Gte Laboratories Incorporated

Arthur Margolies

Jeffrey R Fox

Rob Moolenbeek

Martin L Resnick

Apparatus for a monitoring and signalling system such as a home health care system includes a plurality of sensors operative to monitor the occurrence of activities performed by an individual in his or her residence and to produce binary coded signals indicative of the occurrence of the monitored activities. Each signal comprises six successive identical messages within a one-second interval, with each message including a binary word identifying the monitoring and signalling system, the particular sensor originating the signal, and the nature of the monitored activity. Each message further includes a preamble and a pair of interwords on opposite sides of the binary word. The apparatus in accordance with the invention includes a microprocessor which operates to repetitively sample each signal originating with a sensor to determine the binary content of the signal and to extract a binary word from a message while rejecting preambles, interwords and 'glitches' (noise) present in the signal. The extracted binary word is then tested as to its satisfaction of predetermined requirements. If the binary word of one message satisfies these requirements, an interval of time is established during which a binary word of the next message is required to be extracted from the next message and also satisfy the predetermined requirements before permitting further processing of the second binary word.

Monitoring and signalling system including apparatus for processing

Electrical power supply for use with apparatus which transmits a predetermined message. When an input signal is received, a source of electrical energy is connected to a power output terminal by turning a switching transistor on. A latching circuit holds the transistor on after termination of the input signal. Elements of the apparatus which are connected to the power output terminal to obtain operating power transmit the predetermined message when the electrical energy is supplied to the terminal. When the transmission is complete, the apparatus produces a termination signal to the latching circuit causing it to turn the switching transistor off and thus disconnect the source of electrical energy from the power output terminal. A delay arrangement prevents the latching circuit from responding to a termination signal for a predetermined period of time after the input signal has terminated, thus preventing inadvertent disconnecting of the source of electrical energy from the power output terminal before the apparatus has had an opportunity to attain full operation.

Electrical power supply apparatus

An MOS circuit synchronizes an asynchronous input signal to first and second alternating clock pulses in an integrated circuit system employing clocked ratio logic. A bistable device, such as a flip-flop, has first and second complementary inputs for establishing the state of the device and an output reflecting the state of the device. An input circuit for the bistable device receives the asynchronous signal and applies the signal to the first complementary input and the inverted asynchronous signal to the second complementary input. In addition, the input circuit has gate logic, implemented with field effect transistors, which decouples the asynchronous input for all intervals of time except during the interval of the first clock pulse. An output circuit for the bistable device employs an inverter in series with a field effect transistor which is driven into condition only during the interval of the second clock pulse. The MOS synchronizer circuit thus insures that an output signal of usable logic level is generated for an input signal occuring at any time with respect to the clock pulses of a clocked ratio MOS system.

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Ashland, MA, United States of America

Arthur Margolies