An all-mode, bonding pad-oriented ESD (electrostatic discharge) protection structure, protects ICs against ESD pulses of all modes in all... Show moreAn all-mode, bonding pad-oriented ESD (electrostatic discharge) protection structure, protects ICs against ESD pulses of all modes in all directions. A unique quasi-symmetrical layout design is devised to improve ESD structure. Physical symmetry and rounded layout provide uniform current and thermal distribution as well as symmetrical electrical operation characteristics. The ESD structure allows tunable triggering voltage, low holding voltage, low impedance, low leakage, fast response time and low parasitic effect. The ESD structure can easily be placed under or surrounding a bonding pad and consumes little extra silicon. The ESD structure can be implemented in commercial BiCMOS processes and is suitable for multiple-supply, mixed-signal, parasitic-sensitive RF and high-pin-count ICs. Sponsorship: Illinois Institute of Technology United States Patent Show less
A system and method of channel estimation for a multi-user broadband wireless channel estimation in multiple antenna receiver systems use a... Show moreA system and method of channel estimation for a multi-user broadband wireless channel estimation in multiple antenna receiver systems use a specifically selected delay in the pilot symbol sequence portion of the transmission which is a multiple of the minimum Cyclic Prefix delay length. This insures that the time-frequency slot information bursts will always be separated in the time domain. A matched filter output in the receiver is formed by multiplying each pilot symbol by the conjugate of the training symbols of the first user. Estimation of the channel response may include three different versions of the efficient estimation calculations, namely Constrained Inverse Deconvolution, Iterative Low Complexity, and Extrapolated Matched Filter estimations. The first two methods do not require matrix multiplication (using only Fourier transforms), while the third method utilizes a smaller matrix multiplication than previously taught. Hardware considerations are also reduced due to the lack of a need for extensive matrix by matrix calculations. Sponsorship: Illinois Institute of Technology United States Patent Show less
To provide confinement in a porous medium in the earth, a limited region of the porous medium is heated to drive substantially all of the free... Show moreTo provide confinement in a porous medium in the earth, a limited region of the porous medium is heated to drive substantially all of the free water from open spaces of the medium in the region. After heating, liquid material is introduced into the open spaces in the medium, which liquid material will set into a substantially solid structure. The liquid material is then set in the open spaces to form a substantially solid structure in the medium in the region. Sponsorship: IIT Research Institute United States Patent Show less
A fuel cell having a distributed fuel feed in which the heat generation profile can be better controlled. Fuel channel stack and system... Show moreA fuel cell having a distributed fuel feed in which the heat generation profile can be better controlled. Fuel channel stack and system efficiency improvements are achieved. Sponsorship: Illinois Institute of Technology United States Patent Show less
Hafnium tantalum alloy containing about 15 and about 35 weight percent tantalum, between about 0.03 and about 2.0 weight percent boron, and at... Show moreHafnium tantalum alloy containing about 15 and about 35 weight percent tantalum, between about 0.03 and about 2.0 weight percent boron, and at least one additional alloying agent selected from chromium, silicon and aluminum. Sponsorship: IIT Research Institute United States Patent Show less
An electrohydrodynamic conduction liquid pumping system having a vessel configured to contain a liquid therein, a single pair or multi-pairs... Show moreAn electrohydrodynamic conduction liquid pumping system having a vessel configured to contain a liquid therein, a single pair or multi-pairs of electrodes disposed in a circularly spaced apart relationship to each other inside the vessel and configured to be oriented in the liquid. A power supply is coupled to the electrodes and configured to generate electric fields in-between each electrode pair to induce a net radial pumping of the liquid. A heat source is provided to produce heat sufficient to boil and vaporize the liquid while non-vaporized liquid moving toward the heat source prevents over-heating of the heat source. A heat sink is configured to have a operating temperature below the vaporization temperature of the liquid so that contact of the vapor with the heat sink will condense the vapor into a liquid to replenish the liquid supply moving toward the heat source. Sponsorship: Illinois Institute of Technology United States Patent Primary US Patent Classification 417/48 US Patent Classification 361/700 US Patent Classification 361/702 International Patent Classification F04B 37/00 International Patent Classification H05K 7/20 Show less
The invention disclosed is a process to allocate channels in a sectorized cellular network. A system of allocating cellular frequencies ... Show moreThe invention disclosed is a process to allocate channels in a sectorized cellular network. A system of allocating cellular frequencies (channels) to the sectors among the cells within a tile is disclosed which maximizes channel set usage within the tile while avoiding co-channel interference between cells. According to the present system, no infrastructure rebuild is required. The disclosed approach further supports all currently used cellular technology. By alternating and rotating the channel assignments across sectors, what is a seemingly locally poor algorithm utilizing additional local channels is actually a globally good algorithm which is efficient in terms of the total number of channels used owing to short reuse distance and low number of cell types. Sponsorship: Illinois Institute of Technology United States Patent Show less
The disclosure describes a technique for uniform heating of relatively large blocks of hydrocarbonaceous formations in situ using radio... Show moreThe disclosure describes a technique for uniform heating of relatively large blocks of hydrocarbonaceous formations in situ using radio frequency (RF) electrical energy that is substantially confined to the volume to be heated and effects of dielectric heating of the formations. An important aspect of the disclosure relates to the fact that certain hydrocarbonaceous earth formations, for example raw unheated oil shale, exhibit dielectric absorption characteristics in the radio frequency range. In accordance with the system of the invention, a plurality of conductors are inserted in the formations and bound a particular volume of the formations. The phrase "bounding a particular volume" is intended to mean that the volume is enclosed on at least two sides thereof. Electrical excitation is provided for establishing alternating electric fields in the volume. The frequency of the excitation is selected as a function of the dimensions of the volume so as to establish a substantially non-radiating electric field which is substantially confined in the volume. In this manner, volumetric dielectric heating of the formations will occur to effect approximately uniform controlled heating of the volume Sponsorship: IIT Research Institute United States Patent Show less
The synthesis of a carbon-based catalyst from sludge materials such as produced by the paper mill industry and the like is described wherein... Show moreThe synthesis of a carbon-based catalyst from sludge materials such as produced by the paper mill industry and the like is described wherein the treated material is subjected to processing including chemical activation with an appropriate metal-based activating agent, light and humidity treatment, and pyrolysis to result in a desired carbon-based catalyst. Sponsorship: Illinois Institute of Technology United States Patent Show less
