Gerald L Thomas

US Patent:

6842724, Jan 11, 2005

Filed:

Apr 8, 1999

Appl. No.:

09/288833

Inventors:

Hui-Ling Lou - Murray Hill NJ, US
Gerald Dietrich Thomas Schuller - Chatham NJ, US
Vijitha Weerackody - Watchung NJ, US

Assignee:

Lucent Technologies Inc. - Murray Hill NJ

International Classification:

G06G 748

US Classification:

703 6, 348172

Abstract:

A method and apparatus which reduces the start-up delay that may occur when switching programs in audio and/or video streaming applications while maintaining high quality steady-state performance thereof. A program source (e. g. , an audio and/or video data stream) is encoded and transmitted as two or more separate bit streams (e. g. , sequences of data packets), the transmission of one of these bit streams being delayed by a given amount of time relative to the transmission of the other bit stream(s). At the receiving end of the transmission channel, the two or more bit streams are buffered by receive buffers having different sizes (thereby resulting in different time delays when the contents thereof are decoded), wherein the time delay difference corresponds (inversely) to the relative delay times prior to transmission. Advantageously, either a multiple descriptive source coding scheme or an embedded coding scheme may be employed, in which at least one of the individual bit streams is sufficient to obtain a satisfactory decoded signal, but wherein the addition of the other bit stream(s) will improve the quality of the decoded signal. Alternatively, the data streams may comprise multiple encodings of the program source having different bit rates, wherein the lower bit rate encodings are transmitted with the correspondingly larger delays.

US Patent:

53637160, Nov 15, 1994

Filed:

Apr 1, 1993

Appl. No.:

8/041729

Inventors:

John A. Budzik - Lafayette IN
Mark A. Cartwright - Lafayette IN
Mark A. Hoagland - Newtown IN
Samuel G. Johnson - West Lafayette IN
Murthy N. Nemani - West Lafayette IN
Gerald K. Oxley - Lafayette IN
Philip S. Peterson - Lafayette IN
Gerald W. Thomas - West Lafayette IN
Frederick D. Venable - Lafayette IN
Daniel L. White - Covington IN

Assignee:

TRW Inc. - Lyndhurst OH

International Classification:

B62D 118

US Classification:

74493

Abstract:

A steering column has a first steering column member movable axially relative to a second steering column member. An input shaft is connected with the steering wheel and supported on the first steering column member for pivotable movement relative to the first steering column member. A first lock locks the first steering column member in any one of an infinite number of axial positions relative to the second steering column member. A second lock locks the input shaft in any one of an infinite number of pivot positions relative to the first steering column member. A member to unlock the first and second locks has a first position in which the first lock is unlocked and the second lock is locked. The member has another position in which the second lock means is unlocked and the first lock is locked.