Abstract: There is described a method for reducing the surface area of silicon dioxide, which is characterized in that silicon dioxide is introduced into an electromagnetic shielding device selected from an aluminum/magnesium metal shielding device and a hypomagnetic chamber of Permalloy steel, and is incubated for a period of at least 3 hours, preferably at least 6 hours.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for measuring material properties using guided-wave THz spectroscopy to measure the complex dielectric functions of materials. A high frequency wave is created and launched along a waveguide positioned in close proximity to a material under test. The wave is sampled initially, allowed to propagate, and sampled again. The samples are processed to derive information, such as resistivity, of the wafer. The method and apparatus of the present invention not only allows one to obtain information about the DC conductivity of metals, but also provides information about the high frequency behavior of materials—metals, and dielectrics as well—which is becoming particularly useful at the time when processor clocks are running at frequencies approaching GHz levels. The present invention provides for non-contact, non-destructive, non-contaminating testing.

Abstract: Provided is a lithium battery in which the cathode comprises an electroactive sulfur-containing material and the electrolyte comprises a lithium salt, a non-aqueous solvent, and one or more capacity-enhancing reactive components. Suitable reactive components include electron transfer mediators of the formula: wherein: R4 is the same or different at each occurrence and is selected from the group consisting of H, alkyl, alkenyl, aryl, or substituted derivatives thereof; E is the same or different at each occurrence and is selected from the group consisting of O, NR5, and S; where R5 is alkyl, aryl, or substituted derivatives thereof; a is an integer from 0 to 1; and r is an integer from 2 to 5. Also are provided methods for making the lithium battery.

Abstract: Enol ethers of the formula (I) where R1 to R3 are each, independently of one another, hydrogen or a carbon-containing organic radical and R4 is an unsubstituted or substituted alkyl radical, are prepared by reacting alcohols of the formula (II) R4—OH  (II), with alkynes of the formula (IlIa), alkadienes of the formula (IIIb) R1—C≡C—CHR2R3  (IIIa), R1—CH═C═CR2R3  (IIIb) or mixtures thereof, where R1 to R4 are as defined above, in the presence of an alkali metal alkoxide and a polar, aprotic solvent.

Abstract: Provided are methods for preparing non-corrosive, electroactive, conductive organic polymers, such as for use in electrochemical cells, wherein the non-corrosive polymers are formed by treatment of electroactive, conductive organic polymer compositions, comprising corrosive anions, with sulfide anions. Also provided are non-corrosive conductive organic polymers prepared by such methods, composite cathodes comprising such polymers, electrochemical cells comprising such cathodes, and methods of preparing such composite cathodes and cells.

Abstract: Provided are methods for preparing non-corrosive, electroactive, conductive organic polymers, such as for use in electrochemical cells, wherein the non-corrosive polymers are formed by treatment of electroactive, conductive organic polymer compositions, comprising corrosive anions, with sulfide anions. Also provided are non-corrosive conductive organic polymers prepared by such methods, composite cathodes comprising such polymers, electrochemical cells comprising such cathodes, and methods of preparing such composite cathodes and cells.

Abstract: In the process for the preparation of vinyloxime ethers of the formula I by reacting an oxime with an alkyne where R1 and R2 are identical or different and are alkyl or aryl radicals, R3 is hydrogen, an alkyl or aryl radical, and R4 is a radical having the meaning of R3, which may be different than R3, or is a hydroxyalkyl radical, in a superbasic polar organic solvent in the presence of a strong base, the reaction is carried out under conditions such that the resulting vinyloxime ether stays in contact with the other constituents of the reaction mixture for only a short time so that it is unable to decompose or react to give secondary products to a significant extent.

Abstract: The present invention relates to novel electroactive energy storing organic polymers, which organic polymers, in their oxidized or fully charged state, comprise polysulfur components. Also provided are electrochemical cells comprising composite cathodes utilizing such polymers, and methods of making such composite cathodes and cells.

Abstract: A method and apparatus to achieve relatively high quality audio data compression/decompression, while achieving relatively low bit rates (e.g., high compression ratios). According to one aspect of the invention, a residual signal is subband decomposed and adaptively quantized and encoded to capture frequency information that may provide higher quality compression and decompression relative to transform encoding techniques. According to a second aspect of the invention, an input audio signal is compared to an encoded signal based on the input audio signal to detect and reduce, as necessary, distortion in the encoded signal or portions thereof.

Abstract: The present invention relates to novel electroactive energy storing polyacetylene-co-polysulfur (PAS) materials of general formula (C2Sx)n wherein x is greater than 1 to about 100, n is equal to or greater than 2, and the sulfur chain is bound to the polymer by both terminal sulfur atoms. This invention also relates to novel rechargeable electrochemical cells containing positive electrode materials comprised of said polyacetylene-co-polysulfur materials with improved storage capacity and cycle life at ambient and sub-ambient temperatures.

Abstract: The present invention relates to novel electroactive energy storing polyacetylene-co-polysulfur (PAS) materials of general formula (C.sub.2 S.sub.x).sub.n wherein x is greater than 1 to about 100, and n is equal to or greater than 2. This invention also relates to novel rechargeable electrochemical cells containing positive electrode materials comprised of said polyacetylene-co-polysulfur materials with improved storage capacity and cycle life at ambient and sub-ambient temperatures.

Abstract: A method of carrier recovery in a wireless communications system using a known synchronization word, for example an IS-54 TDMA system, operates in two stages to produce an estimate of carrier phase. In the first stage, a complex fading factor, embodying carrier phase information, is estimated from the synchronization word in the received signal using a least square criterion. In the second stage, the carrier phase is estimated from this complex fading factor by averaging. The averaging can provide a recursive average or a moving average, or can be implemented using Kalman filtering which also provides an estimated amplitude factor and frequency shift. The method and apparatus provide a substantial improvement over phase locked loop carrier recovery.

Abstract: Timing recovery, with or without frame synchronization, in a cellular TDMA communications system is carried out by a method comprising estimating indirect variables, which embody sampling delay information, of a linear complex vector using a maximum likelihood criterion, and recovering the sampling delay from the estimated indirect variables. For recovering the sampling delay, an optimal procedure and three sub-optimal, but computationally simpler, procedures are described, along with their physical implementations. For frame synchronization, the timing recovery sampling delay is supplemented by a number of sample spacings determined by a maximum of signal amplitudes of a plurality of samples, calculated from the estimated indirect variables and the timing recovery sampling delay.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for compression and decompression of an audio signal. In encoding an input audio signal, at least a portion of the audio signal is transformed into a set of coefficients. A set of binary vectors associated with the set of coefficients are generated for digitizing the transformed audio signal using a fixed rate adaptive quantization. Information based on the set of binary vectors is combinatorially encoded and output as a bit stream of encoded audio data. The encoded audio data may be stored, transmitted, and/or decoded.

Abstract: In a TDMA cellular communications system, optimal sampling of symbols in an information sequence is maintained by a method of timing tracking in which, recursively, indirect variables of a linear complex vector are estimated from received samples and previous estimates of the indirect variables, the sampling delay, and a complex fading factor, and the complex fading factor and the sampling delay are estimated by non-linear transformations of the estimated indirect variables. The timing tracking follows a timing recovery process which produces initial estimates. An implementation of the method uses a Kalman filter having constant filter gains and a transformation of the received samples and sampling delay to a reduced time interval.

Abstract: The method includes the steps of transferring onto a screen a required set of symbols, which is positioned relative to the output position; their mutual allocation is fixed; the set is moved over the screen on the display to the predetermined positions synchronously with the output position while keeping their mutual space allocations; the predetermined symbol is entered into the computer system, after said set has been fixed, thereby performing the entry of symbols into the computer system.

Abstract: Fast real-time rendering of a voxel-based 3-D object is achieved by constructing a surface voxel chain and using incremental vectors in describing positions of the chain elements. The rotations of all incremental vectors from a world space into a camera space are performed prior to a real-time imaging process, and the resulting rotations are stored in a lookup table. During the real-time process, only the information for surface voxels is stored and transformed; therefore, the required memory size for the 2-D imaging process is dramatically reduced, while the speed is greatly increased.

Abstract: A method of synchronizing to a pseudo random sequence, which can be generated by a linear feedback shift register having k stages and p intermediate taps, where k and p are positive integers and k>p, and a synchronization arrangement for carrying out the method are described. A received symbol sequence is supplied to a k-stage shift register with p intermediate taps in positions corresponding to the p taps of the linear feedback shift register. A respective correlation signal is recursively added at an input for the received symbol sequence and at each intermediate tap. Each correlation signal is produced by correlating at least two signals from said input, intermediate taps, and output other than the signal to which the respective correlation signal is added. The invention is particularly applicable to pilot synchronization in CDMA terminals.

Abstract: A method is disclosed for synchronizing, in the presence of sign ambiguity, to a pseudo random maximal length sequence having a characteristic polynomial of order k with a coefficients vector A given by:A=?1 a.sub.1 a.sub.2 . . . a.sub.k-1 1!where each of the coefficients a.sub.1 to a.sub.k-1 is 1 for an intermediate tap location and otherwise is 0. A received symbol sequence is supplied to and shifted through a K=k+1 stage shift register with P intermediate taps in positions determined by a coefficients vector A.sub.in given by:A.sub.in =?1 a.sub.1 (a.sub.1 .sym.a.sub.2) (a.sub.2 .sym.a.sub.3) . . . (a.sub.k-2 .sym.a.sub.k-1) a.sub.k-1 1!where a.sub.1 and a.sub.k-1 are the inverse of a.sub.1 and a.sub.k-1 respectively and .sym. denotes a modulo-2 sum, whereby the shift register has P intermediate taps where P is a positive integer less than K. A respective correlation signal is recursively added at an input for the received symbol sequence and at each intermediate tap.

Abstract: An apparatus and method of coding speech. The apparatus includes a first circuit being coupled to receive a first signal, the first signal corresponds to the speech signal. The first circuit is for generating a first set of parameters corresponding to the first frame. The apparatus includes a second circuit, being coupled to receive a second signal and the first set of parameters, the second signal corresponding to the speech signal, and the second circuit is for generating a third signal. The apparatus further includes a pulse train analyzer, being coupled to the second circuit, for generating a third match value, a third set of parameters, and a third excitation value. The apparatus further including a fourth circuit, being coupled to the second circuit, for generating a fourth match value, a fourth set of parameters, and a fourth excitation value. The apparatus further including a fifth circuit, being coupled to the third circuit and the fourth circuit, for selecting a mode corresponding to a match value.