19240 results about "Wireless signal" patented technology

Deactivating a data tag attached to packaging for user privacy or tamper-evident reasons. A data circuit stores identification information. A plurality of antennas is coupled to the data circuit. At least one antenna of the plurality of antennas is a removable antenna capable of wireless signal transmission at a first range such that removal of the antenna substantially prevents communication of the identification information via the removed antenna and permits communication of the identification information via another antenna of the plurality of antennas at a second range relatively smaller than the first range.

The present invention is generally directed to a system and method for monitoring and controlling a host of residential automation systems. The system is implemented by using a plurality of wireless communication devices configured to relay both data and command encoded signals through the wireless network of communication devices interposed between integrated sensors / actuators and a gateway device. In accordance with a preferred embodiment, the gateway translates the data encoded signals and embeds the information in a data packet using terminal control protocol / Internet protocol to communicate the data to a computing device on a wide area network. The computing device may comprise data collection and or control algorithms as desired. The computing device may forward command signals to the gateway device. In response thereto, the gateway may convert the command signals into appropriate command encoded signals for wireless transmission to a designated actuator integrated in a residential system. The present invention can also be viewed as providing a method for monitoring and controlling residential systems. In its broadest terms, the method can be described as: sensing a parameter; generating a wireless signal; traversing a wireless network to a gateway interconnected with a wide area network; communicating the parameter to a computing device on the network; generating a control signal; communicating the control signal to the gateway; converting the control signal; and broadcasting the control signal such that an appropriate actuator is energized.

A geographic based communications service system that includes a network and a plurality of access points connected to the network and arranged at known locations in a geographic region. One or more service providers or information providers may be connected to the network to provide services or information on the network. A mobile user (MU) may use a portable computing device (PCD) to connect to the network and access information or services from the network. The PCD may be configured to transmit a signal indicating a presence of the PCD as well as identification information indicating the mobile user. Upon detection of the wireless signal by a first access point in proximity to the PCD, and upon receipt of the identification information indicating the user of the PCD, the first access point may transmit the identification information, as well as the known geographic location of the first access point, to one or more providers on the network. The known geographic location of the first access point indicates the approximate location of the PCD of the mobile user. A first information provider may receive this information and provide content information or services to the mobile user. For example, the first information provider may select content information dependent upon the known geographic location of the first access point and demographic information or past activities of the mobile user of the PCD. The first information provider may then provide the selected content information through the network and through the first access point to the PCD of the mobile user.

A conductorless charging and power system for electronic appliances and method for communicating power to a power receiver employing wireless energy transmission are disclosed. The remote charging system includes a power transmission unit, which transmits energy as a directional power beam, and a power receiver system that receives the transmitted energy. The power receiver system is preferably incorporated in an appliance and includes an energy receptor capable of receiving the wireless power beam and transferring the energy from the beam to an energy storage device included in the appliance. The power transmission unit receives and tracks a power request signal from the power receiver system to track the power receiver system location during energy transmission. Data streams may be incorporated into the wireless signals of the remote charging system, allowing the remote charging system to function as a communications pathway as well as a power delivery system.

A load control system comprises a load control device and a battery-powered occupancy sensor, which transmits a first wireless signal to the load control device in response to detecting the presence of an occupant in a space. The load control system further comprises a visual indicator for providing a visual indication when the magnitude of a battery voltage of a battery of the occupancy sensor has dropped below a predetermined low-battery voltage threshold. The occupancy sensor may comprise the visual indicator, such that the visual indicator is illuminated when the occupancy detects the presence of the occupant in the space and the magnitude of the battery voltage is less than the predetermined threshold. Alternatively, the load control device may comprise the visual indicator, such that the visual indicator is illuminated in response to receiving a second wireless signal, which is transmitting by the occupancy sensor when the magnitude of the battery voltage is less than the predetermined threshold.

The sensitivity of a motion sensor or detector in a security system is adjusted by a remotely-transmitted signal, such as from a user interface device in the security system. In another approach, a pet wears a transmitter on its collar that transmits a wireless signal to command the motion sensor to adjust its sensitivity, e.g., by entering a pet immune mode, when the pet is in the room that is protected by the motion sensor. In another approach, a remote monitoring site sends instructions to the motion sensor via a communication interface. The sensitivity can be adjusted by adjusting a pulse count, optical gain, or electrical or optical sensitivity of the motion sensor.

A gaming device which can be operated by wireless signals provided by a remote control unit or device after an initialization process. The initialization process insures that the initialized gaming device accepts signals solely from the initialized remote control unit and that other players are prevented from operating the gaming device using a different remote control unit. The wireless signals contain gaming commands for play of a primary wagering game as well as player identification and / or player tracking information.

A surgical instrument is disclosed. The surgical instrument includes a control unit and a staple cartridge including a transponder. The control unit is configured to transmit a first wireless signal to the transponder and to receive a second wireless signal from the transponder to determine one of a first electronic state and a second electronic state of the transponder based on the second wireless signal.

A method and system of integrated wireless power and data transmission in a wireless device having a data communication circuit for wireless data communication and a power reception circuit including a charge storage unit. The wireless device is tuned to receive wireless RF signals in a certain frequency band via an antenna. Switching between power reception mode and data communication mode is detected. Received RF signal electrical charge is selectively distributed to the power reception circuit and / or the data communication circuit based on the switching mode and / or strength of the RF signal.

An apparatus for monitoring an electrical signal from a patient's body includes a disposable electrode patch having a thin flexible housing with an adhesive exterior, a power source, a printed circuit board, a plurality of electrodes, a converter for converting a detected electrical signal from the patient's body to a digital signal, a processor for processing the digital signal, and a transmitter connected for transmitting the processed digital signal as a wireless signal. A monitoring unit communicating with the electrode patch includes a power source, a transceiver, a global positioning receiver, a processor, at least one communication port for external communications, and a display. A system of the invention includes a plurality of patients having medical monitors wirelessly communicating biometric information to a central processor for archiving and accessing.

System(s) and method(s) for compensation of propagation delay offsets of wireless signals. Compensation is accomplished through determination of an effective wireless signal propagation delay that accounts for signal path delay and propagation delay over the air. Such determination is based at least in part on statistical analysis of accurate location estimates of reference positions throughout a coverage sector or cell, and location estimates of the reference positions generated through time-of-flight (TOF) measurements of wireless signals. Determination of propagation or signal path delay offset also is attained iteratively based at least in part on reference location estimates and TOF location estimates. High-accuracy location estimates such as those obtained through global navigation satellite systems are employed as reference location estimates. Position of probes or wireless beacons, deployed throughout a sector or cell, also are employed as reference locations. Compensation of propagation delay offset improves accuracy of conventional TOF location estimates and radio network performance.

A master electronic circuit (300) includes a storage (324) representing a wireless collision avoidance networking process (332) involving collision avoidance overhead and combined with a schedulable process (345) including a serial data transfer process and a scheduler, a wireless modem (350) operable to transmit and receive wireless signals for the networking process (332), and a processor (320) coupled with the storage (324) and with the wireless modem (350) and operable to execute the scheduler to establish and transmit a schedule (110) for plural serial data transfers involving the processor (320) and distinct station identifications, and to execute the serial data transfers inside the wireless networking process and according to the schedule so as to avoid at least some of the collision avoidance overhead. Other electronic circuits, processes of making and using, and systems are disclosed.

The present invention provides a solution to mistaken location calculations based on multipath effects. The present invention determines a real-time location of an object in a facility using a combination of location algorithms, with a signal characteristic for a wireless signal from a communication device attached to the object received at a sensor of a mesh network. The location algorithms preferably include at least two of a proximity algorithm, a radial basis function algorithm, a maximum likelihood algorithm, a genetic algorithm, a minimum mean squared error algorithm, a radiofrequency fingerprinting algorithm, a multilateration algorithm, a time difference of arrival algorithm, a signal strength algorithm, a time of arrival algorithm, an angle of arrival algorithm, a spatial diversity algorithm, and a nearest neighbor algorithm.

The invention contemplates an antenna device, system and method of installing the antenna device for receiving a wireless signal at a pad mounted electrical transformer. The novel device includes an antenna capable of communicating the wireless signal and a material located around the antenna. The material facilitates attachment to the pad mounted electrical transformer as well as preventing access to the antenna. The antenna may be covered by or embedded within the material. The material may be emissive and / or insulative. In addition, the device may include a conductor that passes through an enclosure of the pad mounted transformer. The conductor may be communicatively coupled to a first communication device that provides communication to a customer premise that is electrically coupled to the pad mounted electrical transformer.

A wireless charging device (35) for charging a battery of a mobile electronic device (1). The charging device (35) includes a wireless receiver (39) and a plurality of electrodes (44, 45) that are connected to a power source. The power source is controlled by a controller (40) that is coupled to the wireless receiver (39). Whilst the wireless receiver (39) receives a wireless signal that is associated with a compatible mobile device (1) the controller (40) instructs the power source to power the electrodes (44, 45). Alternatively, the wireless signal can be indicative of the need of the mobile device (1) to be charged and the controller (40) will only power the electrodes (44, 45) if a signal indicating that the mobile device (1) needs to be charged is received. A mobile battery operated device (1) that sends an indicating signal when the battery of the device needs to be charged.

Tracking, presence verification, and locating features are incorporated into a security system that includes a user interface device with a display, keypad and associated transceiver. Wireless RF electronic tags are attached to different objects, e.g., an inanimate object, or a living being such as a child or pet. To verify the presence of an object associated with a tag, the user instructs the user interface device to transmit a wireless signal to the tag. The tag responds, when within range, by returning a wireless signal. In another aspect, a person is detected such as at the entry to a home, and a low-power transmitter at the entry sends a signal to the electronic tag. The electronic tag responds by transmitting data to the security system to cause it to take a desired action. The presence of a person, such as a child, in an unauthorized area can trigger an alarm.

A method of modulating communications signals, such as optical fiber, wired electronic, or wireless signals in a manner that facilitates automatic correction for the signal distortion effects of echoes and frequency shifts, while still allowing high rates of data transmission. Data symbols intended for transmission are distributed into N×N matrices, and used to weigh or modulate a family of cyclically time shifted and cyclically frequency shifted waveforms. Although these waveforms may then be distorted during transmission, their basic cyclic time and frequency repeating structure facilitates use of improved receivers with deconvolution devices that can utilize the repeating patterns to correct for these distortions. The various waveforms may be sent in N time blocks at various time spacing and frequency spacing combinations in a manner that can allow interleaving of blocks from different transmitters. Applications to channel sounding / characterization, system optimization, and also radar are also discussed.

A POD module system includes a housing, a coaxial cable connector formed on the housing and connectable to a first device to receive a cable signal, a port formed on the housing to receive a wire or wireless signal from a second device, a module unit to process at least one of the cable signal and the at least one of the wireless signal to generate at least one of a copy protection signal and one of video and audio signals, respectively, and a connector formed on the housing and connectable to a third device to transmit the at least one of the copy protection signal and the one of video and audio signals to the third device such that the third device generates at least one of an image and a sound to correspond to the at least one of the copy protection signal and the one of video and audio signals.

Methods and systems of employing a dedicated device for position estimation by a WLAN-based positioning system. A device estimates the position of itself in response to gathering wireless signal information from WLAN access points (APs). The device includes a receive-only WLAN radio module for receiving WLAN signals transmitted by WLAN APs in range of said device, extraction logic for extracting information from said received WLAN signals to identify the WLAN APs; and logic to cooperate with a WLAN-based positioning system to estimate the position of the device based at least in part on the extracted information identifying the WLAN APs in the range of said device. In other embodiments, the radio module includes a transmitter but one which is only capable of transmitting probe requests.

Deactivating a data tag attached to packaging for user privacy or tamper-evident reasons. A data circuit stores identification information. A plurality of antennae is coupled to the data circuit. At least one antenna of the plurality of antennae is a removable antenna capable of wireless signal transmission at a first range such that removal of the antenna substantially prevents communication of the identification information via the removed antenna and permits communication of the identification information via another antenna of the plurality of antennae at a second range relatively smaller than the first range.

It is provided a method for transmitting a wireless signal on Ethernet wiring The wireless signal is received in a hub unit for delivery to a remote unit In the hub unit the wireless signal is down converted to a down-converted frequency band for propagation on the Ethernet wiring A reference signal associated with a local oscillator used for the down conversion is embedded on a synchronous Ethernet stream that may include Ethernet data received at hub unit The synchronous Ethernet stream and the down converted wireless signal are submitted through the Ethernet wiring to the remote unit. The synchronous Ethernet stream may include data for management of electronic circuits installed in the remote unit, as well as a synchronization signal used thereof A converted replica of the first signal may be included in digital form in frames of the synchronous Ethernet stream.

A method and system for the reception, conversion and distribution of wireless communication signals received from such communication devices as PCS, Cellular, and Satellite over AC power lines commonly found within a building, office, home or other structure is disclosed. This invention specifically provides for the distribution of wireless signals in structures where otherwise signal degradation and / or blockage are common. Moreover, this invention takes advantage of the existing AC power lines to create a communication channel avoiding the necessity of rewiring the building or other structure. This invention provides important improvements to the signal coverage and reception of wireless transmitted signals within buildings and other structures and does so in an efficient and cost effective manner.

A POD module system includes a housing, a coaxial cable connector formed on the housing and connectable to a first device to receive a cable signal, a port formed on the housing to receive a wire or wireless signal from a second device, a module unit to process at least one of the cable signal and the at least one of the wireless signal to generate at least one of a copy protection signal and one of video and audio signals, respectively, and a connector formed on the housing and connectable to a third device to transmit the at least one of the copy protection signal and the one of video and audio signals to the third device such that the third device generates at least one of an image and a sound to correspond to the at least one of the copy protection signal and the one of video and audio signals.

Compact powered systems are provided that include a substrate, a thin battery, an activation element, and an output device in electrical communication. The compact powered systems may be dynamic, powered print advertisements, product packaging, trading cards, printed ephemera or printed media that activate when subjected to an outside influence or stimulus. The output device is configured to, for example, display a number, graphic, or message, emit sound, cause movement or vibration, or transmit wireless signals in response to the stimulus.

A battery-powered occupancy sensor for detecting an occupancy condition in a space comprises first and second batteries, an occupancy detector circuit, a controller, and a wireless transmitter for transmitting a first wireless signal in response to the occupancy detector circuit detecting the occupancy condition in the space. The controller and the wireless transmitter are powered by the first battery, while only the occupancy detector circuit is powered by the second battery, such that the occupancy detector circuit is isolated from noise generated by the controller and the wireless transmitter. The occupancy detector circuit draws a current having a magnitude of approximately 5 microamps or less from the second battery. The occupancy sensor transmits a second wireless signal is response to determining that the voltage of one of the batteries has dropped too low.

The invention provides an indoor positioning method based on an inertial navigation system and WIFI (wireless fidelity), which has high positioning accuracy and can effectively solve the problems that the existing inertial navigation system is not suitable for long-time navigation positioning due to large accumulative error in the positioning process. The method is characterized by comprising the autonomous positioning of the inertial navigation system and the auxiliary positioning of a WIFI wireless network, namely, comprising the following steps of: firstly, initializing a positioning terminal device to obtain a WIFI wireless signal and determine the initial position of the positioning terminal device through the WIFI wireless network, secondly, autonomously positioning the real-time position information of the positioning terminal device by using the inertial navigation system, and simultaneously calibrating the real-time position information through the WIFI wireless network and carrying out on-line adjustment on the step length information in the autonomous positioning of the inertial navigation system; and finally uploading the real-time position information of the positioning terminal device or the real-time position information calibrated by the WIFI wireless network through the WIFI wireless network and displaying the mobile trace of the positioning terminal device in the display system of the positioning terminal device.

TV white space spectrum sensors and methods for detecting and managing the white space are provided. The sensor is provided with a spectrum detector / analyzer, which senses and analizes the wireless signals present in a spectrum of interest, identifies white space, and assigns the white space to secondary services. For reducing the white space detection time, the sensor uses a group detection method whereby multiple channels are sensed simultaneously. For reducing the sensor cost, the dynamic range of the sensor is reduced by operating the sensor in saturation for signals with the energy higher than a threshold. The sensor is also provided with a spectrum manager / planner capable of understanding a plurality of air interface standards, reserving and providing the right amount of white space spectrum to each application, based on the respective standard requirements. The particular architectures used by the sensor result in an affordable addition to any wireless device.

A system and method for tracking the three-dimensional position and orientation of a surgical instrument as the instrument is being utilized within the interior of a patient body. A stereoscopic camera system generates a stereoscopic image of the patient body which is subsequently rendered on a display device. A wireless signal transmitted by an electromagnetic field generator is received by a sensor on the surgical instrument. Utilizing this sensor data, a processor calculates the position and orientation of the surgical instrument and then superimposes upon the rendered stereoscopic image of the patient body a graphical representation indicative of the position and orientation of the surgical instrument.

Systems and methods for downhole communication and measurement utilizing an improved metallic tubular having an elongated body with tubular walls and a central bore adapted to receive a run-in tool. The tubular including slotted stations to provide through-tubular signal transmission and / or reception. Hydraulic isolation between the interior and exterior of the tubular is provided by pressure barrier means at the slotted stations. Sensors and / or sources are mounted on the run-in tool, which is adapted for transmission through a drill string to engage within the tubular in alignment with the slotted stations. A run-in tool configuration includes a modulator for real-time wireless communication with the surface and / or remote downhole tools. A tubular and run-in tool configuration also includes inductive couplers for wireless signal data transfer. A method for measuring a formation characteristic utilizing a run-in tool adapted with an interchangeable end segment for multi-mode downhole transport. Methods for sealing an opening on the surface of a tubular having an elongated body with tubular walls and a central bore.