Abstract: A user interface for the display of a parimutuel wagering device, that enables a player to place a combination wager on an upcoming contest, includes: (a) combination indicators that appear in the display, and wherein each of these represents one of the possible winning combinations of the wager, (b) value parameters that appear in the display, and wherein each of these is associated with one the combination indicators, (c) wherein each of the value parameters is a quantitative measure of the likelihood that a wager on its associated combination indicator will yield a return that is greater than the cost of the wager, and (d) wherein this value parameters is calculated from some of the temporally-updated information that is provided by the tote board that controls these parimutuel wagers.

Abstract: An improved wagering system, that enables a player with a mobile device to place a wager of any one of many available wager types and on any one of a plurality of upcoming order-of-finish contests (UOOFCs), includes a networked server that has a database containing data relevant to prior order-of-finish contests (POOFCs) and with instructions that cause the server to cooperate with the mobile device to: (a) register and establish a player account, (b) provide handicapping factors from which the player may select a handicapping factor for use in predicting the outcome of an UOOFC, (c) identify which of the provided handicapping factors was the most-accurate in predicting the outcome of the POOFCs, (d) apply the selected handicapping factor to predict an outcome for the UOOFC, and (e) identify a wagering strategy that includes a recommended type of wager and the contestant on which to place the recommended type of wager.

Abstract: An improved wagering system, that enables a player with a mobile device to place a wager of any one of many available wager types and on any one of a plurality of upcoming order-of-finish contests (UOOFCs), includes a networked server that has a database containing data relevant to prior order-of-finish contests (POOFCs) and with instructions that cause the server to cooperate with the mobile device to: (a) register and establish a player account, (b) provide handicapping factors from which the player may select a handicapping factor for use in predicting the outcome of an UOOFC, (c) identify which of the provided handicapping factors was the most-accurate in predicting the outcome of the POOFCs, (d) apply the selected handicapping factor to predict an outcome for the UOOFC, and (e) identify a wagering strategy that includes a recommended type of wager and the contestant on which to place the recommended type of wager.

Abstract: An optical wavelength router receives multiplexed bundles of wavelength channels from input optical fibers, processes the channels, and outputs the processed channels onto output optical fibers. The router separates one or more of the channels from the received bundles and couples the separated channels into a switching fabric. The remaining, i.e., pass-through, channels are multiplexed with wavelength-converted “add” signals and input into channel combiners. The outputs of the switching fabric may be “dropped,” or coupled to the channel combiners for multiplexing with the pass-through and the add channels. A second switching fabric may be interposed between the output ports of the channel combiners and the output fibers, and a redundant path through the router may be included for path fault protection.

Abstract: Systems and methods for quickly and accurately measuring the concentricity of a core with respect to a ferrule are provided. A beam splitter arrangement is utilized to separately image both the core and the ferrule outer edge using separate imagers. The two images are combined through coordinate transformation so that the offset of the core with respect to the ferrule center can be determined.