Other

Trw Limited

Arthur L Garrison

Scott Adam Stephens

Terrence R Smigla

Carl F Reisig

A quick change vice jaw plate arrangement includes jaw plates that may be rapidly secured to and rapidly removed from the opposing jaws of a vice. The jaws of the vice includes spaced jaw plate retainers which each carry a retaining pin. Each retaining is biased toward the face of the jaw and includes a relatively narrow shank and a relatively wider head. Each jaw plate has spaced retention recesses including a wide portion for receiving the head of the retaining pin, a detent portion for detaining the head of the retaining pin and a narrow portion for guiding it from the wide portion to the detent portion. A jaw plate may be quickly secured to a vice jaw by placing the wide portions of the retention recesses over the jaw plate retainers and sliding the jaw plate until the heads of the retainer pins seat in the detent portions of the retention recesses. The jaw plate may be rapidly removed from the vice jaw by a reverse action in which the heads of the retainer pins pop back up into the narrow portions of the retention recesses and exit through the wide portions of the retention recesses.

Quick change jaw plates for machine tool vices

A power control method and apparatus are provided for a satellite based telecommunications system. The system includes a power control subsystem which is operative with systems operations center for distributing available satellite power between earth stations. Each earth station includes a baseband manager which subdivides the available satellite power between subband beams emitted from the satellite. The earth station further includes beam processors which manage the power allocated to each subband within an associated beam in order to maintain a desired signal quality in a forward link between the satellite and user terminals within the associated subbands. The beam processors communicate with modems, each of which is assigned to a particular user terminal. Each modem controls the satellites transmission power in the forward link to the user terminals to maintain a desired signal-to-noise ratio at the user terminal receiver. The signal-to-noise ratio is determined by the corresponding beam processor. The subsystem further provides a dynamic power control loop between user terminals in the forward and return links to maintain a desired signal quality. The subsystem automatically controls the satellite output power level to ensure proper power emission by a satellite in connection with feeder links from multiple earth stations.

Power control method and apparatus for satellite based

A method and apparatus are provided, for maintaining synchronous return and forward communications links between user terminals and earth stations communicating via a common satellite in a satellite based telecommunications system. Each user terminal maintains a closed synchronization loop with its associated earth station based on timing and frequency error offset signals received by the user terminals. The user terminals update their internal timing and frequency generators based on the received error offset signals. In an earth station sharing embodiment, one of the earth stations is designated as a master earth station while the remaining stations are designated as slave earth stations with respect to a common satellite. The slave earth stations monitor a return link between at least one user terminal and the master earth station. The slave earth stations update their internal reference timing and frequency signal generators, in order to remain synchronous with the return link between the monitored user terminal and the master earth station. The slave earth stations maintained synchronous forward links by requesting synchronization update information from the monitored user terminal. Upon receiving a request, the monitored user terminal calculates a difference in timing and frequency between frames received from the requesting slave and associated master earth stations. The user terminal transmits the difference in timing and frequency along its return link.

Method and apparatus for synchronizing communications in a satellite

A method is provided for determining the geolocation of a mobile terminal within a telecommunications satellite system. The system supports first and second forward communications links from first and second earth stations through first and second satellites to a common mobile terminal. The method includes receiving, at the mobile terminal, first and second forward link communications signals from the first and second earth stations and, based thereon, obtaining synchronization differential data. The synchronization differential data may include timing and frequency synchronization data necessary to maintain synchronization between the first and second communications at the mobile terminal. The mobile terminal transmits the synchronization differential data to the first earth station over the return link. The first earth station receives communications signals from the mobile terminal and based thereon calculates return link synchronization data. The earth station further calculates at least first and second geoposition lines, along which the mobile terminal is positioned, based on the return link synchronization data and the synchronization differential data received from the mobile terminal. The first and second geoposition lines define a point of intersection at which the mobile terminal is located.

Growing community of inventors

Redondo Beach, CA, United States of America

Arthur L Garrison