Abstract: A seat heater is installed between a seat pad that is a member supporting a load from a seated person sitting on a seat and has a plurality of ventilation holes through which the air generated by a blower flows is formed on a surface on a side of the seated person and a covering that covers a surface of the seat pad and has breathability. The seat heater includes a thin plate-like base material having voids through which air passes, and a heating wire fixed to the base material. A plurality of slits separate from the voids are formed in the base material.

Abstract: A method providing an increased signal-to-noise (SNR) characteristic for coherent distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) systems, the method employing fiber coils (microphones) made from sections of an optical sensing fiber that collect acoustic signals and uses multiple differential pairs of the microphones for signal averaging to improve the SNR. An analysis determines complex products (beating products) for a pair of locations that are part of a fiber microphone along the length of the optical sensing fiber that are used to determine a phase change in-between locations along the length of the optical sensing fiber.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure describe Rayleigh fading mitigation via short pulse coherent distributed acoustic sensing with multi-location beating-term combination. In illustrative configurations, systems, methods, and structures according to the present disclosure employ a two stage modulation arrangement providing short interrogator pulses resulting in a greater number of sensing data points and reduced effective sectional length. The increased number of data points are used to mitigate Rayleigh fading via a spatial combining process, multi-location-beating combining (MLBC) which uses weighted complex-valued DAS beating results from neighboring locations and aligns phase signals of each of the locations, before combining them to produce a final DAS phase measurement. Since Rayleigh scattering is a random statistic, the MLBC process allows capture of different statics from neighboring locations with correlated vibration/acoustic signal.

Abstract: An optical fiber sensing system with reduced spatial resolution and noise for multiple applications and method of operating same that employs a coherent receiver configured to detect and digitize both I and Q signals in two polarizations and performs signal beating in a digital signal processor (DSP) using the polarization-diverse signals to obtain beating results for multiple polarization state pairs that effectively reduces polarization induced fading effect(s) while providing faster sensing speed(s) and more efficient filtering. Since Rayleigh signals are captured in two orthogonal polarizations, four beating products are determined at once in the DSP and all are used for fiber strain determination thereby avoiding polarization fading.

Abstract: An advance in the art is made according to aspects of the present disclosure directed to a DAS method that utilizes a differential phase to detect phase change(s) between two locations of a DAS sensing fiber to ascertain vibrational/acoustic activities/environment at intermediary fiber location(s) between the two locations. Additionally, systems, methods, and structures according to aspects of the present disclosure may employ a fiber coil comprising a segment of fiber wrapped in acoustic sensitive material (“acoustic signal collector”). The material responds to an environmental acoustic signal, which results in strain(s) applied to the fiber. Furthermore, rather than using a measured phase difference between the two ends of the fiber coil, systems, methods, and structures according to aspects of the present disclosure utilize all samples collected from one end of the fiber coil to the other end of the fiber coil (the left side of the coil to the right side of the coil)—which may be extended further.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure describe single mode fiber distributed temperature sensing (DTS) with improved noise characteristics employing superluminescent emitting diodes (SLEDs) and/or amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) light sources.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure describe improved distributed acoustic sensing using dynamic range suppression of optical time domain reflectometry either by using a feedback loop comprising optical and electrical elements or using a nonlinear element in the electrical domain after coherent detection. When using a feedback loop, the amplitude of the periodic waveform of coherent OTDR can be inverted. This allows optical pre-compensation of the received optical signal before coherent detection with the goal of minimizing amplitude dynamic range. Alternatively, a nonlinear element in the electrical domain can reduce amplitude dynamic range before sampling by analog-to-digital converters (ADC).

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure describe systems, methods and structures employing time-space de-noising for distributed sensor.

Abstract: An objective of the present invention is to provide a contactlessly readable tag, method for manufacture of contactlessly readable tag, identification device, and method for reading identifying information, capable of effecting an increased capacity in recorded information and improved precision in reading said recorded information. Provided is a contactlessly readable tag, comprising a metal part and an electromagnetic wave absorption body. The manner in which the metal part and the electromagnetic wave absorption body are installed is associated with identifying information. When the tag is irradiated with electromagnetic waves, it is possible to identify the identifying information on the basis of the amplitude of the electromagnetic waves reflected by the tag, and the shift in either the frequency or the phase of said reflected electromagnetic waves.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure describe single mode fiber distributed temperature sensing (DTS) with improved noise characteristics employing superluminescent emitting diodes (SLEDs) and/or amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) light sources.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure describe Rayleigh fading mitigation via short pulse coherent distributed acoustic sensing with multi-location beating-term combination. In illustrative configurations, systems, methods, and structures according to the present disclosure employ a two stage modulation arrangement providing short interrogator pulses resulting in a greater number of sensing data points and reduced effective sectional length. The increased number of data points are used to mitigate Rayleigh fading via a spatial combining process, multi-location-beating combining (MLBC) which uses weighted complex-valued DAS beating results from neighboring locations and aligns phase signals of each of the locations, before combining them to produce a final DAS phase measurement. Since Rayleigh scattering is a random statistic, the MLBC process allows capture of different statics from neighboring locations with correlated vibration/acoustic signal.

Abstract: An objective of the present invention is to provide a contactlessly readable tag, method for manufacture of contactlessly readable tag, identification device, and method for reading identifying information, capable of effecting an increased capacity in recorded information and improved precision in reading said recorded information. Provided is a contactlessly readable tag, comprising a metal part and an electromagnetic wave absorption body. The manner in which the metal part and the electromagnetic wave absorption body are installed is associated with identifying information. When the tag is irradiated with electromagnetic waves, it is possible to identify the identifying information on the basis of the amplitude of the electromagnetic waves reflected by the tag, and the shift in either the frequency or the phase of said reflected electromagnetic waves.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure describe optical fiber sensing systems, methods and structures and application employing coherent detection of backscattered signals.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure describe systems, methods and structures employing time-space de-noising for distributed sensor.

Abstract: An energy management device includes: an acquirer that acquires a reduction target period, a reduction target amount, an equipment type, a presence of a special operation schedule, a scheduled time of a special operation, and a status; a generator that generates multiple control patterns on the basis of the information acquired by the acquirer; a selector that selects a control pattern to execute from among the multiple control patterns; and a controller that transmits control information to the equipment to be controlled on the basis of the control pattern to execute. At least one of the multiple control patterns is a control pattern for shifting the scheduled time of a special operation to outside the reduction target period, and reducing the power consumption amount by the reduction target amount or more during the reduction target period.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure describe systems, methods, and structures for passive optical add/drop multiplexing (POADM) architectures that remove the prior art requirement of an optical amplifier (i.e., repeater-less) at the POADM nodes.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure describe systems, methods, and structures for passive optical add/drop multiplexing (POADM) architectures that remove the prior art requirement of an optical amplifier (i.e., repeater-less) at the POADM nodes.

Abstract: An energy management device includes: an acquirer that acquires a reduction target period, a reduction target amount, an equipment type, a presence of a special operation schedule, a scheduled time of a special operation, and a status; a generator that generates multiple control patterns on the basis of the information acquired by the acquirer; a selector that selects a control pattern to execute from among the multiple control patterns; and a controller that transmits control information to the equipment to be controlled on the basis of the control pattern to execute. At least one of the multiple control patterns is a control pattern for shifting the scheduled time of a special operation to outside the reduction target period, and reducing the power consumption amount by the reduction target amount or more during the reduction target period.

Abstract: A home appliance monitoring system includes: a plurality of home systems respectively including a central managing device configured to collect monitoring information from a home appliance; and a center server connected to the central managing device of each home system. The center server calculates the current load amount, and sends an activating instruction signal or a deactivating instruction signal to each central managing device on the basis of the current load amount. The central managing device sets its communication status to an activated status in response to receiving the activating instruction signal, and sets its communication status to a deactivated status in response to receiving the deactivating instruction signal. The home system stores the monitoring information while the communication status is the deactivated status. The home system sends the stored monitoring information to the center server when the communication status is switched from the deactivated status to the activated status.

Abstract: Provided is an image data generating apparatus includes a position data obtaining unit and a display data generating unit. The position data obtaining unit obtains position data of a plurality of regions of interest (ROIs). The display data generating unit generates first data for displaying the plurality of pieces of position data on a display device and second data which enables a part of the captured image to be enlarged and a plurality of such enlarged parts to be displayed on the display device. The part of the captured image includes the ROI corresponding to position data specified by the user among the plurality of pieces of position data displayed on the display device. As a result, a screening operation for specifying a plurality of regions of interest and detailed observation can be performed in association with, and independently of, each other.