53rd week of 2009 patent applcation highlights part 41 |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20090324177 | FIBER OPTIC CABLE SPLICE AND CABLE RECONSTRUCTION - A new fiber optic cable splice for splicing optical fiber cables together and reconstructing fiber-optic cable that provide substantially enhanced reliability and broadened operating temperature range is disclosed. The disclosed cable splice offer reliable and user friendly solutions to applications in many harsh environments such as avionics, field vehicles, and defense related instrumentation. The cable splice consists of a preassembled one piece splice core and outer mechanical and thermal shielding layers. A simple splicing procedure and key fixtures are also disclosed. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324178 | OPTICAL FIBER SPLICING TECHNIQUE AND OPTICAL MEMBER UNIT - According to an optical fiber splicing technique in which optical fibers F | 2009-12-31 |
20090324179 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING LARGE SCALE, AUTOMATED, FIBER-OPTIC, CROSS-CONNECTION - A system and method for automatically inserting optical-fiber (fiber-optics) cable jumpers into a patch panel to connect optical signal source equipment to optical signal destination equipment, and for automatically removing those jumpers from that patch panel to disconnect that equipment. This is accomplished robotically under computer control. Large scale fiber-optical splicings can be made, on the order of ten thousand (10,000) separate optical splices or more. Previous embodiments required hand insertion of these jumpers. Embodiments of the present invention permit any un-occupied port to be connected to any other un-occupied port, regardless of their input or output port status, where previous embodiments required only unoccupied input ports to be connected to unoccupied output ports. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324180 | FOAMED FIBER OPTIC CABLE - A fiber optic cable includes an optical fiber, a strength layer surrounding the optical fiber, and a jacket assembly surrounding the strength layer. The jacket assembly includes a foam. A method for manufacturing a fiber optic cable includes mixing a base material, a chemical foaming agent and a shrinkage reduction material into a mixture in an extruder. The mixture is heated so that the base material and the chemical foaming agent form a foam with shrinkage reduction material embedded into the foam. An optical fiber and strength layer are fed into a crosshead. The mixture is extruded around the optical fiber and the strength layer to form a jacket assembly. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324181 | MULTI-JACKETED FIBER OPTIC CABLE - A fiber optic cable assembly includes an inner cable assembly. The inner cable assembly includes an optical fiber, a first strength layer surrounding the optical fiber and a first jacket surrounding the strength layer. A second strength layer surrounds the inner cable assembly. The second strength layer includes a first set of strength members and a second set of strength members. The first and second sets of strength members are unbraided. A second jacket surrounds the second strength layer. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324182 | MULTI-JACKETED FIBER OPTIC CABLE - A method for installing a fiber optic cable assembly includes providing a fiber optic cable assembly. The fiber optic cable assembly includes a first jacket, a strength layer, and a second jacket. The strength layer surrounds the first jacket and includes a first set of strength members helically wrapped around the first jacket and a second set of strength members reverse helically wrapped around the first jacket. The first and second sets of strength members are unbraided. The method further includes routing the fiber optic cable assembly from a fiber optic enclosure to an end location. A portion of the second jacket at an end of the fiber optic cable assembly is split. The portion of the second jacket is removed. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324183 | Dry Fiber Optic Cables and Assemblies - A fiber optic cable includes at least one optical fiber, at least one strength member, at least one dry insert, and a cable jacket. The cable jacket has a cavity with a generally rectangular cross-section with the at least one optical fiber and the at least one dry insert disposed therein. The at least one optical fiber has a predetermined level of coupling to the cable jacket that is provided by the at least one dry insert within the cavity of cable jacket. The predetermined level of coupling is about 0.1625 Newtons or more per optical fiber for a thirty meter length of fiber optic cable. Additionally, fiber optic cables of the present invention are also suitable as a portion of a cable assembly. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324184 | LIGHT GUIDE FOR ENDOSCOPES - The amount of heat generated at a light input portion of a light guide for endoscopes constituted by a plurality of bundled optical fibers is suppressed. The light guide for endoscopes is constituted by a plurality of bundled optical fibers, for propagating an illuminating light beam, which is focused and caused to enter a light input end facet thereof, to a light output end facet thereof, to emit the illuminating light beam onto a portion to be observed. A transparent member having a sectional shape which is at least as large as the focused spot of the illuminating light beam is provided in close contact with the light input end facets of the optical fibers. The optical fibers are connected to the transparent member in a maximally densely packed state. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324185 | LIGHT GUIDE FOR ENDOSCOPES - A light guide for endoscopes constituted by a plurality of bundled optical fibers is formed such that it is flexible at portions where flexibility is required, and such that the durability thereof is improved. The light guide for endoscopes is constituted by a plurality of bundled optical fibers, for propagating an illuminating light beam that enters from a light input end facet thereof to a light output end facet thereof, to emit the illuminating light beam onto a portion to be observed. The light guide includes: a plurality of comparatively large diameter optical fibers; and a plurality of comparatively small diameter optical fibers which are provided at the side of the light guide toward the light output end facet thereof. Each of the comparatively large diameter optical fibers is connected to a plurality of the comparatively small diameter optical fibers. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324186 | PHOTONIC BAND-GAP FIBER - A photonic band-gap fiber comprises a first core having a refractive index that is not higher than a refractive index of a clad; a second core that is disposed so as to surround the first core and has a refractive index that is lower than the refractive index of the first core; a clad that surrounds the second core; and a periodic structure portion that is disposed in the clad in a vicinity of the second core and is constituted by high-refractive index portions that have a refractive index higher than that of clad and form the periodic structure, and the periodic-structure portion functions as a wave-length filter. By the function of the periodic structure portion as a wave-length filter, it is possible to reduce the propagation loss of the transmission wavelength and increase the propagation loss of the cutoff wavelength. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324187 | Fiber distribution hubs with patch and splice enclosures - Fiber distribution hubs for distributing fiber optic networks are disclosed. The fiber distribution hub includes a mounting plate for supporting a termination of at least one fiber cable, a patch enclosure for protecting the termination, and a splice enclosure for protecting at least one splice connection to an optical fiber included in a feeder cable. The patch enclosure includes a first door and defining a patch chamber. The mounting plate is positioned within the patch chamber. The splice chamber includes a second door. The splice enclosure is releasably coupled to the patch enclosure. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324188 | DROP ACCESS LOCATION METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR HORIZONTAL CABLING IN MULTI-DWELLING UNIT APPLICATIONS - A drop access location system and method, where the system includes a duct containing one or more communications lines, where the duct is mountable to a generally flat surface. The system also includes a drop access box including a base and a removable cover having a low impact profile and or decorative appearance. A mounting section of the base is configured to fit over an outer shape of the duct and overhang therefrom. Slack storage is provided and includes one or more guides to route an accessed communications line to a coupling and to store excess amounts of the accessed communications line. The coupling device mounting area is configured to receive a coupling, adapter, or splice that connects the accessed communications line to a drop cable. The drop access location system and method can be utilized for horizontal cabling in multi-dwelling unit (MDU), multi-tenant unit (MTU) and other building applications. A system for installing the drop access location system is also provided. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324189 | MODULAR OPTICAL FIBER CASSETTE - The present disclosure includes apparatus and methods for a modular optical fiber cassette. One embodiment includes a base housing configured to receive additional nested components and an adapter plate resiliently connected to the housing and comprising a plurality of optical fiber connectors. The adapter plate is releasable from the housing and providing access to both sides of the adapter plate. The cassette further includes a radius limiter nested with and resiliently connected to the base housing, a first expansion housing having an exterior contour substantially aligned with the base housing and configured to resiliently interlock with the base housing, and a cover resiliently connected to the expansion housing. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324190 | JIG FOR HOLDING A CORE AND METHOD UTILIZING THE SAME - A jig for holding a core which comprises a movable platform, a base positioned on the movable platform which has a receiving hole, and an inserter positioned inside the receiving hole of the base, shaped corresponding to the shape of the receiving hole, to fasten the core to the inserter. The inserter comprises a core receiving hole, a plurality of positioning recesses disposed symmetrically in the periphery of the core receiving hole, a plurality of positioning blocks received in the positioning recesses, and a plurality of resilient elements received in a space between the positioning recesses and the positioning blocks to hold the core firmly. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324191 | COORDINATION AND COMBINATION OF VIDEO SEQUENCES WITH SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL NORMALIZATION - Given two video sequences, a composite video sequence can be generated ( | 2009-12-31 |
20090324192 | INFORMATION REPRODUCTION DEVICE AND METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAM - An information reproduction device ( | 2009-12-31 |
20090324193 | BROADCAST RECEIVER AND RECORDING CONTROL METHOD - According to one embodiment, a broadcast receiver receives a broadcast signal, and performs predetermined signal processing on the received broadcast signal. The broadcast receiver manages an off-timer function on the basis of an operation input from the user. When the off-timer setting time is set, the broadcast receiver controls to start recording, on a recording medium, a transmitted signal having undergone signal processing. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324194 | RECORDING/REPRODUCING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD OF RECORDING/REPRODUCING APPARATUS - According to one embodiment, a recording/reproducing apparatus includes a reception module for selectively receiving a signal, a signal processing module which subjects a video signal, which is received by the a reception module, to a predetermined signal process, a recording module for recording a signal which is subjected to the signal process by the signal processing module, and a control module for controlling the reception module, the signal processing module and the recording module, wherein the control module includes a determination module for determining, when program information of a recorded program is to be displayed, whether the recorded program meets a predetermined standard, and a switching module for switching a range of date/time for displaying the program information of the recorded program, on the basis of a determination result of the determination module. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324195 | WISH LIST FOR TELEVISION RECORDING - A viewer can enter into a wish list a show listed on an electronic program guide (EPG) that is being shown on a channel not subscribed to by the viewer. Should the show later become available on a subscribed-to channel, it is automatically recorded. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324196 | INFORMATION PROCESSINS APPARATUS AND DATA PROCESSING METHOD AND PROGRAM - Disclosed herein is an information processing apparatus including: a first data processing block configured by a virtual machine as a virtual hardware environment for executing a program read from a first recording media recording content and the program for executing data processing; and a second data processing block configured to execute data conversion of the content and copy processing of the converted content onto a second recording media. The first data processing block executes acquisition of copy permission information from a management server by execution of the program and shuts down the virtual machine after completion of the acquisition of the copy permission information. The second data processing block is configured to execute data conversion of content recorded to the first recording media and copy processing of the converted content onto a second recording media after the virtual machine is shut down. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324197 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APAPRATUS AND DATA PROCESSING METHOD AND PROGRAM - An information processing apparatus is provided and includes a first data processing block configured to execute a program read from a first recording media recording content and the program for executing data processing; and a second data processing block configured to execute data conversion on the content recorded to the first recording media and copy processing of the content to a second recording media. The first data processing block makes the second data processing block execute data processing by selectively applying a plurality of application programming interfaces with execution processing defined, transmits data obtained by the data processing to a management server, and gets copy permission information from the management server. The second data processing block starts the data conversion of content recorded to the first recording media and the copy processing of the content to the second recording media under condition of acquisition of the copy permission information. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324198 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COPY PROTECTION DETECTION IN A VIDEO SIGNAL - A method and apparatus for detecting copy protection included in an input video signal is described. Two types of copy protection are particularly addressed, including techniques that imbed copy protection pulses and copy protection phase flips in the video signal. A method for preserving copy protection is also presented, where the input video signal is first examined to determine if copy protection has been included in the input video signal. The input video signal then converted to component video data, which removes any copy protection present. An output video signal is then generated from the component video data, and when it was determined that the input video signal includes copy protection, the copy protection is recreated in the output video signal. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324199 | GENERATING FINGERPRINTS OF VIDEO SIGNALS - The present invention provides novel techniques for generating more robust fingerprints ( | 2009-12-31 |
20090324200 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD, AND PROGRAM - An image processing apparatus includes the following elements. A playback-position feature value extracting unit extracts, as a playback-position feature value, a feature value at a playback position from an image being played back. A synchronizing unit synchronizes the playback-position feature value with a feature value on a data recording medium on which setting information for processing the image is recorded in association with a feature value of the image. A control unit controls a time width used for synchronization between the feature value on the data recording medium with the playback-position feature value. A reading unit reads, when the playback-position feature value is synchronized with the feature value on the data recording medium, the setting information recorded on the data recording medium in association with the playback-position feature value. A reflecting unit reflects, based on the read setting information, the process in the image being played back. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324201 | DATA-PROCESSING DEVICE AND DATA PROCESSING METHOD - A data-processing device includes: a conversion section performing a process of format-conversion in an interactive manner on an AV file between an AV independent format and an AV multiplex format at the time of data communication between an AV server and a network module; a time slot setting section setting a conversion process time slot, a server-side time slot and a network-side time slot; and a time slot control section controlling the allocation of the format conversion process, the data communication process with the AV server and the data communication process with the network module, so that each of the three processes is periodically performed at specified time intervals by allocating the format conversion process and the data communication process on a plurality of AV files to the conversion process time slot and the server-side time slot, respectively, and so that the two processes are performed in parallel. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324202 | RECORDING MEDIUM, PLAYBACK APPARATUS, RECORDING APPARATUS, PLAYBACK METHOD, RECORDING METHOD, AND PROGRAM - A BD-ROM has recorded thereon: a plurality of subtitle streams each configured for playback in sync with a video stream; and PlayList information. The PlayList information includes PlayItem information and a display method flag. The PlayItem information defines a playback section with information indicating In_time and Out_time of a playback time axis of the video stream and includes a stream information table. The display method flag indicates whether or not control according to a subtitle display method is valid. The stream information table specifies to, a playback apparatus, one of the subtitle streams to be selected if the control according to the subtitle display method is valid. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324203 | RECORDER WITH RETROSPECTIVE CAPTURE - A system and method allows a user to enter a command capture audio, video, and/or still pictures that commence at a moment in time earlier than entering the command. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324204 | INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD AND INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS - This invention provides an information processing method and apparatus, which can set all extent sizes of data divisionally recorded on a disk to be equal to or larger than the minimum recording unit, and can guarantee continuous reproduction of the divisionally recorded data. Of data divisionally recorded on a recording medium ( | 2009-12-31 |
20090324205 | PULSE COUNT CONTROL FOR BRUSHED DC MOTOR DRIVEN BY PULSE WIDTH MODULATION - Systems and methods for determining the occurrences of pulses for implementing a pulse count monitoring method for driving a brushed DC motor driven by a pulse width modulated (PWM) driving current. The method comprises acquiring the driving current signal; performing peak detection on the acquired signal; identifying the largest peaks and thus determining the occurrence of pulses. The peak detect is implemented by fast peak detection or diode peak detection operable to detect appropriate peak widths as determined by the chosen PWM frequency, duty cycle and PWM pulse height. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324206 | Capillary Pumps for Vaporization of Liquids - A capillary pump is provided for producing pressurized and unpressurized vapor emissions from liquid feed. In its simplest form, the capillary pump incorporates a liquid feed intake, a porous vaporization component, and a heat transfer component. Additional components, such as an insulator component, a feed pre-heat component, a liquid feed reservoir and/or delivery system, an integrated or associated heater component, a vapor collection chamber, a heat distribution component, an orifice component and/or vapor release component, may also be associated with or integrated in the improved capillary pumps. Capillary pump arrays are provided, and numerous applications for capillary pumps are disclosed. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324207 | ZOOM LENS AND IMAGING CAPTURING DEVICE - An object is to reduce the effect of defocusing due to the movement of an image plane when a shifting lens group movable in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis for correcting hand jiggling is positionally deviated along the optical axis, thereby maintaining high optical performance at the time of correcting hand jiggling. A zoom lens | 2009-12-31 |
20090324208 | OPTICAL APPARATUS - An optical apparatus includes an image shake correction optical element driven in a movable range including an optical origin position, a detector detecting a position of the optical element, a locking mechanism limiting movement of the optical element within a lock range including the optical origin position and is narrower than the movable range. The apparatus further includes a memory storing a first distance between a first reference position in the movable range and the optical origin position and a second distance between a second reference position in the lock range and the optical origin position. A controller controls a position of the optical element based on a control origin position, and performs correction of at least one of the first distance, the second distance and the control origin position. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324209 | PHOTOGRAPHING SYSTEM - A photographing system includes a lens apparatus having an image blur correcting device configured to correct and/or reduce image blur caused by vibration, a vibration sensor for detecting vibration applied to the lens apparatus, a position detecting device configured to detect a position change of the lens apparatus, and a controlling device configured to control the image blur correcting device using a detection signal of the position detecting device. The photographing system reduces the influence of low frequency noise of a vibration sensor, while maintaining the quality of a vibration isolation function of the lens apparatus. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324210 | Method for Arranging Flexible Printed Wiring Board in Lens Barrel of an Imaging Device, and Imaging Device Using Flexible Printed Wiring Board Arranged by the Same Method - An object of the present invention is to provide a method for arranging an FPC in a lens barrel of an imaging device which allows installation of new function to an imaging device without eliminating function installed and size up. To solve the problem, the FPC electrically connect plurality of a optical elements movable which constitute an optical unit arranged movably along the optical axis, to the control unit that controls the operation of the optical elements movable, is made to comprise an extension section extending from a connector of the control unit in a state able to be fixed to a lens barrel, a fixed section fixed to the lens barrel, and a bent turn back section extending from the fixed section and then turn back in a loop shape with a terminal provided on the edge, and the terminal is connected to the optical element movable constituting the optical unit. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324211 | Method and Device for Geo-Tagging an Object Before or After Creation - In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, a process communicates with a location source to obtain location information. The process determines a location of an object at a time other than creation of the object based on the location information. The process associates the determined location with the object. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324212 | MULTIPLE CHANNEL INTERFEROMETRIC SURFACE CONTOUR MEASUREMENT SYSTEM - Described is a multiple channel interferometric surface contour measurement system. The measurement system includes a multiple channel interferometer projector, a digital camera and a processor. The projector includes two or more interferometer channels. Each channel has an optical axis spatially separate from the optical axes of the other channels. Each channel projects a fringe pattern onto the surface of an object to be measured. Image data for the fringe patterns projected on the object surface are acquired by the digital camera. The processor controls the projection of the fringe patterns of different spatial frequencies, adjusts the phase of each fringe pattern and generates surface contour data in response to the camera image data. The multiple channel interferometric surface contour measurement system provides numerous advantages over conventional single channel interferometric systems, including reduced sensitivity to optical noise, improved stability and increased measurement accuracy. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324213 | IMAGE CAPTURE ASSEMBLY - An image capture assembly is disclosed. The image capture assembly includes a housing, a lens unit, an image detection unit, three screws, and three elastic members. The housing includes a lens-receiving portion, and three screw-receiving portions on an inner surface of the housing and surrounding the lens-receiving portion, an end surface of each screw-receiving portion defining a threaded hole. The lens unit is received in the lens-receiving portion. The image detection unit includes a substrate and an image sensor. The substrate facing the inner surface of the housing defines three through holes therein aligned with the three screw-receiving portions respectively. The image sensor is fixed to the substrate and faces the lens-receiving portion. The screws extend through the through holes of the substrate and into the threaded holes of the screw-receiving portions respectively. The elastic members surround the screw-receiving portions respectively and are compressed between the housing and the substrate. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324214 | Method, Apparatus and System for Handling Fiber Line Fault - A method for handling a fiber line fault is provided. The method includes: loading, by a station, an indication signal carrying alarm suppression information onto an optical signal to be output to a downstream fiber of the station upon detection of a fault on upstream fiber line; keeping in a normal working status, by a downstream station upon a receipt of the optical signal with the indication signal. The various embodiments of the present disclosure suppress alarms from downstream amplifier stations which are not adjacent to the failure link and further suppress APR or APSD procedures according to the alarms. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324215 | ACTIVE/STANDBY SWITCHOVER METHOD AND DEVICE OF ASYNCHRONOUS BACKPLANE IN TRANSPORT NETWORK - An active/standby switchover device and an active/standby switchover method of an asynchronous backplane in a transport network are provided. A local oscillator clock is adopted to obtain a clock of a working path, so as to replace the clock of the working path tracked in a phase-locked loop mode. An active/standby switchover operation is realized by using the local oscillator clock, so that the implementation cost is greatly reduced, and the hysteresis problem of the phase-locked loop tracking clock during the active/standby clock switchover is eliminated, thereby effectively achieving the lossless switchover of services. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324216 | OPTICAL ACTIVATION OF ONE OR MORE COMMUNICATION UNITS IN A SURVEY SYSTEM - To control activation of one or more communication units in a survey system that performs surveying of a subterranean structure, optical activity on at least one optical link connected to at least one communication unit that is part of a survey system is detected. In response to determining that the optical activity has a characteristic that satisfies a predetermined criterion, the at least one communication unit is awakened. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324217 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REMOTE COMMUNICATION USING THE INTERPRETATION OF THERMOLUMINESCENCE OR PHOTOLUMINESCENCE SIGNALS - A method for remote communication using the interpretation of thermoluminescence or photoluminescence signals uses a property of photoluminescence or of thermoluminescence when it is caused by entangled trapped electrons. In this case, stimulation of deexcitation of trapped electrons by heat or radiation occurs when the deexcitation thermal energy is approximately equal to the trap-emptying energy. Stimulation by a temperature rise of a “master” sample induces luminescence of a remote “slave” “entangled” sample, which is reproduced on lowering the temperature of the “master” sample whatever the distance and the media separating the “master” sample and the “slave” sample. This teaching and its generalization to other forms of stimulation is used by the method of interpreting the quantum reception measurements so as to determine, using a correlation method, the transmission of information or commands. This method is particularly suitable for carrying out communication with submarines, communication in mine galleries, or communication with space probes. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324218 | Optical signal detection method, and light receiving apparatus using the same - A signal detection method used in an optical receiver apparatus detects the variation of an optical input level from the presence or absence of a clock signal and appropriately controls a dispersion compensator, thereby enabling the presence or absence of an input signal to be correctly determined. The signal detection method includes: detecting the level of input light of an optical amplifier, storing the level of the detected input light, comparing the level of the stored previous input light with the level of current input light, detecting the level variation of the input light by the comparison to detect the state change of the presence or absence of an optical signal, performing a dispersion compensation on the input light, and extracting a clock from an optical input. When the level variation of the input light is detected, the presence or absence of the optical signal of the input light is determined from the presence or absence of the clock signal. When the clock signal is not extracted, the dispersion amount is swept. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324219 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR IMPROVING THE TOLERANCE OF TONE-BASED OPTICAL CHANNEL MONITORING TO STIMULATED RAMAN SCATTERING - For wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) communications, apparatus and methods are provided for performing tone-based optical channel monitoring that is less sensitive to stimulated Raman scattering (SRS). In tone-based optical channel monitoring, in which WDM channels are modulated with one or more tones, detecting and measuring the tone power is commonly used as a measure of signal power in each channel. In WDM systems with long fiber spans and high signal powers, however, SRS tends to transfer energy from shorter wavelengths to longer wavelengths, whereby the tones are no longer accurately indicative of the signal power of the individual wavelength channels. Apparatus and methods are provided which reduce the effect of SRS by filtering the monitored WDM signals into sub-bands and detecting each sub-band independently. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324220 | COMMUNICATION NETWORK WITH NODE BYPASSED CO-ROUTED MULTI-CHANNEL TRAFFIC - Embodiments of the present invention route a wavelength division multiplexed signal across multiple communication paths using skew characteristics of at least some of the communication paths. The network is a wavelength division multiplexed optical transport network. The plurality of communication paths involves different signal and path attributes such as a plurality of carrier wavelengths, optical carrier groups, physical communication paths (different nodes, different fibers along a same path, or any combination of the foregoing), or any other differentiating factors between two paths. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324221 | SCALABLE LOAD-BALANCED INTERCONNECT SWITCH BASED ON AN ARRAYED WAVEGUIDE GRATING - According to one embodiment, an interconnect switch has an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) having N input ports and N output ports. The AWG is characterized by two or more diffraction orders and is adapted to route optical signals from the input ports to the output ports. In a fully deployed implementation, the interconnect switch has N input line cards and N output line cards. Each of the input line cards is adapted to generate N respective modulated optical signals using carrier wavelengths corresponding to at least two different diffraction orders of the AWG to provide wavelength redundancy for optically connecting the input line card and any of the output line cards. In a partially deployed implementation, the interconnect switch has fewer than N input line cards and/or fewer than N output line cards. In either the fully deployed implementation or a partially deployed implementation, the interconnect switch is capable of load balancing. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324222 | Link Diversity and Load Balancing Across Digital and Optical Express-Thru Nodes - The present invention provides a system, apparatus and method to compute a route through a network having both digital nodes and optical express-thru nodes. According to various embodiments of the invention, a network topology is generated in which both digital nodes, optical express-thru nodes, and optical nodes are identified, and both physical and virtual links between these nodes are mapped. The network connectivity is identified, at least in part, by broadcasting a local link state advertisement and optical carrier group binding information to neighboring nodes, which enables both physical and virtual neighboring nodes to be identified. Once a topology is generated, both physical and virtual link characteristics are analyzed to ensure link diversity for traffic through the network and load balancing functionality across the network. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324223 | System, method and apparatus for channel estimation with dual polarization training symbols for coherent optical OFDM - System, apparatus and method of optical communication are provided for performing channel estimation for an optical OFDM system by utilizing correlated dual-polarization training symbols (CDPTS) to offer high system tolerance to fiber nonlinear effects such as cross-phase modulation (XPM) among wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) channels. An exemplary method includes receiving a pair of dual-polarization or polarization-multiplexed training symbols in an optical polarization-division multiplexed (PDM) orthogonal frequency-division multiplexed (OFDM) signal, and performing channel estimation to obtain an estimated channel matrix for at least a first of a plurality of subcarriers of the PDM-OFDM signal. Channel compensation is performed based on the estimated channel matrix for at least the first subcarrier of the OFDM signal and symbols then decoded. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324224 | System, method and apparatus to suppress inter-channel nonlinearities in WDM systems with coherent detection - For optical communications, apparatus and methods are provided for performing dispersion compensation management that suppresses intra-channel nonlinearities, inter-channel cross-phase modulation (XPM) and/or nonlinear polarization scattering. In optical communication, in which wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) channels are modulated, detecting and measuring channels with coherent detection is complicated due to impairments caused by neighboring channels. Apparatus and methods are provided which reduce the effect of impairments by performing in-line Periodic Group Delay (PGD) dispersion compensation on a WDM signal so as to enable detection of individual channels without severe degradation of system performance. Preferably the PGD dispersion compensator has within a channel a chromatic dispersion substantially similar to a DCF and between channels the group delay is substantially similar. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324225 | METHOD FOR MAINTAINING THE COMPATIBILITY OF LEGACY OF RECEIVERS, OPTICAL DISTRIBUTING NETWORK STRUCTURE, AND PARTS THEREOF INCLUDING A METHOD FOR USING SUCH PART - The invention relates to a method for maintaining the compatibility of legacy receivers in network termination units of an optical distributing network structure, especially in a passive optical network, when in the distributing network structure advanced receivers with a multiple of the data rate of the legacy receivers shall be operated too, in which signals for the advanced receivers are transmitted on the same wavelength and using the same physical paths as signals for the legacy receivers, in which, while transmitting signals for the advanced receivers at the same time also signals for the legacy receivers are transmitted, and in which the amplitude of the signals for the advanced receivers compared to the amplitude of the signals for the legacy receivers are chosen such that the signals for the advanced receivers do not block the legacy receivers in the receipt of the signals intended for them. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324226 | System, method and apparatus for channel estimation based on intra-symbol frequency domain averaging for coherent optical OFDM - System, apparatus and method of optical communication are provided for performing efficient channel estimation for a CO-OFDM link utilizing an intra-symbol frequency-domain averaging (ISFA) to compensate for transmission impairments. An exemplary method includes receiving a pair of training symbols in an optical orthogonal frequency-division multiplexed (OFDM) signal, performing channel estimation to obtain a first estimated channel matrix for each of a plurality of subcarriers of the OFDM signal; and averaging the first estimated channel matrix of a first subcarrier with the first estimated channel matrix of others of the subcarriers to obtain a second estimated channel matrix for the first subcarrier. The second estimated channel matrix may be an average or weighted average. Prior to the averaging, compensation of chromatic dispersion may be performed. Channel compensation is performed based on the second estimated channel matrix for the first subcarrier of the OFDM signal and symbols then decoded. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324227 | Multi-Channel Optical Transport Network Training Signal - Systems and methods are provided for multi-channel ITU G.709 optical transport network (OTN) communications The transmission method accepts an ITU G.709 OTN frame including an OTU overhead (OH) section and an ODU section. A forward error correction (FEC) parity section with a training signal is appended to the ITU G.709 OTN frame, to create a training-enhanced (TE) OTN frame. All, or a portion of the TE OTN may be buffered in a tangible memory medium in preparation for striping. The training-enhanced OTN frame is then striped into n parallel streams, and n TE_OTN-PFs (Parallel Frames) are supplied. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324228 | ONT TEST UNIT - An Optical Network Terminal (ONT) simulator is provided. The ONT simulator includes one or more partially functional ONTs coupled to an Optical Line Termination (OLT) and an ONT/Optical network termination Management and Control Interface (ONT/OMCI) simulation utility. The ONTs receive test network traffic from the OLT and forward any OMCI traffic contained in the network traffic to the ONT/OMCI simulation utility. The ONT/OMCI simulation utility in turn simulates the operation of field-deployable ONT using the OMCI traffic. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324229 | OPTICAL TRANSMISSION APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR - An optical transmission apparatus comprising a first detector for detecting the power of the supervisory signal light separated from received wavelength-division multiplexed signal lights; a second detector for detecting the power of the wavelength-division multiplexed signal lights after the separation of the supervisory signal light; a gain-controlled type optical amplifier for amplifying the wavelength-division multiplexed signal lights; an optical attenuator coupled to the amplifier; and a control unit for controlling the optical amplifier and the optical attenuator so as to keep the output level of the wavelength-division multiplexed signal lights to a predetermined target value, wherein the control unit restrains automatic output level control by the optical attenuator when the supervisory signal light power fluctuates within its permissible range and fluctuations in the signal light power have deviated from its permissible range. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324230 | OPTICAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEM USING FOUR-WAVE MIXING - Provided is an optical transmission system using four-wave mixing which is configured in a WDM-PON topology where a signal light between an optical line terminal | 2009-12-31 |
20090324231 | TRANSMISSION LINE MONITORING SYSTEM - In a transmission path monitoring system, a first add section adds a first add signal to a first wavelength division multiplexing signal. A first drop section separates a first drop signal from the first wavelength division multiplexing signal. A first loopback section transfers a monitor signal on a first drop optical transmission path onto a second add optical transmission path. A second add section adds a second add signal to a second wavelength division multiple signal. A second drop section separates a second drop signal from the second wavelength division multiplexing signal. A first communication section transmits the first add signal and the monitor signal and receive the second drop signal and the monitor signal. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324232 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ANNOUNCING TRAFFIC ENGINEERING PARAMETERS OF COMPOSITE TRANSPORT GROUPS - An approach is provided for announcing aggregate characteristics of a composite transport group (CTG) for traffic engineering. Information specifying characteristics of a plurality of component links of the CTG is received. An aggregate characteristic of the CTG is determined based the information. The aggregate characteristic is announced to a label switched network for provisioning label switched paths on the CTG. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324233 | Fiber-optic long-haul transmission system - An ultra-long fiber-optic transmission system is configured in accordance with the current telecom standards and particularly advantageous for transmission data at a long distance which may exceed 400 km between adjacent nodes. The disclosed system has at least one intermediary amplifying node provided with a supervisory optical channel (SOC) which comprises a transponder operative to select the direction in which a supervisory channel signal (SCS), carrying information about the fiber break and malfunction of WDM channels, is transmitted along the SOC. The transponder further includes a receiver operative to measure the power of incoming and a Raman controller coupled to the receiver and to either turn or turn off a pump of Raman amplifier based on determination of whether the measured power of the SCS is lower than or at least equal to a reference value. The transponder is further configured with a transmitter configured as a fiber laser which operates in at least two modes. In the first mode when the measured power as at least equal to the reference value, the fiber laser emits the having a nominal power. In the second mode, when the measured power of the is less than the reference value, the transmitter is operative to lase the having a greater than nominal power even if Raman and EDFA amplifiers of the amplification node are disabled. The utilization of the fiber laser enhances the reliability and control of the long fiber-haul system's operation. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324234 | OPTICAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEM USING RAMAN OPTICAL AMPLIFICATION - Provided is an optical transmission system using Raman optical amplification, which is configured in a WDM-PON topology where a signal light between an optical line terminal | 2009-12-31 |
20090324235 | MULTIPLE MOVABLE BARRIER OPERATOR SYSTEM AND METHOD - A first moveable barrier operator is actuated to move a first moveable barrier and a light beam is encoded with operational information regarding the first movable barrier operator. The encoded light beam is transmitted from an emitter associated with the first moveable barrier operator to a first detector associated with the second moveable barrier operator. The second moveable barrier operator may be subsequently operated at least in part according to the operational information encoded in the light beam. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324236 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR LASER BASED COMMUNICATION - Method and system for determining a point-ahead angle from a first spacecraft to a second spacecraft, each spacecraft having a laser communication (“lasercom”) terminal is provided If ephemeris data regarding the second spacecraft is unavailable to the first spacecraft while the second spacecraft is mobile, (a) obtaining attitude information regarding the first spacecraft; and (b) obtaining gimbal offload commands from a fast steering mirror and a first spacecraft telescope subsystem of the first spacecraft; wherein a point-ahead determination module receives the attitude information and the gimbal offload commands; and determining an estimate of the point-ahead angle from the first spacecraft to the second spacecraft based on the attitude information and the gimbal offload commands. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324237 | PLUGGABLE OPTICAL NETWORK UNIT CAPABLE OF STATUS INDICATION - A pluggable optical network unit includes a transceiver assembly configured to produce a first electrical signal in response to a first optical signal comprising reception signal data and to emit a second optical signal comprising transmission signal data in response to a second electrical signal. A data processing unit can extract the reception signal data from the first electrical signal and produce the second electrical signal in response to the transmission signal data. An interface unit can receive the reception signal data from the data processing unit, serialize the reception signal data, and send a third electric signal comprising the reception signal data to a network device that the pluggable optical network unit is plugged into. A management unit can modify the third electric signal in accordance to the operation status of at least one of the transceiver assembly or the data processing unit. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324238 | Single-fiber bidirectional optical transmitter/receiver - A single-fiber bidirectional optical transmitter/receiver includes a single-fiber bidirectional optical transmission/reception device. A circuit board has a signal processing circuit and a drive circuit configured to drive the single-fiber bidirectional optical transmission/reception device. A main housing accommodates the single-fiber bidirectional optical transmission/reception device and the circuit board. A ground part of a reception side of the single-fiber bidirectional optical transmission/reception device is electrically connected to a ground part of a transmission side of the single-fiber bidirectional optical transmission/reception device through a ground wiring pattern formed on a flexible printed board. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324239 | OPTICAL INTEGRATED CIRCUIT APPARATUS - Optical waveguides and optical transmission/reception units are placed on one principal plane of a semiconductor substrate. A light source is placed on one end surface of the semiconductor substrate and guides generated light to the optical waveguides. In the optical transmission/reception units, each of optical resonant members optically resonates with partial light of one of light beams propagating in the optical waveguides and emits the partial light into an optical transmission member if voltage is applied thereto. In the optical transmission/reception units, each of another optical resonant members optically resonates with light propagating in the optical transmission member and emits the resonated light into a photodetector unit if voltage is applied thereto. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324240 | TRANSMISSION LINE OPTIMIZATION METHOD IN OPTICAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM - In an optical communication system in which an optical signal is sequentially transferred through a plurality of transmission sections of an entire transmission line between a most upstream node and a most downstream node, wherein the entire transmission line is sectioned by at least one intermediate node into the transmission sections, a transmission line optimization method includes: concurrently transmitting a test signal from an upstream node of each transmission section to a downstream node thereof, causing each downstream node to perform individual optimization of a corresponding transmission section in parallel; sequentially transmitting a first signal indicating completion of upstream individual optimization in a downstream direction from a most upstream immediate node to most downstream node through immediate nodes which has completed the individual optimization; and transmitting a second signal indicating completion of entire optimization in an upstream direction from the most downstream node to the most upstream node. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324241 | Chio to chip optic alleys and method - A data link includes an ASIC. The data link includes a heat insulation layer in contact with the ASIC. The data link includes an optical transducer layer having a plurality of transducers, with each transducer of the plurality of transducers in communication with the ASIC. Each transducer converting optical signals to electrical signals or electrical signals to optical signals. The data link includes an optical waveguide layer having a plurality of waveguides for carrying optical signals. Each waveguide of the plurality of waveguides in optical communication with a transducer, the optical waveguide layer adjacent with the insulation layer. An apparatus for data. A method for transferring data. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324242 | OPTICAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEM AND MULTI-CORE OPTICAL FIBER - An optical transmission system includes an optical transmitting unit that outputs at least one optical signal having a wavelength included in an operation wavelength band and a holey fiber that is connected to the optical transmitting unit. The holey fiber includes a core and a cladding formed around the core. The cladding includes a plurality of holes formed around the core in a triangular lattice shape. The holey fiber transmits the optical signal in a single mode. A bending loss of the holey fiber is equal to or less than 5 dB/m at a wavelength within the operation wavelength band when the holey fiber is wound at a diameter of 20 millimeters. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324243 | SCALABLE LOAD-BALANCED INTERCONNECT SWITCH BASED ON AN OPTICAL SWITCH FABRIC HAVING A BANK OF WAVELENGTH-SELECTIVE SWITCHES - According to one embodiment, an interconnect switch has an optical switch fabric (OSF) having N input ports and N output ports. The OSF has a bank of optically interconnected wavelength-selective switches and is adapted to route optical signals from the input ports to the output ports. In a fully deployed implementation, the interconnect switch has N input line cards and N output line cards. Each of the input line cards is adapted to generate N respective modulated optical signals using carrier wavelengths that are controllably selected from more than N carrier wavelengths to provide wavelength redundancy for optically connecting the input line card and any of the output line cards. In a partially deployed implementation, the interconnect switch has fewer than N input line cards and/or fewer than N output line cards. In either the fully deployed implementation or a partially deployed implementation, the interconnect switch is capable of load balancing. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324244 | PHOTOMETRIC DEVICE - A photometric device with a wide dynamic range. The photometric device includes a constant current generation circuit, a fixed clock signal generation circuit which generates a fixed clock signal having a fixed frequency, a photoelectric conversion element, a variable clock signal generation circuit and a digital signal generation circuit. The fixed clock signal generation circuit generates a fixed clock signal that oscillates at a fixed frequency, from constant current The variable clock signal generation circuit generates a variable clock signal that oscillates at a frequency proportional to the amount of photocurrent, from photocurrent generated in the photoelectric conversion element. The digital signal generation circuit sets a measurement period using the fixed clock signal, counts the number of pulses of the variable clock signal that oscillates for the measurement period, and outputs a digital signal including the count value as data. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324245 | OPTICAL TRIGGERED SELF-TIMED CLOCK GENERATION - A self-timed clock circuit and method of generating a self-timed clock circuit. The circuit includes means for charging a circuit node in response to an external reset signal; means for discharging the circuit node in response to a trigger signal generated by a photodiode; means for generating a first signal indicating a logic level of the circuit node; means for generating and delaying a second signal indicating the logic state of the circuit node; means for combining the first and second signals to generate a recharge signal; and means for recharging the circuit node in response to the recharge signal. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324246 | Method of Limiting the Non-Linear Phase Noise of a Phase-Modulated Optical Signal of Constant Amplitude, and an Associated Device - A non-linear phase noise limiter device limits the non-linear phase noise that affects a phase-modulated input optical signal of constant mean amplitude conveyed over a transmission line. The device is placed at a zero dispersion point of the transmission line, and it is suitable for suppressing amplitude fluctuations about a mean value in said optical signal. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324247 | OPTICAL MODULATOR - The present invention relates to an optical modulator that generates quaternary amplitude modulated light without inter-symbol-interference by splitting input light into three optical paths, generating a continuous wave signal in a first optical path, generating binary phase modulated lights using a single drive MZ type optical phase modulator in second and third optical paths, and interfering them at in-phase and at field amplitude 1:a:b. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324248 | ILLUMINATION LIGHT RECEIVER AND ILLUMINATION LIGHT COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM - An illumination light receiver includes: a wavelength separation mechanism separating visible light containing optical signal data distributed among wavelengths corresponding to three primary colors into the wavelengths corresponding to the three primary colors; a dispersion restraining mechanism restraining dispersion of light outputted from the wavelength separation mechanism; and a light receiving portion illuminated, separately for each of the separated wavelengths corresponding to the three primary colors, by the light outputted from the dispersion restraining mechanism, the light receiving portion converting the optical signal data into and extracting an electrical signal. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324249 | High Loss Loop Back For Long Repeater Span - Various high loss loop back (HLLB) repeater architectures are disclosed that enable selectively monitoring (e.g., measuring, analyzing, etc) of Rayleigh signals from both inbound and outbound directions of an optical communication system. In one such embodiment, first and second optical test signal frequencies (or ranges) are used, in conjunction with selective filtering, for monitoring the outbound and inbound paths, respectively. The repeater architectures allow optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) monitoring techniques to be employed, for example, in particularly long repeater spans, such as those in excess of 90 km in length. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324250 | Wireless transmitters - A wireless transmitter includes an optical modulator, an optical power splitter, a plurality of electrical drivers, and a plurality of antennas. The optical power splitter has a plurality of optical outputs and has an optical input connected to receive a modulated optical carrier from the optical modulator. Each driver is configured to detect a portion of the modulated optical carrier output by one of the optical outputs of the optical power splitter. Each antenna is connected to be driven by one of the electrical drivers. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324251 | Tunable Radio Frequency and Microwave Photonic Filters - RF and microwave devices and techniques are disclosed for processing RF and microwave signals by using (1) photonic or optical components and (2) RF and microwave components. In some implementations, a part of the processing is performed in the RF and microwave domain such as applying a microwave or RF input signal to control an optical modulator, and another part of the processing is performed in the optical domain such as optical filtering of the modulated optical beam to select desired microwave or RF spectral components. The frequency of a selected spectral component can be tuned by either tuning the frequency of the optical beam that is modulated by the optical modulator or a filter that is used to filter modulated optical beam. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324252 | Optical Transmitter - An optical transmitter includes a light source that outputs light superposed with a pilot signal having a predetermined frequency; an optical modulating unit that modulates the light from the light source according to an input electric signal; a detecting unit that detects a high-output-side maximum value of signal light output from the optical modulating unit, a fluctuation width of the high-output-side maximum value, and a fluctuation width of a low-output-side minimum value; a bias-potential adjusting unit that adjusts a bias potential of an electric signal to be input to the optical modulating unit based on the detected maximum value; and an amplitude adjusting unit that adjusts an amplitude of the electric signal to be input to the optical modulating unit based on the fluctuation width of the high-output-side maximum value and the fluctuation width of the low-output-side minimum value. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324253 | OPTICAL MODULATOR FOR HIGHER-ORDER MODULATION - According to one embodiment of the invention, a 16-QAM optical modulator has a Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) coupled to a drive circuit that drives the MZM based on two electrical binary signals. The output of the MZM corresponds to an intermediary constellation consisting of four constellation points arranged on a straight line in the corresponding in-phase/quadrature-phase (I-Q) plane. Two of these constellation points correspond to a zero phase, and the remaining two constellation points correspond to a phase of π radian. The 16-QAM optical modulator further has a phase shifter that modulates the output of the MZM based on two additional electrical binary signals. The resulting optical output signal corresponds to a star 16-QAM constellation, which is produced by incremental rotation of the intermediary constellation. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324254 | Optical transmission apparatus and method - In an optical transmission apparatus, a light-emitting laser varies its output wavelength when applied with a wavelength control signal for switching wavelengths. A wavelength controller outputs the wavelength control signal, and a filter unit subjects the wavelength control signal to a filtering process to remove high-frequency noise superimposed on the wavelength control signal. The filter unit stops the filtering process during the wavelength control and executes the filtering process during the operation. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324255 | Light transmitting apparatus and method for controlling the same - A light transmitting apparatus of the invention includes: a light transmitting section having a light source and an EA modulator, and a control section that controls the optical output power of the light transmitting section to be constant, based on a monitor value of EA photoelectric current. The control section uses a reference value corresponding to a wavelength of the light source, from amongst reference values of the EA photoelectric current that are different for each wavelength, and feedback controls the light transmitting section depending on a difference between the reference value and the monitor value. As a result it is possible to reliably suppress fluctuations in the optical output power due to changes in the wavelength of the light source. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324256 | Optical transmitter - In an optical transmitter, a laser emits light. A laser driving controller controls driving of the laser by superimposing modulation signals on laser driving signals to generate laser driving superimposed signals and by applying the laser driving superimposed signals to the laser to cause wavelength fluctuations in laser output light to suppress nonlinear optical phenomena during optical fiber transmission. An optical power variable controller variably controls a power of the laser output light. An optical fluctuation compensator suppresses optical fluctuations by monitoring output light from the variable controller to detect optical fluctuations accompanying wavelength fluctuations from monitoring results and by controlling a gain of the variable controller. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324257 | OPTICAL TRANSMISSION APPARATUS, OPTICAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEM AND COMMUNICATION METHOD THEREIN - An optical transmitting station changes a power level of control signal light having a first frequency at a second frequency lower than the first frequency, and transmits the control signal light whose power level has been changed to an optical receiving station through an optical transmission line. The optical receiving station monitors whether signal light components of the second frequency are received through the optical transmission line. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324258 | Electronic device - A flat surface is arranged, adjacent to an operating surface of an image forming apparatus, at a lower position than the operating surface. A small-object placing member for placing clips is arranged on the flat surface. The small-object placing member includes a slanting surface that recedes towards an inner side from a side of an operator who operates the operating surface. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324259 | CONDITION DETERMINING SYSTEM, METHOD OF DETECTING ABNORMALITY OF CONDITION DETERMINING SYSTEM, AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A system abnormality determining method comprises the steps of transmitting fake abnormal information representing an abnormal condition of the target instrument from the target instrument to a condition determination device via a network during a test operation of the target instrument instead of condition information, determining if the condition determination device can determine the target instrument as being abnormal based on the fake abnormal information, and operating the target instrument in a normal operation condition when the condition determination device can determine the target instrument as being abnormal. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324260 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes an apparatus body including an image forming engine for performing image forming operation, at least one RFID tag storing attribute information, a fit-in member detachably mounted in the apparatus body, the fit-in member being fitted with the RFID tag, an RFID tag interface through which the attribute information is read out from the RFID tag, a controller for controlling the image forming engine according to the attribute information read out through the RFID tag interface, and a mode switcher for switching the image forming apparatus from image forming mode which enables execution of the image forming operation to maintenance mode which enables execution of maintenance operation. The mode switcher enables a transfer from the image forming mode to the maintenance mode if maintenance mode startup information is detected from the attribute information read out through the RFID tag interface. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324261 | Image forming apparatus - An image forming apparatus is provided with an image forming portion for forming an image according to image information; an image forming unit arranged to be detachable and integrally including the image forming portion; a developer container arranged to be detachable for supplying developer to the image forming portion; and a blocking member for blocking developer from being supplied from the developer container to the image forming portion. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324262 | Image forming apparatus - An image forming apparatus is disclosed that includes an image carrier, a driving source, a rotation detection unit, and a control unit that performs fluctuation pattern recognition processing, control pattern construction processing, speed fine-adjustment processing, and remaining pattern recognition processing. The control unit is configured to perform control pattern correction processing for setting a frequency band of a remaining speed fluctuation to be detected by the remaining pattern recognition processing narrower than a frequency band of a speed fluctuation to be detected by the fluctuation pattern recognition processing and correcting the speed control pattern so as to be a pattern capable of reducing even the remaining speed fluctuation based on a remaining speed fluctuation pattern recognized by the remaining pattern recognition processing. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324263 | Image forming apparatus and control method therefor - An image forming apparatus includes a dual purpose tray that accommodates a document and a transfer sheet, a document transport mechanism to transport the document from the dual purpose tray to an image reading position, an image reading mechanism disposed beneath the document transport mechanism, an image forming mechanism disposed beneath the image reading mechanism, a transfer sheet transport mechanism to transport the transfer sheet from a bifurcation point through the image reading mechanism, a sheet feeding path that bifurcates into a first transport path through which the document is transported to the image reading position and a second transport path through which the transfer sheet is transported through the image reading mechanism to an image forming position by switching a switching member in accordance with one of a type of a recording medium set on the dual purpose tray and an operation mode of the image forming apparatus. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324264 | METHOD FOR CONTROLLING A PRINT JOB - A device and a method for improving the quality of prints using a printing device and system for carrying out a print job with a digital printing machine, preferably with a printing machine that works with a toner, in particular with an electrophotographically operating printing machine, whereby the sheets ( | 2009-12-31 |
20090324265 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus includes a control mechanism capable of selecting a plurality of print modes and a fixing device fixing an image developed based on one of the print modes selected by the control mechanism. The control mechanism selects any one of the print modes based on a successive print sheet number determined by print information received from a host device and a power consumption amount of each of the print modes calculated from fixing temperature of the fixing device prior to starting print operation. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324266 | FIXING DEVICE AND IMAGE FORMING DEVICE - A fixing device comprise an endless fixing belt; a first heater that heats a first predetermined section of the fixing belt, a second heater that heats a second predetermined section of the fixing belt, a switch that determines whether or not the second predetermined section of the fixing belt is heated by the second heater, a controller controls a switching operation of the switch according to a size of a medium on which an image is fixed by the fixing belt, and a temperature controller that reduces a heating temperature of the first heater when the second predetermined section of the fixing belt is heated by the second heater. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324267 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND IMAGE-DENSITY CONTROL METHOD - An image forming apparatus forms a plurality of tone patterns of different colors, each of which containing a plurality of toner patches having different toner densities. Some of the toner patches in each of the tone patterns are formed with a predetermined fixed developing bias and the rest of the toner patches in each of the tone patterns are formed with developing biases set based on previous developing biases that have been obtained through a previous control process. The largest toner density of the toner patches in each of the tone patterns is determined based on a magnitude relation of previous index values obtained through the previous control process. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324268 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A bias corrector conducts a first bias correction calculation by performing first through third calculations. The first calculation compares a stored target charging current value to a first charging current value detected when a first charging bias was applied by a bias applying device. The second calculation is performed repeatedly to calculate a second charging bias based on the comparison result and then to compare the target charging current value to a second charging current value detected by the current detector when the second charging bias was applied by the bias applying device. The third charging bias is calculated based on the comparison result. A second bias correction calculation then is conducted to correct the charging bias obtained as a result of the first bias correction calculation based on photoconductor information detected by a photoconductor information detector. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324269 | LIQUID DEVELOPERS WITH UV CURABLE ADDITIVES AND METHODS FOR THEIR PREPARATION - A method for printing a substrate by liquid developer electrography, the method comprising: (a) developing a latent image with liquid developer comprising toner particles dispersed in a carrier liquid, said toner particles comprising UV-curable additive; (b) transferring the developed image to the substrate; (c) at least partially fixing the image to the substrate; and (d) irradiating the at least partially fixed image with UV radiation to cure the UV-curable additive. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324270 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR - An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier, an exposure mechanism, a latent-image forming mechanism, at least one image forming mechanism including a development mechanism to develop the latent image, an intermediate transfer member disposed to contact the image carrier, a primary transfer mechanism to transfer a toner image on the image carrier and superimpose one toner image on another on the intermediate transfer member, a secondary transfer mechanism to transfer the toner image superimposed on the intermediate transfer member onto a transfer material, an asperity detector to detect an asperity profile of a surface of the transfer material to identify a concavity of the transfer material, and a toner adhesion control mechanism to increase an amount of the toner transferred to intermediate transfer member according to the concavities in the surface of the transfer material identified by an asperity detector, after a predetermined time elapses. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324271 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEROF - An image forming apparatus according to the invention includes an auxiliary power supply configured to detachably mountable on the image forming apparatus, a fixing device including a main heater heated by a commercial power supply and an auxiliary heater heated by the auxiliary power supply, a detector that detects mounting and detachment of the auxiliary power supply, and a control unit that performs control to carry out, when the mounting of the auxiliary power supply is detected by the detector, continuous printing of sheets at printing speed higher than printing speed at the time when the auxiliary power supply is not mounted. According to the image forming apparatus according to the invention, the image forming apparatus is capable of operating without deteriorating power use efficiency during continuous printing at normal speed and, on the other hand, can secure stable fixing performance even when the speed of the continuous printing is increased. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324272 | FUSER ASSEMBLIES, XEROGRAPHIC APPARATUSES AND METHODS OF FUSING TONER ON MEDIA - Fuser assemblies for fusing toner on media, xerographic apparatuses, and methods of fusing toner on media in xerographic apparatuses are disclosed. An embodiment of the fuser assemblies includes a fuser belt; a first roll supporting the fuser belt, the first roll including a first heating element and a second heating element extending axially along the first roll and along a width of the fuser belt, the first heating element being longer than the second heating element; and a second roll supporting the fuser belt, the second roll including a third heating element and a fourth heating element extending axially along the second roll and along the width of the fuser belt, the third heating element being longer than the fourth heating element. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324273 | FUSER ASSEMBLIES, XEROGRAPHIC APPARATUSES AND METHODS OF FUSING TONER ON MEDIA - Fuser assemblies, xerographic apparatuses, and methods of fusing toner on media in xerographic apparatuses are disclosed. An embodiment of the fuser assemblies includes a fuser belt having an inner surface and an outer surface opposite the inner surface, at least a first roll and a second roll supporting the fuser belt, and a radiant heater facing the inner surface of the fuser belt. The radiant heater is adapted to emit radiant heat onto the inner surface of the fuser belt to increase the temperature of the outer surface of the fuser belt opposite the inner surface heated by the radiant heater. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324274 | Method And System For Selecting Total Job Time Print - A system and a method in which the engine dynamically decides which process speed to warm up to based on the number & size of pages currently submitted to the engine, and thus deliver the best job time dynamically. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324275 | Tandem-Type Process Unit Removably Loaded In Image Forming Device - A tandem type of process unit removably loaded in an image forming device has a plurality of process cartridges, a pair of lower supporting plates, and a pair of upper supporting plates. Each of the plurality of process cartridges has a photosensitive drum rotatably about an axis extending in a first direction. Each of the plurality of process cartridges has two side faces facing each other in the first direction and a cartridge electrode provided on the side face. The plurality of process cartridges is aligned in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. Each of the lower supporting plates supports a lower part of the side face of each of the plurality of process cartridges. The pair of upper supporting plates is positioned upward and separately from the pair of lower supporting plates. Each of the upper supporting plates supports an upper part of the side face of each of the plurality of process cartridges. The pair of upper support plates and the pair of lower support plates provide a side opening facing the side face of each of the plurality of process cartridges to expose the electrode of each of the plurality of process cartridges toward outside through the side opening. | 2009-12-31 |
20090324276 | FAN DRIVE APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS HAVING FAN DRIVE APPARATUS - A fan drive apparatus includes a first fan, a second fan configured to form an air flow space, which has an intake side and an exhaust side, in cooperation with the first fan, a first drive circuit and a second drive circuit configured to output drive voltages to drive the first fan and the second fan respectively, a current detection unit configured to detect a drive current for the second drive circuit when the first fan and the second fan are driven, and a control unit configured to control the second drive circuit to change the drive voltage applied to the second fan, and determine a drive voltage so that a variation amount of the drive current detected by the current detection unit with respect to a change of the drive voltage is equal to or less than a predetermined value. | 2009-12-31 |