Patents by Inventor Robert W. Boyd

Robert W. Boyd has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11874365
    Abstract: An example system for locating passive RFID tags includes a narrowband RFID reader configured to transmit a narrowband RF signal to energize a passive RFID tag, thereby causing the passive RFID tag to create a backscatter reflection target; a first wideband transceiver configured to transmit a wideband RF signal; a second wideband transceiver configured to: receive the wideband RF signal reflected from the backscatter reflection target; and record time-of-arrival data for the reflected wideband signal; and processing circuitry configured to determine a location measurement of the passive tag based on the time-of-arrival data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: Zebra Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: David S. Wisherd, Robert W. Boyd
  • Patent number: 11709097
    Abstract: An apparatus measures the transverse profile of vectorial optical field beams, including both the phase and the polarization spatial profile. The apparatus contains a polarization separation module, a weak perturbation module, and a detection module. Characterizing the transverse profile of vector fields provides an optical metrology tool for both fundamental studies of vectorial optical fields and a wide spectrum of applications, including microscopy, surveillance, imaging, communication, material processing, and laser trapping.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2023
    Assignee: University of South Florida
    Inventors: Zhimin Shi, Darrick Hay, Ziyi Zhu, Yiyu Zhou, Robert W. Boyd
  • Publication number: 20220011163
    Abstract: An apparatus measures the transverse profile of vectorial optical field beams, including both the phase and the polarization spatial profile. The apparatus contains a polarization separation module, a weak perturbation module, and a detection module. Characterizing the transverse profile of vector fields provides an optical metrology tool for both fundamental studies of vectorial optical fields and a wide spectrum of applications, including microscopy, surveillance, imaging, communication, material processing, and laser trapping.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 19, 2021
    Publication date: January 13, 2022
    Applicants: The University of Rochester, University of South Florida
    Inventors: Zhimin Shi, Darrick Hay, Ziyi Zhu, Yiyu Zhou, Robert W. Boyd
  • Patent number: 11067450
    Abstract: An apparatus measures the transverse profile of vectorial optical field beams, including both the phase and the polarization spatial profile. The apparatus contains a polarization separation module, a weak perturbation module, and a detection module. Characterizing the transverse profile of vector fields provides an optical metrology tool for both fundamental studies of vectorial optical fields and a wide spectrum of applications, including microscopy, surveillance, imaging, communication, material processing, and laser trapping.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2021
    Assignee: University of South Florida
    Inventors: Zhimin Shi, Darrick Hay, Ziyi Zhu, Yiyu Zhou, Robert W. Boyd
  • Patent number: 10677652
    Abstract: A method and apparatus is provided for implementing a parametric down-conversion (PDC)-based calibration comprising calibrating a measuring instrument; disposing a pinhole at a position of a light-emitting sample for which the measuring instrument needs to be calibrated; irradiating a nonlinear crystal with a light source; setting the nonlinear crystal by ensuring a phase-matching wavelength of the nonlinear crystal is set at one boundary of a desired bandwidth; acquiring one or more PDC spectrums by the measuring instrument; obtaining peak values and their corresponding wavelengths from each acquired spectrum; and obtaining a response function based on the peak values and corresponding wavelengths.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2020
    Assignees: University of Ottawa, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft Zur Forderung Der Wissenschaften E.V., Friedrich-Alexander-Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg
    Inventors: Samuel Lemieux, Mathieu Manceau, Robert W. Boyd, Gerd Leuchs, Maria V. Chekhova
  • Publication number: 20200011737
    Abstract: An apparatus measures the transverse profile of vectorial optical field beams, including both the phase and the polarization spatial profile. The apparatus contains a polarization separation module, a weak perturbation module, and a detection module. Characterizing the transverse profile of vector fields provides an optical metrology tool for both fundamental studies of vectorial optical fields and a wide spectrum of applications, including microscopy, surveillance, imaging, communication, material processing, and laser trapping.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 6, 2019
    Publication date: January 9, 2020
    Applicants: The University of Rochester, University of South Florida
    Inventors: Zhimin Shi, Darrick Hay, Ziyi Zhu, Yiyu Zhou, Robert W. Boyd
  • Publication number: 20190339126
    Abstract: A method and apparatus is provided for implementing a parametric down-conversion (PDC)-based calibration comprising calibrating a measuring instrument; disposing a pinhole at a position of a light-emitting sample for which the measuring instrument needs to be calibrated; irradiating a nonlinear crystal with a light source; setting the nonlinear crystal by ensuring a phase-matching wavelength of the nonlinear crystal is set at one boundary of a desired bandwidth; acquiring one or more PDC spectrums by the measuring instrument; obtaining peak values and their corresponding wavelengths from each acquired spectrum; and obtaining a response function based on the peak values and corresponding wavelengths.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 17, 2017
    Publication date: November 7, 2019
    Inventors: Samuel LEMIEUX, Mathieu MANCEAU, Robert W. BOYD, Gerd LEUCHS, Maria V. CHEKHOVA
  • Publication number: 20180246201
    Abstract: An example system for locating passive RFID tags includes a narrowband RFID reader configured to transmit a narrowband RF signal to energize a passive RFID tag, thereby causing the passive RFID tag to create a backscatter reflection target; a first wideband transceiver configured to transmit a wideband RF signal; a second wideband transceiver configured to: receive the wideband RF signal reflected from the backscatter reflection target; and record time-of-arrival data for the reflected wideband signal; and processing circuitry configured to determine a location measurement of the passive tag based on the time-of-arrival data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2018
    Publication date: August 30, 2018
    Inventors: David S. Wisherd, Robert W. Boyd
  • Patent number: 9983303
    Abstract: Systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer readable media are disclosed for providing timing-based distance measurement to a passive radio frequency identification (“RFID”) tag using one or more wideband RF signals synchronized with the standard narrowband RF signal. In some embodiments, the narrowband RF signal activates a passive RFID tag creating a backscatter reflection target which returns a modulated narrowband signal and a wideband signal from the passive RFID tag. The one or more wideband receivers determine time-of-flight and/or time-of-arrival measurements for the returned wideband signal. A location measurement is then calculated for the passive RFID tag using the tag data, the known location of the wideband transceivers, and the time-of-flight/time-of-arrival data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2018
    Assignee: ZIH Corp.
    Inventors: David S. Wisherd, Robert W. Boyd
  • Patent number: 9810766
    Abstract: An example method includes identifying a link that is one of a plurality of links of a wireless locating system, the link being defined by at least a reference signal source, a first receiver unit, and a second receiver unit; determining a reliability metric for signal transmission via a link based on first link data, the link data describing first reference signal events for the link; and modifying the reliability metric based on second link data describing second reference signal events for the link, wherein modifying the reliability metric includes: determining whether the second link data is consistent with the first link data; adjusting the reliability metric using a first function when the second link data is consistent with the first link data; and adjusting the reliability metric using a second function different than the first function when the second link data is inconsistent with the second link data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2017
    Assignee: ZIH Corp.
    Inventor: Robert W. Boyd
  • Patent number: 9519046
    Abstract: Systems and methods for determining signal source location in wireless local area networks are disclosed. An example method includes receiving, from a first signal reader, a first time-of-arrival measurement for a first radio frequency (RF) signal generated by a first wireless local area network (WLAN) signal source located at a first known location, the first time-of-arrival measurement being relative to a first clock of the first signal reader; receiving, from a second signal reader, a second time-of-arrival measurement for the RF signal, the second time-of-arrival measurement being relative to a second clock of the second signal reader, wherein the first clock is not synchronized with the second clock; defining a first time relationship between the first clock and a system time based on the first time-of-arrival measurement; and defining a second time relationship between the second clock and the system time based on the second time-of-arrival measurement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2016
    Assignee: ZIH Corp.
    Inventor: Robert W. Boyd
  • Patent number: 9500531
    Abstract: A wavefront sensing technique using Polarization Rotation INTerferometry (PRINT) provides a self-referencing, high-resolution, direct measurement of the spatially dependent phase profile of a given optical beam. A self-referencing technique is used to create a reference beam in the orthogonal polarization and a polarization measurement to measure the spatial-dependent polarization parameters to directly determine the absolute phase profile of the beam under test. A high-resolution direct measurement of the spatially-resolved phase profile of one or more optical beams is realized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2016
    Assignee: University of Rochester
    Inventors: Zhimin Shi, Robert W. Boyd, Mohammad Mirhosseini, Mehul Malik
  • Publication number: 20160291126
    Abstract: An example method includes identifying a link that is one of a plurality of links of a wireless locating system, the link being defined by at least a reference signal source, a first receiver unit, and a second receiver unit; determining a reliability metric for signal transmission via a link based on first link data, the link data describing first reference signal events for the link; and modifying the reliability metric based on second link data describing second reference signal events for the link, wherein modifying the reliability metric includes: determining whether the second link data is consistent with the first link data; adjusting the reliability metric using a first function when the second link data is consistent with the first link data; and adjusting the reliability metric using a second function different than the first function when the second link data is inconsistent with the second link data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 17, 2016
    Publication date: October 6, 2016
    Inventor: Robert W. Boyd
  • Patent number: 9395432
    Abstract: Various methods for modeling timing relationships between clocks are provided. One example method includes identifying a link that is one of a plurality of links within a wireless locating system and receiving link data describing a reference signal event for the link. The example method may also include determining a reliability metric for the link based on the link data and comparing the reliability metric to a threshold reliability metric to determine whether the link is a reliable link. Further, the example method may include adding the link to a collection of reliable links for the wireless locating system, and generating a model describing a timing relationship between respective clocks of each of a plurality of receiver units in the wireless locating system based on link data for each of the reliable links. Related systems and apparatuses are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2016
    Assignee: ZIH CORP.
    Inventor: Robert W. Boyd
  • Publication number: 20160116566
    Abstract: Systems and methods for determining signal source location in wireless local area networks are disclosed. An example method includes receiving, from a first signal reader, a first time-of-arrival measurement for a first radio frequency (RF) signal generated by a first wireless local area network (WLAN) signal source located at a first known location, the first time-of-arrival measurement being relative to a first clock of the first signal reader; receiving, from a second signal reader, a second time-of-arrival measurement for the RF signal, the second time-of-arrival measurement being relative to a second clock of the second signal reader, wherein the first clock is not synchronized with the second clock; defining a first time relationship between the first clock and a system time based on the first time-of-arrival measurement; and defining a second time relationship between the second clock and the system time based on the second time-of-arrival measurement.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 6, 2016
    Publication date: April 28, 2016
    Inventor: ROBERT W. BOYD
  • Patent number: 9285454
    Abstract: Example embodiments are directed to various aspects of processing received signals for determining a location of a source of the signals. An example method may include generating signal timing information, and determining times for a plurality of window periods for the signal of interest based on the signal timing information. The example method may also include retrieving, from a memory device that stores the signal stream, symbols of the signal of interest based on the window periods, and formatting the symbols of the signal of interest in preparation for determining a location of a source of the signal of interest. Additional and alternative methods and apparatuses are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2016
    Assignee: ZIH Corp.
    Inventors: Robert W. Boyd, Jerald W. English, Thomas L. Richardson, Michael A. Wohl
  • Patent number: 9274207
    Abstract: A system and method locates a wireless local area network (WLAN) signal source. A wireless LAN signal as an RF signal is propagated from a WLAN signal source at a fixed, known location to a plurality of receivers having unsynchronized clocks. The time-of-arrival is measured at each receiver and the timing relationship from the fixed, known location of the signal source is used to relate time-of-arrival measurements from a signal arriving from an unknown location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2016
    Assignee: ZIH CORP.
    Inventor: Robert W. Boyd
  • Publication number: 20150097716
    Abstract: Systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer readable media are disclosed for providing timing-based distance measurement to a passive radio frequency identification (“RFID”) tag using one or more wideband RF signals synchronized with the standard narrowband RF signal. In some embodiments, the narrowband RF signal activates a passive RFID tag creating a backscatter reflection target which returns a modulated narrowband signal and a wideband signal from the passive RFID tag. The one or more wideband receivers determine time-of-flight and/or time-of-arrival measurements for the returned wideband signal. A location measurement is then calculated for the passive RFID tag using the tag data, the known location of the wideband transceivers, and the time-of-flight/time-of-arrival data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 11, 2014
    Publication date: April 9, 2015
    Inventors: David S. Wisherd, Robert W. Boyd
  • Publication number: 20140285813
    Abstract: A wavefront sensing technique using Polarization Rotation INTerferometry (PRINT) provides a self-referencing, high-resolution, direct measurement of the spatially dependent phase profile of a given optical beam. A self-referencing technique is used to create a reference beam in the orthogonal polarization and a polarization measurement to measure the spatial-dependent polarization parameters to directly determine the absolute phase profile of the beam under test. A high-resolution direct measurement of the spatially-resolved phase profile of one or more optical beams is realized.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 25, 2014
    Publication date: September 25, 2014
    Applicant: UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER
    Inventors: Zhimin Shi, Robert W. Boyd, Mohammad Mirhosseini, Mehul Malik
  • Publication number: 20130051262
    Abstract: Various methods for modeling timing relationships between clocks are provided. One example method includes identifying a link that is one of a plurality of links within a wireless locating system and receiving link data describing a reference signal event for the link. The example method may also include determining a reliability metric for the link based on the link data and comparing the reliability metric to a threshold reliability metric to determine whether the link is a reliable link. Further, the example method may include adding the link to a collection of reliable links for the wireless locating system, and generating a model describing a timing relationship between respective clocks of each of a plurality of receiver units in the wireless locating system based on link data for each of the reliable links. Related systems and apparatuses are also provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 17, 2012
    Publication date: February 28, 2013
    Applicant: ZIH CORP.
    Inventor: Robert W. Boyd