Abstract: An electronically controllable/programmable sign comprises a multi-layer display device, a display driver for applying at least one field across the image layer in accordance with a display signal, and a controller for providing the display signal to the display driver. The multilayer display device includes at least one image layer. The image layer has one or more regions of reflective media whose reflectivity changes in response to an applied fields. An electronically conductive layer is positioned on one side of the image layer; and a counterelectrode layer is positioned on the other side of the image layer.

Abstract: A method of creating or changing an image on an electric paper display includes selectively applying electric fields to various regions of bichromal media. The methods may apply the fields in a manner such that the vector sum of all fields applied equals zero, and/or the methods may wipe clean the bichromal media so that a single-color screen is displayed before a new image is applied.

Abstract: A system and method for remotely updating messages displayed on a plurality of low power consuming electronic display devices. The system comprises a server computer remotely located from a bistable display device which is in wireless communication with a computer network connected to said server computer. The server computer manages the updating and display of messages on the display device by providing new content and scheduling the display of the content.

Abstract: A method to greatly simplify and reduce the cost of displays when all of the images that need to be displayed are known beforehand. By precomputing the intersections of the images and addressing the intersections of the images, the number of drivers that are required becomes a function of the number of images rather than a function of the resolution. For example, four arbitrarily complex, overlapping images require, at most, 16 drivers. In general, n arbitrarily complex, overlapping images require, at most, 2n drivers. This result holds irrespective of the size of the display or the complexity resolution, or amount of overlap of the images. Further reduction of the number of drivers is possible if some of the images do not overlap some of the other images. For example, two images overlap each other in one area and two other images may overlap each other in a separate area while the two sets of images do not themselves overlap.

Abstract: Access to a limited bandwidth switching network of an ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) switch is scheduled using a reservation ring. In general, a limited bandwidth switching network is unable to generate all possible one-to-one input to output channel mappings in a single switch cycle. The limited bandwidth switching network includes one or more routing channels for routing at most B data packets each switch cycle between the input channels and output channels, where the number of data packets B is less than the aggregate output bandwidth that can be directed at the routing channels. Arbitration requests make two passes around the reservation ring each arbitration cycle. Output channel contention is settled during the first pass around the reservation ring. Contention for limited switching network bandwidth is settled during the second pass around the reservation ring.

Abstract: Ports of an ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) switch are consolidated into cluster modules to increase the aggregate throughput of the switch. Packets are routed between cluster modules using an intercluster switching network. The intercluster switching network includes a plurality of input channels and output channels. During a switch cycle, a maximum of "K" packets are delivered to each of the output channels of the intercluster switching network. This maximum of "K" packets is a speedup per cluster module that is shared between ports of each cluster module. Consequently, each output port of a cluster module operates with a peak speedup of up to "K" packets per switch cycle thereby increasing the aggregate throughput of the switch.

Abstract: Access to a switching network of an ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) switch is scheduled with a reservation ring that automatically determines the number of channels populating the switching network during a switch cycle. The reservation ring is a distributed arbiter that resolves conflicts arising among a plurality of input channels for access to a plurality of output channels of the switching network. Each input channel populating the switching network is coupled to an arbitration unit of the reservation ring. The arbitration units on the ring determine when an arbitration cycle is complete for each of the arbitration units populating the ring. This enables the number of channels populating the switching network to increase or decrease without having to reconfigure the reservation ring.

Abstract: A method controls multicast cell access to a switching network with a reservation ring in an ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) switch. The switching network distributes the multicast cell in one or more passes from an input channel to one or more output channels of the switch during a switch cycle. An arbitration session for a multicast cell begins by submitting an arbitration request identifying a set of destination output channels to the reservation ring. During an arbitration cycle, the output channels in the set of destination output channels are arbitrated for over the reservation ring. The arbitration request is reissued during later arbitration cycles until access to each of the destination output channels in the set of output channels is granted.