Abstract: A family of semiconductor devices is formed in a substrate that contains no epitaxial layer. In one embodiment the family includes a 5V CMOS pair, a 12V CMOS pair, a 5V NPN, a 5V PNP, several forms of a lateral trench MOSFET, and a 30V lateral N-channel DMOS. Each of the devices is extremely compact, both laterally and vertically, and can be fully isolated from all other devices in the substrate.

Abstract: A hybrid mobile ad-hoc network and a method of operating the same, including a mobile network node and a plurality of static network nodes randomly distributed over a coverage area with a predetermined density. The static network nodes form a static infrastructure backbone of the hybrid mobile ad-hoc network. Position information of the static network nodes, either through position awareness or triangulation with reference to other static nodes enhances the network function. The method tracks mobile node position with a minimum of overhead because of the fixed infrastructure of static nodes. The infrastructure can self-heal by placing excess static nodes in a hibernating state, and activating those in response to the failure of a nearby static node.

Abstract: A method for establishing and maintaining the network and a corresponding ad-hoc moving-device to moving-device network having a plurality of moving-devices grouped into a Local Peer Group (LPG) is disclosed. A group header node (GH) is selected from the plurality of moving wireless devices in the LPG. The GH controls and manages the LPG by broadcasting a plurality of control messages, including a heartbeat message at a fixed interval. The LPG also includes at least one group node (GN). The at least one GN can communicate with the GH via a network link created between the at least one GN and the GH. The GNs join the LPG via the GH. If there is more then one GH in an LPG, header resolution occurs to select only one GH.

Abstract: Establishing and maintaining a moving ad-hoc network is provided. The ad-hoc network includes a plurality of equivalent cells communicationally linked together to form a linked equivalent cell network. An equivalent cell header manages each equivalent cell. Additionally, regular nodes, scattered throughout the equivalent cell network, may be provided. Regular nodes have restricted communication privileges compared to the equivalent cell headers. However, equivalent cell headers can be demoted to regular nodes and regular nodes can be promoted to equivalent cell headers as required by equivalent cell network.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method and apparatus for improved self-healing in a mobile ad-hoc wireless network in which network communication functions are divided into a plurality of functional layers. The system utilizes cross-layer self-healing techniques. Network data from at least one of the functional layers is stored, for example in a storage unit of the network node. The stored network data is then used to modify the functioning of at least one of the other layers. In one embodiment, a management module manages the storage and use of the network data. In particular embodiments, the stored network data relates to successful transmission rates and/or clear channel rates, and this stored data is used to adjust the transmission power of the network node. In another embodiment, the stored data may be used to generate a table of interchangeable network nodes, which may then be used to reroute a data packet to a network node other than an originally specified destination node.

Abstract: A method and system for providing location-aware and location-based content services. The system preferably comprises an overlay service network that includes a plurality of information gateway servers. A mobile client uses the servers in the overlay service network to request and receive information. The particular server used by the mobile client is selected based on the geo-location of the mobile client. The method comprises partitioning a geographic area into a plurality of sub-areas and associating resources to the sub-areas based on the location of mobile units within a sub-area.

Abstract: An aspect of the present invention is a method for routing content information to a mobile user or client application. The method preferably comprises re-directing a user request to one or more gateway servers provided via an overlay network. In another aspect, the present invention is an apparatus that includes a proxy service that intercepts content information requests to the Internet and re-directs the content requests to an overlay. Another aspect of the present invention comprises a location-based Uniform Resource Locator that includes a protocol semantic portion and a location-based resolver address portion that identifies one or more resources on a network based on the geographical location of the resources.

Abstract: Wireless internet in the in-vehicle environment is an evolving reality that reflects the gradual convergence of wireless and internet technologies. The present invention provides an application layer system that makes wireless internet access adaptive to dynamically changing heterogeneous network environments, by stressing carrier-independence and access transparency. To achieve these objectives, the present invention provides the following features: HTTP session continuity and automatic HTTP failure recovery; network environment awareness and application-level preemptive handoff based on bandwidth capacity.

Abstract: A method for organizing and maintaining an ad-hoc network for communication between a plurality of moving devices is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of grouping the plurality of moving devices into at least one local peer group (LPG), ordering the plurality of devices within each LPG based upon a relative position of each of the plurality of devices within each LPG and assigning a unique identifier for each of the plurality of moving devices, where the unique identifier is based, in part on the LPG that the corresponding moving device is located.

Abstract: Disclosed is an improved proactive location based routing protocol for ad-hoc wireless networks. When a source node has a data packet to send to a destination node, the source node calculates an estimated future location of the destination node prior to forwarding a data packet to the destination node. The estimated future location may be based on the last known location, velocity and bearing of the destination node, as well as upon the estimated propagation delay (i.e., the estimated time it will take the data packet to reach the destination node after being transmitted by the source node). The source node routes the data packet by identifying which one of a plurality of its neighbor nodes is closest to the estimated future location of the destination node, and routes the data packet the identified neighbor node as an intermediate node along the route from the source node to the destination node. Further, the frequency of flooding broadcasts is based on the velocity of the network nodes.

Abstract: A plurality of servers for processing client requests forward the requests among themselves to achieve a balanced load. When a server initially receives a client request, it randomly selects another of the plurality of servers, referred to as a first-chance server, and forwards the request to this server. Upon receiving the request, the first-chance server determines if it is overloaded and if not, processes the request. However, if overloaded, the first-chance server compares its load to the load of one or more predetermined next-neighbor servers. If the next-neighbor server(s) are more loaded than the first-chance server, the first-chance server processes the request. Otherwise, the first-chance server forwards the request to the least loaded next-neighbor server. The next-neighbor receiving the request either processes it directly, or alternatively, based on its current load and that of its next-neighbor server(s), forwards the request to another next-neighbor server for processing.

Abstract: A method of tailoring data streams transmitted to networked user devices is disclosed in which environment information associated with each device is stored at an agent located on those devices. This environment information may include information related to the hardware, interface and application capabilities of the particular device. In another embodiment, this environment information is transmitted and stored at an agent at a local network gateway. And in another embodiment, the environment information is then stored at a mirror agent located in a backbone network of a service provider. By referring to this environment information, a service provider can tailor the transmission of data streams, such as multimedia streams, to a device based on the capabilities of the device and the associated network.

Abstract: The present invention provides a system and method for automatically configuring a mobile host in a Wireless Local Access Network (WLAN) environment. In particular, the present invention employs GPS technology and an Information Gateway to provide preconfigured information about different access points of the WLAN within the vicinity of the current location of the mobile host.

Abstract: The present invention provides a system and method for automatically configuring a mobile host in a Wireless Local Access Network (WLAN) environment. In particular, the present invention employs GPS technology and an Information Gateway to provide preconfigured information about different access points of the WLAN within the vicinity of the current location of the mobile host.

Abstract: The present invention presents an architecture to dynamically measure and estimate the throughput perceived by a user during a connection in real-time in a wireless network system. The architecture system design of the present invention allows for information gathering independent of the mathematical models used and takes into account security settings in the network hosts. The present invention also sets forth a number of throughput estimators (TEs) that can be used within the architecture to gather the information needed to carry out the throughput estimation calculations. The throughput estimations can then be used for download rate control, QoS, load balancing, etc. The present invention also provides algorithms to calculate the real-time throughput experienced by a user flow.

Abstract: The present invention relates to the reduction of handoff delays for mobile telematics applications. In particular, the present invention provides a method employing GPS technology to define IP addresses in a mobile environment in order to reduce delays and transient data loss caused by handoff from one network to another.

Abstract: Wireless internet in the in-vehicle environment is an evolving reality that reflects the gradual convergence of wireless and internet technologies. The present invention provides an application layer system that makes wireless internet access adaptive to dynamically changing heterogeneous network environments, by stressing carrier-independence and access transparency. To achieve these objectives, the present invention provides the following features: HTTP session continuity and automatic HTTP failure recovery; network environment awareness and application-level preemptive handoff based on bandwidth capacity.

Abstract: As multicast services become prevalent, it is important to find viable solutions for multicasting to mobile nodes. This problem is complicated by the necessity to support multicast services over existing backbone and access networks that may have varying network and/or link layer multicasting capabilities. While most work on supporting multicast services focuses on the IP layer solution, the present invention presents an application-layer approach for providing multicast services to mobile users traversing networks with diverse multicast capabilities. The present invention places multicast proxies in the backbone and access networks to support several multicast-related functions at the application layer including the creation of virtual networks for dynamically tunneling through non-multicast-capable networks.

Abstract: A family of semiconductor devices is formed in a substrate that contains no epitaxial layer. In one embodiment the family includes a 5V CMOS pair, a 12V CMOS pair, a 5V NPN, a 5V PNP, several forms of a lateral trench MOSFET, and a 30V lateral N-channel DMOS. Each of the devices is extremely compact, both laterally and vertically, and can be fully isolated from all other devices in the substrate.

Abstract: A system and method for detecting a target. The inventive method includes the steps of receiving a complex return signal of an electromagnetic pulse having a real and an imaginary component; extracting from the imaginary component information representative of the phase component of the return signal; and utilizing the phase component to detect the target. Specifically, the phase components are those found from the complex range-Doppler map. More specific embodiments further include the steps of determining a power spectral density of the phase component of the return signal; performing a cross-correlation of power spectral density of the phase component of the return signal between different antenna-subarray (quadrant channels); and averaging the cross-correlated power spectral density of the low frequency components. In an alternative embodiment, the cross-correlation is performed on the phase component of the range-Doppler map directly.