1. The method of delivering (via Internet) a number of real time videos, captured by webcams or delivered from databases, to one User device in one video stream, using commercially available Computers and a proprietary software named VRTCOS (6.1.23) running on a Central Computer System
The method includes:
a) the definition of Neighborhood (6.1.12) started by each User at sign-in time with the two options of Default Neighborhood and User defined Neighborhood.
b) the definition of Virtual Screen (6.1.24) and the assignment of a Location in the Virtual Screen to any User, by assigning two coordinates c1,c2 in a system of reference of the Virtual Screen Space
c) the delivery to each User’s device of the software (6.1.23.2,3.2) for capturing the webcam videos in a common format
d) the action to start the video capturing from the Central Computer System to the User’s Device at Central Time Intervals (6.1.18) defined by VRTCOS
e) the technique of intercepting (6.1.23.1, API-2) the streamed User’s frames at the Central Computer System and making available the frame content to an Application Processor
f) the creation of a User’s Composite (6.1.16) Video Frame containing all the video frames of the User’s Neighborhood, using the proprietary technique of Collaging (7.1.21) for the pixel part of the frame and the Mixing (6.1.22) technique for the sound part of the frame
g) the technique for improving the re-synchronization (6.1.12.2) of the users’ frames that belong to the same Neighborhood
h) the technique to dynamically change the User’s Neighborhood (6.1.12, a1)) by changing users’ selection criteria or by asking to change location in the Virtual Screen
2. The technique of Collaging (6.1.21) to create a Composite Video Frame from a set of video frames.
The technique includes:
a) computing the Composite Video Frame (6.1.16) size in such a way that a Computer System can create the Neighborhood Composite Frames and deliver them to destination at a standard Video rate ( 130 or 115 of a second)
b) resizing all the video frames (6.1.17) in a Neighborhood to fit into the Composite Video Frame
c) assigning two coordinate (6.1.15.1) d1 and d2, relative to a Composite Frame to each video frame, and positioning the first pixel of the first row of the User’s Video in the d1-th pixel position of the d2-th row of the Composite Video.
d) move the ith-row of the video frame of coordinates d1 and d2 into the linear position P(i,f,d1,d2)=d1+(i+d2\u22121)*f of the pixel part of the Composite Video Frame (see FIG. 3) and repeat the move for each row of the video frame of coordinates d1 and d2.
f is the number of pixels in a row of the Composite Video Frame.
3. The Virtual Screen (6.1.24) model.
The model includes:
a) a two-dimensional space, named Virtual Screen, in which each dimension is measured in digital pixels.
b) the partitioning of the Virtual Screen in User’s Frames, one for each user, identified by two integers , c1 and c2, the coordinate of the first pixel of the first row of the User’s frame
c) The identification in the Virtual Screen of a user Neighborhood for each user, defined in term of c1, c2, the size of the Composite Frame and the size of User’s frames in the Neighborhood
4. The Frame Processor.
This processor is a General Purpose Frame Processing Utility which can be used in connection with a large set of Application Processors.
The services offered by this utility are:
a) Intercept a streamed video frame at its arrival at destination
b) Signal the video frame arrival to an Application Processor
c) Make available to an Application Processor the content of the intercepted frame
d) Transfer sections of a video frame content to another video frame
e) Create a new video frame
f) Stream a video frame to a Destination Computer
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 patient-support apparatus comprising:
an inflatable support structure;
a variable output pump in fluid communication with the inflatable support structure, the variable output pump including an alternating current driver configured to vary the flow of fluid provided to the inflatable support structure by the variable output pump;
a drive circuit configured to provide a direct current power signal to the alternating current driver, wherein the drive circuit alternates a current flow of the direct current power signal prior to providing the direct current power signal to the alternating current driver;
a power supply configured to provide a direct current power signal to the drive circuit;
a processor coupled to the power supply and the drive circuit, wherein the processor is configured to control the current flow provided by the drive circuit,
wherein the processor is further configured to control an amount of voltage provided by the power supply to the drive circuit, and the drive circuit is configurable to maintain a substantially similar duty cycle before and after an adjustment in the amount of voltage of the direct current power signal provided by the power supply.
2. The patient-support apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
a sensor that is in fluid communication with the inflatable support structure, the sensor operable to detect a pressure in the inflatable support structure and provide an electrical signal indicative of the pressure in the inflatable support structure, and wherein the processor controls the amount of voltage provided by the power supply in response to the pressure signal.
3. The patient-support apparatus of claim 2, wherein the drive circuit includes a first pair of transistors configured to provide the direct current power signal to the alternating current driver in a first direction of current flow and a second pair of transistors configured to provide the direct current power signal to the alternating current driver in a second direction of current flow.
4. The patient-support apparatus of claim 3, wherein the processor provides a control signal to the first pair of transistors to enable current flow in the first direction.
5. The patient-support apparatus of claim 4, wherein the processor provides the control signal to the second pair of transistors to enable current flow in the second direction.