4777 results about "Ultra-wideband" patented technology

A wireless media player and a related system and methodology are disclosed. One aspect of the wireless media player system pertains to a virtual connector system, apparatus, and method for the automatic establishment of wireless connectivity with other electronic devices. In one embodiment, the media player device employs the use of integrated Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to exchange communication settings, media capability, and other parameters with an external device that also has integrated RFID technology. The automatic exchange of settings and other information via a proximity-based RFID data exchange allows a media player to quickly establish a secure communication link with another device via a commonly supported wireless protocol such as Ultra Wideband (UWB) or Bluetooth. Another aspect of the media player system pertains to a method of using the captured media capability of the connecting device to customize certain menu options and software parameters in the media player.

Carrier Interferometry (CI) provides wideband transmission protocols with frequency-band selectivity to improve interference rejection, reduce multipath fading, and enable operation across non-continuous frequency bands. Direct-sequence protocols, such as DS-CDMA, are provided with CI to greatly improve performance and reduce transceiver complexity. CI introduces families of orthogonal polyphase codes that can be used for channel coding, spreading, and / or multiple access. Unlike conventional DS-CDMA, CI coding is not necessary for energy spreading because a set of CI carriers has an inherently wide aggregate bandwidth. Instead, CI codes are used for channelization, energy smoothing in the frequency domain, and interference suppression. CI-based ultra-wideband protocols are implemented via frequency-domain processing to reduce synchronization problems, transceiver complexity, and poor multipath performance of conventional ultra-wideband systems. CI allows wideband protocols to be implemented with space-frequency processing and other array-processing techniques to provide either or both diversity combining and sub-space processing. CI also enables spatial processing without antenna arrays. Even the bandwidth efficiency of multicarrier protocols is greatly enhanced with CI. CI-based wavelets avoid time and frequency resolution trade-offs associated with conventional wavelet processing. CI-based Fourier transforms eliminate all multiplications, which greatly simplifies multi-frequency processing. The quantum-wave principles of CI improve all types of baseband and radio processing.

Carrier Interferometry (CI) provides wideband transmission protocols with frequency-band selectivity to improve interference rejection, reduce multipath fading, and enable operation across non-continuous frequency bands. Direct-sequence protocols, such as DS-CDMA, are provided with CI to greatly improve performance and reduce transceiver complexity. CI introduces families of orthogonal polyphase codes that can be used for channel coding, spreading, and / or multiple access. Unlike conventional DS-CDMA, CI coding is not necessary for energy spreading because a set of CI carriers has an inherently wide aggregate bandwidth. Instead, CI codes are used for channelization, energy smoothing in the frequency domain, and interference suppression. CI-based ultra-wideband protocols are implemented via frequency-domain processing to reduce synchronization problems, transceiver complexity, and poor multipath performance of conventional ultra-wideband systems. CI allows wideband protocols to be implemented with space-frequency processing and other array-processing techniques to provide either or both diversity combining and sub-space processing. CI also enables spatial processing without antenna arrays. Even the bandwidth efficiency of multicarrier protocols is greatly enhanced with CI. CI-based wavelets avoid time and frequency resolution trade-offs associated with conventional wavelet processing. CI-based Fourier transforms eliminate all multiplications, which greatly simplifies multi-frequency processing. The quantum-wave principles of CI improve all types of baseband and radio processing.

An ultra wideband (UWB) or short-pulse transmission system that enables precise tracking or geolocation of a target over distances of several kilometers. The system includes a set of N (where N>2) untethered UWB transceivers located at fixed positions, an untethered UWB receiver at the target, and a processor at the target for resolving time-of-flight measurement ambiguities of received pulses to determine precise geolocation by solving a set of equations according to time-of-flight measurements and surveyed positions of N-1 transceivers. To eliminate a clock distribution system, self-synchronizing of pulse timing is achieved by generating a start pulse at one of the untethered transceivers. Alternatively, a timing source may be provided by a GPS or other timing generator at the transceivers in order to synchronize emissions of their pulses.

A waveform adaptive transmitter that conditions and / or modulates the phase, frequency, bandwidth, amplitude and / or attenuation of ultra-wideband (UWB) pulses. The transmitter confines or band-limits UWB signals within spectral limits for use in communication, positioning, and / or radar applications. One embodiment comprises a low-level UWB source (e.g., an impulse generator or time-gated oscillator (fixed or voltage-controlled)), a waveform adapter (e.g., digital or analog filter, pulse shaper, and / or voltage variable attenuator), a power amplifier, and an antenna to radiate a band-limited and / or modulated UWB or wideband signals. In a special case where the oscillator has zero frequency and outputs a DC bias, a low-level impulse generator impulse-excites a bandpass filter to produce an UWB signal having an adjustable center frequency and desired bandwidth based on a characteristic of the filter. In another embodiment, a low-level impulse signal is approximated by a time-gated continuous-wave oscillator to produce an extremely wide bandwidth pulse with deterministic center frequency and bandwidth characteristics. The UWB signal may be modulated to carry multi-megabit per second digital data, or may be used in object detection or for ranging applications. Activation of the power amplifier may be time-gated in cadence with the UWB source thereby to reduce inter-pulse power consumption. The UWB transmitter is capable of extremely high pulse repetition frequencies (PRFs) and data rates in the hundreds of megabits per second or more, frequency agility on a pulse-to-pulse basis allowing frequency hopping if desired, and extensibility from below HF to millimeter wave frequencies.

A data-modulated ultra wideband transmitter that modulates the phase, frequency, bandwidth, amplitude and / or attenuation of ultra-wideband (UWB) pulses. The transmitter confines or band-limits UWB signals within spectral limits for use in communication, positioning, and / or radar applications. One embodiment comprises a low-level UWB source (e.g., an impulse generator or time-gated oscillator (fixed or voltage-controlled)), a waveform adapter (e.g., digital or analog filter, pulse shaper, and / or voltage variable attenuator), a power amplifier, and an antenna to radiate a band-limited and / or modulated UWB or wideband signals. In a special case where the oscillator has zero frequency and outputs a DC bias, a low-level impulse generator impulse-excites a bandpass filter to produce an UWB signal having an adjustable center frequency and desired bandwidth based on a characteristic of the filter. In another embodiment, a low-level impulse signal is approximated by a time-gated continuous-wave oscillator to produce an extremely wide bandwidth pulse with deterministic center frequency and bandwidth characteristics. The UWB signal may be modulated to carry multi-megabit per second digital data, or may be used in object detection or for ranging applications. Activation of the power amplifier may be time-gated in cadence with the UWB source thereby to reduce inter-pulse power consumption. The UWB transmitter is capable of extremely high pulse repetition frequencies (PRFs) and data rates in the hundreds of megabits per second or more, frequency agility on a pulse-to-pulse basis allowing frequency hopping if desired, and extensibility from below HF to millimeter wave frequencies.

Provided is a radio communication system for ultra wideband (UWB) impulse communications and a radio communication apparatus and method thereof. The present patent provides a radio communication system that can minimize power consumption by eliminating a need for carrier detection and sharing transmission / reception time information in UWB impulse communications. The system includes a network coordinator; and one or more devices communicating on a superframe basis in subordination to the network coordinator. The devices perform data transmission / reception in predetermined time slots and then they are inactivated to thereby reduce power consumption.

A small ultra wideband (UWB) antenna designed to have a unidirectional radiation pattern is disclosed. The UWB antenna includes a substrate; a power feeding part, provided on an upper surface of the substrate, for receiving a supply of an external electromagnetic energy; a dipole radiator excited by the electromagnetic energy fed through the power feeding part and radiating electromagnetic waves in one and the other directions of the substrate; and an active loop radiator excited by the electromagnetic energy fed through the power feeding part, respectively enhancing and canceling the electromagnetic fields produced in one or the other directions of the substrate by the dipole radiator.

A wireless communications device includes a first radio and a second radio. The first radio is receives information regarding an ad-hoc mesh wireless network from at least one remote device. The second radio exchanges user data with the ad-hoc wireless mesh network. The wireless communications device also includes a buffer and a scheduler. The buffer stores user data for transmission to one or more remote devices in the ad-hoc wireless mesh network. The scheduler schedules transmissions by the second radio of the user data based on the received information. The first and second radios may employ various communications technologies. Examples of such technologies include Bluetooth, wireless local area network (WLAN), and ultra wideband (UWB). The information received from the remote device may include one or more of the following: configuration information (e.g., topology information) corresponding to the ad-hoc wireless mesh network; routing information; and information regarding communications capabilities of one or more nodes within the ad-hoc wireless mesh network.

A system, method and apparatus structured to transmit a plurality of ultra-wideband pulses through an electric power medium is provided. One embodiment of the method comprises an ultra-wideband transmitter structured to transmit the plurality of ultra-wideband pulses through the electric power medium and an ultra-wideband receiver structured to receive the plurality of ultra-wideband pulses from the electric power medium. Another embodiment of the present invention comprises a power supply that provides ultra-wideband communications to devices that obtain power from the power supply. This Abstract is provided for the sole purpose of complying with the Abstract requirement rules that allow a reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the disclosure contained herein. This Abstract is submitted with the explicit understanding that it will not be used to interpret or to limit the scope or the meaning of the claims.

A wireless media player and a related system and methodology are disclosed. One aspect of the wireless media player system pertains to a virtual connector system, apparatus, and method for the automatic establishment of wireless connectivity with other electronic devices. In one embodiment, the media player device employs the use of integrated Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to exchange communication settings, media capability, and other parameters with an external device that also has integrated RFID technology. The automatic exchange of settings and other information via a proximity-based RFID data exchange allows a media player to quickly establish a secure communication link with another device via a commonly supported wireless protocol such as Ultra Wideband (UWB) or Bluetooth. Another aspect of the media player system pertains to a method of using the captured media capability of the connecting device to customize certain menu options and software parameters in the media player.

Methods and apparatus for creating, transmitting and receiving ultra-wideband pulses through wire media are presented. One embodiment of the present invention transmits ultra-wideband pulses that occupy radio frequencies that are not used by other electromagnetic signals present in a wire medium of interest. Other embodiments of the invention may create, transmit, and receive ultra-wideband pulses that use radio frequency(s) that are not used by other signals present on wire media within a wire network of interest. This Abstract is provided for the sole purpose of complying with the Abstract requirement rules that allow a reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the disclosure contained herein. This Abstract is submitted with the explicit understanding that it will not be used to interpret or to limit the scope or the meaning of the claims.

An ultra wideband loop antenna having a planar antenna element defining an at least semi-elliptical perimeter having a major axis, a minor axis and a center. There is also an elongated, contiguous discontinuity in the antenna element that is symmetric about the antenna element minor axis, entirely located within the antenna element, and defining a discontinuity feed end located on the minor axis and spaced from one side of the antenna element perimeter by an element feed width, and further defining an opposed discontinuity ground end located on the minor axis and spaced from the opposing side of the antenna element perimeter by an element ground width, to define an antenna element ground portion, wherein the feed width is greater than the ground width. The antenna also has a feed region connecting the feed end of the discontinuity to the perimeter, to define antenna element feed ends that are adjacent to the feed region.

An ultra-wideband magnetic antenna includes a planar conductor having a first and a second slot about an axis. The slots are substantially leaf-shaped having a varying width along the axis. The slots are interconnected along the axis. A cross polarized antenna system is comprised of an ultra-wideband magnetic antenna and an ultra-wideband dipole antenna. The magnetic antenna and the dipole antenna are positioned substantially close to each other and they create a cross polarized field pattern. The present invention provides isolation between a transmitter and a receiver in an ultra-wideband system. Additionally, the present invention allows isolation among radiating elements in an array antenna system.

There is provided an antenna for use in an ultra-wideband device, wherein the antenna is used as an RF radiator and as a heat sink. There is also provided a device for use in an ultra wideband network, the device comprising a component, for example an integrated circuit package, that generates unwanted heat as part of its normal operation, the device further comprising an antenna as described above placed in thermal contact with the component. The antenna may be electrically connected to one or more pins of the component. Alternatively, the antenna may be capacitively connected to the component. There is also provided a heat sink for a wireless communications device, the heat sink being shaped such that it can operate as an antenna for radio frequencies.

An ultra-wideband magnetic antenna includes a planar conductor having a first and a second slot about an axis. The slots are substantially leaf-shaped having a varying width along the axis. The slots are interconnected along the axis. A cross polarized antenna system is comprised of an ultra-wideband magnetic antenna and an ultra-wideband dipole antenna. The magnetic antenna and the dipole antenna are positioned substantially close to each other and they create a cross polarized field pattern. The present invention provides isolation between a transmitter and a receiver in an ultra-wideband system. Additionally, the present invention allows isolation among radiating elements in an array antenna system.

Methods and apparatus that transmit ultra-wideband pulses through twisted-pair wire media are provided. One method includes transmitting an ultra-wideband pulse through the twisted-pair wire media at dissimilar time periods. Another method includes transmitting an ultra-wideband pulse through the twisted-pair wire media at dissimilar radio frequencies. Yet another method includes transmitting an ultra-wideband pulse through the twisted-pair wire media at dissimilar time periods and at dissimilar radio frequencies. This Abstract is provided for the sole purpose of complying with the Abstract requirement rules that allow a reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the disclosure contained herein. This Abstract is submitted with the explicit understanding that it will not be used to interpret or to limit the scope or the meaning of the claims.

A new display system and method is described, utilizing a cellular telephone having digital camera capability and a television linked directly over a UWB wireless signal forming a UWB wireless video pico-net. The system utilizes a digital camera unit to capture picture or video images for UWB transmission directly to the television acting as a pico-net host controller, either independently or together with the cellular telephone operating as a pico-net child. The display system comprises and one or more remote devices and a host display communicating on a UWB wireless network. The host display comprises a display for presentation of the picture or video images and a UWB transceiver for processing image data from the picture or video images, for selectively sending and receiving the image data based on a request from the child. The one or more remote devices comprise a digital camera for capturing the picture or video images and another UWB transceiver as used in the host display. The host display has a generally larger display for improved presentation of the captured picture or video images useful and amusing for group, party, wedding, and conference viewing, or simply for enhanced personal enjoyment. For picture or video image sharing, the system further facilitates downloading the current picture or video images from the host display television to a requesting cellular telephone or digital camera equipped with the UWB transceiver. The UWB display system provides sufficient bandwidth to support numerous such download requests simultaneously, while utilizing a transmission technology having minimal power consumption.

To address the scarcity of radio frequency (RF) spectrum, the disclosed systems offer unique ways to mitigate interference between television broadcasters (including their direct audience and viewers served via cable television) and other concurrent users of the RF spectrum, e.g. for one-way or two-way wireless communication. A preferred embodiment makes use of the “framing” characteristics of the “letterbox” video display format. RF emissions of the simultaneous RF spectrum user are keyed “on” only or substantially only during the time intervals when the blanking intervals and / or letterbox-border video lines are being scanned on the display, i.e. when the potentially affected (interfered with) television display is in the letterbox-frame-scanning portions of each video field. The concurrent uses may support services for voice (including telephony, music etc.), data (including Internet, intranet, etc.); image or control; fixed, portable, mobile or nomadic; narrowband, broadband or ultra-wideband; radiodetermination, diathermy, etc. Additionally, the concurrent user's emitted power and receiver sensitivity is continuously adjusted according to the broadcast television signal.

A varying magnetic field excites slight vibrations in an object and a radar sensor detects the vibrations at a harmonic of the excitation frequency. The synergy of the magnetic excitation and radar detection provides increased detection range compared to conventional magnetic metal detectors. The radar rejects background clutter by responding only to reflecting objects that are vibrating at a harmonic excitation field, thereby significantly improving detection reliability. As an exemplary arrangement, an ultra-wideband micropower impulse radar (MIR) is capable of being employed to provide superior materials penetration while providing range information. The magneto-radar may be applied to pre-screening magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) patients, landmine detection and finding hidden treasures.

An ultra wide bandwidth, high speed, spread spectrum communications system uses short wavelets of electromagnetic energy to transmit information through objects such as walls or earth. The communication system uses baseband codes formed from time shifted and inverted wavelets to encode data on a RF signal. Typical wavelet pulse durations are on the order of 100 to 1000 picoseconds with a bandwidth of approximately 8 GHz to 1 GHz, respectively. The combination of short duration wavelets and encoding techniques are used to spread the signal energy over an ultra wide frequency band such that the energy is not concentrated in any particular narrow band (e.g. VHF: 30-300 MHz or UHF: 300-1000 MHz) and is not detected by conventional narrow band receivers so it does not interfere with those communication systems. The use of pulse codes composed of time shifted and inverted wavelets gives the system according to the present invention has a spatial resolution on the order of 1 foot which is sufficient to minimize the negative effects of multipath interference and permit time domain rake processing.

The present invention comprises a scanner or imager that employs a plurality of ultra-wideband (UWB) transmitters that emit a multiplicity of UWB pulses, which are received by a plurality of receivers. An object or person positioned between the UWB transmitters and receivers can be scanned and subsequently imaged in extreme detail, due to the broad spectral content of the UWB pulses. The UWB scanner can be constructed as a stationary or portable device.

A method and system for establishing a wireless communications link determines, through a first short-range communications link of a first type, whether a remote device is capable of supporting a short-range communications link of a second type. If so, information is exchanged with the remote device across the first communications link to establish a second short-range communications link of the second type. Once established, communications with the remote device across the second short-range communications link may commence. The first communications link may be a Bluetooth link and the second communications link may be an ultra wideband (UWB) link.

A receiver for ultra-wideband communications is provided. One feature of the receiver architecture is that includes only a single correlator. The receiver may be used in wireless and wire communication mediums. The single correlator may be used to update a locally generated signal based on an incoming signal and detect data. This Abstract is provided for the sole purpose of complying with the Abstract requirement rules that allow a reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the disclosure contained herein. This Abstract is submitted with the explicit understanding that it will not be used to interpret or to limit the scope or the meaning of the claims.

The present invention relates to broadband wireless communication using multiple carrier frequencies, and the selection or allocation of those frequencies. The invention is particularly but not exclusively related to ultra wideband (UWB) technologies. The present invention provides a method of dynamically selecting carrier frequencies for carrying a broadband channel, the method comprising: allocate a group of carrier frequencies for carrying the broadband channel; identify a number of alterative groups of carrier frequencies; monitor channel performance of the broadband channel for the allocated group of carrier frequencies; re-allocate the broadband channel to be carried by one of the alternative groups of carrier frequencies in response to the monitored channel performance degrading below a threshold.

A system and method are provided that can detect any part of a multipath impulse radio signal. More specifically, the method compares a template pulse train and the multipath impulse radio signal to obtain a comparison result. The system performs a threshold check on the comparison result. If the comparison result passes the threshold check, the system locks onto any part of the multipath impulse radio signal including a direct path part and at least one multipath reflection part. The system may also perform a quick check, a sychronization check, and / or a command check of the multipath impulse radio signal.

An ultra-wideband pulse modulation system and method is provided. One method of the present invention includes transforming data into a ternary data set with data being represented with states of zero, positive one and negative one. The modulation and pulse transmission method of the present invention enables the simultaneous coexistence of the ultra-wideband pulses with conventional carrier-wave signals. The present invention may be used in wireless and wired communication networks such as hybrid fiber-coax networks. This Abstract is provided for the sole purpose of complying with the Abstract requirement rules that allow a reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the disclosure contained herein. This Abstract is submitted with the explicit understanding that it will not be used to interpret or to limit the scope or the meaning of the claims.

A system and method to generate an ultra-wideband pulse is provided. One method of the present invention includes generating an ultra-wideband pulse that includes a first section representing a first data symbol, and a second section representing a second data symbol. A second method of the present invention includes generating an ultra-wideband that comprises a plurality of time bins, with each time bin comprising a data symbol that represents a multiplicity of binary digits. Another method of the present invention includes generating an ultra-wideband pulse that comprises a plurality of time bins, with each time bin representing a first data symbol. The same ultra-wideband pulse also includes an amplitude that represents a second data symbol.