator layer. Complementary bipolar transistors are formed in the first and second monocrystalline silicon deposits and PMOS and NMOS transistors are formed in the first and second islands on the third insulator layer.

Abstract: A constant-current, current-programmed dc-to-dc converter includes a controllable switch and an inductor. The switch is rendered conductive in response to a recurrent clock signal, and nonconductive in response to a comparison of a voltage representing the inductor ramp current with an output voltage error signal from a high impedance source, which establishes an output voltage control feedback loop. An overcurrent limiting circuit includes a current sensor having a low output impedance which produces a load current representative signal. The load current representative signal is applied to an amplifier having a low output impedance and which includes a diode in its feedback loop to maintain it nonsaturated. A second diode is connected to the output of the amplifier and to the high impedance output terminal of the error voltage source to close a current limiting degenerative feedback loop which swamps the error voltage when the second diode becomes conductive due to excess load current.

Abstract: A CCD imager has a line-transfer register the contents of which are transferred at pixel scan rate, one or two lines at a time, through a side-loaded CCD shift register forward clocked at a multiple of pixel scan rate, to an electrometer. Forward clocking the CCD shift register at higher rate than pixel scan rate reduces the differential delay between the various points of side-loading the CCD shift register, so line selection artifacts are confined to the line retrace interval. Line selection artifacts are then suppressed by normal line-retrace-interval blanking.

Abstract: A digital television signal deghosting system includes an IIR filter responsive to the in-phase and quadrature-phase components of modulated television signals for cancelling ghost signals irrespective of their phase. A double-conversion tuner develops modulated composite video signals having a 3f.sub.c carrier frequency. An analog-to-digital converter responsive to a two-phase 3f.sub.c clock signal develops digital samples which alternately represent the baseband in-phase and quadrature-phase components of the modulated video signals. These samples are separated to develop digital signals representing the in-phase and quadrature-phase components of the modulated television signals.

Abstract: A digital television receiver, having a line-locked clock, includes a partly digital, partly analog phase locked loop. This phase locked loop regenerates two quadrature phase related subcarrier signals that are used to synchronously demodulate the chrominance signal components of the composite video signals into two color informaiton signals. The phase locked loop includes an analog voltage controlled oscillator which generates a signal that is independent of any frequency instability in the line locked clock signal. An analog-to-digital converter digitizes this signal to provide one of the subcarrier signals. This subcarrier signal is applied to a read-only memory to generate the second subcarrier signal. The two color information signals are obtained by multiplying the chrominance signals by the first and second subcarrier signals.

Abstract: An improved method of forming layers of silicon dioxide on a substrate whereby high quality films are prepared at ambient temperature. The films are formed by electron beam evaporation in the presence of oxygen containing water vapor.

Abstract: A video display apparatus includes a diode modulator for correcting side pincushion raster distortion. The diode modulator drive circuit produces a vertical deflection rate parabolic voltage that modulates the horizontal deflection current to effect pincushion correction. The drive circuit includes a transistor that has its base bias established by the combination of a width control resistor and a diode. The diode has the same thermal characteristics as the transistor to provide accurate temperature compensation. A resistor is connected between the emitter of the transistor and a supply voltage to change the transistor bias point in order to enable the transistor to be cutoff.

Abstract: An improved automatic placement process for placing logic cells in a universal array. Unused basic units are assigned to rows to reduce the congestion of the wiring in high congestion regions of a universal array. These assigned unused basic units are allocated among rows in a pyramidal manner. Those unused basic units allocated to a given row are distributed along that row in a manner to reduce wiring congestion. During a pair exchange portion of the placement process, quality criteria used for deciding whether to exchange two logic cells on different rows include skipped rows in a node, y-span of a node, minimizing the number of logic cells in excess of two in a node on a row, making a longest row shorter and making longer a shortest row or one which is within a tolerance of being a shortest row.