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Date: 7th-9th Feb, 2014 (Friday, Saturday & Sunday)
Time: 11 AM – 7 PM
Venue: Thyagaraj Stadium, INA Colony, New Delhi
Entry – Rs.100 per day (You can buy on the spot also)
3 Day Pass – Rs.300
Super Fan (VIP) Ticket – Rs.350 (Limited Number Available Only) – ONLY SOLD ONLINE
Buy Tickets Here:http://in.bookmyshow.com/
Website: www.comicconindia.com
* Spread across 50000 Sq foot of area, this year the comics convention will be divided into 3 zones
(i) Experience zone
(ii) Exhibitor zone
(iii) Food court
* There will be Shuttle services provided from INA & Delhi Haat Metro station for visitors.
A Gala Festival for Comics lovers
# International Guests from across the World
Taking special Sessions at the Indian Comics Convention
* Mark Waid – Mark Waid is an Eisner Award-winning American comic book writer. He is well known for his work on Marvel Comics' Captain America.
* David Lloyd – David Lloyd is a British comics artist best known as the illustrator of the story V for Vendetta, written by Alan Moore.
* Gabriel Ba – Gabriel Bá is a Brazilian comic book artist best known for his work on The Umbrella Academy and Casanova. He is the twin brother of fellow comic book artist Fábio Moon.
* Fabio Moon – Fábio Moon is a Brazilian comic book artist best known for his work on Casanova. He is the twin brother of fellow comic book artist Gabriel Bá.
* John Layman – Once an editor for Wildstorm, a branch of DC Comics, Layman turned to writing comics full-time in 2002 and mainly writes for Marvel Comics.
# Cosplay (Costume contest)
Cosplay (Costume Contest), one of the major attractions at Comic Con India, will continue to give assured prizes to everyone in costume. Under the 5 categories created to increase one's chances of winning gifts. Each day, one winner will be chosen from each of five categories:
1. Comic book/Graphic novel
2. Animated Series/ Movie
3. Manga/Anime
4. Sci-Fi/ Fantasy
5. Gaming
Kids and Adults can come dressed as their favorite comic character. All three days, One lucky winner out of the chosen 5 will get the awesome chance to
WIN a GOLDEN TICKET to New York Comic Con 2014 With a VIP ticket to the event !
# Exclusive Book Launches
Over 10 New Titles to be launched!
These never before released titles will be exclusively available at the convention and then later in the market.
* World War One: 1914-1918
* Magical Animals
* Aghori- Issue#9
* Zombie Rising Volume 2
* Blind Spot
* Aghori- Issue#10
* Pulp Quarterly 2 – The Journal of Indian Comics
* Stupid Guy Goes BACK To India
* The Obliterary Journal, Vol. 2:
# Inside Peanuts: The Life and Art of Charles M. Schulz exhibit
* Comic Con India has partnered with the Charles M Schulz Museum to bring a special Inside Peanuts: The Life and Art of Charles M. Schulz exhibit to India for the 4th Annual Indian Comic Con – Delhi.
* The exhibit shipped in exclusively for visitors at the convention takes the visitors through the journey of Peanuts & Charles M Schulz over the years.
The exhibit starts off with Schulz's life from his Minnesota roots and illuminates his creative process and work environment. It tracks the development of twelve main characters that make up the unique world of Peanuts. It also takes the visitor on a journey from the 1950's to present day popularity and resonance of the Peanuts comic strip and the legacy of Charles M Schulz.
# The 3rd Annual Comic Con India Awards
* The 3rd Annual Comic Con India Awards ceremony will be held at the venue on Friday – 7th February 2014.
Comic Con India Awards 2014 to honor the best of 2013 in Indian Comics Industry
Comic Con India Awards 2014 to accord The Lifetime Achievement Award to Pran Kumar Sharma – Creator of Chacha Chaudhary & His Friend Sabu. He will personally come and receive his award on February 9, 2014
Comic Con India special award to honor Tinkle Magazine for its over 30 years of contribution to Indian comics and graphic arts.
* 10 Categories, Tons of Nominations and An Esteemed Panel of Jury!
# Special Sessions with Leading Artists & Writers from India
We have some really awesome sessions & launches planned with the leading artists and writers in India as well as from abroad, taking place every hour on hour at the convention. All completely free to attend.
* Special Session with Mohammad Faisal, The Creator of the insanely popular comic strip,
"Garbage Bin"
* Special Session on the Kuru Chronicles
* An Overview of Documentary Comics created in India and the potential Scope of these comics with Artist Harsho Mohan Chattoraj.
* Special Session by Campfire on How to Write Comics.
* In Depth Session with Abhijeet Kini and Wacom Pen Tablets on Digital Art. They will talk about various tools involved and a live demo!!
# Special Screenings at the Convention
* Special Screening of Sherlock Series Best Moments by AXN
* Screening of Supernatural Best Moments by AXN
* Zee Cafe presents the special screening of the Hit TV Show "House of Cards"
* Special Screening of Top Gear Series Best Moments by AXN
# Main Publishers at 4th CCI
Amar Chitra Katha, Orange Radius, Abhijeet Kini, Pop Culture Publishing, Random House, Campfire Graphic Novel, Holy Cow Entertainment, HarperCollins Publishers,Vimanika Comics, iComics, Manta Ray Comics, DC, Vertigo & Kodansha Comics By Random House India, Viz Media by Simon & Schuster India, Blaft Publications, Chariot Comics, Scholastic India, Meta Desi Comics and more!!
# International Exhibitors
* Cyanide & Happiness
* Toynk.com
* Marvel & Image Comics By Diamond Book Distributors
# Merchandise from all over the World
*Tons & Tons Of Merch! Pick Up Some Awesome Anime & Manga Merch from Japanese Merchandiser IINE, T-shirts, Mugs, Toys, Posters, Cushions, etc, the list is never ending!!
* 9XM will launch their brand new merchandise.
*There will be some of best and most awesome International and Indian Merchandise at the convention!!
* Check out the exclusive merchandise at Kook N Keech by Myntra, Wacom, Collectors Heritage, Hysteria, Firki, Purple Sack, I Wear Me, Chimp, Chumbak, Keep Chilling, Superhero Toy Store, Funko, Super Hero Toy Store, Planet Superheroes and lots more!!


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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Eagle's parent company revealed it may be looking to sell off all or parts of its newspaper business.
Digital First Media CEO John Paton announced on Friday that the company is using investment bank UBS to review "strategic alternatives."
"Strategic alternatives — what does that mean exactly?
"Well, it could mean we decide to sell the company. Or sell parts of it. Or expand it. Or stay the course," Paton posted on his blog.
It's been rumored the company has been trying to cut $100 million out of its overall operating budget this year.
DFM operates Digital First Ventures, 21st Century Media and MediaNews Group, under which New England Newspapers falls. The regional group consists of The Eagle and Vermont papers the Bennington Banner, Brattleboro Reformer and the Manchester Journal.
MediaNews Group, based in Denver, purchased the local papers in the 1990s and declared bankruptcy in 2010. The newspaper group and the Journal Register group, which also had been through bankruptcies, were both acquired by Alden Global Capital; DFM was created to manage the properties and develop a digital strategy.
The results have been mixed. New England Newspapers closed the 170-year-old North Adams Transcript and the weekly Advocate in January. There also have been a number of layoffs and outsourcing within the local papers over the past few years, and a series of layoffs at DFM's other holdings over the past few months.
DFM in April shuttered its much ballyhooed "Thunderdome" news project and last month put a number of its newspaper buildings up for sale, including. Newspaper Guild staff working at some of its major properties have advertised for "local, community-minded buyers for their newsrooms."
Paton, however, in his post said, "After a rocky five years, the newspaper industry is firmly back on its feet again."
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Digital First Media, owner of New England Newspapers, is shedding itself of more real estate.
On the market along with The Berkshire Eagle Clocktower building are the locations of its three Vermont papers: Bennington Banner, the Brattleboro Reformer ($850,000) and the weekly Manchester Journal ($275,00).
The company announced on Tuesday it was putting 51 properties more properties on the market, for a total of 70 with a value of about $85 million, according to reports in the Denver Post, DFM's flagship paper.
In a press release from Twenty Lakes Holdings, the company's real estate management firm, posted on Poynter, Steve Rossi, president and chief operating officer of Digital First Media, said the strategy was to free "the company from the constraints of being overburdened with underutilized properties."
Real estate broker Praxis Commercial has the listings and prices on its website but not for the Banner, which shows up on a list from Twenty Lakes acquired by Poynter.
Digital First has been asking $2.5 million for the Clocktower Building on South Church Street. Its also selling the Sentinel & Enterprise building in Fitchburg and a printing plant in Devens and the Troy (N.Y.) Record building.
The company shuttered the 15-year-old North Adams Transcript and the Advocate Weekly earlier this year and laid off a number of people.
It's been widely rumored that DFM is being forced to cut a $100 million from its operating budget and that it may be preparing newspapers, not just buildings, for sale. The company closed its much-ballyhooed Thunderdome in April. DFM, which took over management from bankrupt MediaNews Group, has some 10,000 employees and nearly 300 newspapers.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A free workshop is being offered to local businesses trying to understand how to use Facebook to promote their products and services.
Facebook's "Small Business Boost" program will offer more than 100 small-business owners lessons in how to optimize their presence on the world's largest social network. U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal will kick off the event and meet attendees.
The event will be held from 9 to 10:30 a.m. on Friday, March 28, at the Crowne Plaza; registration begins at 8:30.
"I am very pleased to be a part of this exciting event with Facebook in Pittsfield that will be a great benefit to many small businesses in Berkshire County and beyond," Neal said in a statement. "Our regional entrepreneurs should take this unique opportunity to learn how to maximize their social media skills from Facebook experts. With the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce as our co-host, I am confident that this seminar will help promote local business development, and prove to be at great success."
Attendees will also hear firsthand from local businesses and nonprofits that have found success through Facebook.
There are more than 2 billion connections between local businesses and people who use Facebook and more than 25 million small businesses using Facebook to connect with customers, according to the social network. In an average week, there are more than 645 million views of, and 13 million comments on, local business Facebook Pages.
"At the Berkshire Chamber, one of our top priorities is supporting small businesses, so we are thrilled to be sponsoring this event. Attendees will hear from Facebook's small-business team and learn best practices and strategies for utilizing Facebook, in addition to hearing some fantastic success stories," said June Roy-Martin, interim president & CEO of the Berkshire Chamber. "Not only does social media help local businesses advertise their goods and services, but it is also important to engaging with their consumers. I thank Facebook for bringing their team to the Berkshires and for involving the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce in the planning process."
Examples of successful use of Facebook as business tool can be found here.
LENOX, Mass. – Recording the most wins of any single agency of the evening, Winstanley Partners garnered four gold and 10 silver ADDY awards this month at the annual competition sponsored by the American Advertising Federation and hosted by the Albany AdClub in New York.
The ADDY awards honor creative work in the fields of marketing and advertising in several forms, ranging from print design to television, web, and radio production to elements of advertising, such as logo design and photography.
Winstanley Partners, based in the Berkshires, earned its awards for work completed in 2013 for a wide range of clients, both national and local. The agency competed against other agencies in the greater Albany area, which is part of the American Advertising Federation's District 2.
Its four gold awards move automatically to the next level of competition, to be judged against work created in six Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions: New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia. Winning submissions from that level of competition move further to the national level.
Three of the agency's Gold ADDYs were awarded for work completed for Balderdash Cellars of Pittsfield, which teamed with Winstanley Partners to create bottle labels, promotional materials, and more for a wide array of wines launched publicly in 2013. The winery's Fruit of the Boot rosé will be well represented at the next level of competition, with an original illustration, poster design and packaging design each moving on.
A fourth gold ADDY went to a national television spot created for Spalding, in honor of its 30th anniversary as the official NBA game ball.
In addition, Winstanley Partners took home 10 silver awards:
• Balderdash Cellars packaging campaign, Truth Serum wines
• Balderdash Cellars packaging design, Bao Bao Sauvignon Blanc
• Spalding integrated campaign, 30th Anniversary Program
• Pelican ProGear Cooler Brochure
• Pelican ProGear Cooler 'Yeti' Internet commercial
• Pelican ProGear Cooler 'Desert' National television spot
• Nejaime's Wine Cellars logo design
• Mestek special event invitation
• Quatic Apparel consumer products website
• Winstanley Partners Boxing Day ornament
The agency will compete at the local level again as part of District 1, through awards hosted by the AdClub of Western Mass. For more information, visit Winstanley.com.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Chamber of Commerce will hold an informational breakfast titled "Eggs & Issues" at the Country Club of Pittsfield, 639 South St., on Thursday, Jan. 23, from 8 to 9:30 a.m.
The event is sponsored by United Personnel and will feature David Curtis, economic development specialist at 1Berkshire.
1Berkshire is the county's designated regional economic development organization. In his role there, Curtis is the go-to person for businesses looking to expand, relocate or open in the Berkshires. Curtis will address the challenges and highlight the attributes of the region, outline the essential components to building an entrepreneurial ecosystem, and discuss the MBTA Rapid Transit Rail Car Project.
The Eggs & Issues series was developed to provide member businesses with a forum to learn more about and participate in conversations regarding issues and initiatives happening in their area from local and regional experts and officials.
Guests will be served a light breakfast as part of the program. The cost to attend the event is $10 for Berkshire Chamber members and $15 for non-members.
To register visit www.berkshirechamber.com, email email@example.com, or call 413-499-4000, Ext. 126.
Bill Schmick separates the bull from the bears in his weekly columns on investing and market wrap-ups.

subset: commoncrawl


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Periodontitis and Cavities
Periodontal diseases, including gingivitis and periodontitis, are inflammatory diseases affecting the supporting structures that anchor teeth in place (periodontium). Gingivitis and periodontitis are related conditions; if left untreated, gingivitis (inflammation of the gingival tissue [gums]) can progress to periodontitis, a more serious condition. Gingivitis is treatable and reversible, while periodontitis is irreversible and can lead to tooth loss.
Risk factors for periodontitis include smoking, stress, depression (Grossi 2000), and alcohol consumption (Tezal 2004). Tobacco use is an important risk factor for periodontitis (Albandar 2000; Bergstrom 2000a,b; Tomar 2000). For more specific information on risk factors for gingivitis, the most common form of gum disease, see Life Extension's Gingivitis protocol.
During periodontitis, healthy gum tissue is transformed from pink and firm, with knife-edge margins between the soft tissue and the tooth, to inflamed and red. Eventually, tissue pulls away from the tooth, allowing pockets to form. These pockets can be measured with a special probe during a standard dental check-up. Any pocket over 3 millimeters (mm) in depth signifies gingivitis; a pocket over 5 mm usually signifies periodontitis.
Periodontal infections frequently involve bacteria that discharge hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, amines, toxins, and inflammatory-causing enzymes that can cause tissue and tooth loss (Haffajee 2000). Bleeding gums, bad breath, and pain also occur (Haffajee 2000). Clinically, periodontitis is characterized by inflamed, red gums and deepening pockets between the tooth root and gum tissue, as well as loss of bone in the jaw. Advanced periodontal disease can be diagnosed by changes in appearance of the teeth and gums, including:
- noticeable loosening of teeth
- gum recession with tooth root exposed
- new spaces forming between teeth
- food being trapped between teeth and where gums have receded
- constant bad taste in the mouth
Periodontal disease is usually painless until late in the disease process, when teeth are so loose that pain occurs while chewing. Retention of food in a pocket site may provoke a sudden burst of bacterial growth, resulting in a painful abscess (Loesche 2001). At other times, front teeth may become so loose that they separate.
Conventional therapy for periodontal disease consists of mechanical scaling and root planing, surgical treatment, and use of various antimicrobial regimens (Loesche 2001). The goal is to reduce the number of bacteria on the surface of teeth by reducing the amount of plaque. If pocket depths in the gums are 5 mm or greater, large numbers of bacteria can accumulate that cannot be reached by normal oral hygiene. Periodontal surgery may then be recommended to reduce the pocket depths to 1 to 2 mm (Loesche 2001).
Antibiotic therapy is sometimes needed when bacterial count continues to climb. In open clinical trials, tetracycline has been used successfully to treat aggressive periodontitis, either as an oral tetracycline/surgery combination (Lindhe 1984; Mandell 1986, 1988) or alone for 3 to 8 weeks (Christersson 1993; Slots 1983). Tetracycline can deplete calcium, magnesium, and iron; therefore, people on tetracycline should take a multivitamin (Pelton 2001).There are several ways to release medications directly into the periodontal pocket, including the use of long-lasting gels. These methods reduce the dose of medicine needed and deliver the antibiotic in a highly targeted fashion (Loesche 2001). Devices that deliver localized antibiotics are about as effective as systemic agents in their ability to target harmful bacteria; also, people do not have to remember to take medicine, thus improving patient adherence (Loesche 1993, 1999). These devices include Atridox®, PerioChip®, and Arestin® (Paper 2004).


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Entheogenic Plants
Green Vein Borneo
Kratom (Mitragyna Speciosa) Green Vein Wild harvested from Borneo Island. It's a member of the Coffee tree family. This plant contains many of the same alkaloids found in Chocolate and a series of alkaloids that effect the human opioid receptors.
Green Vein Borneo
Frankincense (Boswellia Carteri)
Frankincense is prized for its essential oils which are believed to be medicinal and energetic. Oils are also used in the production of cosmetics and perfumes. Clinical aromatherapy uses Frankincense often, following the belief that its beneficial for skin diseases, respiratory and urinary tract infections, rheumatism, and even syphilis....
Kava Kava
Sacred HaPpY DrInk of Pacific Islanders
Kava Kava is the root of a plant very closely related to the pepper plant, as in black pepper. The roots have intoxicating effects when brewed into a cold water tea. Kava Kava reduces stress, elivates mood, and leaves your body feeling as comfy as cotton candy.
Analgesics Analgesic, Paracetamol, Endorphin, Tylenol, Cannabinoid, Methoxyflurane, Gabapentin, Hydroxyzine, Kratom, Hydrocodon
Frankincense (Boswellia Carteri)
Analgesics Analgesic, Paracetamol, Endorphin, Tylenol, Cannabinoid, Methoxyflurane, Gabapentin, Hydroxyzine, Kratom, Hydrocodon
Live Kratom Plants Mitragyna Speciosa
Evolutionary Plants
- Voacanga Africana - Iboga's long lost twin.
- Kratom Mitragyna Speciosa - Effects Opioid Receptors.
- Wild-harvested Amanita Muscaria Caps A+
- live,organic,kratom
- mitragyna,speciosa
- plants,kava kava
- opioid receptors,herbs


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Overall: 0-3; Last Week: 0-2
Scoreboard: Harvard 1, Holy Cross 0, Cambridge, Mass., 9/1;
Sacred Heart 2, Holy Cross 1, Worcester, Mass., 9/2
Schedule: Wednesday, Sept. 5 at Siena, Loudonville, N.Y., 5:00 p.m.;
Sunday, Sept. 9 vs. #24 New Hampshire, Worcester, Mass., 12:00 p.m.
- The Holy Cross field hockey team returns to the field on Wednesday, Sept. 5, when it travels to Siena for a 5:00 p.m. game. The Crusaders will them come home to play host to No. 24 New Hampshire at the Hart Turf Field on Sunday, Sept. 9, at 12:00 p.m.
- The Crusaders dropped a pair of hard fought games last weekend, beginning with a narrow 1-0 loss at Harvard on Saturday. Holy Cross was then edged by Sacred Heart 2-1 at the Hart Turf Field on Sunday.
- Senior midfielder Megan Bourne (Lake Forest, Ill.) scored the Crusaders' first goal of the season during the Sacred Heart game on Sunday. Bourne has now totaled seven points on three points and one assist over the course of her collegiate career.
- Sophomore Kat Matchett (Maple Glen, Pa.) has played well throughout the first three games of the 2012 campaign. She has allowed only four goals while making 15 saves, good for a 1.33 goals against average and a .789 save percentage on the year. During her career at Holy Cross, Matchett now has 157 saves with a 3.55 goals against average and a .651 save percentage.


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Binary and Quadrature Feher's (F)-Modulation/Transmitter-Receiver (Transceiver) with reduced envelope fluctuations and peak radiation, increased efficiency delivered by baseband, intermediate frequency (IF) connected RF (radio frequency), Infrared (IR) and other devices. A subclass of these systems has a constant envelope. Power advantages, robust BER performance and linearly or nonlinearly amplified narrow spectrum without the pitfalls of conventional BPSK, DBPSK QPSK and pi/4 QPSK is attained. Feher's FBPSK improved efficiency transmitter is compatible with conventional BPSK receivers. FBPSK modems are based on using quadrature structure where Q channel data is inserted in quadrature with I channel data for certain applications. The Q channel data is "offset" from the changed data by an amount selectable between zero (0) and a specified time. Further improvement in the spectrum is attained using correlation between I and Q channels. FBPSK modem is shown to meet the IEEE 802.11 specified spectral direct sequence spread spectrum mask (−30 dB point) for wireless LAN, and leads output power gain of 6.5 dB over BPSK modems. The Crosscoupled Quadrature Structure is also suitable for continuous mode and for burst operated TDMA, FDMA, CDMA, WCDMA and CSMA. Frequency Modulation, Quadrature AM (QAM), pi/4-shifted QPSK modems/processors are also disclosed. Reduced modulation index Gaussian FSK (GFSK), multilevel FM and crosscoupled Quadrature Amplitude Modulated (QAM) transmitters and combinations of these modulations and corresponding coherent demodulators are disclosed. Controlled rise and fall time descriptions of burst operated systems are included.
1. A structure comprising:
an input port coupled to a plurality of input data signals for receiving one of the (a) plurality of input data signals; and
cross-correlator means for receiving one of said input data signals and for generating cross-correlated processed in-phase and quadrature-phase signals in response thereto:
said cross-correlated in-phase and quadrature-phase signals coupled with a frequency up-converter and amplifier circuit of a transmitter.
2. A structure comprising:
an input port for receiving an input signal;
a circuit having an input coupled to said input port and serving to process said input signal by splitting said input signal into baseband signals; and
a baseband signal processing circuit for receiving said baseband signals and providing cross-correlated in-phase and quadrature-phase baseband signals to a transmitter.
3. The structure of
4. The structure of
5. The structure of
6. In a signal transmitter system, a signal processing circuit comprising:
a circuit having an input port for receiving at least one input signal from a plurality of input signal sources and processing said at least one input signal by converting said at least one input signal into at least one baseband signal; and
a baseband signal processing circuit receiving said at least one baseband signal and generating cross-correlated in-phase and quadrature-phase baseband signals in response to said receipt;
said cross-correlated in-phase and quadrature-phase baseband signals being communicated to a frequency-up converter circuit prior to amplification and transmission by said transmitter system.
7. The signal processing circuit in
8. The signal processing circuit in
9. The signal processing circuit in
10. The signal processing circuit in
11. The signal processing circuit in
12. The signal processing circuit in
a signal splitter circuit for splitting said at least one received baseband signal into an in-phase channel (I) signal and a quadrature-phase (Q) channel signal prior to said cross-correlation.
13. The signal processing circuit in
14. The signal processing circuit in
15. The signal processing circuit in
16. A structure comprising:
an input port adapted to receive at least one of a plurality of input data signals; and
a cross-correlator coupled to the at least one of a plurality of input data signals, wherein the cross-correlator provides an in-phase and quadrature-phase signals.
17. The structure of
18. The structure of
19. A structure comprising:
an input port for receiving an input signal;
a circuit having an input coupled to said input port and serving to process said input signal by converting said input signal into substantially equal baseband signals; and
a baseband signal processing circuit for receiving said baseband signals and providing cross-correlated in-phase and quadrature baseband signals.
20. An apparatus comprising:
a circuit having an input port for receiving an input signal, wherein said circuit is adapted to process said input signal by converting said input signal into substantially equal baseband signals; and
a baseband signal processing circuit receiving at least one of the baseband signals, wherein said baseband signal processing circuit is adapted to generate cross-correlated in-phase and quadrature-phase baseband signals.
21. The apparatus of
22. An apparatus comprising:
an input port to receive at least one input signal;
a circuit coupled to the input port, wherein the circuit is adapted to provide an in-phase signal and quadrature-phase signal, the in-phase signal and the quadrature signal being inter-dependent upon each other; and
a quadrature modulation unit adapted to receive the in-phase signal and the quadrature-phase signal.
23. The apparatus of
24. The apparatus of
25. The apparatus of
26. The apparatus of
27. The apparatus of
28. The apparatus of
29. The apparatus of
30. A method comprising:
generating an in-phase signal and a quadrature-phase signal, wherein the quadrature-phase signal and the in-phase signal are cross-correlated.
31. The method of
32. The method of
33. A method comprising:
receiving an input signal;
generating a first signal and a second signal from the input signal, the first signal and the second signal being inter-dependent upon each other; and
providing the first signal and the second signal to a quadrature modulation unit.
34. The method of
35. The method of
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/601,429, filed Feb. 12, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,784,402, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. Application Ser. No. 08/370,117 filed Jan. 9, 1995, now U.S. Pat. 5,491,457.
This invention relates to signal processors, modulators/demodulators (modems), transmitters/receivers (transceivers), and particularly to crosscoupled signal processors for increasing the spectral and power efficiency of modulated NRZ (non return to zero) signals, of digital binary and multilevel, binary and multi-phase, and of analog modulated signals in power efficient partly-linearized and nonlinearly amplified systems. Cross-coupled binary, quadrature phase, frequency and amplitude modulated systems transceivers are described. Tranceivers include continuous mode and TDMA, FDMA, spread spectrum, CDMA, WCDMA, and CSMA access and multiple access.
In radio, infrared, cable, fiber optics and practically all communication transmission systems, power and spectral efficiency combined with robust bit error rate (BER) performance in a noisy and/or strong interference environment is a most desirable system requirement. Robust BER performance is frequently expressed in terms of the BER as a function of Energy per Bit (Eb) divided by Noise Density (No), that is, by the BER=f(Eb/No) expression. Cost, reduced size, compatibility and interoperability with other conventional or standardized systems is highly desired. Several recently-developed draft standards have adopted modulation techniques such as conventional binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), and π/4-QPSK techniques including differential encoding variations of the same. For spectrally-efficient (i.e. bandlimited) signaling, these conventional methods exhibit a large envelope fluctuation of the modulated signal, and thus a large increase in peak radiation relative to the average radiated power. Within the present state of the art, for numerous transmitter applications, it is not practical to introduce bandpass filtering after the radio frequency (RF) final amplifier stage. Here we are using the term "radio frequency" in its broadest sense, implying that we are dealing with a modulated signal. The RF could be, for example, as high as the frequency (inverse of the wavelength) of infrared or fiber optic transmitters, it could be in the GHz range, e.g., between 1 GHz and 100 GHz, or it could be in the MHz range or just in the kHz range.
In conventional BPSK and differentially-encoded phase-shift keying systems such as DBPSK and DQPSK, large envelope fluctuations require linearized or highly linear transmitters including upconverters and RF power amplifiers and may require expensive linear receivers including linear automatic gain control (AGC) circuits. A transmitter nonlinear amplifier (NLA) reduces the time domain envelope fluctuation of the bandlimited signal and this reduction of the envelope fluctuation, being a signal distortion, is the cause of spectral restoration or spectral regrowth and the cause of unacceptable high levels of out-of-band spectral energy transmission, also known as out-of-band interference. Additionally, for conventional BPSK, QPSK, and also QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) signals, in phase channel (I) to quadrature channel (Q) crosstalk is generated which degrades the BER=f(Eb/No) performance of the modulated radio transmitter.
Experimental work, computer simulation, and theory documented in many recent publications indicates that for bandlimited and standardized BPSK, QPSK, π/4-QPSK, and QAM system specifications, a highly linear amplifier is required to avoid the pitfalls of spectral restoration and of BER degradation. Linearized or linear amplifiers are less power efficient (during the power "on" state, power efficiency is defined as the transmit RF power divided by DC power), considerably more expensive and/or have less transmit RF power capability, are larger in size, and are not as readily available as NLA amplifiers. As an illustrative example of technology achievements on two recently-released radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) amplifiers, we measured a maximum possible output power of 18 dBm in a linear mode of operation and as much as 24 dBm in a nonlinear or saturated mode of operation practically with the same DC current and DC power requirement at 2.4 GHz (Minicircuits amplifier MRFIC 2403). The RF power to DC drive power ratio, which is a practical measure of power efficiency of an RF output stage, was doubled in the saturated mode. The reduced linearly amplified output power of 18 dBm is required to meet the stringent spectral efficiency requirements of the IEEE 802.11 direct sequence spread spectrum draft standard for conventional DBPSK and DQPSK operation, as depicted in FIG. 1. From FIG. 1 note that the linearly amplified filtered BPSK signal could meet the spectral specifications of this 11M chip/second system. The nonlinearly amplified, filtered BPSK of the prior art does not meet the specifications. The power efficiency (RF power to DC power ratio) of these systems in the "on" mode with linear low-cost commercial amplifiers driven by a 3 V battery was found to be as low as 10%.
In an extremely critical power-efficient requirement such as all wireless and cellular telephones, computers, and other devices, it is very wasteful to operate at such low power efficiency, which leads to frequent replacement of the battery. The so-called "talk time" is not efficient with these very-recently standardized IEEE 802.11 modulated conventional BPSK and DQPSK systems. As a specific example, the out-of-band power spectral density is specified by the IEEE 802.11 US and international standard to be attenuated at least 30 dB at 11 MHz away from the carrier frequency for an 1M-chip/sec system as illustrated in FIG. 1, by the shaded area of specification limits. In simple modulated signal terms the 11M-chip/sec rate is similar to an 1M-chip/sec DBPSK modulator. To satisfy this −30 dB out-of-band spectral density requirement, an "output backoff" (OBO) of the RF amplifiers of 4 dB to 6 dB is required. See K. Feher, "Wireless Digital Communications: Modulation and Spread Spectrum Techniques," book, Prentice Hall, 1995, and H. Mehdi, K. Feher, "FBPSK, Power and Spectrally Efficient Nonlinearly Amplified (NLA) Compatible BPSK Modems for Wireless LAN" submitted to RF Expo 95 San Diego proceedings to be published, March 1995 and H. Mehdi, K. Feher, "FQPSK, Power and Spectral Efficient Family of Modulations For Wireless Communication System." Proceeding IEEE-VTC-94, June 94, FIG. 2a depicts DBPSK modulation utilizing an amplifier (MRFIC 2403 available from Motorola) with an output power of approximately 18.5 dBm, which is linearly amplified with an output-backoff (OBO) of 5 dB.
FIG. 2b depicts a pre-modulation filtered conventional DBPSK signal operated at saturation at approximately 24 dBm, in which spectral restoration is evident. In FIG. 2c, the FBPSK modulated signal power is 24 dBm at full saturation, with OdB OBO. The term OBO is for the output power reduction required from the maximal or saturated output power of the amplifier. In this case saturated output power corresponds to 24 dBm while the 6 dB OBO reduces the output power from 24 dBm to only 18 dBm. The DC power consumption of the evaluated RF devices did not change significantly between the saturated full-output RF power and the 6 dB OBO reduced-output power. Thus if we could have a modulated system which could operate at full saturation of 24 dBm and meet the standardization requirements and specifications we could achieve approximately a 6 dB (400%) increased output power. Thus a modulation technique which could attain 24 dBm from existing RF devices and meet the standardized system specifications as well as the desired compatibility with conventional standardized BPSK or QPSK systems would be very attractive. To put things even more into perspective for this illustrative application, at 2.4 GHz FCC Part 15 permits transmission of 1 watt=+30 dBm transmit power. The IEEE 802.11 Standardization Committee specifies the same +30 dBm maximal output power. In a strongly interference polluted environment of the unregulated FCC-15 band it is very desirable to transmit the strongest possible and permitted RF signal in order to achieve good performance and the best possible coverage. With conventional BPSK modulators (such as specified by IEEE 802.11) utilizing linearly operated amplifier devices (such as a MRFIC 2403 amplifier available from Motorola) the practical achievable limit of output power is around +18 dBm to +20 dBm, which is about 10 dB less than permitted by the FCC and the IEEE standard. Thus, due to technology limitations, conventional modems must operate at an approximately 10 dB lower linearly amplified output power than permitted by FCC and allowed by the IEEE specification, for best performance.
The present invention avoids the tremendous technological gap between RF IC amplifiers and their use in, for example, PCMCIA (credit card sized voltage limited 3 V) system specifications. This invention alleviates the above weaknesses of wireless systems such as illustrated above for the 2.4 GHz band application. Similar advantages are obtained also for infrared and many other transmission systems. This invention presents the technology, method, structure, and functions to implement spectrally and power efficient crosscoupled Quadrature BPSK, QPSK, QAM, and FM systems such as nonlinearly amplified fully-saturated BPSK, which we call Feher's BPSK (FBPSK). The present invention teaches that FBPSK can operate with linear, partly nonlinear, and completely nonlinear amplified systems such as class C or other classes of amplifiers and devices as well as nonlinear receivers. The FBPSK system of this invention has a tremendous power efficiency advantage over conventional BPSK and QPSK systems and retains the spectral efficiency and robust bit rate performance advantages of linearly amplified PSK systems. An additional advantage of FBPSK is that it is fully compatible and interoperable with some of the preliminary draft-standardized systems such as the IEEE 802.11 BPSK-based direct-sequence spread spectrum system. For practically the same cost power requirement, size, power dissipation, and bit error rate performance as the standardized BPSK, the present invention provides an approximately 400% (6 dB) output power advantage over the present state of the art, for comparable spectral efficiency. With the knowledge that 1 dB increase in RF power of 3 V driven integrated circuits results in many millions of dollars of added R&D costs, this invention discloses a significant pioneering technology which will lead to considerably better performance and lower cost wireless and other communications, broadcast, consumer electronics, and variety of other applications which may include television, VCR remote applications, radio-controlled home security, medical uses, etc.
Health hazard caused by radio waves has been a recently-documented concern in the US and internationally. The FBPSK invention reduces the peak radiation of conventional BPSK by 6 dB to 9 dB which corresponds to two to three times reduction of peak radiation with the same average power as conventional BPSK. At this point in time medically it has not been proven that increased peak radiation is or could be truly harmful. However, even intuitively, it is apparent that given that in the prior art we transmit, say an average 1 W power at 900 MHz and that the peak power of such a DBPSK signal would be 3 W peak, while that of our invention having the same 1 W average power would reduce the peak radiation to 1 W. Thus in this illustrative case FBPSK reduces peak radiation threefold. Deployment of FBPSK instead of its compatible BPSK at the same average power authorized by FCC reduces the peak radiation of potentially millions of systems. It is believed that the reduction of peak radiation is a very important potential human health hazard reduction of which communications engineers and implementers should be aware.
FIG. 1 is a graph depicting computer simulated power spectral density of bandlimited BPSK linearly amplified, BPSK nonlinearly amplified, and the novel FBPSK nonlinearly amplified signal of this invention, together with an indication of the spectral efficiency requirements of the IEEE 802.11 standard;
FIG. 2a depicts linearly amplified DBPSK modulation of the prior art utilizing 5 dB OBO;
FIG. 2b depicts an output signal of prior art nonlinearly amplified DBPSK;
FIG. 2c depicts an FBPSK modulated nonlinearly amplified signal with 0 dB OBO in accordance with one embodiment of this invention;
FIG. 3a is a diagram depicting one embodiment of the structure constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention;
FIG. 3b is a diagram depicting one embodiment of baseband processing circuitry 103 of FIG. 3a;
FIG. 3c is a block diagram depicting one embodiment of a splitter circuit suitable for use as splitter 102 of FIG. 3a;
FIGS. 4 and 5 are constellation diagrams depicting the output signal obtained from one embodiment of this invention;
FIG. 6a depicts a NRZ data signal before and after input to the FBSK processor according to one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6b illustrates the crosscoupled binary data fed into the I and Q quadrature modulators of the present invention;
FIG. 7a is an eye diagram obtained from one embodiment of this invention;
FIG. 7b are I and Q baseband eye diagrams obtained from one embodiment of this invention;
FIG. 8 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a FBPSK/BPSK modem and test set-up according to the teachings of this invention;
FIG. 9 is a diagram depicting one embodiment of a modulator suitable for use as modulator 85 of FIG. 8;
FIG. 10 is a graph displaying the FPBSK and BPSK output spectra of the embodiment of FIG. 8;
FIG. 11 is a graph depicting the 70 MHz spectral component provided by frequency doubler 95 of FIG. 8;
FIG. 12 is a block diagram depicting one embodiment of a PLL suitable for use as PLL 96 of FIG. 8;
FIG. 13 is a graph depicting the recovered 70 MHz carrier signal available as an output from PLL 96 of FIG. 8;
FIG. 14 is a diagram depicting one embodiment of a divide by two circuit suitable for use as divided by two circuit 97 of FIG. 8;
FIG. 15 is a diagram depicting one embodiment of a 35 MHz demodulator suitable for use as demodulator 98 of FIG. 8;
FIG. 16 is a graph depicting the BER performance of linear and nonlinear BPSK modulation utilizing the embodiment of FIG. 8;
FIG. 17 is a diagram depicting one embodiment of this invention suitable for use in analog or digital FM, phase modulation (PM or PSK) and QAM quadrature cross-correlated modulation utilizing either linear or nonlinear amplification;
FIG. 18 is a diagram depicting continuous mode or burst operated and/or spread spectrum embodiments of the invention;
FIG. 19 illustrates multiple cross correlated capability of direct sequence spread spectrum and of continuous mode or burst operated systems in accordance with certain embodiments of this invention;
FIG. 20 illustrates pi/4 (45 degrees) shifted QPSK single and multiple cross correlation capability in accordance with certain embodiments of this invention; and
FIG. 21 illustrates a universal implementation architecture for continuous mode, burst mode digital TDMA, spread spectrum and analog transmitters in accordance with certain embodiments of this invention.
FIG. 22 illustrates an embodiment of the invention including a minimum component configuration.
In general the present invention is a signal processor-filter having an input for receiving one or more input signals and providing one or more output signals which are cross coupled. The signal processor includes signal coupling between the in-phase and quadrature output signals of the baseband I and Q drive signals with means for generating BPSK, QPSK, Frequency Modulated (FM) and Quadrature Amplitude Modulated (QAM) digital and analog signals through a quadrature structure which is suitable for nonlinear amplification and demodulation by a conventional compatible BPSK demodulator or by coherent and noncoherent FM or QAM demodulators. In one of the specific embodiments, a digital communications application for nonlinearly amplified BPSK is illustrated, however the present invention is suitable for use with quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), frequency shift keying (FSK), Gaussian FSK (GFSK), Gaussian Minimum Shift keying (GMSK), multilevel digital FM and many other digital as well as analog modulation systems. One of the first and simplest embodiments is for nonlinearly amplified BPSK which we call Feher's BPSK (FBPSK).
In this embodiment we refer to FIG. 3a in which an input binary data stream having an NRZ data format is received on lead 101 and split into the I and Q channels by splitter 102, and fed to baseband processing circuitry 103. Splitter 102 combined with baseband processors 103 provides crosscoupling and filtering between the I and Q channels. By this architecture and by connection of baseband processor 103 to quadrature modulator 104 a QPSK-like signal is attained, however the information content is that of BPSK. FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 show the "binary" constellation diagrams obtained by this configuration. FIG. 6a shows the NRZ datastream and FBPSK processed initial signal while FIG. 6b shows the crosscoupled binary data fed into the I and Q quadrature modulators. FIG. 7a illustrates the binary BPSK eye diagram obtained at the output of a conventional BPSK demodulator, and FIG. 7b depicts the in phase(I) and quadrature (Q) demodulated eye diagrams.
In one embodiment, as depicted in FIG. 3b, baseband processing circuitry 103 is shown with input signal splitter 102 (FIG. 3) and circuitry 103 includes, delay elements 132I and 132Q, amplifiers 133I and 133Q, and filters 134I and 134Q, as well as a second cross coupler 135. In the preferred embodiment, elements 102, 103 and 135 are symmetrical, but may be asymmetrical as required for a given application. In one embodiment, baseband processor 103 provides a delay of half a bit period in the Q channel and no delay in the I channel, that is dQ=Tb/2, and the I channel and Q channel NRZ signals, which are identical to the input NRZ signal, are filtered by the same type of filters 134I and 134Q. In one embodiment, these filters are simple lowpass filters having a 3 dB attenuation frequency close to the Nyquist frequency. For an fb=1Mb/s example, the 3 dB attenuation of these filters is a variable typically between 100 kHz and 900 kHz, depending on particular system spectral efficiency, degradation budget allowance, and power efficiency requirements. Thus the output signals of baseband processor 103 of FIG. 3a (the I and Q drive signals to quadrature modulator 104) are offset by a delay which could be, for example d2=0.5*Tb. This setup is in appearance similar to conventional offset QPSK (OQPSK) with the important distinction being that in OQPSK the I channel and Q channel drive signals are independent (not correlated) bit streams obtained at the outputs of Parallel to Serial (P/S) converters while in the present invention the same input data is split (coupled) prior to any baseband processing to form the so-called I and Q channels of data. Thus, in accordance with this invention, the I and Q signals are crosscoupled. In contrast, a conventional BPSK modem uses only one channel for transmission, and has two signal states that are 180 degrees apart. Transitions between these states pass through zero amplitude, causing envelope fluctuations which results in spectral restoration or spectral regrowth.
The initial set of FBPSK results was generated using the embodiment of FIG. 3a, utilizing a very simple "splitter" or "crosscoupler" for the input signal implemented by means of coupler 102. This splitter provides the same signal into the I and Q channels. In the I channel, a d1=0 second delay was used for delay element 132I, and a unity gain (A1=0 dB) device, in its simplest form, a short circuit, was used for amplifier 133I. In this example, the I channel "FI" and Q channel "FQ" filters were one of the following:
a) A 4the order Butterworth filter with a variable 3 dB cutoff frequency,
b) Asymmetrical filters and amplifiers in the I and Q channels,
c) A Gaussian lowpass filter,
d) An Intersymbol-Interference Jitter Free Filter and Cross correlated filter (such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,339,724 to Feher, also known as "FQPSK" and U.S. Pat. No. 4,567,602 to Kato et al., also known as the "FQPSK-KF" baseband and processor). A detailed technical description of related filter implementations is outside the scope of this discussion, but may be found in K. Feher, "Wireless Digital Communications: Modulation and Spread Spectrum Techniques", Prentice Hall, 1995 (available March 1995); and K. Feher, Ed., "Advanced Digital Communications", Prentice Hall, 1987.
In accordance with this invention, FBPSK modems which are BPSK compatible take advantage of the quadrature structure of QPSK and of OQPSK modems, and may take also advantage of the baseband processing of the FQPSK filter, which smooths the pulse transition, and eliminates the need for sharp raised cosine type of filtering as needed in normal BPSK modems. The "FQPSK" processor, the popular term for Feher's Filter Patent No. 4,339,724, is a convenient simple implementation, however other non-patented filters could be also used in practicing the present invention. In FBPSK modems of this invention, the data in the I and Q channels are the same, the Q channel data are offset by one half bit (Tb/2). In an alternative embodiment, cross correlation between I and Q channels based on the FQPSK-KF processor (FQPSK-KF is an abbreviation for the Kato/Feher U.S. Pat. No. 4,567,602 processor) additionally enhances the spectral properties when used in conjunction with the principles of this invention.
FIG. 3c is a diagram depicting one embodiment of splitter circuit 102 suitable for use as splitter 102 of FIGS. 3a and 3 b. As shown in FIG. 3c, splitter 102 includes a first switch 300 which selects between a conventional splitter 302, and serial parallel logic 304. Switches 306 and 308 serve to connect the I and Q output channels (to processor 103) of splitter circuitry 102 to either splitter 302 or serial to parallel logic 304. Thus, when prior art QPSK modulation is to be performed, switches 1, 2, and 3 are set to allow input data received on input lead 101 to be fed to serial to parallel logic 304, which provides appropriate I and Q output signals. Conversely, when the same circuit of this invention is to perform FBPSK, switches 300, 306 and 308 are set to provide input data from input lead 101 to splitter 302, which provides the same data as I and Q channel data to baseband processing circuitry 103.
A block diagram of one embodiment of a FBPSK/BPSK modem setup of this invention is shown in FIG. 8, which is divided into different parts which are now described in detail.
FBPSK/BPSK transmitter
The modem baseband signal is generated using a FQPSK baseband processor, or another prior art processor. Signal generator 81, such as the Wavetek model 275, supplies a 4 MHz clock TTL signal to "CLOCKin" of the FQPSK baseband processor box 83, via the Pseudo Random Binary Signal (PRBS) generator 82. By way of example, box 83 has been designed using a XILINX FPGA chip which implements BPSK or FBPSK modulation. Other modulations can be implemented by only changing the EPROM in the box. Intel FPGA based baseband processors such as Intel 740 have also been designed to achieve such baseband processing. "CLOCKout" from FQPSK box 83 is then fed back to a Data Error Analyzer 82 (such as the Hewlett Packard PRBS generator and Error Analyzer model 1645), which is set to external clock, so that it is driven by the external clock signal from FQPSK box 83. "DATAout" from analyzer 82 is fed to "DATAin" of FQPSK box 83. Processor box 83 generates I and Q signals which contain the same data, but which are, in this example, offset with half a bit as explained earlier. The I and Q signals are fed to low pass filters 84, for example 4the order Butterworth filters (such as are available from Krohnhite), which have been set to about 600 kHz in this example, operated at an 1 Mb/s data rate. The output signals from lowpass filters 84 are first passed through two variable attenuators which are located between the low pass (Krohnhite) filters outputs and modulator quadrature inputs (not shown in FIG. 8.—however these variable attenuators can be, if desired, the same component type as attenuator 133I, having 1 db steps), to insure both signals have the appropriate levels for the modulator.
Adjustment of I and O baseband signals
To optimize the transmitted I and Q baseband signals, the outputs of low pass filters 84 are displayed on an oscilloscope (such as are available, for example, from Tektronix or Hewlett Packard), which is triggered by the symbol clock coming out of baseband processor box 83. The baseband signals preferably have no DC level, and this is achieved by adjusting the DC level knob on the Krohnhite active adjustable low pass filters 84. For one application the I and Q signals should have the same amplitude level, which is achieved by using the variable attenuators. For other applications signal levels are not the same for the I and Q drives. To further optimize the baseband signal, the oscilloscope is set to XY signal so the I signal is the abscissa, and the Q channel is the ordinate. The oscilloscope displays a full circle (i.e. constant envelope) for FBPSK with a cross correlator coefficient of a=0.7 as shown in FIG. 4, or a circularly shaped signal with two additional traces and shiny points. These additional traces resemble right angles with legs tangent to the circle. FIG. 5 illustrates measured FBPSK signals without additional cross correlation, i.e. a=1, based on the "FQPSK-KF" filter parameter. The I and Q baseband signals should not drive the mixer of the modulator 85 hard, since excessive drive by the baseband signals produces spectral restorations at IF or directly at RF.
Modulation is performed with modulator 85 multiplying the baseband I and Q signals with a carrier signal. In this example, a 35 MHz carrier signal is generated using a Fluke 6060B signal generator. The carrier signal level is set to approximately +7 to 8 dBm, with higher signal levels having been demonstrated to distort the spectrum at regeneration. The I and Q baseband signals are set to approximately 800 mvolts peak to peak at the input to the mixers of modulator 85.
One embodiment of a modulator structure suitable for use as modulator 85 is shown in FIG. 9, where the 35 MHz carrier signal is fed to 90 degree phase splitter 91; this results in two 35 MHz signals which are in quadrature and used to modulate the I and Q channels utilizing mixers 92I and 92Q. The modulated signals are then added by adder/splitter 93 to produce the 35 MHz modulated IF signal. By way of example, the components used to design the modulator are based on the following Minicircuit components: SRA-1 mixers, PSCQ-50 90 degree phase splitter at 35 MHz, and PSC-1 adders.
Referring again to FIG. 8 the modulator signal output is passed through attenuator 86 (such as a Wavetek model 7535 with 5 dB steps), to change the input signal level applied to IF amplifier 87 to insure proper operation in either the linear or the nonlinear mode. In one embodiment, amplification of the combined I and Q channels is achieved using two cascaded amplifiers forming amplifier 87, such as models ZHL-3A available from Minicircuits. Two cascaded amplifiers of the gain provided by model ZAL-3A are used in each channel to provide the required gain needed to achieve saturation mode operation.
Spectral efficiency and power efficiency are major factors when designing any communication system. Wireless systems must consume less power for longer operation than many other types of systems. To achieve multiple access, such as time division multiple access (TDMA), carrier division multiple access (CDMA), and frequency domain multiple access (FDMA), spectral use of a single user should be held to a minimum occupancy. A trade off must be made when choosing a modulation technique for its spectral or power efficiency. BPSK is a good modulation technique for use in linear channels, and where spectrum is not very critical. In Wireless LAN, BPSK has been chosen as the standard modulation for direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS). This modulation technique is good but suffers much from power deficiency. To achieve the −30 dB power spectral density attenuation requirement, specified by IEEE 802.11, (refer again to FIG. 1), BPSK must operate in a linear mode which has been shown to have poor power efficiency when compared to the FBPSK modulation technique of the present invention.
In one embodiment, spectrum measurement was performed using the following procedures: The output of IF amplifier 87 of FIG. 8 is fed directly to a spectrum analyzer. The analyzer is adjusted in terms of resolution bandwidth, sweep time, and video bandwidth. To have the system in nonlinear mode, attenuator 86 preceding IF amplifier 87 is adjusted until changes in the attenuator 86 have no effect on the main lobe magnitude. The effect of the local oscillator (LO) level on the IF spectrum is seen by changing the amplitude of the local oscillator applied to modulator 85. The baseband filtering also has its effect on the spectrum, with filtering of one channel more than the other having an impact on the spectrum shape. To demonstrate the conventional BPSK spectrum and spectral regrowth, simply remove one channel (I or Q) and monitor the spectrum. The spectrum of both FBPSK and BPSK are shown in FIG. 10. For conventional filtered, nonlinearly amplified BPSK, the spectrum in the nonlinear mode was found to have approximately the same shape as the modulated, unfiltered NRZ spectrum, where the second lobe amplitude level is about 14 dB below the main lobe (see the upper trace of FIG. 10). If this is not the case in the experiment, then the IF signal is not fully saturated and the attenuation provided by attenuator 86 must be reduced to provide a higher signal to IF amplifier 87 in order to operate in a fully saturated nonlinear mode.
Referring again to FIG. 8, Gaussian Noise (AWGN) is generated using noise generator 88, such as model 603A from Elgenco Co. The output of the noise generator is fed to low pass filter 89 (such as Allen Avionics model F3568). By way of example, the filter has a cutoff frequency Fc at 2 Mhz and 75 ohms of input/output impedance. The filter output is fed to mixer 90, which also receives the IF LO signal. In this example, the LO mixer input is a 5 Dbm signal of 35 Mhz. The RF output of the mixer is then fed to amplifier 91 (such as Minicircuit model ZFL-1000 VH). The output of amplifier 91 is fed to variable attenuator 92 (such as Wavetek model 7580A), and the output of attenuator 92 is added to the IF modulated signal from attenuator 93 using any conventional passive or active adder/splitter device 94, in order to provide a combined IF signal and IF band limited noise.
The FBPSK IF signal at the receiver may be coherently or noncoherently demodulated. For the purposes of this discussion a conventional BPSK demodulator is used. With coherent demodulation, the basic idea is to square the IF signal in order to generate spectral components at 70 Mhz (see FIG. 11). This is achieved because of the nonlinearity of multiplier 95 used for doubling the IF signal. The doubled signal is then filtered with 70 Mhz bandpass filter 96, recovered by the Phase Locked Loop (PLL) 500 and then divided by two by divider 97 to develop the 35 Mhz signal to be used for demodulation by demodulator 98. The PLL subsystem for carrier recovery is described in the following paragraphs.
PLL set up and Design
The IF signal that resulted from the addition of the noise signal (from attenuator 92) and IF modulated signal (from attenuator 93) is split into two IF signals by summer/splitter 94. The first IF signal is fed to doubler 95 (such as Minicircuit model SK-2), with the doubler output being fed to a filter 96 then to a 70 Mhz Phase lock loop 500. One embodiment of PLL 500 is shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. 12. It consists of phase detector 121, loop detector 122 and VCXO 23 oscillator 123. The output of the doubler 95 is filtered by a 70 Mhz low pass filter prior to input to the PLL 560. The PLL output (see FIG. 13) is another 70 MHz signal which is fed to the divide by two circuit 97 (FIG. 8). As shown in FIG. 14, one embodiment of a divide by two circuit suitable for use as divide by two circuit 97 of FIG. 8 includes amplifier 1001 used to saturate the input signal to create an almost square signal, and flip flop 1002 which divides the carrier frequency by two to provide a 35 MHz output signal.
The PLL lock range can be tested by changing the 35 MHz carrier signal of the Fluke, and attempting to lock to the new modulated signal. Locking can be checked by looking at the PLL VCXO signal or by monitoring the received eye diagram. The pull range is measured by varying the transmitted carrier until the PLL looses lock. The phase jitter of the recovered carrier can be monitored by looking at the VCXO signal on the spectrum analyzer.
Demodulator at 35 MHz
FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram depicting one embodiment of a demodulator suitable for use as demodulator 98 of FIG. 8. The IF signal received on lead 1501 is first applied to splitter 1502 and thus split into two IF signals with zero phase difference. A 35 MHz LO carrier signal is fed to a 90 degree phase splitter 1503 (such as model PSCQ-50 available from Minicircuits) to generate the appropriate carrier signals to demodulate the IF signal. The two IF signals are then fed to mixers 1505I and 1505Q, respectively, which demodulate the IF signals to produce the I and Q baseband signals. The I and Q baseband signals are then fed to low pass filter 99 of FIG. 8 (such as a Kronhite filter). In the FBPSK case, we are concerned with the I channel as the main signal of concern. For other applications, a combination/processing of both I and Q channels is used. The receive low pass filter is critical to system performance, with wider filter characteristics allowing more noise to enter the system, and thus degrade performance. In our measurements, we used the Krohnhite filter which is a 4the order Butterworth filter and roll off that is not very sharp. The optimum receive filter bandwidth for this experiment has been found to be around 0.6 * fb (fb is the bit rate), or 300 kHz for a 500 kb/Sec bit rate. Preferably the received eye diagram has no DC components, which can be removed by adjusting the Krohnhite filter's "DC knob".
To adjust the quadrature setting eliminate the I baseband signal and monitor the received I channel. In this setup we use linear amplifiers, so ideally, there should be no signal. Any signal in the I channel is proof of the imperfection of the quadrature between the I and Q in either the transmit or receive side. Impedance mismatch and inappropriate signal levels which drive the mixers add to this phenomena of leakage between both channels. The same test can be performed on the Q side.
In one of the test setups, we used a "hard-wired" clock recovery circuit. The receive clock is taken from the transmitter clock using a T connector. The received baseband signal which can be monitored on a scope with triggering from the symbol clock is fed to the threshold detector which has three inputs: Symbol Clock, Signal In from the receive filter, and Signal Out going to the HP 1645 analyzer.
To measure the performance of this modem, transmit data should be compared with receive data. In the above set up, the transmitted data is "DATAout", the receive data is "DATAin". The threshold detector output is fed to "DATAin" of the HP 1645 data error analyzer. The measured bit error rate (BER) is displayed on the H 1645. To compare the BER performance of BPSK/FBPSK in both linear and nonlinear channels, the above procedure was performed and the compiled data is shown in FIG. 16.
FBPSK/BPSK modems have been experimentally tested for their spectrum and power efficiency. The experimental hardware setup procedure and the technique to optimize the system performance is described. The BER performance in both linear and nonlinear channels is presented. FBPSK modems have been shown to outperform BPSK modems in spectral efficiency, and power efficiency. Our experimental nonlinearly amplified FBPSK modems achieved a BER of 10−4 for Eb/No of 11.8 dB which is about 0.9 dB worse than measured BPSK linearly operated modems. Computer simulations with improved hardware models indicate BER of 10−4 for 22 dB of Eb/No. Other factors that have degraded our FBPSK/BPSK measurement compared to theory are: component imperfections, cable mismatch (50 and 75 ohms), and impedance mismatch between system components.
In FIG. 17 one embodiment of this invention suitable for use in FM and QAM quadrature cross correlated modulation and amplification (linear or nonlinear) is illustrated. Quadrature Crosscoupled Frequency Modulation (FM) or for short Feher's FM ("FFM") and Feher's Crosscoupled QAM ("FQAM") applications are illustrated. The in phase (I) and Quadrature (Q) baseband output signals may be used to drive the I and Q inputs of a quadrature modulator or fed to oversampled D/A devices which provide an alternative for I-Q modulation.
In Gaussian FSK (GFSK) the modulation index is variable, while in GMSK it is 0.5 exactly. The embodiment of FIG. 17 teaches a new, efficient and highly accurate method and structure suitable for use in recently standardized wireless systems such as Gaussian Low Pass Filtered (GLPF) digital FM (known as GFSK) of four level FM ("FFM") and of other binary and of multilevel FM including partial response digital FM and of analog FM systems. We will call this embodiment Fehers Frequency Quadrature Correlated Modulation or for short FFM.
As shown in FIG. 17, the input signal can be either digital or analog, with input selector switch 1601 selecting either the binary or multilevel digital input signal or the analog input signal. Alternatively the analog and digital signals are combined into one or more "hybrid signals" (combined analog and digital signal). Input filter 1602 is, for example, a Gaussian Shaped Lowpass Filter (GLPF), a Butterworth filter or any other filter/processor including but not limited to Bandpass, Highpass, and Lowpass filters or nonlinear filters and limiters. Integrator 1603 is, for example, a mathematically almost ideal integrator implementation or any other signal processing shaping function, such as a squaring device, cubic device, differentiator or logic processor. Gain block 1604, which is a conventional amplifier or attenuator, performs gain adjustment. The value of gain G can be either less than unity (attenuator) or greater than or equal to unity (amplifier), depending on the particular application. In case of FM applications, this G gain is related to the FM modulation index.
The cross correlation of the I and Q channels is achieved by splitting device 1605, whereby the same input signal is split into the I and Q channel signals. Splitter 1605 is, for example, a passive or active coupler (splitter) which provides two equal or unequal signals, with differently attenuated values in the I and Q channels. Delay, gain, and filter (DGF) elements 1606I and 1606Q need not be identical for both the I and Q channels. If desired for specific system requirements, DGF elements 1606I and 1606Q introduce further cross correlation properties between the I and Q channels, for example by reducing or increasing the correlation value over a segment of time (zero to many bits) of the I and Q correlated signals. For example, for an increased value of the I signal the Q signal could be reduced. Elements 1607I and 1608Q provide cosine and sin values of their respective inputs and are implemented, for example, by digital signal processors or other well known methods. However other mathematical functions and their implementations are also suitable for use as elements 1607I and 1607Q of this embodiment. For example, truncated and peak value limited cosine and sin values shifted or raised cosine/sine, partial parabolic, cubic and amplitude limited functions, and their approximations, are suitable. For the sin and cosine functions, ROM and FPGA devices serving as look up tables are conveniently implemented. Additionally, a π/4 shifting (45�) or other logic encoding may be included.
The following is an illustrative example of the QUAD correlated implementation of GFSK and of 4-FM digital systems. Delay, gain and Filter (DGF) elements 1608I and 1608Q serve to further modify the cross correlation of the I and Q baseband signals. For example, depending on present and past bits as well as predicted future bits of the I channel the sample values of the Q channel can be modified. An application of these systems is, for example, in IEEE 802.11 standardized (during 1994 draft standard) WLAN applications in which the modulation index of digital FM and particularly of Gaussian FSK (GVSK) and 4-level FM must be less than m=0.5 in order to meet FCC spectral requirements. In this example, GMSK with M=0.5 is not suitable.
To elaborate and explain further our crosscoupled FM part of the invention we start with the conventional FM VCO (Voltage Controlled Oscillator) or traditional FM implementation of GFSK systems, equation (1). By expanding this equation into its quadrature terms we obtain a mathematically very simple Quadrature equation, equation (2) which is equivalent to the classical FM or GFSK system.
The conventional GFSK FM-VCO based implementation is:
while the mathematical equivalent QUAD implementation is:
The integral of the ait and qa (t) functions are not necessarily of sinusoidal or cosine shape. In fact in many applications these integrated signals are random like digital or analog signals which do not even resemble sinusoidal waves.
Original elements of this invention include methods and structures for implementing the cross correlated or "coupled" QUAD equation of GFSK, 4-FSK and other I and Q cross correlated systems. While equation (2) is simple it should not be interpreted as a conventional QUAD modulator such as used in well documented QPSK, MSK, QAM, and offset or staggered QPSK (OQPSK) systems in which the I and Q channels are not cross correlated, and in fact where they are designed to be independent. Reference K. Feher, "Digital Communications: Satellite Earth Station Engineering, Prentice Hall, 1983. In conventional QPSK and QAM systems, instead of a splitter (such as splitter 1605 of FIG. 17) which splits the same signal into I and Q channels, a serial to Parallel logic converter is used which shifts alternate independent (not cross correlated bits or symbols) into the I and Q channels. As described previously with respect to FIG. 3c, the teachings of this invention can be used to provide a method and structure which is capable of serving a dual purpose, i.e. both conventional prior art QPSK (using a serial to parallel converter to derive the I and Q baseband information) and FBPSK of this invention, in which the I and Q baseband information is correlated by simply being split from the signal input data source and switched mode conventional QPSK and FBPSK.
Variable gain element 1604 of FIG. 17 is an essential and also new unit for binary FM, e.g. GFSK, 4-FM digital and other multilevel and analog quad implementations. This unit is not included in Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying (GMSK) in which the digital FM modulation index must be exactly m=0.50000. The fundamental difference between GFSK and GMSK is in the variable modulation index. The only known way in the prior art to reduce the modulation index is by a FM-VCO implementation model, i.e. the implementation of equation (1) and by reducing "G" in equation (1). While mathematically an extension to equation (2) is straight forward, the implementation of QUAD cross correlative based FM systems is unobvious. We used here a mathematical simple concept to realize a practical implementable FM system with precisely controllable and arbitrary modulation index). DGF elements 1606I and 1606Q in FIG. 16 are not required for GFSK, however could be used for mixed AM QAM and FM implementations which may have constant or non-constant quadrature modulated envelopes.
This embodiment of the present invention, as described above for GFSK, based on FIG. 17 has been tested by us also for other systems, such as 3 level, 5 level partial response or correlative coded, and 4 level FM systems including coherent and noncoherent (differential and discriminator detection). Experiments on a similar implementation of elements 1606I and 1606Q (FBPSK) was constructed and tested over 2.4 GHZ microwave integrated amplifiers in a QUAD correlated transmit/receive configurations, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 17.
The previously described embodiments and architectures of crosscoupled (note the terms "cross correlated," "cross-correlated," or "correlated," could have been used instead or in addition to the term "crosscoupled") modulated systems are also suitable for a large class of transceiver "access" and/or "multiple access" (K. Feher, "Wireless Digital Communication: Modulation and Spread-Spectrum Techniques", 1995) continuous mode, i.e. nonswitched, as well as burst operated systems including, but not limited to voice or data activated Frequency Division Multiple Access, Mobile Radio, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), Collision Sense Multiple Access (CSMA), Frequency Hopped Spread Spectrum (FH-SS), Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DS-SS), and other applications. In applications related to FIGS. 18 to 21, a combination of one or more modulation and access techniques of and/or a selected modulation technique, e.g. analog or combined analog and digital embodiment are used. Embodiments for several applications are now described with reference to FIGS. 18 to 21.
FIG. 18 depicts one embodiment of a continuous mode, a burst operated single access or multiple access and spread spectrum implementation of the present invention. The terminology related to access and multiple access has been defined in the published literature, including K.Feher's books, published by Prentice Hall, and in the references cited in K.Feher: Wireless Digital Communications, Prentice Hall, 1995.
A number of elements of FIG. 18 can be used in the manner described previously with reference to similar elements of FIG. 3a, and several elements have been added. These include: Switch 101 (SW1) as well as Pseudo Noise PN1 and PNQ generators (external to the elements shown in FIG. 18). In certain applications, instead of pseudo noise sequences, other types of data sequences, information bits, and/or analog signals are used. One or more of these signals are defined in this patent as "spreading signals". The respective "spreaders" are omitted, i.e. bypassed for certain applications by switches 1806I and 1806Q. Spreaders 1807I, 1807Q are implemented as exclusive OR gates or by other well known spreading devices including AND gates. Alternatively, these spreaders are implemented by other logic, Digital Signal Processing or Analog or Mixed Analog/Digital Signal Processing devices and filters which implement other functions. Spreaders 1807I, 1807Q serve to generate "spread" I and Q channel signals which drive the 103 baseband processing unit of FIG. 18. The term "spread", "spreader" and "spreading" refers to modification(s), addition or other processing means of the input signal characteristics by means of another signal, such as the multiplication of PNI or PNQ sequences, or other specified analog or digital signals, with the output signals of unit I and Q, or by spreading the signal in the time or frequency domain or by conventional means of prior art spread spectrum technology.
In one of the embodiments one or both spreaders 1807I and 1807Q are bypassed by closing switches 1806I and 1806Q, respectively, or alternatively by omitting spreaders 1807I and/or 1807Q (one or both of the spreaders). This is done in order to operate the transceiver in a non-spread or partially-spread mode. The pseudo noise sequences PNI and Pt provide Pseudo Random Binary Data (PRBS) or other spreading signals which are the same for some embodiments and are different for other embodiments. The PNI and PNQ sequences and/or alternative digital or analog spreading signals are aligned for some embodiments while for other embodiments they are offset in time by a specified amount.
The output I and Q signals from baseband processing circuit 103 drive quadrature modulator 104. In one embodiment, baseband processing circuit 103 and switches 1806I, 1806Q, and 101, and splitter 102 are implemented by one or more analog processors, digital processors, or a combination thereof. In embodiments where digital processing is used, the baseband processing circuit 103 and quadrature modulator 104 is a digital circuit, Digital to Analog (D/A) converters are included in the I and Q baseband channels to provide analog I and Q baseband signals which in turn drive analog quadrature modulators 104.
In an alternative embodiment, baseband processor 103 and quadrature modulator 104 are implemented with digital circuitry. In one such embodiment, digital quadrature modulator 104 is implemented with digital I and Q storage devices and digital quadrature phase shifter and by digital adder circuits. Digital Modulator Implementations are described in prior art and in K. Feher's Quadrature Digital Modulator (Prentice-Hall 1995). The baseband I and Q streams digitally multiply the baseband signal values with that of the digital carrier signal which is 90 degrees phase shifted prior to its arrival into the I and into the Q digital storage devices. The Local Oscillator (LO) of quadrature modulator 104 is in this embodiment a digital periodic carrier generator, 90 degree phase shifter 1802 is provided by digital logic and counter memory combination or parts thereof and multipliers 1801I and 1801Q are implemented by I and Q storage devices and associated control logic circuitry. Following the digital quad crosscoupled modulator 104 a D/A converter is included. The signal is amplified and transmitted or alternatively translated to another IF or RF frequency.
FIG. 19 depicts another embodiment of a baseband processor according to an embodiment of the invention. Cross correlator 1901 and cross correlator 1902 as well as the other components of this embodiment have been previously described in this disclosure with reference to FIGS. 3, 17 and 18. Delay element 1904 may provide a delay selected between zero and any specified value including integer and subinteger multiple values or other time shifted values, of bit or in the case of spread spectrum system the "chip" duration. Alternatively, 1904 delay element could be omitted. I and Q channel filters 1905I and 1905Q, respectively, are analog or digital, or mixed analog/digital filter implementations, based on specific filter characteristics such as Butterworth, Nyquist raised cosine, Chebyshev, and other time or frequency domain filters, including but not limited to 4the order, 7the order and other filter order implementations, and to time domain truncated filter response designs. Depending on the intended application, several components shown in the embodiment of FIG. 19 are optional and may be deleted. For example, switch SW1, the PNI and PNQ driven spreaders 1903I and 1903Q (including the switches SWQI and SWI1 and exclusive OR devices), delay element 1904 (including switch SWQ2), filters 1905I and 1905Q, and one or the other of cross-correlators 1901 or 1902, or a combination of one or more of these optional elements could be omitted for certain non-spread or other applications as long as the "minimum configuration" is maintained.
A minimum configuration Processor 2100 is provided an input signal and cross coupled or cross correlated output signals IOUT and QOUT, as referenced in FIG. 22. In the illustrated minimum configuration, the "input signal(s)" consist of one or more analog or digital signals, such as illustrated in FIG. 17, e.g. fb rate digital source or M-level Baseband Drive and analog signals and also illustrated in FIGS. 18-20. FIG. 21 illustrates also the baseband drive and analog signal. A set or combination of these signals is designated as "input signal(s)" in FIG. 22. The IOUT and QOUT signals are related to each other by cross correlator 1 or cross correlator 2 of FIG. 19 or FIG. 20, or by the baseband processing circuit unit 103 of FIG. 18, or by the splitter unit 102 of FIG. 18, or by one or more elements of FIG. 21, e.g. splitter 1605 or processors 1607I or 1607Q.
Applications of the embodiment of FIG. 19 include spread spectrum and more specifically input data or input analog signals which generate cross correlated IOUT and QOUT signals, such as illustrated in FIG. 22, direct sequence spread spectrum systems such as specified by IEEE 802.11 with the PNI and PNQ Pseudo Noise sequences being the same, and CDMA systems such as the IS-95 specified system. Cross correlated baseband processors constructed in accordance with this invention substantially improve the power efficiency of RF amplified DS-SS, CSMA, CDMA, FDMA and TDMA systems and lead to reduced cost implementations. These standardized systems, which are improved on by incorporating the present invention, have been reference a in Feher's aforementioned book on Wireless Communications, published by Prentice Hall in 1995 and numerous IEEE and other conference journal papers and in standardization committee documents.
FIG. 20 is an embodiment of a cross correlated burst operated TDMA system switch suitable for applications such as specified for the IS-54, IS-136 and other systems. The components of FIG. 20 perform similar functions to the ones described in FIG. 18 and FIG. 19 with the exception of the aforementioned pi/4 encoder. In this embodiment, pi/4-DQPSK encoder 2010 is included. Pi/4 encoders, related pi/4-DQPSK and pi/4-QPSK modulation formats and standards are well documented in books, publications and standards and are also described in Feher's aforementioned book published in 1995 and in the references listed in that book.
The use of cross correlation in accordance with this invention improves the performance of conventional standardized systems. Selection of one or more cross correlators including splitter or serial to parallel converter in combination with CC1 or CC2 units 1901 and 1902, FIG. 19 or respective CC1 and CC2 units of FIG. 20 reduce the linearity requirements of RF transceivers and particularly of expensive RF amplifiers. A description of pi/4-QPSK systems for improved performance cross correlated applications was presented in: M. Yu, K. Feher: "Improved pi/4-DQPSK Compatible Feher's pi/4-FQPSK Nonlinear Amplified Modulation" proceedings of the IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference, IEEE-VTC '95, Jul. 26-28, 1995, Chicago.
Rise and fall time control blocks 2011I, 2011Q of FIG. 20 are in one embodiment implemented by a combination of nonlinear and linear analog or digital filters, processors or other devices, first or higher order passive Butterworth filters, simple RC lowpass filters, gain controlled amplifiers operated in a linear or nonlinear mode, and have an impact on reduced spectral spreading during "turn on" and "turn-off" of bursted data transmission systems. Variable or equal shaped ramp on turn on and turn off signals in a cross correlated mode improve system performance. Conventional ramp on and ramp off signal generation without the use of cross correlated signals has been described in the prior art. The location of rise and fall time control devices 2011I, 2011Q could be within the I and Q paths as depicted in FIG. 20, or at the final output stages of the baseband processor at IOUT and QOUT of FIG. 20 prior to the inputs of the quadrature modulator or after the Quadrature Modulator such as illustrated at the output of element 104 of FIG. 18, the drive signal of the Amplifier.
The rise and/or fall time embodiment, implemented by means of a gain controlled amplifier or by filtered signals shown in FIG. 20 (amplifier not shown in FIG. 20), is for some applications a linearized amplifier while for other applications it is operated in a power efficient nonlinear mode such as saturated or "C" class.
FIG. 21 depicts one embodiment of the present invention suitable for use in digital TDMA Spread Spectrum FDMA and analog signal applications. Many elements of FIG. 21 have previously been described with respect to FIG. 17. For certain applications, such as relatively narrow band continuous mode or wideband WCDMA quadrature applications, element 1603 is a combination or part of an analog or digital signal processor. In one embodiment, element 1603 contains a PN spreading subsystem including, for example, a spreader and one or more digital processing functions such as pi/4 DQPSK coding or other signal conditioning function(s). Element 1605 of FIG. 21 is a splitter or serial to parallel converter with switching as described in FIG. 3c. Signal processors 1607I and 1607Q perform specified linear or nonlinear signal transformations of linear and/or nonlinear signal shaping and transformations of the baseband I and Q streams.
All publications and patent applications mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.
The invention now being fully described, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that many changes and modifications can be made thereto without departing from the spirit or scope of the appended claims.
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Can we have a 'like' button?
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Re: Can we have a like button
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Hell, I must dislike a lot of threads here, I only reply to... let say 10%? ...15%? of what is uploaded on the forum, lol.
There's a difference between not liking something or not posting in a thread because 1) the subject does not interest you, 2) because someone else already replied what you would have said and 3) you don't know anything about the subject/topic.
The way you describe it Grunt, feels like you're saying if I don't reply in a thread, it must be because I dislike it, which, of course, is not the case.
But yes, besides joking about it, it is the best way to dislike something is to leave it alone :)
The OP wants a button for what he likes, he doesn't seems to care about what he doesn't like, lol.
Agree 100% with you here but I THINK Grunt was invoking the old "If you can't say anything nice, don't bother saying it at all" quote.
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Mr. and Mrs. Harry James Doswell of Aiken, SC announce the engagement of their daughter, Anna Logan Doswell of Aiken, SC, to Michael David Mauldin of North Augusta, SC, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Marvin D. Mauldin of Aiken, SC and Mr. and Mrs. Michael B. Baker of Aiken, SC. The wedding is planned for June 29, 2013 at First Christian Church in Augusta, GA.
The bride-elect is a maternal granddaughter of Dr. and Mrs. William N. Cochran of Spartanburg, SC, and a paternal granddaughter of Mrs. Ann J. Doswell and the late Lt. Col. James T. Doswell II, USMC of Jacksonville, FL.
She is a 2006 graduate of Aiken High School. She is a graduate of Clemson University with a degree in Graphic Communications. She is employed by Strayer University in Augusta, GA.
The bridegroom-elect is a maternal grandson of Mrs. Helen B. Sims and the late Mr. Hilland Lewis Sims of North Augusta, SC, and a paternal grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Marvin T. Mauldin of Eastanollee, GA and the late Mrs. Sylvia G. Duke of Leesville, SC.
He is a 2005 graduate of South Aiken High School. He is attending Aiken Technical College pursuing a degree in Industrial Maintenance Technology. He is employed by Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC.
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PGA of America posts $7 million profit
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The PGA of America cleared more than $7 million from operations in its fiscal year ended June 30, 2009, the first operating profit it has posted since it last hosted a Ryder Cup.
The organization, which sees income spikes every four years when it hosts a Ryder Cup on U.S. soil, put on the event at Valhalla Golf Club in fiscal 2009 and at Oakland Hills Country Club in fiscal 2005. The PGA of America posted an operating profit of $15 million in 2005.
In the three-year stretch from 2006 to 2008, when it was without any U.S.-based Ryder Cups, the PGA of America lost an average of nearly $14 million annually on operations. The next Ryder Cup in the U.S. is scheduled for September 2012 at Medinah Country Club in Illinois.
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The PGA of America is a not-for-profit organization that represents the 28,000 teaching professionals in the U.S. The group stages the PGA Championship, one of four majors in men's golf, as well as the Senior PGA Championship, Grand Slam of Golf and the Ryder Cup.
Revenue from spectator tournaments in fiscal 2009 was $150 million on expenses of $102 million, a $48 million profit that is roughly flat with the 2005 figures of $157 million in sales and $110 million in expenses.
Sponsorship income — which included patron-level deals with American Express, Royal Bank of Scotland and Mercedes-Benz, as well as a group of smaller partners — was flat at just more than $7 million. Losses on golf course operations rose from $4.2 million to $5.6 million. The PGA of America cut general and administrative costs by nearly $2 million.
None of the year-end figures include investment gains and losses, in order to give a clearer picture of operations. Annual fluctuations reported by the PGA of America represent the fair market value of its portfolio and not actual losses from the sale of stocks and bonds. Audited financial statements list losses of $32.6 million in 2009 and $10 million in 2008 on an undisclosed amount of total investments. The organization averaged $18 million in gains from investments over the previous four years.


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Message Bus is an infrastructure apps company offering a suite of messaging utilities beginning with email. The startup is currently working with a group of trusted, vetted companies to build a scalable, dependable engine ensuring the highest deliverability of email. Message Bus' emphasis is on opening up previously opaque data silos to give companies important insights into their applications and businesses.
The startup was developed at the Marin County incubator, The Start Project, run by Narendra Rocherolle and whose advisors include Josh Felser, Biz Stone, and Chris Sacca


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In this course, author Lisa Cron digs into the craft of writing a compelling story based on what the brain is wired to respond to in every story we hear. Whether you're writing a story from scratch, or revising your story for the umpteenth time, this course offers practical how-to advice, then illustrates it using before-and-after examples. Discover how to craft a first page, zero in on your story's point, create empathy, find a character's secret goals and inner issues, translate generics into specifics, write for suspense, create cause-and-effect connections, build momentum and tension, and deftly implement setups, payoffs, flashbacks, subplots, and foreshadowing.
Here are few questions to help you make sure that your protagonist has a goal worthy of an entire story. First, ask yourself what is my protagonist's external goal? What does he want more than anything? What's his reason for living? Everyone has an agenda, what's his? And remember, saying he wants $10 million isn't enough, it's general, and besides, who doesn't want $10 million? The point is be specific. Second, what is my protagonist's internal goal? What will achieving his external goal mean to him? Why does he want it? What does he think getting it will say about him? How will that affect his self image? And as important, is he right? Third, do these goals force him to face a specific long-standing problem or fear? What secret fear must he confront if he is going to have a shot at his goal? What hidden truth has he spent his whole life avoiding that he's now forced to look straight in the eye or give up and go home? Now that you know how important it is to really nail your protagonist's goal, open the example from your exercise files. Remember, the protagonist's fate is in your hands.
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