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:
Nov. 20, 2012
Filed:
Jun. 18, 2007
Michael R. T. Tan, Palo Alto, CA (US);
David A. Fattal, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Terrel Morris, Garland, TX (US);
Michael R. T. Tan, Palo Alto, CA (US);
David A. Fattal, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Terrel Morris, Garland, TX (US);
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P., Houston, TX (US);
Abstract
In accordance with an aspect of the invention, a system has a transmitter and a receiver, where the transmitter includes a beam source and an optical element. The beam source produces a beam that represents information, and the optical element alters the beam so that the beam has a uniform intensity over a cross-sectional area. The receiver is separated from the transmitter by free space through which the beam propagates and includes an active area positioned to receive a portion of the beam that the receiver converts into a received signal. To accommodate possible misalignment, the cross-sectional area of the beam is larger than the active area by an amount that accommodates a range of misalignment of the receiver with the transmitter.