DOE Patents Database - Search Results

Patent Title	Inventor(s)	Issue Date	Patent Number
A neural network has been developed that uses first-arrival energy to predict the characteristics of impending earthquake seismograph signals. The propagation of ground motion energy through the earth is a highly nonlinear function. This is due to different forms of ground motion as well as to changes in the elastic properties of the media throughout the propagation path. The neural network is trained using seismogram data from earthquakes. Presented with a previously unseen earthquake, the neural network produces a profile of the complete earthquake signal using data from the first seconds of the signal. This offers a significant advance in the real-time monitoring, warning, and subsequent hazard minimization of catastrophic ground motion. Real-time neural network earthquake profile predictor	Leach, Richard R. , Dowla, Farid U.	01/01/1996	US 5490062
The encephalolexianalyzer uses digital signal processing techniques on electroencephalograph (EEG) brain waves to determine whether or not someone is thinking about moving, e.g., tapping their fingers, or, alternatively, whether someone is actually moving, e.g., tapping their fingers, or at rest, i.e., not moving and not thinking of moving. The mu waves measured by a pair of electrodes placed over the motor cortex are signal processed to determine the power spectrum. At rest, the peak value of the power spectrum in the 8-13 Hz range is high, while when moving or thinking of moving, the peak value of the power spectrum in the 8-13 Hz range is low. This measured change in signal power spectrum is used to produce a control signal. The encephalolexianalyzer can be used to communicate either directly using Morse code, or via a cursor controlling a remote control; the encephalolexianalyzer can also be used to control other devices. The encephalolexianalyzer will be of great benefit to people with various handicaps and disabilities, and also has enormous commercial potential, as well as being an invaluable tool for studying the brain. Encephalolexianalyzer	Altschuler, Eric L. , Dowla, Farid U.	01/01/1998	US 5840040
Free-space optical (FSO) laser communication systems offer exceptionally wide-bandwidth, secure connections between platforms that cannot other wise be connected via physical means such as optical fiber or cable. However, FSO links are subject to strong channel fading due to atmospheric turbulence and beam pointing errors, limiting practical performance and reliability. We have developed a fade-tolerant architecture based on forward error correcting codes (FECs) combined with delayed, redundant, sub-channels. This redundancy is made feasible though dense wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) and/or high-order M-ary modulation. Experiments and simulations show that error-free communications is feasible even when faced with fades that are tens of milliseconds long. We describe plans for practical implementation of a complete system operating at 2.5 Gbps. Fade-resistant forward error correction method for free-space optical communications systems	Johnson, Gary W. , Dowla, Farid U. , Ruggiero, Anthony J.	10/02/2007	7,277,644
A novel UWB communications method and system that provides self-organization for wireless sensor networks is introduced. The self-organization is in terms of scalability, power conservation, channel estimation, and node synchronization in wireless sensor networks. The UWB receiver in the present invention adds two new tasks to conventional TR receivers. The two additional units are SNR enhancing unit and timing acquisition and tracking unit. Self organization of wireless sensor networks using ultra-wideband radios	Dowla, Farid U. , Nekoogar, Franak , Spiridon, Alex	06/16/2009	7,548,576
The multi-pulse frequency shifted technique uses mutually orthogonal short duration pulses o transmit and receive information in a UWB multiuser communication system. The multiuser system uses the same pulse shape with different frequencies for the reference and data for each user. Different users have a different pulse shape (mutually orthogonal to each other) and different transmit and reference frequencies. At the receiver, the reference pulse is frequency shifted to match the data pulse and a correlation scheme followed by a hard decision block detects the data. Multi-pulse frequency shifted (MPFS) multiple access modulation for ultra wideband	Nekoogar, Faranak , Dowla, Farid U.	01/24/2012	8,102,955
In the computer interpretation of seismic data, the critical first step is to identify the general class of an unknown event. For example, the classification might be: teleseismic, regional, local, vehicular, or noise. Self-organizing neural networks (SONNs) can be used for classifying such events. Both Kohonen and Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART) SONNs are useful for this purpose. Given the detection of a seismic event and the corresponding signal, computation is made of: the time-frequency distribution, its binary representation, and finally a shift-invariant representation, which is the magnitude of the two-dimensional Fourier transform (2-D FFT) of the binary time-frequency distribution. This pre-processed input is fed into the SONNs. These neural networks are able to group events that look similar. The ART SONN has an advantage in classifying the event because the types of cluster groups do not need to be pre-defined. The results from the SONNs together with an expert seismologist's classification are then used to derive event classification probabilities. Seismic event classification system	Dowla, Farid U. , Jarpe, Stephen P. , Maurer, William	01/01/1994	US 5373486
A novel technique and structure that maximizes the extraction of information from reference pulses for UWB-TR receivers is introduced. The scheme efficiently processes an incoming signal to suppress different types of UWB as well as non-UWB interference prior to signal detection. Such a method and system adds a feedback loop mechanism to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio of reference pulses in a conventional TR receiver. Moreover, sampling the second order statistical function such as, for example, the autocorrelation function (ACF) of the received signal and matching it to the ACF samples of the original pulses for each transmitted bit provides a more robust UWB communications method and system in the presence of channel distortions. UWB communication receiver feedback loop	Spiridon, Alex , Benzel, Dave , Dowla, Farid U. , Nekoogar, Faranak , Rosenbury, Erwin T.	12/04/2007	7,305,052
The present invention presents a simple and novel channel estimation scheme for UWB communication systems. As disclosed herein, the present invention maximizes the extraction of information by incorporating a new generation of transmitted-reference (Tr) transceivers that utilize a single reference pulse(s) or a preamble of reference pulses to provide improved channel estimation while offering higher Bit Error Rate (BER) performance and data rates without diluting the transmitter power. UWB channel estimation using new generating TR transceivers	Nekoogar, Faranak , Dowla, Farid U. , Spiridon, Alex , Haugen, Peter C. , Benzel, Dave M.	06/28/2011	7,970,047
This invention provides a novel high-accuracy indoor ranging device that uses ultra-wideband (UWB) RF pulsing with low-power and low-cost electronics. A unique of the present invention is that it exploits multiple measurements in time and space for very accurate ranging. The wideband radio signals utilized herein are particularly suited to ranging in harsh RF environments because they allow signal reconstruction in spite of multipath propagation distortion. Furthermore, the ranging and positioning techniques discussed herein directly address many of the known technical challenges encountered in UWB localization regarding synchronization and sampling. In the method developed, noisy, corrupted signals can be recovered by repeating range measurements across a channel, and the distance measurements are combined from many locations surrounding the target in a way that minimizes the range biases associated to indirect flight paths and through-wall propagation delays. Ultra-wideband radios for time-of-flight-ranging and network position estimation	Hertzog, Claudia A. , Dowla, Farid U. , Dallum, Gregory E. , Romero, Carlos E.	06/14/2011	7,962,150
A new Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), tracking, powering apparatus/system and method using coded Ultra-wideband (UWB) signaling is introduced. The proposed hardware and techniques disclosed herein utilize a plurality of passive UWB transponders in a field of an RFID-radar system. The radar system itself enables multiple passive tags to be remotely powered (activated) at about the same time frame via predetermined frequency UWB pulsed formats. Once such tags are in an activated state, an UWB radar transmits specific "interrogating codes" to put predetermined tags in an awakened status. Such predetermined tags can then communicate by a unique "response code" so as to be detected by an UWB system using radar methods. Method of remote powering and detecting multiple UWB passive tags in an RFID system	Dowla, Farid U. , Nekoogar, Faranak , Benzel, David M. , Dallum, Gregory E. , Spiridon, Alex	05/29/2012	8,188,841