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Actor Marlon Brando has four patents, all named "Drumhead tensioning device and method."
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 6917611 | Method and apparatus for switching an on going communication of user information between a wireless connection and a wired connection A mobile station (MS) (100) is capable of communicating user information through both a wireless connection (224) and a wired connection (222). The MS establishes (502), between the MS and a communication device coupled to the communicati... | 07/12/2005 |
| 6912507 | Method and apparatus for interactive shopping A wireless client (100) maintains (302) a shopping list of items desired by a shopper, and then transmits (304) the shopping list to an in-store shopping system (200). The in-store shopping system receives (306) the shopping list a... | 06/28/2005 |
| 6907022 | Method and apparatus in a portable subscriber unit for minimizing a connection setup time through a communication network In a portable subscriber unit (200) a processor (204) is arranged and programmed to maintain (302) in a memory (208) a list identifying a plurality of devices which are to be connected quickly through a communication network, and to estab... | 06/14/2005 |
| 6836520 | Method and apparatus for establishing synchronization with a synchronization signal A synchronization signal includes a plurality of predetermined synchronization symbols shaped by a predetermined symbol pulse. A receiver (100) receives (202) a signal including the synchronization signal, and a processor (106)determines (204... | 12/28/2004 |
| 6784786 | Method and apparatus for delivering a subscriber-customized group message in a selective call messaging system A selective call messaging system delivers (602, 604, 606) a master message (324) addressed to a first group of subscriber units (102) and a corresponding records message (326) addressed to a second group of subscriber units. The records ... | 08/31/2004 |
| 6714634 | Method and apparatus for selecting disabling music on hold in a telecommunication system A caller makes (302) a telephone call to a second telecommunication system (108) from a telephone port (202) in a first telecommunication system (104). The first telecommunication system then ascertains (304) whether the second tel... | 03/30/2004 |
| 6697614 | Method and apparatus for distributed arbitration of a right to speak among a plurality of devices participating in a real-time voice conference An agent (100) is associated with each of a plurality of devices (201-204) for arbitrating between a talk stream generated by the device and a listen stream intended for the device and generated by another device on a network (210). In the agent a "Talk M... | 02/24/2004 |
| 6625233 | Method and apparatus in a wireless receiver for demodulating a continuous-phase frequency-shift-keyed signal A demodulator (604) demodulates (802) a block of symbols of a signal through a single-symbol matched-filter technique, thereby generating a first set of data; and demodulates (804) the block of symbols through a multi-symbol matched-filter technique, ther... | 09/23/2003 |
| 6470003 | Method and apparatus in a two-way radio messaging unit for limiting a total transmission duration within a sliding time window A processing system (206) defines (302) a plurality of bins (230) within a sliding time window, each bin for storing a total transmit duration of a predetermined number of frames assigned to each bin. The processing system then determines (310) a mean tra... | 10/22/2002 |
| 6466614 | Method and apparatus for classifying a baseband signal A processor (1104) receives a baseband signal including a plurality of symbols, and determines (1002) a maximum modulation level and a minimum modulation level in the baseband signal through a modified self-organizing map clustering technique. The process... | 10/15/2002 |
| 6424673 | Method and apparatus in a wireless communication system for facilitating detection of, and synchronization with, a predetermined synchronization signal A processor (306) is assigned a predetermined synchronization signal for use in communicating in a wireless communication system (100) The processor calculates (402) a total energy of the predetermined synchronization signal. A receiver front end (302) co... | 07/23/2002 |
| 6381467 | Method and apparatus for managing an ad hoc wireless network In an ad hoc wireless network having a plurality of members (100) a master, while communicating on a first communication channel, recognizes (202) a need for assistance in managing the network. In response to the need, the master negotiates (204) with a m... | 04/30/2002 |
| 6370211 | Method and apparatus for facilitating reception of a signal on one of a plurality of contiguous channels In a zero intermediate frequency (ZIF) receiver (300) a desired signal is detected (902) and downmixed (924) to baseband, off-centered by an amount determined by at least one of (a) whether (906) pilot symbols are present in the desired signal, and (b) si... | 04/09/2002 |
| 6360097 | Method and apparatus in a wireless communication unit for controlling a rate of background scanning A processor (206) and a receiver (202) monitor (301) a channel. The processor determines (304, 306) an average received signal quality on the channel and a first derivative of the average received signal quality. The processor then adjusts (308-336) the r... | 03/19/2002 |
| 6317474 | Method and apparatus for estimating time-of-arrival of a synchronization signal sent simultaneously from at least two non-collocated transmitters At least two non-collocated transmitters (116) transmit (1604) a synchronization signal such that it includes at least three predetermined tone frequencies. A receiver (122) receives (1606) the synchronization signal, and separates (1608) the synchronizat... | 11/13/2001 |
| 6298094 | Method and apparatus for power control in a transmitter A processor (120) receives an input signal including symbols for transmission, and determines an output signal for a symbol period from a predetermined range of symbols of the input signal in combination with a modulating phasor vector and a matrix of fil... | 10/02/2001 |
| 6298233 | Method and apparatus in a two-way wireless communication system for detection and deferred reporting of a communication difficulty A portable subscriber unit (122) provides (402) communications for a user, and monitors (404) a parameter indicative of communication quality during the communications. The portable subscriber unit compares (406) the parameter with a predetermined thresho... | 10/02/2001 |
| 6298054 | Method and apparatus in a wireless messaging unit for acquiring transmitter or receiver synchronization A wireless messaging unit (122) determines (704) that a first channel (402), which utilizes a first plurality of time slots for transmission, does not have a signal suitable for acquiring synchronization; and, in response, attempts (706) to acquire an ini... | 10/02/2001 |
| 6272333 | Method and apparatus in a wireless communication system for controlling a delivery of data A subscriber unit (122) maintains an application registry (226) for registering (404) applications accessible to the subscriber unit. A fixed portion (102) of a wireless communication system keeps (514) a current copy (324) of the application registry of ... | 08/07/2001 |
| 6266513 | Apparatus and method for missing message reconciliation Methods of and corresponding apparatus for missing message reconciliation of messages initially sent over a wireless operating channel (123) in a selective messaging system (100) for a messaging unit (135) include receiving messages (305), and processing ... | 07/24/2001 |
| 6260060 | Method and apparatus for enhancing a message preview mode in a messaging unit A messaging unit (122) receives (702)a message (404) having a header string, and compresses (820) a display of the header string when the messaging unit is operating (802) in a message preview mode.... | 07/10/2001 |
| 6259791 | Method and apparatus in a wireless messaging system for controlling a hierarchical provision of service A first service provider having a highest security of access, initially programs (604) tables in a subscriber unit (122), including an address table (224) having entries including addresses to which the subscriber unit is responsive, a sub-address table (... | 07/10/2001 |
| 6256493 | Selective call receiver and method for programming a selective call receiver The generic activation method of a selective call receiver apparatus (122) operating within a messaging system (100) includes providing a selective call receiver (122) having a group address (251) and a unique receiver identification (242) stored in a mem... | 07/03/2001 |
| 6229806 | Authentication in a packet data system A communication system in which a user device (10) generates authentication information (32) unique to the user device and provides a data packet (35) including this authentication information to an infrastructure part which is a gateway (14) or a host (1... | 05/08/2001 |
| 6219703 | Method and apparatus for constructing a device management information base in a network management station In a data communication network a network management station (NMS) (102) constructs a device Management Information Base (MIB) for interfacing with a device (104) to be managed. The device provides an agent (110) that includes a management structure MIB (... | 04/17/2001 |
| 6215999 | Method and apparatus for identifying channels and channel frequencies used in a subzone of a wireless communication system A controller (112) performs at least one of (a) alternating (700) first and second SCI frames in a subzone, and (b) identifying (800) private data channels. In alternating the first and second SCI frames, the controller transmits (704), in the first SCI f... | 04/10/2001 |
| 6198406 | Method and apparatus for providing a predictable upper bound for a channel search time of a portable subscriber unit A portable subscriber unit (PSU) (222) operating in a plurality of messaging systems selects (605) a first messaging system to monitor for messages. The PSU then initiates (610) background scanning according to a scan list (326), including a plurality of ... | 03/06/2001 |
| 6198931 | Method for prioritizing a communication in a wireless communication system A wireless communication system receives (402) a communication specifying a portable subscriber unit (122) for which the communication is intended, and further indicating an originator location at which an originator of the communication is positioned. Th... | 03/06/2001 |
| 6175740 | Method and apparatus in a wireless communication system for adaptively selecting a resolution for determining and reporting location information A portable subscriber unit (122) and a controller (112) cooperate to maintain (402) a table (226, 326) identifying operations that utilize location information, and corresponding resolutions preferred for the location information when performing ones of t... | 01/16/2001 |
| 6169903 | Method and apparatus in a wireless communication system for determining a location at which a subscriber unit is positioned Sub-areas (506) within a coverage area of a wireless communication system are defined (702), and transmitters (502, 504) are positioned within the sub-areas. A memory (212, 314), in at least one of a subscriber unit (122) and a controller (112) of the sys... | 01/02/2001 |
| 6167268 | Method and apparatus for controlling scanning of a subscriber unit A location is determined (402) at which a subscriber unit (122, 300) communicating with a first wireless system is positioned. A distance between the location and a second wireless system preferred by the subscriber unit is calculated (404), and, based up... | 12/26/2000 |
| 6154500 | Method and apparatus in a wireless communication system for adding a second channel that overlaps a guard band used by a first channel In a wireless communication system a first transmission (612, 614) is sent (802) over a first channel to a first receiver (122) that requires a transmission-free guard band (620) during a tuning period, and the first receiver accommodates a second transmi... | 11/28/2000 |
| 6147984 | Method and apparatus for peak limiting in a modulator A modulator (102) generates a frequency-multiplexed composite signal (502) including a plurality of symbols. A processing system (108) of the modulator defines (802) a signal template (600) specifying symbol-type adjustment factors for corresponding symbo... | 11/14/2000 |
| 6141543 | Method and apparatus for simulcast space diversity transmission of a message in a radio messaging system At least two subsets (204, 208) of simulcast transmitters are defined (802) that produce differing simulcast distortion characteristics at a receiver (210), and a message is sent (806) in a simulcast transmission from one of the at least two subsets. The ... | 10/31/2000 |
| 6138032 | Method and apparatus for dynamically adjusting a battery saving interval in a messaging system A battery saving interval utilized for communicating with a portable subscriber unit (122) in a radio communication system is dynamically adjusted. An occurrence of a predetermined triggering event associated with the portable subscriber unit is observed ... | 10/24/2000 |
| 6133850 | Method and apparatus for reducing channel capacity required to report a billable consumption of a utility commodity A pricing entity (124) periodically transmits (502) pricing information (226) including pricing of a utility commodity as a function of time. A meter apparatus (130) periodically make s a measurement (602) of consumption of the utility commodity during a ... | 10/17/2000 |
| 6134268 | Apparatus for performing a non-integer sampling rate change in a multichannel polyphase filter A multichannel polyphase filter (304, 602) includes a processing system (204, 506) for accepting and processing M input channels of data, each sampled at an input sampling rate, wherein M is a positive integer greater than unity. The processing system is ... | 10/17/2000 |
| 6130518 | Method and apparatus for charging a battery A portable communication device (300) powered by a battery (210) has an external connector (202) that includes an external power node (220) and a data bus (204) having an integral power node (218). A processing system (228) of the device senses (402) whet... | 10/10/2000 |
| 6118980 | Method and apparatus for reducing inbound transmissions in a two-way messaging system A fixed portion (102) of a two-way messaging system transmits (502) a first message (400) including a value (408) indicative of a response probability desired from a portable subscriber unit (122). The portable subscriber unit receives (602) the first mes... | 09/12/2000 |
| 6112073 | Apparatus for packaging electronics An apparatus for packaging electronics (100) having improved mechanical integrity includes an energy storage apparatus (110), an electronic assembly (120) and a spacing apparatus (130). A subscriber unit (500) includes: an energy storage element (110, 550... | 08/29/2000 |
