Abstract: An ergonomic guitar including a contoured guitar body, a neck attached to the body, and a headstock on the distal end of the neck. A plurality of strings extending from the headstock to the body, a portion of the strings lying on a playing plane over the body. The contoured guitar body includes a front face located on a front or playing side of the body with a front edge extending around the periphery of the front face, and a rear face located on the back of the body and having a rear edge extending around the periphery of the rear face. At least a portion of the rear edge having a concave curvature relative to the playing plane such that the curved portion of the rear edge curves away from the playing plane.

Abstract: An ergonomic guitar including a contoured guitar body, a neck attached to the body, and a headstock on the distal end of the neck. A plurality of strings extending from the headstock to the body, a portion of the strings lying on a playing plane over the body. The contoured guitar body includes a front face located on a front or playing side of the body with a front edge extending around the periphery of the front face, and a rear face located on the back of the body and having a rear edge extending around the periphery of the rear face. At least a portion of the rear edge having a concave curvature relative to the playing plane such that the curved portion of the rear edge curves away from the playing plane.

Abstract: The dryer hose attachment apparatus provides a coupling with more than one embodiment. Each coupling rotationally engages the outlet hose provided for the dryer and the initial hose of a flex hose provided for exhausting air from a dryer environment. Each coupling provides for sealing the dryer exhaust air, from the dryer to the flexible exhaust hose. Each coupling provides for the apparatus to be fitted and to operate in close confines typical to clothes dryer environments. The flange of the dryer attachment may be fixed to the dryer via fasteners. The interior of the outlet hose of the dryer attachment provides sizing for interference fit around an existing hose which exits a dryer. And, both means of engagement may be employed.

Abstract: A wireless display tag, adapted to fit within the C-channel of a shelf-edge, or otherwise usable as a hang tag or small identification device, includes, depending on implementation, an active transceiver, a passive transceiver, or both, with analog and digital control portions for managing communications with a host.

Abstract: A low-power system for use with Wireless Display Tags (WDTs) includes, in one or more exemplary arrangements, various power management techniques, including receiver wake-up, RF logic sharing, RF repeaters and a frequency doubling power amplifier which operates on the absolute value of the input signal.

Abstract: Currently, networks are used within most enterprises to allow for sharing of resources such as printers and to allow for central server features to be available such as backup operations, shared files, and internal email. With the introduction of the third generation of wireless communication networks in which a mobile station can have an always on capability, private networks can now be established between mobile stations. In these implementations, the mobile stations each have a Home Location Registration (HLR) and a unique Internet Protocol (IP) address. The mobile stations within a private network are listed within a table stored in the intelligent peripheral by their HLRs. The intelligent peripheral regulates the flow of data units within the wireless network by determining if the sender of a packet and the intended recipient are within the same private network.

Abstract: A method for minimizing power consumption in a wireless device which utilizes backscatter transmission in half-duplex mode, wherein a switching device is interposed between an antenna and a transmitter-receiver, and the switching device is capable of causing the antenna load impedance characteristic to be either a short, a value which substantially matches the antenna impedance, or an open, depending on the portion of the half-duplex mode.

Abstract: A multiuse system for use with Wireless Display Tags (WDTs) includes, in one or more exemplary arrangements, techniques for automatically maintaining synchronicity between pricing data for a product and advertising, marketing or promotional data associated with that product, and for detecting the proximity and location of a customer within a category of goods displayed within a managed environment. A messaging format suitable for such low power operation among a large number of peers is also disclosed, as is a technique for integrating a plurality of smaller displays to yield a single large display. An access point capable of serving as a communications hub within such a network, while at the same time offering visual and audio surveillance capabilities, is also disclosed.

Abstract: A method for minimizing power consumption in a wireless device which utilizes backscatter transmission in half-duplex mode, wherein a switching device is interposed between an antenna and a transmitter-receiver, and the switching device is capable of causing the antenna load impedance characteristic to be either a short, a value which substantially matches the antenna impedance, or an open, depending on the portion of the half-duplex mode.

Abstract: A low-power system for use with Wireless Display Tags (WDTs) includes, in one or more exemplary arrangements, various power management techniques, including receiver wake-up, RF logic sharing, RF repeaters and a frequency doubling power amplifier which operates on the absolute value of the input signal.

Abstract: An adaptive equalizer for amplitude-modulation (AM) signal received by over-the-air radio transmission comprises feed-forward finite-impulse-response (FIR) filtering and further comprises infinite-impulse-response (IIR) filtering for feeding back decisions. The echo content of baseband signal demodulated from the AM signal is measured for initially determining the reception channel impulse response (CIR) in the time-domain. Thereafter, the CIR is updated by decision feedback. Periodically, the CIR is normalized with respect to the strength of a cursor component thereof. The strengths of longer-delay post-echoes in the normalized CIR are used to determine the weighting coefficients of the IIR filtering, which suppresses the longer-delay post-echoes. The pre-echo and short-delay post-echo portion of the normalized CIR is convolved with the normalized CIR to generate a synthetic normalized CIR.

Abstract: Techniques for calculating the system characteristic of the adaptive filtering used for equalization and echo-suppression in a digital communications receiver, such as one used for receiving over-the-air broadcast digital television signal, are described. In these techniques, the system characteristic of the adaptive filtering is calculated from the discrete Fourier transform of successive portions of the input signal supplied to the adaptive filtering and from the discrete Fourier transform of corresponding portions of the transmitted signal, as estimated in the receiver. Receivers for implementing these techniques in various ways are also disclosed.

Abstract: DTV signals transmitted over the air with a symbol rate of around 10.76 million samples per second include echo-cancellation reference (ECR) signals each of which includes or essentially consists of a repetitive-PN1023 sequence with baud-rate symbols, which repetitive-PN1023 sequence incorporates a number of consecutive data-segment synchronization signals. Receivers for these DTV signals respond to these ECR signals to generate initial weighting coefficients for adaptive filters used for channel equalization and echo suppression. The initial weighting coefficients are calculated from a cepstrum extracted from the repetitive-PN1023 sequence ECR signal by DFT methods or with a PN1023 auto-correlation match filter.

Abstract: An adaptive equalizer for amplitude-modulation (AM) signal received by over-the-air radio transmission comprises feed-forward finite-impulse-response (FIR) filtering and further comprises infinite-impulse-response (IIR) filtering for feeding back decisions. The echo content of baseband signal demodulated from the AM signal is measured for initially determining the reception channel impulse response (CIR) in the time-domain. Thereafter, the CIR is updated by decision feedback. Periodically, the CIR is normalized with respect to the strength of a cursor component thereof. The strengths of longer-delay post-echoes in the normalized CIR are used to determine the weighting coefficients of the IIR filtering, which suppresses the longer-delay post-echoes. The pre-echo and short-delay post-echo portion of the normalized CIR is convolved with the normalized CIR to generate a synthetic normalized CIR.

Abstract: Interface apparatus can be designed to allow wireless connections to be established between a computer and a computer controlled component such as a printer, scanner, etc. These interface apparatus do not require any modifications within the computer controlled component, as the interface apparatus is coupled to the computer controlled component via a standard interface such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) cable. The interface apparatus converts data information from a first format required by the standard interface into a second format required by a wireless data network, and vice versa. With the use of such interface apparatus numerous wireless private networks can be established including both computers with wireless data connections and other components that normally cannot attach and/or remove data unit headers.

Abstract: DTV signals transmitted over the air with a symbol rate of around 10.76 million samples per second include echo-cancellation reference (ECR) signals each of which includes or essentially consists of a repetitive-PN1023 sequence with baud-rate symbols, which repetitive-PN1023 sequence incorporates a number of consecutive data-segment synchronization signals. Receivers for these DTV signals respond to these ECR signals to generate initial weighting coefficients for adaptive filters used for channel equalization and echo suppression. The initial weighting coefficients are calculated from a cepstrum extracted from the repetitive-PN1023 sequence ECR signal by DFT methods or with a PN1023 auto-correlation match filter.

Abstract: A radio frequency switch includes a field-effect-transistor (FET) having a gate connected to a voltage multiplier. The control voltage for the switch is delivered to the voltage multiplier which delivers an increased gate voltage to turn the switch on. The voltage multiplier is driven by fluctuations of the control voltage as a transceiver, for example, is switched from the transmit to the receive mode.

Abstract: A tapering apparatus is mounted on a table platform for tapering a sheet of foam insulation. The apparatus utilizes a rotating wire through which a current is applied in order to heat the wire. The temperature of the wire is maintained above the melting temperature of the foam insulation so that the insulation is melt and cut as it is forced across the wire. A conductive wire forms an endless belt positioned around a pair of rotatable sheaves. The wire is responsive to the angular rotation of the drive sheave. The sheaves are vertically adjustable in order to set a desired height and cutting angle for the tapering of the sheet of insulation. The current flowing through the wire is controlled such that the wire is heated to a temperature above the melting point of the foam insulation. A variable speed motor is connected to the drive sheave which is used to rotate the wire about the sheaves. The sheet of foam insulation is then forced into the rotating wire.