622 results about "Small form factor" patented technology

Aspects of the present disclosure are presented for a surgical instrument having one or more sensors at or a near an end effector and configured to aide in the detection of tissues and other materials and structures at a surgical site. The detections may then be used to aide in the placement of the end effector and to confirm which objects to operate on, or alternatively, to avoid. Examples of sensors include laser sensors used to employ Doppler shift principles to detect movement of objects at the surgical site, such as blood cells; resistance sensors to detect the presence of metal; monochromatic light sources that allow for different levels of absorption from different types of substances present at the surgical site, and near infrared spectrometers with small form factors.

Aspects of the present disclosure are presented for a surgical instrument having one or more sensors at or a near an end effector and configured to aide in the detection of tissues and other materials and structures at a surgical site. The detections may then be used to aide in the placement of the end effector and to confirm which objects to operate on, or alternatively, to avoid. Examples of sensors include laser sensors used to employ Doppler shift principles to detect movement of objects at the surgical site, such as blood cells; resistance sensors to detect the presence of metal; monochromatic light sources that allow for different levels of absorption from different types of substances present at the surgical site, and near infrared spectrometers with small form factors.

A folded lens system may include multiple lenses with refractive power and a light path folding element. Light entering the camera through lens(es) on a first optical path or axis is refracted to the folding element, which changes direction of the light onto a second optical path or axis with lens(es) that refract the light to form an image plane at a photosensor. At least one of the object side and image side surfaces of at least one of the lens elements may be aspheric. Total track length (TTL) of the lens system may be 16.0 mm or less. The lens system may be configured so that the telephoto ration |TTL / f| is greater than 1.0. Materials, radii of curvature, shapes, sizes, spacing, and aspheric coefficients of the optical elements may be selected to achieve quality optical performance and high image resolution in a small form factor camera.

In a large form-factor mobile electronic device having a touchscreen for receiving user thumb input actions via an operating system desktop to facilitate user-software interactions, a method of enabling single-handed user-software interactions, comprising the steps of: generating a single-handed utilization zone; positioning said single-handed utilization zone at a current detected thumb location on the touchscreen; rendering a proxy desktop within said zone, said proxy desktop providing substantially the same functionality of the operating system desktop of the large form-factor mobile electronic device and being conformed substantially in shape and size to a small form factor mobile electronic device to facilitate user familiarity with thumb stroke actions with the rendered touch screen desktop; and rendering an application interface within said zone upon receiving a generate application interface request.

System and method for measurement, DAQ, and control operations which uses small form-factor measurement modules or cartridges with a re-configurable carrier unit, sensors, and a computer system to provide modular, efficient, cost-effective measurement solutions. The measurement module includes measurement circuitry, e.g., signal conditioner and / or signal conversion circuitry, and interface circuitry for communicating with the carrier unit. The module communicates interface information to the carrier unit, which informs the computer system how to program or configure a functional unit on the carrier unit to implement the communicated interface, or sends the information directly to the computer system. The computer system programs the carrier unit with the interface, and the programmed carrier unit and measurement module together function as a DAQ, measurement, and / or control device. The carrier unit may receive multiple cartridges, each having a respective interface protocol, where the carrier unit is configurable to support the respective protocols sequentially and / or in parallel.

A low profile connector system. In one set of embodiments, a low profile plug receptacle is provided that is thinner than a standard plug receptacle, thereby allowing the plug receptacle to be incorporated in small form factor (e.g., very thin) electronic devices while maintaining compatibility with standard plug connectors. In another set of embodiments, different types of custom plug connectors are provided that can improve the aesthetics of an electronic device housing the low profile plug receptacle when the custom plug connector is attached. In another set of embodiments, features are provided for preventing a plug connector from unintentionally falling out of, or coming loose from, the low profile plug receptacle and / or preventing a plug connector from rotating within the receptacle.

A programmable multimedia controller, including audio and video switches, controls audio video, telephony, data, security, motor-operated, relay-operated, and / or other types of devices. Modules of the controller receive and output audio and video in a number of analog and digital formats, allowing the system to be interconnected to a wide range of devices. Small form factor general purpose personal computers may be operatively connected to provide processing power for the system, and to execute application programs. Further, a personal DVD player, or another device capable of displaying data and generating an audio output in response to user selection, may be used to control the programmable multimedia controller as part of embedded control technique. Additionally, a video overlay feature which allows video images, still frames, graphics, and / or text to be overlaid at any desired location of a display screen, is provided in some embodiments.

An interface for a small form factor electronic device by enabling explicit measurement of extension or retraction of a retractable cord by monitoring the amount of string that passes by sensors, as the string exits the enclosure of the device. Input to such small form factor devices may be provided by sensors that measure the length of a string or wire that has been pulled out of an enclosure, in addition to an angle or direction (e.g., in 1-, 2- or 3-dimensions) at which the string was pulled out. Additionally, the rate of acceleration for the pulling and retracting motion may also be used as additional forms of input. In a further embodiment, a string interface is provided for a small form factor device that communicates information in the form of a pixel display provided integral with the string in response to string manipulation.

An easily removable modular optical signal transceiver unit for conversion between modulated light signal transmission and electronic data signals and which conforms to the Small Form Factor standard for transceiver interfaces is disclosed. The structural details of its chassis include aspects which insure the proper positioning of electronic circuit boards of a transmitter optical subassembly and a receiver optical subassembly as well as the positioning of electromagnetic radiation shielding on the chassis. In conjunction with an interface device on an electronic circuit board of a host device, the chassis supports electromagnetic radiation shielding which substantially encloses the sources of electromagnetic radiation within the module and suppresses the escape of electromagnetic radiation, thereby preventing electromagnetic interference with sensitive components and devices in proximity to the module.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a system, method, and computer-readable medium for viewing Web pages on small form factor computing devices. More specifically, the present invention layers Web browsing in a system where a Web page is first displayed in an overview mode at a predetermined magnification. From a Web page displayed in overview mode, the user may issue adaptive viewing commands that cause relevant content to be displayed using additional screen space.

An apparatus comprising a housing, a circuit board disposed within the housing, the circuit board further comprising a radio, a processing device, a memory, and a connector suitable for connecting with a port of a computing device. The circuit board is a small form factor circuit board, the radio is suitable for detecting a frequency spectrum and the processing device is suitable for transferring detected frequency spectrum data to the computing device via the connector and interfacing with a display to provide a manipulatable graphical user interface for analyzing the detected frequency spectrum data.

An enclosure forms a plurality of tiers vertically stacked in a longitudinal dimension. Each tier is a 1U modular computer system having a computer chassis configured for mounting in the multi-tiered support, and computer components that need cooling within the computer chassis. A cold plate is in thermal communication with at least one of the computer components, and convectively removes heat from that component using a liquid coolant. A heat exchanger dissipates heat from the liquid coolant, and provides liquid coolant back to the cold plate. An air mover within the chassis cools the heat exchanger, blows air across other components needing cooling, and removes heated air from the chassis. The air mover may extend substantially across the chassis, or it may blow crosswise from an outlet-ventilating direction.

Techniques for improving electrical performance of a connector. The techniques are compatible with the form factor of a standardized connector, such as an SFP connector or stacked SFP. The resulting connector has reduced insertion loss for high speed signals. Such techniques, which can be used separately or together, include shaping of conductive elements within the connector while still retaining the same mating contact arrangement. Changes may be made at the contact tail portions or in the intermediate portions where engagement to a connector housing occurs. The techniques also include the incorporation of lossy bridging members between conductive elements designated to be ground conductors. For connectors according to the stacked SFP configuration, multiple bridging members may be incorporated at multiple locations within the connector.

Certain aspects of a method and system for providing wireless communication may include a single integrated circuit (IC) that handles communication for at least a Bluetooth (BT) connection and a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) connection by controlling transmission of acknowledgement signals based on a measured voice quality for one or both of the BT connection and the WLAN connection. The transmission of the acknowledgement signals communicated from the mobile station to an access point may be controlled. A BT priority signal may be asserted if data to be transmitted comprises high quality voice (HV3) data. The transmission of the acknowledgement signals may be controlled by raising a priority of an asserted WLAN priority signal higher than a priority of the asserted BT priority signal. The voice data may be transmitted via high quality voice (HV3) frames over the BT connection based on the asserted WLAN priority signal.

Techniques for improving electrical performance of a connector. The techniques are compatible with the form factor of a standardized connector, such as an SFP connector or stacked SFP. The resulting connector has reduced insertion loss for high speed signals. Such techniques, which can be used separately or together, include shaping of conductive elements within the connector while still retaining the same mating contact arrangement. Changes may be made at the contact tail portions or in the intermediate portions where engagement to a connector housing occurs. The techniques also include the incorporation of lossy bridging members between conductive elements designated to be ground conductors. For connectors according to the stacked SFP configuration, multiple bridging members may be incorporated at multiple locations within the connector.

A differential amplifier that employs mutually coupled inductors to provide desired levels of inductance in a substantially smaller form factor in comparison to individual inductor components. Mutually coupled inductors according to the present teachings may also be used to increase common mode rejection in a differential amplifier.

A small form-factor transceiver module performs protocol translation, in addition to the conventional electrical and / or optical transmission media conversion. Such protocol conversion may enable transport of traffic from limited-range primary networks over long-range secondary networks, such as extension of Ethernet networks over low-rate TDM links. Additionally, such protocol conversion may enable interworking between different networks of differing technologies, such as transport of ATM traffic over Ethernet networks. The transceiver module may be a Small Form Factor transceiver (SFF), Small Form Factor pluggable module (SFP), Gigabit Interface Converter (GBIC) or any similar small form-factor module consisting of a housing, internal electronic circuitry and optionally optical components, and associated electrical or optical connectors. The transceiver module performs protocol translation by means of an integral protocol translation unit that performs standards-based or proprietary conversion between network protocols.

A gigabit Ethernet adapter provides a provides a low-cost, low-power, easily manufacturable, small form-factor network access module which has a low memory demand and provides a highly efficient protocol decode. The invention comprises a hardware-integrated system that both decodes multiple network protocols byte-streaming manner concurrently and processes packet data in one pass, thereby reducing system memory and form factor requirements, while also eliminating software CPU overhead. A preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a plurality of protocol state machines that decode network protocols such as TCP, IP, User Datagram Protocol (UDP), PPP, Raw Socket, RARP, ICMP, IGMP, iSCSI, RDMA, and FCIP concurrently as each byte is received. Each protocol handler parses, interprets, and strips header information immediately from the packet, requiring no intermediate memory. The invention provides an internet tuner core, peripherals, and external interfaces. A network stack processes, generates and receives network packets. An internal programmable processor controls the network stack and handles any other types of ICMP packets, IGMP packets, or packets corresponding to other protocols not supported directly by dedicated hardware. A virtual memory manager is implemented in optimized, hardwired logic. The virtual memory manager allows the use of a virtual number of network connections which is limited only by the amount of internal and external memory available.

An optical fiber connector includes a connector housing, a ferrule and a clamping assembly. The connector hosing has a front end and a rear end. The ferrule is disposed in the connector housing and projects from the front end of the connector housing. The clamping assembly is disposed in the connector housing for mounting the ferrule, and includes a hollow housing and a cam member, wherein the cam member includes a groove adapted to clamp a terminating fiber when a cam effect between the hollow housing and the cam member is generated and further the cam effect causes the groove of the cam member to generate a clamping force.

Techniques for improving electrical performance of a connector. The techniques are compatible with the form factor of a standardized connector, such as an SFP connector or stacked SFP. The resulting connector has reduced insertion loss for high speed signals. Such techniques, which can be used separately or together, include shaping of conductive elements within the connector while still retaining the same mating contact arrangement. Changes may be made at the contact tail portions or in the intermediate portions where engagement to a connector housing occurs. The techniques also include the incorporation of lossy bridging members between conductive elements designated to be ground conductors. For connectors according to the stacked SFP configuration, multiple bridging members may be incorporated at multiple locations within the connector.

Optical characteristic measuring systems and methods such as for determining the color or other optical characteristics of teeth are disclosed. Perimeter receiver fiber optics preferably are spaced apart from a source fiber optic and receive light from the surface of the object / tooth being measured. Light from the perimeter fiber optics pass to a variety of filters. The system utilizes the perimeter receiver fiber optics to determine information regarding the height and angle of the probe with respect to the object / tooth being measured. Under processor control, the optical characteristics measurement may be made at a predetermined height and angle. Various color spectral photometer arrangements are disclosed. Translucency, fluorescence, gloss and / or surface texture data also may be obtained. Audio feedback may be provided to guide operator use of the system. The probe may have a removable or shielded tip for contamination prevention. A method of producing dental prostheses based on measured data also is disclosed. Measured data also may be stored and / or organized as part of a patient data base. Such methods and implements may be desirably utilized for purposes of detecting and preventing counterfeiting or the like. Low cost and small form factor spectrometers, and methods for manufacturing the same, also are disclosed. Spectrometers and spectrophotometers embedded in printing and scanning and other type devices, as well as computer companion devices, scope-type devices and the like, also are disclosed. Data encoding based on such devices also may be implemented.

Methods and systems are described for enabling the efficient fabrication of small form factor power converters and also the small form factor power converter devices.

A system and method to facilitate communication between an associated bus, such as employs a standard bus protocol, and a connector to which a removable SFF device can be attached. A desired operating mode is selected based on the device attached at the connector, such as either to pass the protocol between the bus and device generally unchanged or to implement suitable protocol conversion for such communication. Thus, by configuring the SFF device to appear as device currently supported by the bus, the SFF device can operate at the connector with native operating system support.

An enclosure forms a plurality of tiers vertically stacked in a longitudinal dimension. Each tier is a 1U modular computer system having a computer chassis configured for mounting in the multi-tiered support, and computer components that need cooling within the computer chassis. A cold plate is in thermal communication with at least one of the computer components, and convectively removes heat from that component using a liquid coolant. A heat exchanger dissipates heat from the liquid coolant, and provides liquid coolant back to the cold plate. An air mover within the chassis cools the heat exchanger, blows air across other components needing cooling, and removes heated air from the chassis. The air mover may extend substantially across the chassis, or it may blow crosswise from an outlet-ventilating direction.

A monolithic optical module of injection-molded high temperature polymeric resin combines an optical turn of typically 90 degrees together with dual or triple beam paths. No additional piece parts are necessary for achieving the optical turn, since this occurs by total internal reflection (TIR), and no additional piece parts are necessary for dual monitoring, which is realized by means of an air-gap functioning as a dual beam-splitter plate. The monolithic optical module further includes integrally surfaces for accurate alignment of the module with external optical elements, and can additionally include integral optical elements, for example lenses and thin film coatings.

A monolithically integrated MEMS pressure sensor and CMOS substrate using IC-Foundry compatible processes. The CMOS substrate is completed first using standard IC processes. A diaphragm is then added on top of the CMOS. In one embodiment, the diaphragm is made of deposited thin films with stress relief corrugated structure. In another embodiment, the diaphragm is made of a single crystal silicon material that is layer transferred to the CMOS substrate. In an embodiment, the integrated pressure sensor is encapsulated by a thick insulating layer at the wafer level. The monolithically integrated pressure sensor that adopts IC foundry-compatible processes yields the highest performance, smallest form factor, and lowest cost.

The present invention provides a small form factor, pluggable ONU, which includes a bi-directional optical transceiver configured to transmit optical signals to and receive optical signals from an OLT. The ONU further includes an ONU chip coupled to the optical transceiver and configured to communicate with the OLT. Also included is a pluggable interface configured to electrically interface between the ONU chip and a piece of subscriber premise equipment (SPE). The ONU includes a power management module to provide power to the ONU chip and the optical transceiver, using power delivered from the SPE through the pluggable interface. The ONU is enclosed a small form factor enclosure, thereby allowing the pluggable ONU to be directly plugged into the SPE and providing an Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON) uplink to the SPE without requiring an separate power supply.