Resonator system with a plurality of individual mechanically coupled resonators and method of making same
Patent # 7,312,674   Date Issued: December 25, 2007

A resonator system wherein a plurality of resonators each including piezoelectric material are suspended relative to a substrate. An edge of each resonator is mechanically coupled to an edge of another resonator and the plurality of resonators expand and contract reaching resonance in response to an applied electric field.

Force Compensated Comb Drive
Patent # 7,302,848 B2   December 4, 2007

A force compensated comb drive for a microelectromechanical system includes a MEMS mechanism for providing an output signal representative of a physical quantity; a comb drive for actuating the MEMS mechanism; a comb drive circuit for providing a drive signal to the comb drive for developing a predetermined displacement applied by the comb drive to the MEMS mechanism; an automatic gain control responsive to a change in the force to provide a correction signal to the comb drive circuit to maintain the predetermined motion; and a compensation device responsive to the correction signal for adjusting the output signal of the MEMS mechanism to compensate for errors in the output signal due to a change in the predetermined force

Method for Fabricating Micro-Mechanical Devices
Patent # 7,300,814 B2   Date Issued:  November 27, 2007

A method of fabricating micro-mechanical devices. A mesa is etched in a homogeneous wafer. The wafer is bonded to a patterned substrate with the mesa defining device elements suspended above the substrate. A portion of the wafer is removed until a desired device thickness is achieved. Discrete elements of the device are then formed by performing a structural etch on the remaining wafer material.

Flexural Plate Wave Sensor and Array
Patent # 7,266,990 B2   September 11, 2007

A method for manufacturing a flexural plate wave sensor includes the steps of depositing an etch-stop layer over a substrate, depositing a membrane layer over the etch stop layer, depositing a piezoelectric layer over the membrane layer, forming a transducer on the piezoelectric layer, etching a cavity through the substrate, the cavity having substantially parallel interior walls, and removing the portion of the etch stop layer between the cavity and the membrane layer to expose a portion of the membrane layer.

Coplanar Mounting Member for a MEM Sensor
Patent # 7,253,079 B2   Date Issued: August 7, 2007

A coplanar mounting member for a MEM sensor includes a first surface coplanar with a connection pad on the surface of a MEM sensor board containing the MEM sensor control circuit; a second surface inclined to the surface of the board for mounting a MEM sensor and an electrical conductor array for interconnecting the MEM sensor with the connection pad on the board.

Etch-Stop Layer System
Patent # 7,227,176   Date Issued: June 5, 2007 

A semiconductor structure including a uniform etch-stop layer. The uniform etch stop layer has a relative etch rate which is less than approximately the relative etch rate of Si doped with 7.times.10.sup.19 boron atoms/cm.sup.3. A method for forming a semiconductor structure includes forming a uniform etch-stop layer providing a handle wafer, and bonding the uniform etch-stop layer to the handle wafer. The uniform etch-stop layer has a relative etch rate which is less than approximately the relative etch rate of Si doped with 7.times.10.sup.19 boron atoms/cm.sup.3.

Integrated Inertial Stellar Attitude Sensor
Patent# 7,216,036 B2   Date Issued: May 8, 2007

Abstract: An integrated inertial stellar attitude sensor for an aerospace vehicle includes a star camera system, a gyroscope system, a controller system for synchronously integrating an output of said star camera system and an output of said gyroscope system into a stream of data, and a flight computer responsive to said stream of data for determining from the star camera system output and the gyroscope system output attitude of the aerospace vehicle.

Apparatus and System for Suspending a Chip-Scale Device and Related Methods
Patent # 7,215,213 B2   Date Issued: May 8, 2007

A suspension of a chip-scale device is accomplished using a suspension frame and at least one first tether. The chip-scale suspension frame defines a first plane and an opening through the suspension frame. At least one first tether crosses the opening at a first angle relative to the first plane and can be used to position the chip scale device at least partially within the opening.

Electro-larynx
Patent # 7,212,639   Date Issued: May 1, 2007

An improved electro-larynx includes a linear transducer and/or an improved waveform generator. The improved electro-larynx sets up a sound wave within the pharynx of the user which closely approximates a normal glottal excitation. The linear transducer preserves the harmonic structure of a glottal source wave generated by the waveform generator and translates it into a vibration. The transducer includes an armature assembly, suspension assembly, and coupler disk coupled together to move in concert. The armature assembly vibrates as a function of the desired and input glottal source wave, which in turn causes an immediate and corresponding vibration of the coupler disk. The suspension assembly constrains armature movement to one dimension and provides additional compliance. The coupler disk includes a substantially flat surface suitable for engaging the surface of a user's throat and vibrates as a linear function of the input glottal source wave. The improved waveform generator produces a relatively good approximation of an actual glottal source waveform by preferably deriving it from actual voice data and having the effects of the modulation of the vocal tract removed. As a result, the harmonic structure of the glottal source waveform has overtones which drift in frequency, similar to normal glottal excitations. The waveform generator also allows user adjustment of the pitch and amplitude of the glottal source wave and smoothes out any distortions caused by the process of obtaining the glottal data used to generate the glottal source wave. The waveform generator bolsters the frequency response at the high end of the spectrum to compensate for any roll-off, yielding a frequency response spectrum of about 20 5 Khz. The responsiveness of the linear transducer allows the glottal source wave's pitch, amplitude, and harmonic structure to be communicated through the coupler disk and realistic glottal source waves to be transduced into the user's pharynx, resulting in the production of substantially normal speech.

Method and apparatus for chromatography-high field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry
Patent # 7,211,791   Date Issued: May 1, 2007

Method and apparatus for chromatographic high field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry, including a gas chromatographic analyzer section intimately coupled with an ionization section, an ion filter section, and an ion detection section, in which the sample compounds are at least somewhat separated prior to ionization, and ion filtering proceeds in a planar chamber under influence of high field asymmetric periodic signals, with detection integrated into the flow path, for producing accurate, real-time, orthogonal data for identification of a broad range of chemical compounds.

Method and apparatus for analyzing spatial and temporal processes of interaction

Patent # 7,200,495   Date Issued: April 3, 2007

Devices and techniques for estimating the concentration of one or more agents in a fluid environment employ a plurality of measurements of a sensor attribute that changes in response to an agent. Measurements taken before the agent/reagent combination reaches a steady-state may be used. The plurality of measurements are processed using a nonlinear, parametric model of the interaction between the sensor and the agent to determine the concentration of the agent. The model takes into account the finite capacity of a sensor reagent. The model characterizes the interaction of individual agent/reagent combinations with a set of parameters. These parameters require minimal testing to calculate. The invention enables the response of a sensor to an agent over the entire range of agent concentration levels to be efficiently and accurately characterized. The invention also enables the prediction of collective responses given parameters characterizing a plurality of agent/reagent combinations.

Photonic crystal interferometric fiber optical gyroscope system

Patent # 7,180,598   Date Issued: February 20, 2007

A photonic crystal interferometric optical gyroscope system including a light source for providing a primary beam of light, a photonic crystal sensing coil having a rotational axis, and a beam controlling device configured to split the primary beam into first and second counter-propagating beams in the photonic crystal sensing coil and configured to direct return of the counter-propagating beams wherein the power of the returning counter-propagating beams represents the phase shift between the counter-propagating beams and is indicative of the rate of rotation of the coil about the rotational axis.   

Method and apparatus for chromatography-high field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry

Patent # 7,176,453   Date Issued: February 13, 2007

Method and apparatus for chromatographic high field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry, including a gas chromatographic analyzer section intimately coupled with an ionization section, an ion filter section, and an ion detection section, in which the sample compounds are at least somewhat separated prior to ionization, and ion filtering proceeds in a planar chamber under influence of high field asymmetric periodic signals, with detection integrated into the flow path, for producing accurate, real-time, orthogonal data for identification of a broad range of chemical compounds.

Method for fabricating a tuning fork gyroscope
Patent # 7,172,919   Date Issued: February 6, 2007

A method for reducing errors in a tuning fork gyroscope includes determining a first distance, g.sub.t, between an upper sense plate and a proof mass and a second distance, g.sub.b, between a lower sense plate and the proof mass. The method further includes applying a first voltage, V.sub.t, to the upper sense plate and a second voltage, V.sub.b, to the lower sense plate, wherein the ratio of the first voltage and the second voltage is a function of the first distance and the second distance.

Apparatus and method for measuring the mass of a substance

Patent # 7,171,844   Date Issued: February 6, 2007

An apparatus for measuring the mass of a substance includes a sensor having a membrane layer, the membrane for receiving the substance thereon, an oscillator device for driving the membrane at a reference resonant frequency, a frequency detection device for determining a change in the reference resonant frequency caused by the presence of the substance on the membrane, and a mass determining device for determining the mass of the substance, the change in the reference resonant frequency being indicative of the mass of the substance.

Camouflage of Network Traffic to Resist Attack

Patent # 7,171,493 B2   Date Issued: January 30, 2007

An apparatus for transmitting a file with enhanced transmission security through a network includes a file-splitting processor that splits the file into a plurality of message segments and addresses the plurality of message segments to a plurality of addresses assigned to a receiving host. The apparatus includes a message segment transmitter for transmitting the plurality of message segments to the receiving host.