Abstract: A system and method for using a portable device to communicate with a vehicle to authorize one or more vehicle operations. The portable device may authorize the vehicle to unlock/lock doors, start the vehicle engine, or mobilize the vehicle, or a combination thereof. The vehicle may include a vehicle transmitter system with one or more transmitters disposed at various locations on the vehicle, and the portable device may be configured to monitor a communication strength between the portable device and the one or more transmitters of the transmitter system. Based on the monitored signal strength, the portable device may determine location information about itself.

Abstract: A remote controlled battery cell monitoring and control system that utilizes empirical and theoretical data to compare performance, sensor data, stored patterns, historical usage, use intensity indexes over time and tracking information to provide a sophisticated data collection system for batteries. This tracking is designed to better the specifications, designs, training, preventative maintenance, and replacement and recycling of batteries.

Abstract: In situ alloying of elemental Cu, Cr, and Nb powder using laser melting to form a Cu—Cr2Nb alloy. The elemental powders are initially mixed to form a homogeneous mixture, which mixture is then subjected to laser radiation to melt the mixture. In the melt, the Cr and Nb react to form Cr2Nb, which when cooled form precipitates that are dispersed in a nearly pure Cu matrix to thus dispersion strengthen the material. The methods can be used to additively manufacture a 3D component of Cu—Cr2Nb alloy using a selective laser melting machine.

Abstract: A residential gateway provides packet-switched telephony service over a broadband communications network. The gateway includes data terminal equipment having an interface for communicating with customer premises equipment. The gateway also includes a self-installation agent for generating signals that are rendered as audio prompts that guide a user through a process for installing the residential gateway so that packet-switched telephony services are available to the user through the customer premises equipment.

Abstract: A method (400) and system for illuminating a display screen (106) of a handheld electronic device (100) is disclosed. The system includes a transparent display screen cover (104), which is movably coupled to a housing (102) of the handheld electronic device. Further, the system includes at least one switch (206). The at least one switch is actuated in response to a user contacting the transparent display screen cover. The system also includes a control circuit (204), which causes the illumination of the display screen, in response to the activation of the at least one switch.

Abstract: A system (50) including a telephone device having incorporated therein voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) adapter functionality. The system includes a VoIP adapter for coupling to a network, such as an Internet protocol (IP) network, and a telephone device, such as a cordless telephone device, for coupling to the VoIP adapter. The telephone device includes a base station and a plurality of handsets, such as cordless handsets. The telephone device is configured to include therein VoIP adapter functionality, such as subscriber integrated circuit (SLIC) functionality that conventionally resides in a conventional VoIP adapter. The incorporation of SLIC functionality and other VoIP adapter functionality into the telephone device reduces the overall cost of the system, e.g., by eliminating relatively expensive hardware, such as SLICs, and also reduces the relative complexity of the system, e.g., by simplifying several system component hardware configurations.

Abstract: A non-predictive tone-coded-squelch (TCS) frequency determination method of scanning a plurality of radio frequency channels in a radio receiver and determining the presence of a standard tone-coded squelch frequency on the radio frequency channel (205) that includes determining a mathematical average of a plurality of subaudible tone samples from a radio frequency channel (211, 217) and then removing out-lying samples that differ from the mathematical average by some predetermined amount (219). A determination is made if the number of remaining samples is at least some predetermined percentage of the total samples taken (223) and a predictive tone-coded squelch detector is used to monitor for a standard tone-coded squelch frequency nearest to the a frequency corresponding to the mathematical average of the remaining samples (225) if the number of remaining samples is at least some predetermined percentage of the total samples taken.

Abstract: The method of the present invention produces a plurality of bi-level waveforms on the ROW/common lines and COLUMN/segment lines of a passive multiplexed liquid crystal display (LCD). These waveforms drive the LCD display using binary data from display memory locations. At periodic intervals a counter is incremented while the counter value is then used to 1) look-up in a table the bi-level data to output on the ROW/commons; 2) look-up memory locations associated with the active COLUMN/segments; and 3) to provide inverted COLUMN/segments data before sending the bi-level data to the COLUMN/segment lines of the LCD. The counter increments from zero to four times the number of ROW/commons before being reset to zero and the waveforms repeated. Thus, an algorithm produces one ON/select voltage and one OFF/non-select voltage that are provided to the LCD.

Abstract: A method of multiplex driving a passive liquid crystal display (LCD) using a bi-level LCD multiplex driver for providing one or more bi-level waveforms on the ROW/common lines and COLUMN/segment lines of a multiplexed liquid crystal display (LCD). These waveforms drive the LCD display using binary data from display memory locations. At periodic intervals the machine state is advanced with the present state used to 1) look-up in a table the bi-level data to output on the ROW/commons, and 2) look-up memory locations associated with the active COLUMN/segments; and 3) to provide inverted COLUMN/segments data before sending the bi-level data to the COLUMN/segment lines of the LCD. The states advance four times the number of ROW/commons before being reset to the initial state and the waveforms repeated. Thus, the machine produces one ON/select voltage and one OFF/non-select voltage are provided to the LCD according to predetermined formulas.

Abstract: An optical switch assembly for a two-way radio has electrical and mechanical subassemblies. The electrical portion consists an IR emitter (12) and a pair of IR receivers (14,16) strategically positioned upon a printed circuit board (10). The mechanical portion consists of a rotatable interposer mechanism (20) interconnected to a knob (35) on the radio via a shaft (28). The interposer has inner (22) and outer (24) concentric cylindrical walls. The outer wall controls the light transmitted between the emitter and one of the receivers (16), ultimately controlling the On-Off state of the radio. The inner wall has an integrated gray-scale graphic which controls the transmission of light between the emitter and the other IR receiver (14), ultimately controlling the audio output of the radio.

Abstract: A control switch for a radio is formed using an electro-mechanical assembly (400) which includes an array of cantilevered beams (402) laminated with piezoelectric film. A movable surface (404) includes protrusions (406) positioned to deflect the cantilevered beams and generate pulsed signals in a coded manner. Electronic circuitry (410) stores the pulsed signals and associates the signals with a position of the switch.

Abstract: The apparatus and process of a hydraulic press (20) for molding or forming an article, which apparatus has a frame (21) with a top unit (22) and a base unit (23) interconnected to the top unit (22); a slide (28) adapted to have an upper half (38) of a mold attached thereto; first hydraulic device (31) interconnected between the top unit (22) and the slide (28) for controllably moving the slide (28) vertically relative to the frame (21); a bed (36) fixed on the frame (21) and adapted to have a lower half (37) of the mold attached thereto, the lower mold half (37) adapted to have an article to be molded placed therein; second hydraulic device (39) connected to said top unit (22) and including at least one elongated ram (41), the second device (39) controllably moving the ram (41) vertically relative to the slide (28) and releasably lockable to the ram (41 ) at any predetermined location lengthwise of the ram (41), the positioning being incrementally variable, whereby vertical movement of the ram (41) is transmi