Abstract: Mechanical/electronic apparatus for receiving, maintaining and transmitting information and data, the apparatus including a host computer and at least two PCMCIA cards parallelly positioned in a PCMCIA card compartment and having a communication interface between the PCMCIA cards. The communication interface can bypass the standard PCMCIA bus which connects PCMCIA cards to a host computer and thus accelerate the transmission of information and data. The information and data exchange may be performed by coupling the cards through capacitive coupling, optical coupling and inductive coupling.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for connecting a card requester with multiple card service providers, whereas the card requester can select multiple services from a menu on a computer screen. The services offered by the multiple service providers can be combined and issued on one card after a successful calculation and simulation of the data was performed by the apparatus. The apparatus consists essentially of a host computer with a specific software, known as gateway apparatus or "Gateway Apparatus for Designing and Issuing Multiple Application Cards" (GADIMAC).

Abstract: Contact-free cards that have at least two coupling elements spatially separated from one another such as, inductor coils, capacitors plates or photoreceivers, that utilize the effects derived from the spatial distance of the coupling elements from one another, i.e. stereo effect, is provided. The contact-free chip cards use the stereo effect to decide whether they are located within a prescribed range of a transmitter receiver. The range of the access can be reduced further, but cannot be increased beyond a fixed limit. Thus, access to the data of such cards outside this range is precluded. Such cards can additionally be equipped with means for switchable authorization of remote access. The contact-free card apparatus of the present invention further provides that it is the card itself and not the card environment that decides whether it is located in the near range of the terminal device such that it allows protectable access to its data and prohibits access from a greater distance.

Abstract: In a system having a mobile part and an immobile part between which data and energy are transmitted, an electronic control for two resonant circuits serve the purpose of transmitting energy to the mobile part. The resonant circuits are driven so that their oscillations have a prescribed phase shift relative to one another. For data transmission to the mobile part, a phase shift is superimposed on the transmitted signal at one resonant circuit. On the basis of the phase relation of the signals relative to one another, the mobile part can identify which resonant circuit is transmitting the data. The oscillation of the resonant circuit that is transmitting new data via the phase shift is used for the formation of the clock signal on the part of the mobile part.

Abstract: An apparatus for bidirectional data transmission includes a predominantly stationary part with a data line connected to cause a phase shift of an osicllator signal for transmission to a predominantly mobile part. AC signal components of the oscillator signal received by the mobile part are formed into square wave pulses and a difference between high and low states of the pulses is indicative of a phase shift. During the high and low states, positive signal edges of a second oscillation frequency are counted and compared to one another so that predetermined difference causes a status change on a data output line in the mobile part.

Abstract: A method for calibrating a device for non-contact position measurement wherein a movable part subject to positional identification is provided spatially proximate to a sensor carrier that includes a plurality of signal generators electrically and spatially separated from one another in order that the position of the moving part can be identified via voltage signals therefrom. To obtain an unequivocal characteristic of the positional voltage distribution, only defined signals such as a zero value signal or other characteristic value, have length values signed to them and neighboring voltage values are coemployed to obtain an unequivocal position identification.

Abstract: A noncontacting signal and energy transmission device includes a stationary microstation and a moveable microunit, wherein data is transmitted between the microstation and the microunit simultaneously by phase shifted signals and by synchronously switched signals, which also supply power to the microunit.