Abstract: A clamp for clamping an electronic component to a circuit board. The clamp has a frame capable of deflection, a spacer structure, and fasteners. The spacer structure has a first and second spacer. One, or both, of the spacers have an opening through at least a portion the spacer in the location where the spacer is positioned over the component. The opening places most of the force of the clamp on the walls of the package of the component. The walls can withstand more force than the lid of the package of the component because the walls are more rigid. This allows the clamp to exert a larger force on the component without cracking the thin lid of the package. The frame has a top section whose central portion is capable of deflection.

Abstract: An enclosure having two walls an attenuation distance apart from each other perpendicular to the plate of the enclosure. At least one of the walls is orbitally riveted or soldered to the plate of the enclosure. Having two walls an attenuation distance from each other is particularly advantageous for RF components. The two walls can be placed to surround the RF component to reduce the RF energy generated by the component that escapes in to the atmosphere, or the two walls can be placed to separate the RF component from other component in the same enclosure to reduce the interference of the RF component with the other components. Alternatively, the enclosure can have a single wall orbitally riveted to the plate of the enclosure with an RF gasket attached to the entire length of the wall to reduce the amount of RF energy that is able to pass around the wall.

Abstract: An assembly that has an insert that fits onto a back plate. The back plate receives a circuit board that covers at least a portion of the insert. A components attaches to the circuit board and to the insert. The insert is made out of a material having a thermal expansion coefficient that is close to the thermal expansion coefficient of the bottom surface of the component, which allows the component to be securely soldered to the insert and therefore to the assembly. Preferably the insert is also made out of a good conductor to provide a good electrical conduction path between the component and the ground plane of the circuit board that contact the insert. The insert either fits into a recessed area in the back plate or attaches to the top of the back plate. In an alternative embodiment, the assembly has a circuit board with a contact opening and a back plate with a raised area that fits into the contact opening. The contact opening exposes a portion of ground plane on the circuit board.

Abstract: An assembly including a back plate and a circuit board coupled to the back plate with mechanical fasteners is provided. The fastener has an end and a head with a top surface. The top surface of the head is between the top and bottom surfaces of the circuit board, inclusively, such that the head is either below or flush with the top surface of the circuit board. This allows solder to be deposited onto the circuit board with an automated surface mounted assembly system and components to be attached to the circuit board after the circuit board is attached to back plate. The circuit board has an opening that receives the head of the fastener. A portion of this opening has a diameter as large as the diameter of the widest portion of the head and another portion of this opening, located closer to the back plate has a smaller diameter.

Abstract: An optical communications system for transmission of optical signals using relaxation oscillation subcarrier, on-off keying modulation of the optical signals. Relaxation oscillation subcarrier on-off keying improves the signal-to-noise ratio of a receiver receiving the modulated optical signals and the data rate of the optical signal. A modulation device generates relaxation oscillations by pulsing a driving current for a transmitter between a first level below a threshold current and a second level above the threshold current. The optical communication system can further include a fiber optic link between the transmitter and the receiver. The optical communications system can further incorporate multiple frequency shift keying. The modulation device and modulation scheme can be used in all digital optical communications systems using a pulsed laser diode.

Abstract: Only one or only a few channels are sent at a time from circuitry located in a curbside box, via a link such as either a coaxial or a fiber cable, into a customer's home TV set or personal computer. However, many more than a few channels are delivered to the curbside box, via a link such as a fiber or a coaxial cable, from a central office or a central bank of paid video-movies to be selected by the customers. Thus whereas the link from the central office or central bank is relatively broad-band (e.g. 500 MHz to 1,000 MHz), the cable from the curbside to the home (or any other kind of building) can be relatively narrow-band (e.g., 5 MHz to 50 MHz). The curbside box serves a multitude of homes--a separate (narrow-band) cable running to each home from the (same) curbside switch. Each channel can be a free radio or free TV channel, a stored or an on-line newspaper pay channel, or a pay TV channel, or a pay-per-view channel (i.e.