Abstract: An electronic news receiving device receives text data for an electronic edition of a newspaper in the evening and audibly reads the newspaper to the user the next day. The newsreader includes a receiver which receives an electronic edition of a newspaper transmitted by a transmitter at an electronic news preparer's facility. The news preparer may mark words that do not conform to conventional letter-to-sound rules with a pronunciation flag and provide pronunciation data for the words with the electronic edition of the newspaper. The data may be compressed by providing a dictionary in the news receiving device and, at the preparer's facility, translating each word into a dictionary address. The transmission channel may include a telephone line, the vertical blanking interval of a television signal, a cable television channel, an AM/FM subcarrier signal or a satellite channel.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for receiving, organizing and presenting program information to a display device in a home from at least two outside sources such as CATV, telephone companies (TELCOs) and direct broadcast satellite (DBS) is disclosed. A distribution network is established within the home using, for example, a consumer electronics bus (CEBus). First, a plurality of signals each from a different outside source and each being associated with information for constructing a program information database for the respective source are received. Next, the separate streams of program information for each outside source are integrated into a single merged database, entries of which can be accessed as a function of user supplied criteria.

Abstract: A network configuration communication system and method comprising at least one brouter for automatically broadcasting its address and other network configuration information and at least one remote control device for receiving brouter broadcasts and automatically updating its network configuration storage locations. The remote control device may also be equipped to send requests for information for automatically transmitted response by proximate network brouters.

Abstract: A television receiver comprises a television system energized by the powerlines of a commercial power grid, a telephone network access system including a microphone disposed in close proximity with the audio speaker of the television system and a remote control system enabling the receiver to be operated in a television mode or a telephone mode. The television receiver according to the invention is characterized by having an annunciator/intercom enabled for operation by the remote control system. In the annunciator mode, the audio section of the television system is disabled and the microphone is connected through a radio-frequency signal transmitter to the power lines for generating a radio-frequency signal for local transmission. A frequency-modulator is included for modulating the radio frequency signal.

Abstract: A detector is described for fully rectifying a low level A.C. input signal without developing switching transients or substantial levels of undesirable signal components. The output of the detector is substantially equal to the square root of the sum of the square of the input signal and the square of a bias component. To remove the bias component, a linearity enhancer is described which receives the output of the detector and develops a further output substantially equal to the square root of the square of the A.C. input signal. The linearity enhancer may also be employed without the detector to remove undesired component from a signal which can be represented as the square root of a polynomial.

Abstract: A television receiver has a tuner, an intermediate frequency amplifier, and a detector for recovering a composite signal including horizontal and vertical display synchronization components and picture information. Horizontal display means produce a long-duration trace signal and short-duration retrace signal and a coincidence gated AGC system which is responsive to coincidence of the horizontal retrace signal and horizontal synchronization signal controls the gain of the intermediate frequency amplifier. A combination synchronizing signal separation and AGC lock-out defeat circuit comprises a transistor, having an input electrode DC coupled to the detector, a common electrode coupled to a charge-discharge circuit such that the input-to-common electrode junction of the transistor and the charge-discharge circuit cooperate to establish a bias voltage dependent upon the occurrence and amplitude of the display synchronization signals, and an output electrode DC coupled to the AGC system.

Abstract: A television receiver includes conventional circuitry for receiving processing and detecting an information bearing signal. Vertical scansion means respond to recovered synchronizing information and provide vertical scansion of a conventional cathode ray tube. A horizontal oscillator coupled to an output amplifier and high voltage generator generates a scansion signal and provides horizontal scansion of the cathode ray tube. An automatic phase control loop (APC) includes a differential amplifier phase detector which responds to the reference sync pulses and the horizontal output signal to produce an error voltage which is stored in a hold capacitor. A speed control amplifier coupled to the receiver AGC system varies the amount of phase detector action directly with signal strength to vary system speed.

Abstract: A frequency scanning automatic phase control includes a phase detector, a local oscillator and an APC filter. A coincidence detector includes an AND gate responsive to the horizontal retrace and reference synchronizing pulses. A lock detector also responsive to the retrace and reference sync pulses produces an output signal when a predetermined interval of non-coincidence has existed. An AND gate responsive to both the lock detector and coincidence detector gates a current sink which unbalances the phase detector producing a ramp-like error voltage across the APC filter. A threshold detector coupled to the APC filter activates a discharge circuit also coupled to the filter when the filter voltage exceeds the threshold. The oscillator responds to the variations of error voltage and changes frequency accordingly. Once coincidence occurs frequency variation ceases and is resumed only if non-coincidence returns.

Abstract: An additional signal is supplied to an integrated circuit, including a voltage regulator and a plurality of electronic circuit elements, by impressing the signal on a terminal coupled to the voltage regulator. Circuitry in the integrated circuit recover the signal by detecting the voltage regulator response thereto. Method and apparatus with voltage regulators of shunt and series type are described.