Lucent Technologies Inc.

At&t Bell Laboratories

Avaya Technology LLC

Other

Joseph Peter Savicki

Mark Benda

Norris B McLean

Luis A Aponte

Joseph Henry Condon

Milan F Jukl

Charles Robert Kalmanek, Jr

David S DeVincentis

William J Leighton, Iii

Paul Rominski

Thomas Douglas Selkirk Duff

Andrew Schwartz

Bart Nicholas Locanthi, Iii

A system and method that overcomes the deficiencies of prior optical data communication systems for local area networks by employing a centralized controller in conjunction with a robust protocol and contention scheme. This combination facilitates the transport of data between a number of optical nodes without collision. The invention is particularly suited to transmissions between several mobile optical nodes and one or more stationary network infrared collector/transmitters, allowing communication with the network as the mobile nodes roam from the vicinity of one network infrared collector/transmitter to the next.

Optical data communication system and method

A remotely reconfigurable switching network including an N&times;N Benes switch having a plurality of stages of beta networks. The Benes switch is separated into a left half section and a right half section, with one of the sections having one less stage of beta networks than the other section. An additional stage of beta networks is connected to the section having one less stage of beta networks so that the stages of beta networks in the left and right half sections mirror one another. At least one attachment device is interposed between the left and right half sections. An adjunct device is connected to the attachment device to provide additional service simultaneously with original service. The remotely reconfigurable switching network requires less nodes and thus, is less costly and takes up less space than conventional switching networks.

Remotely reconfigurable switching network

A connection switch jack has first and second sets of pins, and a set of spring contacts for connecting the first and second sets of pins when the spring contacts are in a normally closed position. The jack has a receptacle for receiving a plug having a plurality of plug contacts, wherein receipt of the plug connects corresponding plug contacts to selected pins of the first set of pins via the spring contacts and then moves the switch off of the normally closed position to break the contact between the first and second sets of pins.

RJ jack with switch

A printed circuit board that reduces parasitic effects on devices mounted thereon. The printed circuit board comprises a top layer and a bottom layer of a first insulating material having a first dielectric constant. The layers are configured to form holes whereby each of the holes has a first part extending through the top layer and a second part extending through the bottom layer. The bottom layer is further configured to comprise a second insulating material having a second dielectric constant, which second insulating material surrounds the second part of the hole. The devices mounted onto the printed circuit board have pins that extend through the holes. When the second dielectric constant is less than the first dielectric constant, the parasitic effects on the pins of the mounted devices are reduced.

Reduction of parasitic through hole via capacitance in multilayer

A coaxial jack with an internal switch mechanism and a shielded signal conductor includes a cylindrical shell having an axial opening, and an elongate signal conductor supported coaxially inside the shell, and surrounded by a shield that includes an access window positioned so that a portion of the signal conductor is accessible. A back end of an elongate resilient switch contact is fixed by a switch contact support at a back portion of the shell on one side of the shell axis. The switch contact extends inside the shell toward the front opening at a certain inclination and has a free end located on a side of the shell axis opposite the one side. The switch contact is configured and positioned to make an electrical connection with the signal conductor, via the access window in the shield, in the absence of a mating plug. An elongate actuator is supported on the inner periphery of the shell and has an engaging part that protrudes into a defined plug travel path inside the shell. The engaging part is configured to cause the free end of the switch contact to deflect by an amount sufficient to break the electrical connection between the contact and the center conductor when a mating plug travels into the shell and displaces the engaging part of the actuator.

Coaxial jack with integral switch and shielded center conductor

The amplification of crosstalk between two isolated circuits due to a resonant condition between the two circuits is reduced by coupling the electrical grounds associated with the circuits with a series Resistor-Capacitor network.

Crosstalk reduction in parsitically coupled circuits

A system and method that overcomes the deficiencies of prior television/multimedia system integrity monitoring schemes by providing a system and method wherein a remote field component receives a test signal from a given source via a particular signal path, and, in response, provides feedback indicative of the received test signal to the source via a standard voiceband telephone connection. This enables the invention to facilitate simple, economical real-time testing/monitoring of television/multimedia distribution systems. The invention is particularly suited to television/multimedia systems that employ terrestrial cables as a means to distribute signals to end-users or remote nodes, but can also be applied to wireless signal distribution systems.

Transmission monitoring system and method

A coaxial jack with an internal switch mechanism includes a cylindrical shell having an axial front opening, and an elongate center conductor supported coaxially inside the shell. A back end of an elongate resilient switch contact is fixed by a switch contact support at a back portion of the shell on one side of the shell axis. The switch contact extends inside the shell toward the front opening at a certain inclination and has a free end located on a side of the shell axis opposite the one side. The switch contact is configured and positioned to make an electrical connection with the center conductor in the absence of a mating plug. An elongate actuator is supported on the inner periphery of the shell and has an engaging part that protrudes into a defined plug travel path inside the shell. The engaging part is configured to cause the free end of the switch contact to deflect by an amount sufficient to break the electrical connection between the contact and the center conductor when a mating plug travels into the shell and displaces the engaging part of the actuator.

Coaxial jack with an internal switch mechanism

Crosstalk reduction in parasitically coupled circuits with an RC network

In an amplifier for driving a large capacitive load, a boost circuit is included to improve the efficiency of the amplifier where an input to the amplifier has a small signal swing. The amplifier comprises a stack of series-connected charge-storage capacitors serving as secondary power sources. During a charging of the capacitive load, charge is obtained from voltage nodes between the stack capacitors. One or more low-voltage power supplies are connected to the capacitive load in the boost circuit. With these power supplies, during a discharge of the capacitive load, the latter appears to be charged to a higher voltage than it actually is so as to return some charge to the highest voltage node from where a portion of its charge was obtained. As a result, the power consumption in the amplifier is substantially reduced.

Amplifier circuits for driving large capacitive loads

An infrared collector for use in communications systems. The infrared collector employs a concentrator which concentrates infrared radiation received from some directions more than others. The concentrator is made of a dielectric material which is substantially transparent to infrared radiation and has a shape which is convex above a base plane determined by the top surface of an infrared radiation detector and in which any ray which connects any part of the top surface of the detector to any part of the concentrator above the base plane intersects the surface of the concentrator at an angle less than the critical angle for the material from which concentrator is made. The amount of concentration from a given direction is controlled by the curvature of the collector. The less a portion of the surface is curved, the less infrared radiation normal to the less-curved portion is concentrated. The collector may be used in environments where there is a predominant direction from which infrared noise is received in the collector which is different from the direction from which infrared communications signals are received in the collector.

Thermodynamically optimal infrared collector with directional reduction

An infrared collector which employs a non-directive concentrator to concentrate the infrared radiation received in the collector on a detector. In a preferred embodiment, the concentrator is a plastic hemisphere which has an array of PIN diodes glued to its flat side. The hemisphere may have any radius which is greater than or equal to a value dN, where N is the index of refraction of the plastic making up the hemisphere is N and d is the distance from the center of the array of diodes to the most remote part of the infrared-sensitive material. The fact that the concentrator is non-directive obviates the need to aim receivers employing the concentrator at transmitters. The receivers and transmitters need only be in line of sight of each other. The concentrator may further be used generally to concentrate infrared and visible radiation.

Infrared collector having a flattened convex surface

A low-cost, low-power infrared digital communications system. The system overcomes the problem of infrared noise from interior lighting without using either a high-power infrared source or upmodulation of the source. The system includes an infrared collector which uses a non-directional concentrator to concentrate the infrared radiation and a circuit which detects the digital infrared signal in the noise by detecting the edges of the digital infrared signal. Devices in the system need not be aimed at each other, but need only be in line of sight of each other. The preferred embodiment employs the digital infrared signals to communicate between a set of digital devices and a breaker box connected to the telephone network.

Digital infrared communications system with edge detection

An amplifier design for a capacitive load reduces power supply requirements by recovering, during the discharge of the capacitive load, a substantial amount of the stored energy without causing noise signals to be created. The recovered energy is stored in novel series-connected capacitors to be reused during the subsequent load charge cycle. The stack becomes an effective multiple power supply source. The capacitors are successively switched and thus sequentially harnessed to the load capacitor so that the voltage across the load capacitor is increased by selected step increments instead of by one large voltage jump which causes circuit noise. By using MOSFET devices for the switches, the voltage increase during charging and decrease during discharging is continuous, thus eliminating the step function which causes much of the deleterious noise. The amplifier is especially useful as a driver for an actuator in an active control system for quieting noise-causing vibrations in buildings and other structures, which can be a health hazard.

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Clinton, NJ, United States of America

Joseph Peter Savicki