1. A position sensing system comprising:
a magnetic field producing element;
a plurality of sensors for detecting at least one property associated with the magnetic field producing element, wherein the sensors provide an output indicative of the property detected by the sensors,
a processor communicatively coupled to receive the output from the plurality of sensors, wherein the output is fit to a bell-shaped characteristic curve.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the magnetic field producing element is a magnet.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensors output analog voltages substantially proportional to a magnetic flux density associated with the magnetic field producing element at each sensor location.
4. The system of claim 1 further including a wall located between the plurality of sensors and the magnetic field producing element.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one property associated with the magnet field producing element is a magnetic flux density.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor uses the fitting of the bell-shaped characteristic curve to determine a position associated with the magnetic field producing element.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor computes a relative strength of magnetic flux associated with the magnetic field producing element.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein the bell-shaped characteristic curve is characterized by an exponential function.
9. The system of claim 1, wherein the exponential function is characterized by s(x)=ae\u2212b|(x\u2212c)D|d,G, wherein x=sensor position, a=flux at the peak of the bell-curve, b=width factor, c=location of center of the bell-curve, d=shape factor, and D=distance between sensors.
10. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor output deviation from the bell-shaped curve is compared to a threshold value to determine if one of the plurality of sensors is defective.
11. A position sensing system comprising:
a field producing means for producing a magnetic field;
a sensing means for sensing at least one property associated with the field producing means;
a processing means operable for processing the at least one property associated with the field producing means; and
a fitting means for fitting the property sensed to a bell-shaped characteristic curve.
12. A position sensing system comprising:
a magnetic field producing element;
a shorting armature positioned a distance from the magnetic field producing element,
a plurality of sensors for detecting at least one property associated with an interaction between the magnetic field producing element and the shorting armature; and
a processor communicatively coupled to the plurality of sensors, wherein the processor is operable to determine a position of at least one of the magnetic field producing element and the shorting armature.
13. The system of claim 11, wherein the magnetic field producing element is a magnet.
14. The system of claim 12, wherein at least a portion of the shorting armature is made of a ferrous metal.
15. The system of claim 12, wherein the plurality of sensors output analog voltages substantially proportional to a magnetic flux density associated with the magnetic field producing element at each sensor location.
16. The system of claim 12 further including a wall located between the plurality of sensors and the magnetic field producing element.
17. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one property associated with the magnetic field producing element and the shorting armature is a magnetic flux density.
18. The system of claim 12, wherein the processor determines a position associated with at least one of the magnetic field producing element or the shorting armature.
19. The system of claim 12, wherein the processor computes a relative strength of magnetic flux associated with the interaction between the magnetic field producing element and the shorting armature.
20. The system of claim 12, wherein the bell-shaped characteristic curve is characterized by an exponential function.
21. The system of claim 20, wherein the exponential function is characterized by s(x)=ae\u2212b|(x\u2212c)Dd,G, wherein x=sensor position, a=flux at the peak of the bell-curve, b=width factor, c=location of center of the bell-curve, d=shape factor, and D=distance between sensors.
22. The system of claim 12, wherein an output deviation from a bell-shaped characteristic curve is compared to a threshold value to determine if one of the plurality of sensors is defective.
23. The system of claim 12, wherein the bell-shaped characteristic curve is characterized by a low-order polynomial approximation.
24. A through wall position sensor system comprising:
at least one field producing element separated by a wall from an array of sensors, wherein the array of sensors detects a property associated with the at least one field producing element; and
a processor communicatively coupled to the array of sensors for processing at least one output signal associated with the array of sensors, wherein the processor utilizes a tracking curve fit algorithm to analyze the property of the at least field producing element to determine a position associated with the field producing element.
25. The system of claim 24, wherein the field producing element is a magnet.
26. The system of claim 24, wherein the plurality of sensors output analog voltages substantially proportional to a magnetic flux density associated with the magnetic field producing element at each sensor location.
27. The system of claim 24, wherein the array of sensors are secured to a circuit board, wherein the circuit board is configurable to communicate with a second array of sensors, thereby extending an effective range for detecting the property associated with the at least one field producing element.
28. The system of claim 24, wherein the at least one property associated with the magnet field producing element is a magnetic flux density.
29. The system of claim 24, wherein the processor is a field programmable gate array.
30. The system of claim 24, wherein the tracking curve fit algorithm is characterized by a bell-shaped characteristic curve.
31. A method for determining a position of a member comprising:
providing a field producing element;
detecting at least one property associated with the field producing element, wherein the plurality of sensors include at a least one output;
processing information related to the at least one detected property of the field producing element; and
analyzing the information using a bell-shaped characteristic curve to determine a position associated with the magnetic field producing element.
32. The method of claim 31, wherein the step of processing information includes determining a position associated with the field producing element.
33. A method for determining a position of a member comprising:
providing a field producing element;
detecting a property of the field producing system by a plurality of sensors;
processing information related to the detected property of the field producing system; and
analyzing the information using a bell-shaped characteristic curve; and
determining a defect in at least one of the plurality of sensors.
34. The method of claim 33, wherein the step of determining a defect includes comparing the output deviation from the characteristic bell-shaped curve of each of the plurality of sensors with a threshold value.
35. The method of claim 34 further including determining a position associated with the field producing element by excluding at least one sensor having an output deviation above the threshold value.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A system for providing additional information to called parties comprising:
a calling party device;
a base unit device that provides a service for sending additional information to called parties, the base unit comprises a microprocessor and a first transceiver; and
a display unit for receiving the additional information from the base unit device and displaying the additional information to the called parties, the display unit comprises a second transceiver and a display;
wherein the calling party device invokes the service by providing a calling party identifier to the base unit device when a call to the called party is made;
wherein the microprocessor is programmed to:
receive the calling party identifier from the calling party;
determine the identifier of a calling party;
provide the identifier as a lookup query to a database;
retrieve a calling party name and a calling party message that is a text message intended specifically for the called party from a database using the identifier;
provide the additional information comprising the calling party name and the calling party message to the display unit using the first transceiver; and
wherein the display unit is configured to:
receive the additional information from the base unit device using the second transceiver; and
display the additional information on the display.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the base unit device comprises at least one telephone port that is operable to receive an identifier of a calling party from a calling party device and send the identifier to the microprocessor.
3. The system of claim 2, wherein the microprocessor is operable to send the lookup query to an Ethernet interface for delivery to an Ethernet port.
4. The system of claim 3, wherein the Ethernet interface is operable to forward the query to the Ethernet port via an Ethernet interface circuitry for delivery to the database.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the Ethernet port is operable to receive the additional information retrieved from a database and send the information to the Ethernet interface via an Ethernet interface circuitry for delivery to the microprocessor.
6. The system of claim 5, wherein the microprocessor is operable to forward the information to a caller ID decoder, wherein the caller ID decoder is operable to encode the information into a format utilized by the display unit.
7. The system of claim 6, wherein the caller decoder is operable to forward the encoded information to one of the at least one telephone port via a telephone interface circuitry for delivery to the display unit.
8. The system of claim 5, wherein the microprocessor is operable to forward the information to the first transceiver for delivery to the first wireless antenna.
9. The system of claim 8, wherein the first transceiver is operable to forward the information to a first wireless antenna via an antenna interface circuitry for delivery to the display unit.
10. The system of claim 1, wherein the display device comprises a second wireless antenna that is operable to receive the information and forward the information to the second transceiver via an antenna interface circuitry.
11. The system of claim 10, wherein the second transceiver is operable to forward the information to the display via an interface circuitry.
12. The system of claim 1, wherein the display unit is operable to be configured by at least one configuration of a set of keys.
13. The system of claim 1, wherein the set of keys comprises a \u201cUP\u201d key, a \u201cDN\u201d key, and a \u201cE\u201d key.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein the \u201cUP\u201d key is operable to be configured to scroll from a message currently displayed on the liquid crystal display to a message recently received by the display unit.
15. The system of claim 13, wherein the \u201cDN\u201d key is operable to be configured to scroll from a message currently displayed on the liquid crystal display to a message already received by the display unit.
16. The system of claim 13, wherein the \u201cE\u201d key is operable to be configured to delete a message currently displayed in the liquid crystal display.
17. The system of claim 13, wherein the \u201cE\u201d key is operable to be configured to delete all messages stored in a buffer if the \u201cE\u201d key is depressed for at least three seconds.
18. A system for providing additional information to called parties comprising:
a display unit for displaying additional information received from a base unit device to called parties, the display unit comprises:
a liquid crystal display operable to display at least one alphanumeric character; and
a plurality of function keys;
wherein the display unit receives and displays the additional information comprising a calling party name and a calling party message that is a text message intended specifically for the called party that have been retrieved from a database by the base unit device using a calling party identifier in response to receiving a calling party identifier from the calling party.
19. The system of claim 18, wherein the liquid crystal display is operable to display a phone number of an incoming call, a name of a calling party, and the additional information comprising a date, a time, and a message.
20. The system of claim 19, wherein the liquid crystal display is further operable to alternate a display of the phone number, the name, and the message and a display of the date, the time and a remaining portion of the message for at least every two seconds.
21. A method for providing additional information to called parties comprising:
receiving a calling party identity from a calling party into a device;
determining the identity in a decoder of the device;
providing the identity to a database to retrieve the additional information comprising a name of the calling party and a message of the calling party that is a text message intended specifically for the called party; and
providing the retrieved additional information to a called party device for displaying the additional information on a display of a display unit associated with the called party device.