Abstract: Methods, apparatus, and techniques for enhancing the security of data stored in a network, enhancing the stealth of a wireless communication network, for communications between network nodes of a mesh network having multi-modal, multi-channel, and/or multi-frequency band communication capabilities, and for securely authenticating nodes joining a network.

Abstract: A method for removing fines, such as sand, from a crude oil tank generally includes the steps of directing a fluid into the bottom of the tank to stir up the sand settled therein to create a sand and fluid slurry. The method further includes the step of suctioning the slurry from the tank. To accomplish the steps, a pressure line is coupled to a pump which jettisons fluid through holes in the pressure line located near the bottom of the oil tank to stir the fines, thereby creating a slurry. A drain line is also located near the bottom of the tank, and is coupled to another pump for simultaneously suctioning the slurry through the drain line outside of the tank. A gravel or dump truck, or the like, is retrofitted with the pressure line and drain line pumps and tubing adapted to couple the drain line to the bed of the truck so that the slurry is extracted from the tank through the drain line into the bed of the truck.

Abstract: An LCLV is formed with a sapphire substrate base, a highly doped, thin silicon epitaxial layer forming an ohmic back contact on a smooth surface of the sapphire substrate, and a lightly doped, high resistivity silicon epitaxial layer in the range of about 20-60 microns thick on the back contact. The use of a sapphire substrate provides a better surface quality and higher resolution than previously available with the semiconductor substrates. Lattice defects in the thin back contact are reduced by the formation of a buried amorphous layer adjacent the sapphire substrate, and subsequent recrystallization thereof using the unamorphized portions of the back contact as recrystallization seeds. The application of the invention to both MOS and Schottky diode LCLVs is discussed.

Abstract: To locate the very thin transparent low-resistivity planar electrode layers in a multilayer epitaxial structure for an electrooptic tunable filter, one edge of the stack is covered with a dielectric, and a long diagonal strip opening is made through the dielectric. A common metal electrode is formed on the opposite edge of the stack. The edge with the strip opening is immersed in a plating solution and potential applied at the common electrode so that a metal deposit is formed at the exposed location of each low-resistivity layer along the strip opening.