About
Selected Patents
A list of selected patents issued to Lincoln Laboratory–developed inventions is published below. Each patent is linked to its entry on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website. An archive of past featured inventions can be found at the patents archive.
For further information on the availability of these technologies for license, contact Jack Turner of the MIT Technology Licensing Office, at http://web.mit.edu/tlo/www/, 617-253-6966, or mailto:jht@mit.edu.
Patents from March 2013 through January 2009
2013
Modulator for Frequency-Shift Keying of Optical Signals
Inventors: Bryan S. Robinson, Don M. Boroson, Scott A. Hamilton, and
Shelby J. Savage
Date issued: 19 March 2013
U.S. Patent no.: 8,401,398
Described are an FSK modulator and a method for large-alphabet FSK modulation. The FSK modulator and the method are based on filtering of a multi-tone optical source such as a mode-locked laser which provides a comb distribution of tones. A frequency-selective component selects for transmission a subset of the tones. In various embodiments the frequency-selective component is a Mach-Zehnder interferometer filter or a microring resonator filter. A second frequency-selective component selects a subset of the tones from the comb distribution provided by the first frequency-selective component. Still more frequency-selective components can be used according to the number of tones supplied by the multi-tone optical source to the FSK modulator. The optical signal exiting the last frequency-selective component includes only a single tone which corresponds to the symbol to be transmitted.
Method and Apparatus for Synchronizing a Wireless Communication System
Inventors: Daniel W. Bliss and Peter A. Parker
Date issued: 22 January 2013
U.S. Patent no.: 8,358,716
Techniques for synchronizing a receiver and transmitter in a wireless communication system address synchronization within the context of a detection formulation and provide synchronization statistics used to declare a synchronization detection. A signal is received from a channel at multiple receiving antennas. The receiver and transmitter are synchronized based on the received signal and a channel model incorporating the multiple receiving antennas. The channel model may also incorporate a resolvable delay spread of the received signal with respect to each receiving antenna. Synchronization may be based on a known component of a received signal and further on a channel model incorporating multiple receiving antennas and an interference signal. The known component may be a cyclic prefix or a pilot sequence as in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM).
Iterative Clutter Calibration with Phased-Array Antennas
Inventors: Steven I. Krich and Ian Weiner
Date issued: 22 January 2013
U.S. Patent no.: 8,358,239
An iterative clutter calibration method comprises measuring an average of a sidelobe power in a range-Doppler image for a plurality of ranges. A determined value of an objective function is responsive to an average of the sidelobe clutter power. A plurality of beamformer weights is modified, and the step of determining the value of the objective function is repeated until a maximum value of the objective function is determined. Each beamformer weight determines a gain and phase of a respective antenna element in an antenna system.
Method for Low Sidelobe Operation of a Phased Array Antenna Having Failed Antenna Elements
Inventors: Steven I. Krich, Cory J. Prust, and Ian Weiner
Date issued: 15 January 2013
U.S. Patent no.: 8,354,960
Described is a method of modifying an antenna pattern for a phased-array antenna having at least one failed antenna element. A number of proximate beamformers in a proximate angular region about a beamformer at an angle of interest are determined. Each of the proximate beamformers has a proximate beamformer weight vector. A corrected beamformer weight vector is determined for the angle of interest as a linear combination of the proximate beamformer weight vectors. Each element of the corrected beamformer weight vector that corresponds to one of the failed antenna elements has a value of zero. The method enables computation of low spatial sidelobe antenna patterns without requiring a recalibration of the antenna, thereby enabling uninterrupted operation of systems that employ phased-array antennas. The method can also be used to control taper loss or sidelobe level for phased-array antennas that have no failed antenna elements.
Notch Antenna Having a Low Profile Stripline Feed
Inventors: Glenn A. Brigham, Marat Davidovitz, Sean M. Duffy, and Jeffrey Herd
Date issued: 8 January 2013
U.S. Patent no.: 8,350,767
Described are a notch antenna and an array antenna based on a low-profile stripline feed. The notch antenna includes a planar dielectric substrate having upper and lower surfaces. Each surface has a conductive layer with an opening therein. A notch antenna element is disposed on the conductive layer of the upper surface at the opening. A stripline embedded in the planar dielectric substrate extends under the notch antenna element. The stripline is adapted to couple an RF signal between the stripline and the notch antenna element. A conductive via is electrically coupled to the stripline and extends from the stripline to the opening in the conductive layer on the lower surface so that the RF signal is accessible at the lower surface.
Optical Limiting Using Plasmonically Enhancing Nanoparticles
Inventors: Vladimir Liberman and Mordechai Rothschild
Date issued: 1 January 2013
U.S. Patent no.: 8,345,364
There is provided an optical limiter device for protecting an object from incident light having a wavelength in the visible, infrared, or ultraviolet spectrum. The device comprises a plurality of nanoparticles of a metallic material including free electrons that undergo collective oscillations when exposed to the incident light. The plurality of nanoparticles of the metallic material include a plurality of nanoparticles of a non-spherical particle geometry, which may include a geometry having a plurality of sharp protrusions on a spherical body. The metallic material may include gold, silver, aluminum, indium, or copper. The device further comprises a structurally rigid transparent medium in which the plurality of nanoparticles of the metallic material are embedded; and a mechanical support mounting the transparent medium between the incident light and the object.
2012
Annular Solid Immersion Lenses and Methods of Making Them
Inventor: Zong-Long Liau
Date issued: 4 December 2012
U.S. Patent no.: 8,325,420
A submillimeter solid immersion lens (SIL) comprises a body of a high-index material transparent to electromagnetic radiation in a frequency band to be observed, the body having a flat bottom surface which receives an object to be observed, and the body further having a first upper surface whose limits approximate a zone of a spherical segment and a second upper surface defined by an upper bound of the zone of the spherical segment which prevents passage of electromagnetic radiation in the frequency band to be observed. The SIL may be incorporated into an array, according to other aspects. A method of making a SIL comprises providing a substrate layer of a high-index material transparent to electromagnetic radiation in a frequency band to be observed, having a lower surface through which an object is observed; etching a surface of the substrate layer to form a first upper surface whose limits approximate a zone of a spherical segment; etching a surface of the substrate layer to form a second upper surface; treating the second upper surface to prevent transmission of the electromagnetic radiation in the frequency band to be observed; and treating the lower surface to absorb electromagnetic radiation in the frequency band to be observed, leaving untreated a hole defined therein to form a sampling port at which the object is positioned.
Inventors: David C. Shaver, Bernard B. Kosicki, Robert K. Reich, Dennis D. Rathman, Daniel R. Schuette, and Brian F. Aull
Date issued: 4 December 2012
U.S. Patent no.: 8,324,554
Embodiments of the present invention include an electron counter with a charge-coupled device (CCD) register configured to transfer electrons to a Geiger-mode avalanche diode (GM-AD) array operably coupled to the output of the CCD register. At high charge levels, a nondestructive amplifier senses the charge at the CCD register output to provide an analog indication of the charge. At low charge levels, noiseless charge splitters or meters divide the charge into single-electron packets, each of which is detected by a GM-AD that provides a digital output indicating whether an electron is present. Example electron counters are particularly well suited for counting photoelectrons generated by large-format, high-speed imaging arrays because they operate with high dynamic range and high sensitivity. As a result, they can be used to image scenes over a wide range of light levels.
Inventors: Theodore H. Fedynyshyn and Russell B. Goodman
Date issued: 4 December 2012
U.S. Patent no.: 8,323,866
Methods and compositions for enhancing the sensitivity of an inorganic resist composition are disclosed. In one aspect, compositions for use with a matrix material (e.g., a lithographically sensitive polymeric material such as a hydrogen-bearing siloxane material) can be formulated with a sensitizer, where the sensitizer can be present in a relatively small amount. The sensitizer can include a radical generator, and can act to enhance the efficiency of radical generation and/or resist crosslinking when the resist is impinged by a selected lithographic radiation. The methods of the present invention can be especially useful in performing short wavelength (e.g., less than 200 nm) lithography, or for processes such as e-beam lithography, which traditionally suffer from low throughput. Methods of utilizing one or more of these aspects are also disclosed.
Method and Apparatus for Measuring a Position of a Particle in a Flow
Inventors: Thomas H. Jeys, Antonio Sanchez-Rubio, Ronald H. Hoffeld, Jonathan Z. Lin, Nicholas M.F. Judson, George S. Haldeman, and Vincenzo Daneu
Date issued: 27 November 2012
U.S. Patent no.: 8,319,965
Aerosol and hydrosol particle detection systems without knowledge of a location and velocity of a particle passing through a volume of space are less efficient than if knowledge of the particle location is known. An embodiment of a particle position detection system capable of determining an exact location of a particle in a fluid stream is discussed. The detection system may employ a patterned illuminating beam, such that once a particle passes through the patterned illuminating beam, a light scattering is produced. The light scattering defines a temporal profile that contains measurement information indicative of an exact particle location. However, knowledge of the exact particle location has several advantages. These advantages include correction of systematic particle measurement errors due to variability of the particle position within the sample volume, targeting of particles based on position, capture of particles based on position, reduced system energy consumption and reduced system complexity.
Agile-Beam Laser Array Transmitter
Inventors: Gary A. Shaw and Lawrence M. Candell
Date issued: 30 October 2012
U.S. Patent No.: 8,301,027
An Agile-Beam Laser Array Transmitter (ABLAT) uses an array of emitters and an array of lenses to project electromagnetic beams over a wide angular coverage area in the far field. Differences in the separation pitches of the two arrays allow the ABLAT to project beams to contiguous and/or overlapping positions, depending on the ratio of the separation pitches and the lens focal length. Compared to other beam-steering technology, the ABLAT is a smaller, lighter, and more efficient means of projecting beams over wider angular coverage areas. Various embodiments can be used in any beam-steering application, including, but not limited to, free-space optical communications; light detection and ranging (lidar); optical scanning (e.g., retinal or bar-code scanning); display projection; image capture; optical character recognition; scanning laser microscopy; nondestructive testing; printing; facsimiles; map making; web inspection; color print processing; phototypesetting and plate-making; laser marking; material processing; DNA analysis; and drug discovery.
Method and System for in situ Aerosol Thermo-Radiometric Analysis
Inventor: William D. Herzog
Date issued: 25 September 2012
U.S. Patent No.: 8,274,655
Particle detection systems configured to identify a particle in a bulk sample volume are less efficient than those configured to measure a single particle. A particle detection system according to an inventive embodiment can identify a particle in a fluid stream. The detection system may employ one or more heating stations. Each heating station may be set to a distinct temperature. The heating stations may include a light source and a light detector, such that once a particle traverses a beam provided by the light source, the light detector may measure resultant optical scattering. Based on the optical scattering with respect to temperature or temperature variation, an identification of the single particle may be obtained, thereby eliminating measurement inaccuracies associated with bulk sample volumes. The particle detection system may detect organic particles among inorganic particles in various fluid flow environments, such as for safety or quality purposes.
High Duty Cycle Radar with Near/Far Pulse Compression
Interference Mitigation
Inventor: William S. Song
Date issued: 4 September 2012
U.S. Patent No.: 8,259,003
In conventional pulse compression processing, sidelobes from strong return signals may hide correlation peaks associated with weaker return signals. Example embodiments include methods of mitigating this near/far interference by weighting a received return signal or corresponding reference signal based on the return signal's time of arrival, then performing pulse compression using the weighted signal to produce a correlation peak that is not hidden by sidelobes from another return. Multifrequency processing can also be used to reduce the pulse width of the transmitted pulses and received return signals, thereby mitigating near/far interference by decreasing the overlap between signals from nearby targets. Weighting can be combined with multifrequency pulse transmission and reception to further enhance the fidelity of the processed correlation peak. Weighting and multifrequency processing also enable higher duty cycles than are possible with conventional pulse compression radars.
Inventors: Oral Buyukozturk, Tzu-Yang Yu, and Dennis Blejer
Date issued: 14 August 2012
U.S. Patent No.: 8,244,485
A non-contact, far-field radar nondestructive testing (NDT) method is disclosed that is capable of detecting at least one of the defects, damages, and reinforcement conditions in the near-surface region of multilayer systems using monostatic inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) measurements and applicable to various types of structural elements. The method includes the steps of conducting far-field monostatic ISAR measurements, executing an imaging algorithm, and executing a progressive image focusing algorithm.
Phase-Locked Loop Frequency Synthesizer
Inventors: Helen H. Kim, Matthew D. Cross, Merlin R. Green, and Daniel D. Santiago
Date issued: 14 August 2012
U.S. Patent No.: 8,242,818
Described is a frequency synthesizer having a wide output frequency range and small frequency tuning steps. In-band spurious components are maintained at low levels and phase noise is significantly reduced. The frequency synthesizer can be fabricated as an integrated circuit device having a small area and low power dissipation. The frequency synthesizer can be used in wideband frequency systems to reduce cost and size by replacing multiple frequency synthesizers each devoted to a portion of the overall system frequency range.
Inventors: Eric Schwoebel, James Harper, Martha Petrovick, Frances Nargi, Mark Hollis, Bernadette Johnson, Joseph Lacirignola, Richard Mathews, Kristine Hogan, Trina Vian, Allan Heff, Mark Hennessy, Songeeta Palchaudhuri, and Todd Rider
Date issued: 10 July 2012
U.S. Patent No.: 8,216,797
Space-Time Digital Power Amplifier
Inventors: Joel I. Goodman, Helen H. Kim, Benjamin A. Miller, and James E. Vian
Date issued: 19 June 2012
U.S. Patent No.: 8,204,148
Described is a space-time digital power amplifier that can be used to generate an arbitrary waveform for a carrier signal. The space-time digital power amplifier employs temporal modulation of transmit signals generated by an array of transmitter modules. The RF signals transmitted from the array are spatially combined through free-space propagation to generate the desired waveform. Advantageously, no digital-to-analog conversion is required and upconversion is unnecessary. The digital power amplifiers for the transmitter modules can be combined in a single chip package. The space-time digital power amplifier enables high power efficiency to be realized using pulse-shaped waveforms, thus eliminating any need for the power amplifiers to operate over a wider bandwidth with a spectrally unconfined waveform.
Detection of Materials via Nitrogen Oxide
Inventors: John J. Zayhowski, Mordechai Rothschild, Charles M. Wynn, and
Roderick R. Kunz
Date issued: 12 June 2012
U.S. Patent No.: 8,198,095
Methods and devices for detecting the presence of a NO forming material (e.g., a material that can form, or is, a nitrogen monoxide molecule) are disclosed based on detection of fluorescence exhibited by NO molecules in a first vibrationally excited state of a ground electronic state. Such excited NO molecules can be formed, for example, when small amounts of explosives are photodissociated. By inducing fluorescence of the material, a distinct signature of the explosive can be detected. Such techniques can be performed quickly and with a significant standoff distance, which can add to the invention's utility. In another aspection of the invention, methods and apparatus for generating electromagnetic radiation are disclosed. Such methods and apparatus can be used in conjunction with any detection method disclosed herein.
Inventor: William S. Song
Date issued: 29 May 2012
U.S. Patent No.: 8,190,943
A sorter system includes a clock continuously generating a series of clock signals, a systolic array circuit, and control circuitry in communication with serial access memory that stores data items of a sequence to be sorted and with the systolic array circuit to supply thereto data items as input and to receive therefrom data items as output. The systolic array circuit includes at least one processing module and K–1 registers, where K is an integer value greater than two. Each processing module has at least one of the registers, each register for storing one data item. The control circuitry serially presents K data items for input to the systolic array circuit in synchronization with the clock signals. On the next clock cycle after the control circuitry presents to the systolic array circuit the last of the K data items, the data item of least value in the given subsequence is output.
Digital Readout Method and Apparatus
Inventors: Michael Kelly, Daniel Mooney, Curtis Colonero, Robert Berger, and Lawrence Candell
Date issued: 15 May 2012
U.S. Patent No.: 8,179,296
Autonomously operating analog to digital converters are formed into a two dimensional array. The array may incorporate digital signal processing functionality. Such an array is particularly well-suited for operation as a readout integrated circuit and, in combination with a sensor array, forms a digital focal plane array.
Asymmetric Multilevel Outphasing Architecture for RF Amplifiers
Inventors: Joel L. Dawson, David J. Perreault, SungWon Chung, Philip Godoy, and Everest Huang
Date issued: 24 April 2012
U.S. Patent No.: 8,164,384
A radio frequency (RF) circuit includes a power supply configured to generate a plurality of voltages, a plurality of power amplifiers, each having an RF output port and a power supply input port, a switch network having a plurality of input ports coupled to the power supply and a plurality of switch network output ports coupled to the power supply input ports of the plurality of power amplifiers, wherein the switch network is configured to output selected ones of the plurality of voltages from the plurality of switch network output ports, at least two of the switch network output port voltages capable of being different ones of the plurality of voltages, and an RF power combiner circuit having a plurality of input ports coupled to RF output ports of the plurality of power amplifiers and an output port at which is provided an output signal of the RF circuit.
Single-Transducer, Three-Dimensional Laser Imaging System and Method
Inventors: Bryan S. Robinson, Don M. Boroson, and Marius A. Albota
Date issued: 17 April 2012
U.S. Patent No.: 8,159,680
Disclosed herein are a system and method for three-dimensional imaging using a single transducer. A laser in a transmitter emits a sequence of short pulses, each of which is at a different center wavelength (frequency). A dispersive element in the transmitter spatially separates the pulses according to wavelength, with different pulses mapped to different spatial locations in a target volume via a lens. The pulses travel to the target, which scatters or back-reflects the pulses towards the dispersive element via the lens. The lens collects the returned pulses and transmits them to a single transducer via the dispersive element. The transducer measures the time of arrival for each returned pulse. Because the arrival time depends on the range to the object in the portion of the target illuminated by the corresponding emitted pulse, the measured arrival time can be used to reconstruct a 3D (angle-angle-range) image of the object.
Inventor: Theodore H. Fedynyshyn
Date issued: 17 April 2012
U.S. Patent No.: 8,158,338
Methods and compositions for enhancing the sensitivity of a resist composition are disclosed. In one aspect, compositions for use with a matrix material (e.g., a lithographically sensitive polymeric material) can be formulated with an acid generator and a sensitizer, where the sensitizer can be present in a relatively small amount. The sensitizer can include a compound with one or more silicon-silicon bonds, and can act to enhance the efficiency of acid generation when the resist is impinged by a selected lithographic radiation. The methods of the present invention can be especially useful in performing short-wavelength (e.g., less than 200 nm) lithography or for processes, such as e-beam lithography, which traditionally suffer from low throughput.
Multi-tone Resist Compositions
Inventor: Theodore H. Fedynyshyn
Date issued: 7 February 2012
U.S. Patent No.: 8,110,339
Multi-tone resists can enhance the resolution limit of a lithographic process by advantageously using the changeable solubility of a resist composition as a function of lithographic radiation dosage. By imaging a multi-tone resist with different doses of lithographic radiation in a selected pattern, the pattern can be imparted to the resist upon subsequent development of the resist. In some aspects, a resist composition is utilized having an aliphatic polymer (e.g., a copolymer with fluoropolymer units and/or methacrylate units) with acid labile groups and a plurality of crosslinkable groups that can be crosslinked to other portions of the aliphatic polymer. Other components such as base generators and/or crosslinking agents can also be included. Such compositions can be useful in extending the resolution of UV lithographic radiation processes (e.g., wavelengths less than 200 nm). Other aspects of such compositions and methods are also discussed.
High Fill-Factor Avalanche Photodiode
Inventors: Matthew J. Renzi, Brian F. Aull, Robert K. Reich, and Bernard B. Kosicki
Date issued: 10 January 2012
U.S. Patent No.: 8,093,624
2011
Method and Apparatus for Transmitting Optical Signals
Inventor: David O. Caplan
Date issued: 6 December 2011
U.S. Patent No.: 8,073,342
The present invention addresses the problem of transmitting optical signals with high extinction ratios using low-power drive signals. At present, low-power optical transmitters typically operate with modulation extinction ratios of, at best, about 10 dB. Embodiments of the present invention may achieve extinction ratios exceeding 20 dB using low-power drive signals of under 20 mW at data rates on the order of Gbits/sec. In addition, the modulation may be achieved with both low-power and low-fidelity drive waveforms, enabling conventional and often noisy high-speed, low-power electronics to generate high-extinction, high-fidelity optical waveforms.
Optoelectronic Detection System
Inventors: Eric D. Schwoebel, James D. Harper, Martha S. Petrovick, Frances E. Nargi, Todd H. Rider, Kristine E. Hogan, Richard H. Mathews, Joseph Lacirignola, Mark Hennessy, Trina R. Vian, Rose M. Joseph, Raymond S. Uttaro, Shaun Berry, Bernadette Johnson, and Mark A. Hollis
Date issued: 29 November 2011
U.S. Patent No.: 8,067,184
The invention described herein provides methods for the detection of soluble antigens. In particular, the methods provide for the detection of soluble proteins and chemicals. In addition, the invention provides methods of detecting a nucleic acid sequence in a sample. Also described is an emittor cell comprising an Fc receptor and an emittor molecule for the detection of a target particle in a sample wherein the target particle to be detected is bound by one or more antibodies. Also provided is an optoelectronic sensor device for detecting a target particle in a plurality of samples.
Apparatus for Isolating a Nucleic Acid from a Sample
Inventors: Lalitha Parameswaran, James D. Harper, Johanna Bobrow, Mark A. Hollis, Drew C. Brown, Laura T. Bortolin, Eric S. Clasen, and John C. Schmidt
Date issued: 22 November 2011
U.S. Patent No.: 8,062,846
An apparatus for preparing a nucleic acid component of a sample for amplification includes a porous support having an agent that deactivates a nucleic acid amplification inhibitor component of the sample. The apparatus further includes a housing with an opening and defining an interior. The interior of the housing is in fluid communication with the porous support, and at least a portion of a fluid directed through the opening is directed through at least a portion of the porous support. The apparatus also includes a magnetic substrate for separating nucleic acid from a sample.
External-Cavity One-Dimensional Multi-Wavelength Beam Combining of Two-Dimensional Laser Elements
Inventors: Bien Chann, Tso Yee Fan, and Antonio Sanchez-Rubio
Date issued: 1 November 2011
U.S. Patent No.: 8,049,966
An external-cavity one-dimensional multi-wavelength beam combiner that performs wavelength beam combining along a stacking dimension of a laser stack formed of a plurality of laser arrays, each laser array configured to generate optical radiation having a unique wavelength, and each of the plurality of laser arrays including a plurality of laser emitters arranged along an array dimension of the laser stack. The multi-wavelength beam combiner includes a cylindrical telescope configured to image each of the laser emitters along a slow axis of the laser emitters, a transform lens arranged to intercept the optical radiation from each of the plurality of laser arrays and combine the optical radiation along a stacking dimension of the laser stack to form a multi-wavelength optical beam, and a diffraction element positioned at a region of overlap of the optical radiation to receive and transmit the multi-wavelength optical beam.
Asymmetric Multilevel Outphasing Architecture for RF Amplifiers
Inventors: Everest Huang, Joel L. Dawson, David J. Perreault,
SungWon Chung, and Philip Godoy
Date issued: 27 September 2011
U.S. Patent No.: 8,026,763
A radio frequency (RF) circuit includes a power supply configured to generate a plurality of voltages, a plurality of power amplifiers, each having an RF output port and a power supply input port, a switch network having a plurality of input ports coupled to the power supply, and a plurality of switch network output ports coupled to the power supply input ports of the plurality of power amplifiers, wherein the switch network is configured to output selected ones of the plurality of voltages from the plurality of switch network output ports, at least two of the switch network output port voltages capable of being different ones of the plurality of voltages, and an RF power combiner circuit having a plurality of input ports coupled to RF output ports of the plurality of power amplifiers and an output port at which is provided an output signal of the RF circuit.
Architecture for Systolic Nonlinear Filter Processors
Inventor: William S. Song
Date issued: 23 August 2011
U.S. Patent No.: 8,005,176
Described are nonlinear filter processors having an array of polynomial nonlinear filters including a first polynomial nonlinear filter and a last polynomial nonlinear filter. The first polynomial nonlinear filter has an input terminal for receiving an input data sample. The polynomial nonlinear filters systolically pass the input data sample from the first polynomial nonlinear filter to the last polynomial nonlinear filter. Each polynomial nonlinear filter produces an output data sample based on the input data sample. In addition, each polynomial nonlinear filter other than the last polynomial nonlinear filter systolically passes the output data sample generated by that polynomial nonlinear filter to a neighboring polynomial nonlinear filter. Each polynomial nonlinear filter other than the first polynomial nonlinear filter sums a nonlinearly filtered input data sample produced by that polynomial nonlinear filter with the output data sample received from a neighboring polynomial nonlinear filter.
Method and Apparatus Performing Automatic Mapping for a Multi-processor System
Inventors: Nadya T. Bliss and Henry Hoffman
Date issued: 19 July 2011
U.S. Patent No.: 7,983,890
A method, apparatus, and computer program product for mapping and executing an application on a multi-processor system is presented. At least one array to be considered for distribution among processors of said multi-processor system is indicated. The application is mapped according to a performance model associated with benchmark performance data of a parallel library on a parallel computer architecture. Then either the application is executed on the multi-processor system, or the application is simulated using a specified machine model for a multiprocessor system. Feedback information is then provided to influence architecture parameters for a multiprocessor system.
Generating a Multiple-Prerequisite Attack Graph
Inventors: Richard P. Lippmann, Kyle W. Ingols, and Keith J. Piwowarski
Date issued: 28 June 2011
U.S. Patent No.: 7,971,252
In one aspect, a method to generate an attack graph includes determining if a potential node provides a first precondition equivalent to one of preconditions provided by a group of preexisting nodes on the attack graph. The group of preexisting nodes includes a first state node, a first vulnerability instance node, a first prerequisite node, and a second state node. The method also includes, if the first precondition is equivalent to one of the preconditions provided by the group of preexisting nodes, coupling a current node to a preexisting node, providing the precondition equivalent to the first precondition by using a first edge, and if the first precondition is not equivalent to one of the preconditions provided by the group of preexisting nodes, generating the potential node as a new node on the attack graph and coupling the new node to the current node using a second edge.
Detection of Materials via Nitrogen Oxide
Inventors: Mordechai Rothschild, Charles M. Wynn, John J. Zayhowski, and Roderick R. Kunz
Date issued: 7 June 2011
U.S. Patent No.: 7,955,855
Methods and devices for detecting the presence of a NO-forming material (e.g., a material that can form, or is, a nitrogen monoxide molecule) are disclosed based on detection of fluorescence exhibited by NO molecules in a first vibrationally excited state of a ground electronic state. Such excited NO molecules can be formed, for example, when small amounts of explosives are photodissociated. By inducing fluorescence of the material, a distinct signature of the explosive can be detected. Such techniques can be performed quickly and with a significant standoff distance, which can add to the invention's utility. In another aspection of the invention, methods and apparatus for generating electromagnetic radiation are disclosed. Such methods and apparatus can be used in conjunction with any detection method disclosed herein.
Optoelectronic Detection System
Inventors: James D. Harper, Richard H. Mathews, Bernadette Johnson, Martha S. Petrovick, Ann Rundell, Frances E. Nargi, Timothy Stephens, Linda M. Mendenhall, Mark A. Hollis, Albert M. Young, Todd H. Rider, Eric D. Schwoebel, and Trina R. Vian
Date issued: 24 May 2011
U.S. Patent No.: 7,947,509
The invention relates to optoelectronic systems for detecting one or more target particles. The system includes a reaction chamber, a specimen collector, an optical detector, and a reservoir containing cells, each of the cells having receptors which are present on the surface of each cell and are specific for the target particle to be detected, where binding of the target particle to the receptors directly or indirectly activates a reporter molecule, thereby producing a measurable optical signal.
Inventors: Oral Buyukozturk, Tzu-Yang Yu, and Dennis Blejer
Date issued: 3 May 2011
U.S. Patent No.: 7,937,229
A noncontact, far-field radar nondestructive testing (NDT) method is disclosed that is capable of detecting at least one of defects, damages, and reinforcement conditions in near-surface region of multilayer systems using monostatic inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) measurements and applicable to various types of structural elements. The method includes the steps of conducting far-field monostatic ISAR measurements, executing an imaging algorithm, and executing a progressive image focusing algorithm.
Real-Time Ranging and Angle Measurements Using Radar and Surface Acoustic Wave Transponders
Inventors: Jason M. LaPenta and Joseph A. Paradiso
Date issued: 12 April 2011
U.S. Patent No.: 7,924,160
A system for tracking the position of multiple objects in three-dimensional space by transmitting radar interrogation signals having predetermined wave shapes to surface acoustic wave transducers attached to each object. Each transducer includes a unique electrically conductive pattern on one surface of a piezoelectric substrate for selectively responding to the predetermined wave shape of one of the interrogation signals for inducing a surface acoustic wave in the substrate and for thereafter transforming the surface acoustic wave into an electromagnetic response signal having detectable properties that uniquely identify said transducer. The location of each transducer is estimated by measuring the time-of-flight or angle-of-arrival of the radar signals at several measurement stations and producing a position estimate by triangulation.
System and Method for Providing Amplitude Spectroscopy of a Multilevel Quantum System
Inventors: David M. Berns, Mark S. Rudner, Sergio O. Valenzuela, William D. Oliver, Leonid S. Levitov, and Terry P. Orlando
Date issued: 22 March 2011
U.S. Patent No.: 7,912,656
A system and method for providing amplitude spectroscopy is provided. Generally, the system contains a generator for providing a waveform for analysis of a multilevel quantum system, wherein the generator has the capability of changing amplitude of the waveform provided and driving the multilevel quantum system at a fixed frequency while sweeping amplitude. A detector is also provided for reading population in different energy states of the multilevel quantum system, wherein the detector plots an amplitude spectroscopy response of the multilevel quantum system. A memory and processor are provided within the system where the processor is configured by the memory to perform the step of plotting an energy-level diagram of the multilevel quantum system from the amplitude spectroscopy plot of the multilevel quantum system.
Time-Multiplexed Optical Waveform Generation
Inventors: Kevin W. Holman, David G. Kocher, Jae H. Kyung, Leaf A. Jiang, Sumanth Kaushik, and Richard M. Heinrichs
Date issued: 22 February 2011
U.S. Patent No.: 7,894,725
A time-multiplexed waveform generator includes a wavelength splitter that receives an input optical signal and spectrally separates the input optical signal into a plurality of frequency components. A plurality of intensity modulators receives each of the frequency components and passes each of the frequency components for a selective time period, and then extinguishes that frequency for the remainder of a chirp time, the plurality of intensity modulators producing a plurality of first output signals. A plurality of adjustable delay lines is positioned after the intensity modulators and receives the first output signals. Each of the adjustable delay lines enables phase control of each of the frequency components associated with the first output signals for compensating any relative drifts of the path lengths and phase coherently stitching a plurality of sub-chirps together. The adjustable delay lines produce a plurality of second output signals. A wavelength combiner receives the second output signals and recombines the output signals to produce a stair-step waveform output signal.
System and Method for Providing a High Frequency Response Silicon Photodetector
Inventors: Michael W. Geis, Steven J. Spector, Donna M. Lennon, Matthew E. Grein, Robert T. Schulein, Jung U. Yoon, Franz Xaver Kaertner, Fuwan Gan, and Theodore M. Lyszczarz
Date issued: 1 February 2011
U.S. Patent No.: 7,880,204
A silicon photodetector contains an insulating substrate having a top surface and a bottom surface. A silicon layer is located on the top surface of the insulating substrate, where the silicon layer contains a center region, the center region being larger in thickness than the rest of the silicon layer. A top silicon dioxide layer is located on a top surface of the center region. A left wing of the center region and a right wing of the center region are doped. The silicon photodetector also has an active region located within the center region, where the active region contains a tailored crystal defect-impurity combination and oxygen atoms.
2010
Inventors: Alvin Stern, Brian F. Aull, Bernard B. Kosicki, Robert K. Reich, Bradley J. Felton, David C. Shaver, Andrew H. Loomis, and Douglas J. Young
Date issued: 28 December 2010
U.S. Patent No.: 7,858,917
A photon-counting Geiger-mode avalanche photodiode intensity imaging array includes an array of pixels, each having an avalanche photodiode. A pixel senses an avalanche event and stores, in response to the sensed avalanche event, a single bit digital value therein. An array of accumulators is provided such that each accumulator is associated with a pixel. A row decoder circuit addresses a pixel row within the array of pixels. A bit sensing circuit converts a precharged capacitance into a digital value during read operations.
Method and Apparatus for Measuring a Position of a Particle in a Flow
Inventors: Thomas H. Jeys, Antonio Sanchez-Rubio, Ronald H. Hoffeld, Jonathan Z. Lin, Nicholas M.F. Judson, George S. Haldeman, and Vincenzo Daneu
Date issued: 26 October 2010
U.S. Patent No.: 7,821,636
Aerosol and hydrosol particle detection systems without knowledge of a location and velocity of a particle passing through a volume of space are less efficient than if knowledge of the particle location is known. An embodiment of a particle position detection system capable of determining an exact location of a particle in a fluid stream is discussed. The detection system may employ a patterned illuminating beam, such that once a particle passes through the patterned illuminating beam, a light scattering is produced. The light scattering defines a temporal profile that contains measurement information indicative of an exact particle location. However, knowledge of the exact particle location has several advantages. These advantages include correction of systematic particle measurement errors due to variability of the particle position within the sample volume, targeting of particles based on position, capture of particles based on position, reduced system energy consumption, and reduced system complexity.
Cube Coordinate Subspaces for Nonlinear Digital Predistortion
Inventors: Joel I. Goodman, Benjamin A. Miller, and Matthew A. Herman
Date issued: 5 October 2010
U.S. Patent No.: 7,808,315
A method or corresponding apparatus relates to a mathematical approach to efficiently search for and localize regions in a multidimensional signal space to enable inversion of power amplifier nonlinearities with a significant reduction in computational complexity and an efficient hardware implementation. To linearize a wideband power amplifier, an example embodiment of the present invention may represent a response of the wideband power amplifier using coefficients in a cube coefficient subspace, and search over the full multidimensional subspace according to an optimization criterion in order to identify a vector of cube coefficient subspace coefficients. The vector of coefficient subspace coefficients may be used to linearize the wideband power amplifier.
Inventors: William D. Herzog, Antonio Sanchez-Rubio, Gregory G. Cappiello, Ronald H. Hoffeld,
Shane M. Tysk, Vincenzo Daneu, and Thomas H. Jeys
Date issued: 10 August 2010
U.S. Patent No.: 7,772,579
Particle detection systems without knowledge of a location and velocity of a particle passing through a volume of space are less efficient than if knowledge of the particle location is known. An embodiment of a particle position detection system capable of determining an exact location of a particle in a fluid stream is discussed. The detection system may employ a patterned illuminating beam, such that once a particle passes through the various portions of the patterned illuminating beam, a light scattering is produced. The light scattering defines a temporal profile that contains measurement information indicative of an exact particle location. However, knowledge of the exact particle location has several advantages. These advantages include correction of systematic particle measurement errors due to variability of the particle position within the sample volume, targeting of particles based on position, capture of particles based on position, reduced system energy consumption, and reduced system complexity.
GPS-Based Attitude Reference System
Inventor: George Gorski-Popiel
Date issued: 20 July 2010
U.S. Patent No.: 7,760,139
A method for determining the attitude of a stabilized platform having three or more antennae includes, for each antenna, front-end processing a GPS signal received, the front-end processing including down-converting a GPS source signal by heterodyning and direct sampling, then sampling the down-converted signal. For each antenna, the GPS signal is acquired by faster-than-real-time correlating the down-converted signal with each of a number of stored codes and correlating with each of a number of Doppler frequencies. The correlation is repeated for a smaller range of Doppler frequencies, and for smaller intervals of code phases. The down-converted signal is then stripped of its codes, and the phases of the resulting signals from each antenna are subtracted, providing the phase differences between antennas, which are converted into attitude angles.
Device for Subtracting or Adding Charge in a Charge-Coupled Device
Inventor: Michael P. Anthony
Date issued: 6 July 2010
U.S. Patent No.: 7,750,962
The present invention provides an apparatus for adding or subtracting an amount charge to or from a charge packet in a charge-coupled device (CCD) as the packet traverses the CCD. The apparatus uses a "wire transfer" device structure to perform the addition or subtraction of charge during the charge packets traversal across the device. A pair of electrically interconnected diffusions is incorporated within the charge couple path to provide an amount of charge which can be added or subtracted from packets as the packets traverse the CCD.
Immersion Fluids for Lithography
Inventors: Theodore H. Fedynyshyn and Indira Pottebaum
Date issued: 29 June 2010
U.S. Patent No.: 7,745,102
Compositions for use as immersion fluids are described. In general, the immersion fluids can be utilized to perform lithography at short wavelengths (e.g., in a range from about 120 nm to about 260 nm). Some embodiments can be used in a range of actinic radiation between about 140 nm and about 160 nm (e.g., about 157 nm). Immersion fluids can exhibit any number of advantageous features including a relatively high index of refraction (e.g., greater than about 1, or greater than about 1.3, or about greater than about 1.4) and/or a relatively low absorbance (e.g., lower than about 2 µm–1, or lower than about 1 µm–1, or lower than about 0.5 µm–1). Some immersion fluids can include silicon-containing compounds and/or germanium containing compounds. Such compounds can include at least one GeO bond or at least one SiO bond. Such compounds can also include one or more fluorinated moieties.
Acoustic Detection of Hidden Objects and Material Discontinuities
Inventors: Robert Haupt and Ken Rolt
Date issued: 13 April 2010
U.S. Patent No.: 7,694,567
Sonic excitation is used to locate, without contact, an object or defect beneath a surface. Defects may include, for example, damage and flaws in load bearing concrete structures wrapped in plastic, fiberglass or composite sheathing, while buried objects amenable to detection include landmines or above-ground mines.
Method of Detecting Analyte Vaporized from Sample with
Low-Power UV Radiation
Inventor: Roderick R. Kunz
Date issued: 30 March 2010
U.S. Patent No.: 7,687,276
A method for collecting and concentrating trace chemicals for subsequent analysis by virtually any type of chemical detector includes providing directed radiation to a sample, or a portion of a sample. An apparatus can include a sampling body for providing radiation.
Method and System of Lithography Using Masks Having Gray-Tone Features
Inventors: Brian Tyrrell and Michael Fritze
Date issued: 26 January 2010
U.S. patent No.: 7,651,821
A method forms patterns on a substrate by exposing the substrate a first time and exposing the substrate a second time using a mask containing gray-tone features. The gray-tone features locally adjust an exposure dose in regions corresponding to features defined in the primary exposure. Moreover, the gray-tone features enable the forming of features having different critical dimensions on a substrate. The gray-tone features may be implemented as subresolution features formed by pixilation. The gray-tone features may also be realized by the local size bias of trim features on the trim mask that have dimensions near the resolution limit of the exposure system. The trim mask containing gray-tone features may have regions with different transmissivities or generate varying illumination intensities.
2009
Multi-element Optical Detectors with Sub-wavelength Gaps
Inventors: Eric A. Dauler, Andrew J. Kerman, Karl K. Berggren, Vikas Anant, and Joel K.W. Yang
Date issued: 29 December 2009
U.S. Patent No.: 7,638,751
A multi-element optical detector includes a plurality of optical detector elements capable of producing an output signal having information about the state of an incident electromagnetic radiation as a function of time. An active region includes a photosensitive region of one of the optical detector elements separated in part or in whole from the photosensitive region of at least one other optical detector element by a distance less than the wavelength of the electromagnetic radiation that the optical detector elements are being used to detect.
Inventors: Frederick G. Walther, Jeffrey M. Roth, William E. Keicher, and Alan E. DeCew
Date issued: 1 December 2009
U.S. Patent No.: 7,627,251
A communication device uses one or two stacks of reflective deflectors to steer the electromagnetic waves carrying signals received and transmitted through a single telescope/aperture device. The signals outside the device may be circularly polarized while inside the device they are linearly polarized most of the time. The deflectors within each stack are transparent to the signals steered by the deflectors behind them. Since the deflecting wave band may shift with the changing angle of incidence of the signals due to steering, the wave bands are sufficiently spaced apart. When the signals impact the deflectors at nearly normal angles, the wave bands can be made more narrow. When more than one stack of deflectors is used, the spacing between the wave bands within one stack may be utilized by another stack. Beam splitters and a variety of other optical devices (such as quarter wave plates, half wave plates, Faraday rotators, and equivalent devices) are used to separate signals for further processing within the device. Instead of reflective deflectors, the device may generally use stacks of transmissive deflectors for similar effect in a similar way.
Inventor: Theodore H. Fedynyshyn
Date issued: 24 November 2009
U.S. Patent No.: 7,622,246
Contrast enhancing layers (CEL) and other materials that can be used as a conformal mask over a photoresist are discussed. In particular, methods and compositions are discussed that can be advantageous when performing lithography using short wavelength actinic radiation (e.g., wavelengths below 200 nm, such as 193 nm or 157 nm). For example, contrast enhancing layers that include an organosilicon containing material can be used to enhance the contrast of a pattern formed on an underlying photoresist layer. Silicon containing polymers, oligomers, and other non-polymeric materials can be used as effective CEL materials.
Large-Aperture Focal Plane Shutter
Inventors: Brian J. Julian and Anthony M. Smith
Date issued: 20 October 2009
U.S. Patent No.: 7,604,422
Described is a compact focal-plane shutter system adapted for large-format exposure shutters. The focal-plane shutter includes at least one multisegmented screen having multiple rigid blades. Each blade can be moved at a different velocity. By using multiple blades, the rotational inertia about a drive axis can be reduced compared to a conventional single-screen shutter system, thus a greater acceleration can be achieved with the same amount of torque about the drive axis. Using smaller blades allows for greater acceleration, resulting in faster shutter speeds to support a wider range of applications. Additionally, the overlap between blades of a multisegmented screen in an open position is greater than the overlap of the blades in a closed position, providing a compact system. A drive mechanism linearly translates the blades of the multisegmented screen between the open and closed positions.
Method for Photolithography Using Multiple Illuminations and a Single Fine Feature Mask
Inventors: Michael Fritze and Brian M. Tyrrell
Date issued: 1 September 2009
U.S. Patent No.: 7,583,360
A method forms a feature pattern on a substrate by exposing the substrate, using a mask having a pattern of features thereon, with illumination having a first set of settings. The substrate is exposed a second time, using the same mask having the pattern of features thereon, with illumination having a second set of settings. The mask having the pattern of features thereon remains stationary between the two illumination exposures of the substrate.
Inventor: Thomas F. Quatieri, Jr.
Date issued: 11 August 2009
U.S. Patent No.: 7,574,352
Acoustic signals are analyzed by two-dimensional (2D) processing of the one-dimensional (1D) speech signal in the time-frequency plane. The short-space 2D Fourier transform of a frequency-related representation (e.g., spectrogram) of the signal is obtained. The 2D transformation maps harmonically related signal components to a concentrated entity in the new 2D plane (compressed frequency-related representation). The series of operations to produce the compressed frequency-related representation is referred to as the "grating compression transform" (GCT), consistent with sine-wave grating patterns in the frequency-related representation reduced to smeared impulses. The GCT provides for speech pitch estimation. The operations may, for example, determine pitch estimates of voiced speech or provide noise filtering or speaker separation in a multiple-speaker acoustic signal.
Inventor: Todd H. Rider
Date issued: 28 July 2009
U.S. Patent No.: 7,566,694
Chimeric molecules that contain at least one pathogen-detection domain and at least one effector domain, and their methods of use in preventing or treating a pathogen infection in a cell or organism, are described. The pathogen-detection domain and effector domain of the chimeric molecules are domains not typically found in nature to be associated together. Agents are also described herein having at least one pathogen-interacting molecular structure and at least one effector-mediating molecular structure, the agent being one that is non-naturally occurring in a cell. The methods of prevention and treatment described herein are effective for a broad spectrum of pathogens and exhibit little or no toxic side effects. Assays for the detection of a pathogen, pathogen component, or product produced or induced by a pathogen are also provided.
Sensor for Measuring a Vibrating Surface Obscured from View
Inventors: Jerry C. Chen and Sumanth Kaushik
Date issued: 21 July 2009
U.S. Patent No.: 7,564,567
Described are a sensor and a method for measuring a vibration of a surface obscured from view. The sensor includes a narrowband source of a terahertz beam, a beamsplitter, a beam combiner and a terahertz detector. The beamsplitter splits the terahertz beam into a sample beam for irradiating the surface and a reference beam. The beam combiner combines the sample beam scattered from the surface and the reference beam. The terahertz detector generates an electrical signal based on a modulation of the power of the combined beams due to the vibrating surface. The electrical signal indicates a characteristic of the surface vibration. Homodyne or heterodyne detection can be utilized. Advantageously, the sensor can see surfaces that are covered, concealed, or otherwise obscured behind optically opaque materials, including plastic, cloth, foam, paper, and other materials. Thus the sensor has a wide variety of applications where conventional vibrometers are not practical.
Inventors: Todd H. Rider and Laura Bortolin
Date issued: 14 April 2009
U.S. Patent No.: 7,517,660
A device for detecting the presence of an antigen including (1) a cell having antibodies which are expressed on the surface of the cell and are specific for the antigen to be detected, where binding of the antigen to the antibodies results in an increase in calcium concentration in the cytosol of the cell, the cell further having a emitter molecule which, in response to the increased calcium concentration in the cytosol, emits a photon; (2) a liquid medium for receiving the antigen and in which the cell is immersed; and (3) an optical detector arranged for receiving the photon emitted from the cell.
Method and System for Distribution of an Exposure Control Signal for Focal Plane Arrays
Inventors: Robert K. Reich, Bernard B. Kosicki, Dennis D. Rathman, Richard Osgood, Michael Rose, R. Allen Murphy, and Robert Berger
Date issued: 10 March 2009
U.S. Patent No.: 7,501,634
A large-format imager includes an array of pixels for converting electromagnetic radiation into electrical signals and a trigger to form an optical pulse so as to trigger the pixels to generate an integration period. Each pixel includes a photodiode to convert light intensity of high-frequency radiation into an electrical charge; a reset switch to reset the photodiode; circuitry to enable sampling of the electrical charge produced by the photodiode; a photoswitch to convert an optical trigger pulse, received from the trigger, into an electrical signal; an inverter to produce a control signal corresponding to the electrical signal produced by the photoswitch; and control circuitry to locally generate integration control signals. The integration control signals control a start of an integration period for the photodiode, duration of the integration period for the photodiode, and the sampling of the electrical charge produced by the photodiode. The large-format imager may also include a trigger for producing an electrical pulse so as to trigger the pixels to generate an integration period and tree-type electrical distribution system for propagating the electrical pulse to all the pixels, wherein each pixel includes a global repeater circuit to propagate a first edge of said electrical pulse along said tree-type electrical distribution system and a local repeater circuit to provide a local array of pixels with the first edge of the electrical pulse.
Light Modulating Mirror Device and Array
Inventors: Carl O. Bozler, W. Gregory Lyons, and Jeremy B. Muldavin
Date issued: 3 February 2009
U.S. Patent No.: 7,484,857
A deformable reflector includes a plurality of MEMS devices, each having an electrode membrane having a reflective surface thereon, a flat surface, and a pulldown electrode formed in the flat substrate. The electrode membrane has substantially a same flatness of the flat substrate when the electrode membrane comes into contact with the flat substrate across a majority of its surface area in response to a voltage being applied to the pulldown electrode. The electrode membrane has a two-dimensional curvature when no voltage is applied to the pulldown electrode.
Inventor: William S. Song
Date issued: 20 January 2009
U.S. Patent No.: 7,480,689
Described is a finite impulse filter response (FIR) filter for use by signal processors. A demultiplexer receives input data samples at an input data rate. The FIR filter includes a plurality of computational units arranged in a systolic array of taps and phases. Each computational unit operates at an array clock rate that is slower than the input data rate. During each array clock cycle, the phases produce a plurality of output data samples that provides an output data rate equal to the input data rate. The FIR filters can thus support an output data rate equal to the input data rate although the input data rate exceeds the maximum clock speed of the processor. The FIR filter can also operate at a reduced array clock speed, while continuing to produce an output data rate equal to the input data rate, to increase the power efficiency of the processor.
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