Lucent Technologies Inc.

Agere Systems Inc.

Agere Systems Guardian Corp.

Alcatel Lucent

Alcatel-lucent USA Inc.

Bahram Ghaffarzadeh Kermani

Jalil Fadavi-Ardekani

Walter G Soto

Vladimir Sindalovsky

Jonathan Herman Fischer

Scott Wayne McLellan

Steven DeArmond Curtin

Laurence Edward Bays

Clinton Hays Holder, Jr

Srinivasa Gutta

Richard J Niescier

Kouros Azimi

Richard Niescier

James Frank Vomero

Geoffrey Lawrence Smith

Daniel K Greenwood

Surender Dayal

William James Smurthwaite

Fan You

The invention is a method and apparatus for controlling electronic devices from a remote location. The method and apparatus utilizes a remote control device which receives and transmits voice commands as electrical signals to at least one controlled device having a recognition processor which converts received electrical signals to pattern data and compares that pattern data with data stored in the processor. The invention may incorporate the use of a recorder for recording electrical signals in the remote or controlled device and may further include a teaching circuit for retrieving and reproducing voice commands as visual or audio prompts as needed. The invention may be adapted to control multiple controlled devices in coordination so that each coordinated device is made to perform the same or a different function in response to a single voice command is disclosed.

Voice command remote control system

A method and computer implemented system may be used to abstract an electronic document. A user is prompted to select at least one abstracted version of the electronic document. A set of instructions is selected for abstracting the electronic document, and the abstracted version is created by executing the selected set of instructions. The instructions may be generic or particularized to the electronic document. The abstracted version of the electronic document is then outputted in a predetermined format.

Method and system for abstracting electronic documents

The information available to a driver of a vehicle is greatly expanded using wireless communications (e.g., using Bluetooth wireless communication devices). In one embodiment, information regarding an adjacent vehicle such as a brake light, a turn light, speed, distance, direction, etc., is transmitted from one vehicle to a nearby or adjacent other vehicle. The received information is used in any appropriate manner, such as causing the receiving vehicle to change vehicle speed or brake, to turn to avoid a collision, etc. In a second embodiment, roadside wireless transceivers collect information regarding passing vehicles, and central database is compiled relating to a traffic conditions. The traffic condition information can be passed back to the passing vehicles for appropriate use, e.g., causing the driver to slow down, or even causing a navigation device in the receiving vehicle to manually prompt for or automatically recalculate a best route to an intended destination. In yet another embodiment, broadcast transmitters can be established at signs and other significant locations transmitting information to passing vehicles. The broadcast information may be as simple as indicating the existence of the sign, or depending upon the range of the particular wireless transmitter, the existence of a particular sign, bump in road, curve, etc., can be forewarned far in advance of when the driver will actually see the relevant object. Alternatively, the broadcast information may be quite detailed, e.g., containing a detailed itemization and directions to a large number of gas stations, restaurants, etc., reachable from a particular exit from a highway.

Vehicle interaction communication system

A multiple agent system providing each of a plurality of agents, e.g., processors, to access a shared synchronous or asynchronous memory. In the case of synchronous memory, the clock signal from a super agent selected from among the plurality of agents provides a memory access clock signal to the other agents accessing the same shared memory. The other agents synchronize their respective address, data and control busses to those of the super agent, and output a representation of the same clock signal to the shared memory. In another aspect of the present invention, the shared memory is partitioned for use from among a plurality of groups of agents, each agent group comprising one or more agents. Any one of the agents may update a configuration register to flexibly reconfigure the amount of shared memory available to the agents as necessary.

Dynamic partitioning of memory banks among multiple agents

The fuzzy logic system of the present invention creates fuzzy rules in real-time and updates the fuzzy rules dynamically. This is accomplished by continually optimizing the features, qualifiers, cases, and operators of the fuzzy rules. The fuzzy logic system may be utilized in applications requiring constantly-updated fuzzy rules and also in applications where fuzzy rules are difficult to pre-define due to a large quantity of input data, such as, for example, stock market forecasting.

Fuzzy logic system with evolutionary variables rules

The present invention provides an optical disk with pits and/or bumps which each contain a plurality of facets. Each facet of each pit and/or bump is intended for separate read back as an individual 'side' of the optical disk (much as vinyl records had two 'sides' for separate playback). The separate &lsquo;sides&rsquo; of the optical disk formed by separate facets of each pit and/or bump can be read back either simultaneously or serially, either by a corresponding plurality of laser beams, or by a common laser beam which is positioned to a first orientation with respect to a rotating track to focus on a first set of facets of each pit and/or bump, and then repositioned to focus on a second set of facets of the same set of pits and/or bumps and thus to read a second &lsquo;side&rsquo; of the optical disk. The technique may be extended to provide a single optical disk and even a single track of the optical disk with even more than two &lsquo;sides&rsquo; by using three-, four- or five-sided pyramidal-shaped pits and/or bumps.

Multi-dimensional optical disk

An imaging device having a configurable focus area comprising: (a) an imaging system for generating a video signal of an image within a field of view, wherein the imaging system is adapted to adjust the focal point of the image according to an adjustment signal; and (b) a focusing system comprising: (i) a configuration device for facilitating configuration of a focus area within the field of view; and (ii) autofocusing circuitry coupled to the imaging system and the configuration device, the autofocusing circuitry being configured for correlating a configured focus area to a portion of the video signal, analyzing the portion for resolution, and effecting an adjustment signal to the imaging system to adjust the focal point of the image to improve the resolution of the configured focus area.

Camera with configurable focus area

The invention is a method and apparatus for printing images intended to appear to be of solid uniform color and intensity while conserving the amount of image-generating medium used to form the image. The method and apparatus form such images by continually reducing the amount of an image-generating medium deposited in a first portion of the image from a predetermined amount at an outer edge of the portion to a lesser amount at an inner edge of the first portion.

Method and apparatus for printing images

A technique and apparatus to allow a digital search of the entries in a digital audio database such as the Flash memory of a telephone answering system, the hard drive of a voice messaging system, the audio tracks on a compact disk, a cassette tape, a digital video disk (DVD), a videotape, etc. In one disclosed embodiment, each entry in the digital audio database (e.g., each audio track, each voice message, etc.) is converted into textual information, and the converted textual information is associated with a particular audio segment within the digital audio database. The textual information allows a digital search to be performed for a particular voice message, or portion of a voice message, in a telephone answering device, or for a particular song on a music CD, etc. Once the particular audio segment(s) containing a particular textual string is (are) located, that particular audio segment may be played or otherwise accessed, either in whole or in relevant part. While the described embodiments relate to a telephone answering device or a compact disk player, the principles of the present invention relate equally to any search mechanism for a particular digital audio segment stored in a database.

Voice clip search

A voice messaging system such as a telephone answering device which allows automatic identification and tagging of a voice clip portion of a full voice message which contains a spoken telephone number (e.g., a call back number). The voice clip may be tagged for later playback separate from playback of the full voice message. The full voice message may be deleted, leaving just the voice clip portion containing the spoken telephone number. The spoken telephone number may be processed through an appropriate voice recognition application program to generate textual information regarding the spoken telephone numbers, which may then be displayed. Call related information such as Caller ID information may be displayed together with the displayed textual voice clip information. The voice clip portions of the full voice message may be identified either in substantially real-time, or off-line during periods of non-use of the telephone answering device.

Telephone number recognition of spoken telephone number in a voice message stored in a voice messaging system

Apparatus and processes to allow a user of a voice messaging system such as a telephone answering device to delete only selected portions of a recorded voice message and/or to save only selected portions of a recorded voice message. A recorded voice message is marked and delineated into separate portions, e.g., at predetermined time intervals, at intermittent time intervals, at random time intervals, at content-silent or quiet points based on content of the underlying voice message, etc. The marked portions of the voice message can be selectively deleted or saved from the voice message leaving a reduced length and thus efficient voice message remaining in voice message memory. The portions of the recorded voice message may be deleted or saved either before, during, or after playback of the relevant portions of the recorded voice message.

Partial voice message deletion

The invention is a computer mouse-device/mouse-pad combination in which the mouse device and mouse-pad are magnetically attracted to each other so that a mouse device will stay fixed to the mouse-pad when the mouse-pad is at an angle to the horizontal. Preferably, the mouse device is magnetized by an electromagnetic magnet which is controlled to be sensitive to the touch of the user such that the magnetic force is weakened or turned off when the user touches the mouse device and is turned on full force when the user's hand is not in contact with the mouse device.

Magnetic mouse and/or mouse-pad

A multiple agent system providing each of a plurality of agents, i.e., processors, access to a shared synchronous memory. A super agent is preferably that agent from among a plurality of agents which accesses a shared synchronous memory most frequently. The super agent has direct access to the shared synchronous memory, without negotiation and/or arbitration, while the non-super agents access the shared synchronous memory under the control of an arbiter-and-switch. Open windows are generated when the super agent is not, accessing the shared synchronous memory. The non-super agents can be allowed interim access to the shared synchronous memory even, before the super agent terminates ownership of the shared synchronous memory.

Synchronous memory sharing based on cycle stealing

A programmable priority encoder having a plurality of request inputs and a corresponding plurality of acknowledge outputs. A configurable priority encoder subunit implements one of a plurality of priority schemes in response to a priority control word corresponding to the priority scheme. The configurable priority encoder subunit acknowledges, on a corresponding one of the acknowledge outputs, a request having a highest priority, in the priority scheme, of all current requests on the plurality of request inputs.

Programmable priority encoder

A method and apparatus for providing noise immunity for binary signals being transmitted on a chip. A single signal is split into two complementary signals and transmitted from the transmitting portion to the receiving portion. At the receiving portion is a new type of flip-flop, termed a UV flip-flop, similar to an SR flip-flop, but having two memory states for input states 0-0 and 1-1. The Q output of the UV flip-flop is coupled to the receiving point. Since 0-0 and 1-1 are both memory states, positive and negative noise glitches will have no effect on the output of the UV flip-flop.

Growing community of inventors

Whitehall, PA, United States of America

Bahram Ghaffarzadeh Kermani