Abstract: An electrolyte bath for plating tin or tin alloy onto metal substrates using a high speed plating process is described. The electrolyte bath contains a stannous alkyl sulfonate and an alkyl sulfonic acid. The bath also contains an organic compound that is the reaction product of polyalkylene glycol and phenolphthalein or derivatives of phenolphthalein.

Abstract: A method and automatic test system for determining qualification of a twisted pair transmission line to propagate data signals. The method includes measuring phase imbalance in the twisted pair transmission line. The phase imbalance is determined by resistance imbalance in the twisted pair transmission line. The resistance imbalance is determined by applying a common mode voltage to the twisted pair transmission line; and, determining phase imbalance if the twisted pair in response to the applied common mode voltage. The method includes applying a common mode voltage to the twisted pair transmission line; determining phase imbalance if the twisted pair in response to the applied common mode voltage; detecting a peak in the determined phase imbalance; determining a frequency of the detected peak; determining line qualification in accordance with the determined frequency.

Abstract: An electroplating solution for plating bright tin, lead, or tin-lead alloy solder coatings in high speed electroplating applications. The electroplating solution includes an alkane or alkanol sulfonic acid electrolyte, a non-ionic surfactant, a grain refiner and two brightening agents: an aromatic aldehyde and a carboxylic acid. In one embodiment of the electroplating solution, the sulfonic acid electrolyte is methane sulfonic acid, the non-ionic surfactant is octylphenoxy(10)polyethoxy ethanol, the grain refiner is phenolphthalein, the aromatic aldehyde is chlorobenzaldehyde, and the carboxylic acid is methacrylic acid.

Abstract: An AGC method and apparatus is provided for a receiver to control the signal power of a received RF signal over a wide dynamic range and significantly reduce the ADC clipping time to a level appropriate for cellular communications. The AGC apparatus comprises an ADC (analog-to-digital converter) for generating digital samples of a received signal, a controller for providing a receiver gain setting based on the digital samples generated and an actuator for applying the receiver gain setting. The controller compares digital samples generated by the ADC to a first predetermined reference level, accumulates an error signal, calculates an attenuation adjustment based on the accumulated error signal and sums the attenuation adjustment with a previously calculated receiver gain setting for providing the actuator with an updated receiver gain setting which is applied therein.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for detecting whether load coils are attached to a telephone line. A stimulus waveform having multiple frequency components is applied to the line. The current and voltage at the near end of the line are coherently sampled and transformed to the frequency domain. The frequency spectra are used to compute auto and cross power spectra of the current and voltage. These power spectra are then used to compute the impedance on the line as well as a coherence function that indicates the extent to which the computed impedance was influenced by noise. If the coherence values indicate that the computed impedance is sufficiently reliable, load coils are detected by finding peaks in the magnitude of the impedance function or sign changes in the phase of the impedance function. Calibration, offset adjustments and ensemble smoothing are used to increase the accuracy of the results. The computation is fast because computing the spectra avoids the need for individual measurements at multiple frequencies.

Abstract: A process for plating tin or tin alloy onto metal substrates is described. In the process, a metal substrate is placed in an electroplating bath that contains a stannous sulfate and an organic compound additive in which the organic compound has a heterocyclic moiety in an aqueous solution of sulfonic acid. The bath is then subjected to pulse plating conditions that plate a layer of tin or tin alloy onto the metal substrate wherein the tin in the tin layer has a grain size of about 2 .mu.m to about 8 .mu.m. During pulse plating, a current density of about 65 ASF to about 250 ASF is applied to the electroplating bath in a pulsed manner, i.e. the current is cycled on and off during plating. The duty cycle of the pulse is about twenty-five percent to about thirty percent. The duration of the on pulse during the cycle is about 50 .mu.s to about 500 .mu.s.

Abstract: This invention relates to obtaining beta crystalline Phase isotactic polypropylene with high purity and thermal stability simply by melt-crystallization in the presence of a two component beta nucleating agent. The two component beta-nucleating agent is formed by mixing 0.0001-1 weight % of dibasic acid with 0.001-1 weight % oxide, hydroxide or acid salt of a Group IIA metal. Such beta phase polypropylene can be used for the production of high impact strength molding extrusion shapes, microporous film and microporous hollow fiber.