The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 15, 2003
Filed:
Dec. 31, 1998
Shengtz Lin, Cupertino, CA (US);
Zengpin Yu, Palo Alto, CA (US);
U-Systems, Inc., Los Altos, CA (US);
Abstract
An architecture and protocol are provided for allowing flexible, low cost, and upgradable ultrasound information processing systems. Ultrasound information processing functions are performed by a plurality of ultrasound modules coupled to a high-speed, multiple-drop serial ultrasound information bus. The ultrasound information bus is used for packetized data transfer among the ultrasound modules in accordance with an ultrasound information exchange protocol. Additional or upgraded ultrasound modules are designed to connect to the ultrasound information bus and to communicate using the ultrasound information exchange protocol. Thus, according to a preferred embodiment, as improvements in hardware technology or software algorithms are made, additional or upgraded ultrasound modules are simply “plugged in” to the ultrasound information bus, hereby reducing costs and increasing system versatility and upgradability.