US Fed News Service, Including US State News back issues from Wednesday, November 8:
Japanese Inventors Develop Vending Machine
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Masaaki Sato of Ohta, Japan, Kuniyuki Tokizawa of Isesaki, Japan, Yuji Sone of Takasaki, Japan, and Junichi Nishio of Gyoda, Japan, have developed a vending machine with a display for displaying an image on a surface to purchasers. According to the U.S. Patent ...
Colorado Inventor Develops Fuel Injection System
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Thomas Emanuel Ehresman of Loveland, Colo., has developed a fuel injection spark ignition system. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, the invention relates to a "fuel injection system providing both fuel injection devices and methods of fuel ...
Utah Inventors Develop Electrosurgical Procedure Performing Method
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- James D. Isaacson and Paul R. Borgmeier, both of Salt Lake City, and Tremayne Paul Mikalauski of Draper, Utah, have developed methods, systems, and devices for performing electrosurgical procedures. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, the ...
Minnesota Inventors Develop Tire Pressure Measurement Apparatus
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- William P. Kroll of Medina, Minn., Karl J. F. Kroll of Maple Grove, Minn., and Matthew Young of Golden Valley, Minn., have developed a tire pressure measurement apparatus and methods. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, the invention relates to ...
Taiwanese Inventors Develop Light Processing Module
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Shu-Chen Chan of Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and Ya-Fang Yeh of Ho-Mei Chen, Taiwan, have developed a light processing module that includes a light modulator with a liquid crystal panel, and a dust protection member. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: ...
Pennsylvania Inventor Develops Temperature Activated Pressure Relief Mechanism
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- William T. Storey of Dalmatia, Pa., has developed a temperature activated pressure relief mechanism for flashlights and batteries. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A temperature activated pressure relief mechanism for a flashlight or other ...
Japanese Inventor Develops Semiconductor Wafer Dividing Method
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Akihito Kawai of Tokyo has developed a method of dividing a semiconductor wafer having a plurality of streets formed on the front surface in a lattice form. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, the invention relates to a "method of dividing a ...
Massachusetts Inventor Develops Data Storage System Security Technique
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Allan L. Scherr of Framingham, Mass., has developed methods and an apparatus for providing security for a data storage system. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The invention is directed to techniques for providing security in data storage ...
Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida Inventors Develop Bone Plating System
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Jeff W. Mast of Grosse Pointe Park, Mich., Keith A. Mayo of Harrison Township, Mich., Paul C. Weaver of Douglassville, Pa., David Little of West Chester, Pa., and Brett R. Bolhofner of St. Petersburg, Fla., have developed a bone plating system and a method for fracture ...
Japanese Inventor Develops Image Forming Apparatus
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Jun Mochizuki of Toride, Japan, has developed an image forming apparatus that features a changeable mixing ratio of deep and pale color toners. An abstract of the invention, released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, said: "An image forming apparatus ...
Taiwanese Inventor Develops Bicycle Mirror Combination
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Louis Chuang of Taichung, Taiwan, has developed a grip/mirror combination for a bicycle. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A grip/mirror combination includes an auxiliary grip and a mirror device. The auxiliary grip can be mounted on a ...
South Dakota Inventor Develops Video Display Output Control Method
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Keith C. Thomas of Vermillion, S.D., has developed an apparatus and a method for controlling access to information based on content of the information and user identity. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The apparatus includes a video ...
Texas Inventor Develops Flexible Membrane Encapsulated Strain Measurement Instrument
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- William Crockford of College Station, Texas, has developed test cells for soil samples. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A flexible membrane for use in test cells includes instrumentation within the thickness of the membrane to accurately ...
Arizona Inventors Develop Motion Sensor System
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Mark L. Shaw of Chandler, Ariz., and Richard John August of Scottsdale, Ariz., have developed a motion sensor system for a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) that uses a piezoelectric sensor to sense vibration as an indication of wheel motion. According to ...
Japanese Inventor Develops Color Image Forming Device
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Kazuhiko Kobayashi of Tokyo has developed a color image forming device and a color deviation detection device for the same. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, the invention relates to a "color deviation detection device for a color image ...
Indiana Inventor Develops Slow Forward Trick Mode Video Recording Method
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Donald Henry Willis of Indianapolis has developed a method optimized for slow forward trick mode playback of a portion of video. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The invention concerns a method and system for producing an optimal slow ...
Illinois Inventors Develop Rod Member Attaching Apparatus
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- David T. Klein of Alsip, Ill., and Donald M. Klein of McHenry, Ill., have developed a method and an apparatus for attaching a rod member to a remote surface. An abstract of the invention, released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, said: "An apparatus ...
Massachusetts Inventors Develop Color Image Interpolation Method
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Christopher J. Cheng of Belmont, Mass., and Robert A. of Ulichney Stow, Mass., have developed a system and a method that interpolates a full color image from an array of single color sensors. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Each sensor ...
California Inventor Develops Light Display Structures
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- William R. Ratcliffe of Thousand Oaks, Calif., has developed a display structure for energizing at least one light-emitting element. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Light display structures are provided that are simple and comprise few ...
U.S., British Inventors Develop Radio Frequency Identification Scanner
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Peter S. Taylor of Solvang, Calif., Dean Wrench of Santa Barbara, Calif., and Ian Cullimore of Leominster, Great Britain, have developed a hand-held radio frequency identification (RFID) scanner that has an extendable shaft with a handle for gripping of the RFID ...
Oregon, Washington Inventors Develop Document Printing Method
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Andrew R. Ferlitsch of Tigard, Ore., and Roy K. Chrisop of Camas, Wash., have developed a method for printing a document from a scanner which has scanned in that document. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, the invention relates to a "document ...
German Inventors Develop Air Conditioning Installation Operating Unit
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Alexander Bogner of Ditzingen, Germany, and Christoph Dahm of Kernen, Germany, have developed an operator control unit with at least one operator control element for an air-conditioning system and/or automatic air-conditioning system. According to the U.S ....
Japanese Inventor Develops Engine Power Transmission System Cover
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Yoshitada Ito of Okazaki, Japan, has developed a power transmission system cover for an engine. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A power transmission system cover for an engine has a cover portion, formed of a single piece material and ...
Colorado Inventors Develop Broadband Network Fault Management Method
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Richard Cerami and Roxanna Storaasli, both of Denver, and Timothy Figueroa of Aurora, Colo., have developed a method for managing a plurality of failures in a video and data network. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The method includes ...
Japanese Inventors Develop Thread Ending Method for Parallel Processor System
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Taku Ohsawa and Satoshi Matsushita, both of Tokyo, have developed a thread ending method and a device and a parallel processor system. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Each processor comprises a register for storing start address of a ...
Canadian, Swedish Inventors Develop Attentive Panoramic Visual Sensor
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- James H. Elder, Yuqian Hou and Ronen Goldstein, all from Ontario, Canada, and Fadi Dornaika of Linkoping, Sweden, have developed a method for simultaneously recording foveal and panoramic video streams and fusing the foveal and panoramic video streams into a single ...
Taiwanese Inventor Develops Magnetic Attractable Spoon
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Mu Hsiang Lin of Taipei, Taiwan, has developed a magnetic attractable spoon which is mainly used to a milk can so that the spoon can attracted to the milk can easily and can be taken out quickly. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A magnetic ...
Taiwanese Inventors Develop Optical Carriage of Scanner
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Tsung-Yin Chen and Chun-I Hsiao, both of Hsin-Chu, Taiwan, have developed an optical carriage of scanner and a method for the same. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An optical carriage of scanner has a mirror assembly and a device assembly, ...
German Inventors Develop Short Channel Field-Effect Transistor Fabrication Method
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Rodger Fehlhaber and Helmut Tews, both of Munchen, Germany, have developed a method for fabricating complementary metal-oxide semiconductor transistors with channel lengths below 100 nanometers. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A method for ...
Irish Inventors Develop Environment Monitoring System
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Charlie Sherlock of Cateleknock Dublin, Ireland, has developed a system for monitoring an environment. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A system for monitoring an environment comprises a plurality of sensors, each sensor generating ...
German Inventor Develops Vertebrae Bracing Apparatus
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Peter Metz-Stavenhagen of Bad Wildungen, Germany, has developed an apparatus for bracing vertebrae. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An apparatus for bracing a plurality of vertebrae of the human spine has at least two pedicle screws, each having ...
New York Inventors Develop Beamsplitter Mounting Housing
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Barry D. Silverstein and Franklin D. Ehrne, both of Rochester, N.Y., have developed a housing for mounting a beamsplitter and a spatial light modulator in alignment with an output optical path. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A housing for ...
U.S., Italian Inventors Develop Ornamental Design for Footbed Forepart
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Norman Dean of Pleasant Valley, N.Y., Jessica Moran of Allentown, Pa., and Alberto Del Biondi of Padua, Italy, have developed an ornamental design for a footbed forepart, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office announced. The inventors were issued U.S. Patent ...
Japanese Inventors Develop Air Clean Apparatus
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Shoji Hirayama and Kensuke Hirayama, both of Yamato, Japan, have developed an air clean appratus for use in living rooms, bedrooms and other places in common houses, mansions and so on. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, the invention relates ...
Finnish Inventors Develop Sensor Housing Fastening Arrangement
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Tomi Lundell, Jukka Hakanen and Ari Tuunanen, all from Tampere, Finland, and Jari Kirjanen of Nokia, Finland, have developed a sensor housing fastening arrangement in wheels with pneumatic tires. An abstract of the invention, released by the U.S. Patent & ...
Massachusetts Inventor Develops Blood Circuits Leak Detection Apparatus
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Jeffrey H. Burbank of Boxford, Mass., has developed a method and an apparatus for leak detection in blood circuits combining external fluid detection and air infiltration detection. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "One of the most ...
Virginia, Maryland Inventors Develop Electro-Optic Clock Recovery Circuit
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Janet W. Lou of Alexandria, Va., and Thomas F. Carruthers of Laurel, Md., have developed a device and method for the recovery of a sub-harmonic clock rate from an optical pulse stream. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, the invention relates ...
French Inventors Develop Video Stream Decoding Device
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Franck Abelard of Chateaubourg, France, and Alain Verdier of Vern sur Seiche, France, have developed a method and a device for decoding a video stream in trick mode. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A device for decoding a video stream in ...
German Inventors Develop Printing System Remote Maintenance Method
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Matthias Seeler and Berthold Kathan, both of Munich, Germany, have developed a system for remote configuration or remote operation of a printing or copying system. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "In a system and method for remote ...
Massachusetts Inventors Develop Recombinant Chondroitinase Isolation Method
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Kevin Pojasek of Boston, Rahul Raman of Cambridge, Mass., and Ram Sasisekharan of Lincoln, Mass., have developed methods for purifying and isolating recombinant chondroitinases. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The invention relates to rationally ...
Taiwan Inventor Develops Polycrystalline Silicon Layer
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Ching-Wei Lin of Taoyuan, Taiwan, has developed a process for forming a polycrystalline silicon layer. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A process for forming a polycrystalline silicon layer includes the following steps. Firstly, at least ...
Wisconsin Inventors Develop Paper Roll Products Production Apparatus
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Joseph A. Blume of Green Bay, Wis., James Vincent Holzem of Oneida, Wis., and Steve J. Jansen of De Pere, Wis., have developed apparatus and processes for producing paper roll products with spaced core sections. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark ...
Japanese Inventors Develop Transmit Device
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Tomoyuki Hanai and Motoki Kato, both of Kanagawa, Japan, Yasutomo Nishina of Chiba, Japan, and Masahiko Sato of Tokyo, have developed a transmit device and a method thereof, a record/play device and a method thereof as well as recording system and a ...
Japanese Inventors Develop Internal Combustion Engine Oil Pan
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Masatoshi Hada and Yasuki Ohta, both of Nagoya, Japan, have developed an oil pan of an internal combustion engine. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The oil pan includes an oil introducing portion that has an oil introducing plate. The oil ...
U.S., Japanese Inventors Develop Storage System
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Martin Aureliano Hassner of Mountain View, Calif., Steven R. Hetzler of Los Altos, Calif., Barry Marshall Trager of Yorktown Heights, N.Y., Shmuel Winograd of Scarsdale, N.Y., and Tetsuya Tamura of Kanagawa, Japan, have developed a generalized parity stripe data ...
Israeli Inventor Develops Electronic Shelf Label System
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Oren Rosenfeld of Mazkeret-Batya, Israel, has developed electronic shelf label systems and methods. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, the invention relates to an "electronic shelf label including an liquid crystal display (LCD) display, a ...
Japanese Inventors Develop Method of Inserting Connection Terminal
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Tomomi Endo and Naoto Taguchi, both of Shizuoka, Japan, have developed a method of inserting connection terminals into half-fitting prevention connector. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "In a half-fitting prevention connector of the ...
Arizona Inventor Develops Portable Circular Saw Trim Attachment
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Charles R. Lukens of Bull Head City, Ariz., has developed a trim attachment for portable circular saw. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The trim attachment for a portable circular saw is generally L-shaped, having a generally rectangular, ...
Florida Inventors Develop Radio Frequency Identification Apparatus
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Joseph C. Namm of Plantation, Fla., and George R. Cain Jr. of Sunrise, Fla., have developed a method and an apparatus for locating a fire hose. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "One or more radio frequency identification (RFID) tags are ...
Japanese Inventors Develop Construction Machine
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Hajime Nakashima and Kazuhiro Ueda, both of Hiroshima, Japan, and Yasumasa Kimura of Kobe, Japan, have developed a construction machine, such as a hydraulic excavator, having an exhaust gas discharging structure. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark ...
French Inventors Develop Error Correction Codes Direct Decoding Method
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Rene Gallezot of La Colle sur Loup, France, Rene Glaise of Nice, France, and Michel Poret of Gattieres, France, have developed an apparatus and a method for allowing a direct decode of fire and similar codes. An abstract of the invention, released by the U.S ....
Japanese Inventors Develop Hydrogen Generating Device
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Satoshi Aoyama of Susono, Japan, Hiromichi Sato of Atsugi, Japan, Toshihide Nakata of Sapporo, Japan, and Naoki Ito of Yokohama, Japan, have developed a hydrogen generating device with hydrogen separator membrane and a control method therefor. According to the ...
Japanese Inventors Develop Air Conditioner
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Shigetomi Kouno, Yoshihiro Nishiura and Atsushi Matsubara, all from Kusatsu, Japan, have developed an air conditioner and a method of controlling air conditioner. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An air conditioner is provided that can ...
Colorado Inventors Develop Data Bit Aligning Method
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Gregory L. Silvus of Boulder, Colo., and Ewe Chye Tan of Longmont, Colo., have developed an apparatus and a method of aligning data bits serially received at a channel input. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A number of data bits including ...
Utah Inventor Develops Hand Tool Safety Device
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- James Braun of Midway, Utah, has developed a safety and a storage device for use on hand held tools. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A combination handle and safety device configured to be attached to a hand tool to enable the hand tool to ...
Illinois Inventor Develops Printing Press Using Method
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Myer Hecht Mike of Highland Park, Ill., has developed a method of reducing the paper or paperboard costs to the owners of a press in the printing of ink on paper or paperboard substrates. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The method ...
Pennsylvania Inventors Develop Flashlight Lens Cover
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Ronald Bensinger of Herndon, Pa., and Brian E. Probst of Renovo, Pa., have developed a flashlight lens cover. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A flashlight lens cover has a generally cylindrical body member and a generally circular cap ...
Nevada Inventor Develops Pneumatic Tire Air Pressure Gauge Assembly
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Robert Rutherford of Reno, Nev., has developed a compact air pressure gauge assembly mountable to a valve stem of a tire. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, the invention relates to a "compact air pressure gauge assembly mountable to the valve ...
Washington Inventor Develops Multi-Use Planar Photoluminescent Lamp
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Mark Winsor of Chehalis, Wash., has developed a multi-use planar photoluminescent lamp and a method of making such lamp. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A planar photoluminescent lamp includes a plurality of glass spacer beads affixed to a ...
Ohio Inventor Develops Automatic Teller Machine Cash Withdrawal Method
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Natarajan Ramachandran of Uniontown, Ohio, has developed an apparatus and a method for purchasing an item via a self-service checkout at a merchant store. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The item is associated with a bar code and an ...
California Inventor Develops Efficient Illumination System
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Serge J.A. Bierhuizen of Santa Rosa, Calif., has developed an efficient illumination systems for reduced etendue color video projection systems. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An illumination system is provided with at least a first ...
Taiwanese Inventor Develops Horizontal Scan Scaling Device
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Chung-Chih Chang of Douliou, Taiwan, has developed a device applied to scaling factor of horizontal scan of a scanner and a method thereof. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The present invention lets signals be processed by a multiplexer, a ...
California Inventors Develop Network Block Level Cache Access Authentication Method
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Steven R. Hetzler of Los Altos, Calif., and Daniel Felix Smith of San Jose, Calif., have developed a system and a method for authenticating block level cache access on network. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, the invention relates to a ...
California, Washington Inventors Develop Chromatic Aberration Correction System
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- W. Daniel Hillis of Encino, Calif., Lowell L. Wood Jr. of Livermore, Calif., Nathan P. Myhrvold of Medina, Wash., and Clarence T. Tegreene of Bellevue, Wash., have developed a system that constructs a composite image by moving a photo-detector array, the U.S. Patent ...
Maryland, New York Inventors Develop Optical Transmission System
Nov 08, 2006 ... ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 8 -- Dalma Novak of Columbia, Md., Bo Pedersen of Annapolis, Md., and Quan-Zhen Wang of New York, have developed modular multiplexing/demultiplexing units in optical transmission systems. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An optical transmission ...