Abstract: A conveyor specialized to convey people, and more particularly a conveyor which may serve as a conventional staircase, comprises treads that can individually raise and lower by the amount of the tread rise. To ascend, a user stands on the lowest level, and the tread lifts to match the height of the next tread. The user steps forward to the next tread. That tread likewise lifts to match the height of the next tread, and so on. In this way the user is able to ascend the height of the staircase without having to step up. A corresponding process permits descending the height of the staircase without having to step down. The conveyor can work even if the staircase winds or curves or goes around corners. Optionally a platform is caused to move laterally from each step to the next, so that the user need not even step forward during the process.

Abstract: In a direct methanol fuel cell, fuel efficiency is maintained by periodically adding a higher methanol concentration mixture through a cartridge into the primary fuel container. The cartridge replenishes methanol and partial water losses due to the consumption of fuel in the power generating process. In a typical system, the fuel replenishment mechanism is controlled through an electronic apparatus that monitors the power conversion process and is capable of predicting remaining operating capacity.

Abstract: A conveyor specialized to convey people, and more particularly a conveyor which may serve as a conventional staircase, comprises treads that can individually raise and lower by the amount of the tread rise. To ascend, a user stands on the lowest level, and the tread lifts to match the height of the next tread. The user steps forward to the next tread. That tread likewise lifts to match the height of the next tread, and so on. In this way the user is able to ascend the height of the staircase without having to step up. A corresponding process permits descending the height of the staircase without having to step down. The conveyor can work even if the staircase winds or curves or goes around corners. Optionally a platform is caused to move laterally from each step to the next, so that the user need not even step forward during the process.

Abstract: A wireless host is used with a computer having a BIOS, an operating system, a serial bus interface coupled with the BIOS, the wireless host operating under a protocol that functions only in the presence of a corresponding wireless communications driver in the operating system, and the BIOS characterized in that human interface device information received via the serial bus interface is made available to the operating system by means other than the wireless communications driver. Human interface device information is received via the wireless host. Depending on a predetermined condition, the human interface device information is passed to a wireless communications driver in the operating system, or is passed to the serial bus interface and is made available to the operating system by means other than the wireless communications driver.

Abstract: A system is described in which the Master can stop its clock and go into a low-power state (for power conservation reasons) at arbitrary times. Before going into the stopped-clock or low-power mode, the Master checks that the serial bus is idle (defined as both Clock and Data lines being “High”). A latch circuit is provided which is active when them aster is in low-power mode. The latch circuit watches for the very first negative-going clock pulse (from the slave), and its configuration is such that when latched, it holds the clock line low. Holding the clock line low prompts the slave to discontinue efforts to send the data. Stated differently, the slave will not conclude that it had successfully sent its data, and this prompts the slave to retain a copy of its data for later resending.

Abstract: A controller contains software which, when triggered in some prearranged way such as assertion of an input to the controller, calculates a digital signature for the contents of the protected memory of the controller. The digital signature is preferably extracted from the contents of the memory by means of a function that varies greatly with even small changes to the memory contents. The function preferably is such that one cannot easily determine from the output what input generated the output. The function is preferably such that one cannot easily create a data set for input that yields any particular predetermined output. The circuitry generating the signature may be embedded in hardware of the controller so that its digital signature function is unknown even to the programmer writing the main body of code to be stored in the protected memory. With such a hardware configuration, it is possible to have a very high degree of confidence that the memory contents are what they are expected to be.

Abstract: A wireless host is used with a computer having a BIOS, an operating system, a serial bus interface coupled with the BIOS, the wireless host operating under a protocol that functions only in the presence of a corresponding wireless communications driver in the operating system, and the BIOS characterized in that human interface device information received via the serial bus interface is made available to the operating system by means other than the wireless communications driver. Human interface device information is received via the wireless host. Depending on a predetermined condition, the human interface device information is passed to a wireless communications driver in the operating system, or is passed to the serial bus interface and is made available to the operating system by means other than the wireless communications driver.

Abstract: A clock stretching circuit (110) mites between a synchronous bus (112) and a microcontroller (124) which is asleep most of the time to save electrical power. The bus is of a type in which a slow bus device can cause the sender of data to “hold” the data until the slow device is up to speed. The stretching circuit (110) is of small component count and low power consumption, and there is no requirement for a continuous clock. In one embodiment is comprised of a triple analog switch (120, 121, 122) and a very small number of additional components. In another embodiment a dual four-position multiplexer (162, 163) is employed. In still another embodiment, four transistors (210, 212, 213, 215) are used with handful of additional components. A level shifter (220, 221, 222, 223) including an MOSFET and a large-value resistor help to minimize power drain within the bus device.

Abstract: A controller contains software which, when triggered in some prearranged way such as assertion of an input to the controller, calculates a digital signature for the contents of the protected memory of the controller. The digital signature is preferably extracted from the contents of the memory with a function that varies greatly with even small changes to the memory contents. The function preferably is such that one cannot easily determine from the output what input generated the output. The function is preferably such that one cannot easily create a data set for input that yields any particular predetermined output. The circuitry generating the signature may be embedded in hardware of the controller so that its digital signature function is unknown even to the programmer writing the main body of code to be stored in the protected memory. With such a hardware configuration, it is possible to have a very high degree of confidence that the memory contents are what they are expected to be.

Abstract: An improved energy-saving keyboard with low parts count accomplishes a sophisticated regime of low-power mode intervals in response to key closures and communications from the computer to which the keyboard is connected. An interrupt pin of the keyboard controller (encoder) prompts the transition from low-power mode to normal mode. The communications from the computer is synchronous communications mediated by a clock line, and the interrupt pin is tied not to the clock line but to the data line of the synchronous channel. The interrupt pin is also tied to a resistor array providing pullup biases to the keyboard matrix; in normal-power mode a discrete output of the encoder forces the common point of the resistor array to a fixed voltage level. In low-power mode, on the other hand, the discrete output is not asserted, and the resistor array is pulled high by a pullup impedance of relatively high resistance to the fixed voltage level. In this way, any key closure at the keyboard triggers the interrupt.