Author: claimsbot

1. A device comprising:
a first optical fiber having a first end and a second end;
a second optical fiber having a third end and a fourth end;
a first transmitting optical subassembly attached to the first end of the first optical fiber;
a second transmitting optical subassembly attached to the fourth end of the second optical fiber;
a first receiving optical subassembly attached to the second end of the first optical fiber;
a second receiving optical subassembly attached to the third end of the second optical subassembly;
a first circuit board attached to the first transmitting optical subassembly and to the first receiving optical subassembly;
a second circuit board attached to the second transmitting optical subassembly and to the second receiving optical subassembly;
a first amount of over-molding material surrounding the first transmitting optical subassembly and the first receiving optical subassembly; and
a second amount of over-molding material surrounding the second transmitting optical subassembly and the second receiving optical subassembly.
2. A device according to claim 1 wherein the first circuit board includes a first card edge connector, and the second circuit board includes a second card edge connector.
3. A device according to claim 2 wherein the first card edge connector includes a first set of contact traces, and wherein the second card edge connector contains a second set of contact traces.
4. A device comprising:
a first optical fiber having a first end and a second end;
a second optical fiber having a third end and a fourth end;
a first transmitting optical subassembly attached to the first end of the first optical fiber;
a second transmitting optical subassembly attached to the fourth end of the second optical fiber;
a first receiving optical subassembly attached to the second end of the first optical fiber;
a second receiving optical subassembly attached to the third end of the second optical subassembly;
a first circuit board attached to the first transmitting optical subassembly and to the first receiving optical subassembly;
a second circuit board attached to the second transmitting optical subassembly and to the second receiving optical subassembly;
a first amount of over-molding material surrounding the first transmitting optical subassembly and the first receiving optical subassembly;
a second amount of over-molding material surrounding the second transmitting optical subassembly and the second receiving optical subassembly;
a first housing attached to the first amount of over-molding material, wherein the first housing is conductive; and
a second housing attached to the second amount of over-molding material, wherein the second housing is conductive.
5. A device according to claim 4 wherein the first circuit board includes a first card edge connector, and the second circuit board includes a second card edge connector.
6. A device according to claim 5 wherein the first card edge connector includes a first set of contact traces, and wherein the second card edge connector contains a second set of contact traces.
7. A device comprising:
a first optical fiber having a first end and a second end;
a second optical fiber having a third end and a fourth end;
a first transmitting optical subassembly attached to the first end of the first optical fiber;
a second transmitting optical subassembly attached to the fourth end of the second optical fiber;
a first receiving optical subassembly attached to the second end of the first optical fiber;
a second receiving optical subassembly attached to the third end of the second optical subassembly;
a first circuit board attached to the first transmitting optical subassembly and to the first receiving optical subassembly;
a second circuit board attached to the second transmitting optical subassembly and to the second receiving optical subassembly;
a first amount of over-molding material surrounding the first transmitting optical subassembly and the first receiving optical subassembly;
a second amount of over-molding material surrounding the second transmitting optical subassembly and the second receiving optical subassembly;
a first housing attached to the first amount of over-molding material, wherein the first housing is conductive;
a second housing attached to the second amount of over-molding material, wherein the second housing is conductive;
a first ground clip attached to the first housing; and
a second ground clip attached to the second housing.
8. A device according to claim 7 wherein the first circuit board includes a first card edge connector, and the second circuit board includes a second card edge connector.
9. A device according to claim 8, further comprising a first release lever mechanically associated with first housing and the first ground clip, and a second release lever mechanically associated with the second housing and the second ground clip.
10. A device according to claim 9 wherein the first card edge connector includes a first set of contact traces, and wherein the second card edge connector contains a second set of contact traces.

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. An excitation system comprising:
a pair of piezoelectric elements configured to apply respective excitation forces to a test structure;
a clamp comprising an adjustable arm, the adjustable arm being configured to capture the test structure between the pair of piezoelectric elements;
a controller coupled to the pair of piezoelectric elements and configured to generate a respective excitation control signal for each piezoelectric element, each excitation control signal being configured such that the respective excitation forces are matched to one another; and
a pair of sensor film structures to generate respective output signals indicative of the excitation forces applied to the test structure, each sensor film structure being disposed between a respective one of the pair of piezoelectric elements and the test structure.
2. The excitation system of claim 1, wherein the adjustable arm is positioned such that the pair of piezoelectric elements, the pair of sensor film structures, and the test structure are clamped under a compressive force during application of the excitation forces.
3. The excitation system of claim 1, wherein each piezoelectric element comprises a respective piezoelectric stack, each piezoelectric stack comprising a plurality of piezoelectric layers.
4. The excitation system of claim 1, wherein the clamp is configured such that the respective excitation forces are collinear.
5. The excitation system of claim 1, wherein the control signals are configured such that the respective excitation forces are equal.
6. The excitation system of claim 1, wherein the control signals are configured such that the respective excitation forces are synchronized to displace the test structure in a common direction.
7. The excitation system of claim 1, wherein the pair of piezoelectric elements are configured such that each excitation force is applied orthogonally to a respective surface of the test structure.
8. The excitation system of claim 1, wherein each sensor film structure comprises a piezoelectric layer configured to present a mass negligible relative to a mass of the test structure.
9. The excitation system of claim 8, wherein each piezoelectric layer comprises a polyvinylidene fluoride layer.
10. The excitation system of claim 1, further comprising a further piezoelectric element in contact with the clamp and positioned to suppress a vibration mode of the clamp.
11. The excitation system of claim 10, wherein the further piezoelectric element is coupled to the controller, and wherein the controller is further configured to generate a vibration suppression control signal configured such that the further piezoelectric element suppresses the vibration mode of the clamp.
12. The excitation system of claim 10, wherein the further piezoelectric element comprises a piezoelectric patch disposed on the adjustable arm of the clamp.
13. The excitation system of claim 1, wherein the clamp is configured with a mass such that respective resonant frequencies of the clamp and the test structure are spaced from one another.
14. The excitation system of claim 1, further comprising a vibrometer disposed adjacent the test structure for optical communication with the test structure to obtain an indication of a motion response to the excitation forces applied to the test structure.
15. A method of force measurement in an excitation system comprising a pair of piezoelectric elements, the method comprising:
applying matching excitation forces via the pair of piezoelectric elements to a test structure compressed between the pair of piezoelectric elements; and
measuring the applied excitation forces via a pair of sensor film structures, each sensor film structure being disposed between a respective one of the pair of piezoelectric elements and the test structure and further comprising clamping the pair of piezoelectric elements, the pair of sensor film structures, and the test structure under a compressive force while applying the matching excitation forces.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein applying the excitation forces comprises generating a respective control signal for each piezoelectric element.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the control signals are configured such that the respective excitation signals are equal and synchronized to displace the test structure in a common direction.
18. The method of claim 15, further comprising suppressing motion in a clamp used in compressing the test structure.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein suppressing the motion comprises providing a suppression control signal to a piezoelectric patch disposed on the clamp.
20. The method of claim 15, further comprising capturing data indicative of motion of the test structure in response to the applied matching excitation forces.
21. The excitation system of claim 1, wherein the pair of piezoelectric elements, the pair of sensor film structures, and the test structure are pre-compressed by the clamp.

1. A method comprising:
negotiating over a control channel to establish a first set of private L3 addresses for a first LAN and a second set of private L3 addresses for a second LAN, wherein a first gateway node sends to a second gateway node virtual private network (VPN) membership data that indicates a public L3 address for each gateway node that previously negotiated with the first gateway node;
communicating over the control channel to establish a first pseudo wire between the gateway nodes for exchanging Ethernet traffic, and to establish a second pseudo wire between the gateway nodes for exchanging IP traffic;
providing a different private L3 address for each different end node in the first and second LANs from the first and second sets of private L3 addresses, respectively;
receiving at the first gateway node from the first LAN a discovery packet that requests one or both of an identifier or a service associated with nodes on the first LAN;
encapsulating the discovery packet in a tunnel packet with a destination L3 address that corresponds to a second public L3 address;
sending the tunnel packet over a wide area network, whereby the tunnel packet is delivered to the second gateway node and the discovery packet is extracted from the tunnel packet, wherein the second gateway node is configured to send the discovery packet over the second LAN;
receiving at the first gateway node from the second gateway node a tunnel packet that encapsulates a second discovery packet that requests identifiers of nodes on the first LAN for discovering activities for nodes on the second LAN;
extracting the second discovery packet; and
sending the second discovery packet over the first LAN such that a particular one of the identifiers is used to establish a communication session between the first and second LANs.
2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein establishing the control channel further comprises:
receiving, at the first gateway node, the configuration data that contains
the secret data that indicates a password for a single virtual private network (VPN) over the wide area network that connects a plurality of local area networks, and
the identifier that indicates the second public L3 address of the second gateway node, wherein the second gateway node is either already a member of the single VPN or one of a first two gateway nodes in the single VPN.
3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein establishing the control channel further comprises:
receiving, at the first gateway node, the configuration data that contains the secret data that indicates a password for a single virtual private network (VPN) over the wide area network that connects a plurality of local area networks;
receiving a configuration data packet that includes the identifier that indicates the second public L3 address of the second gateway node, wherein the second gateway node is either already a member of the single VPN or one of a first two gateway nodes in the single VPN.
4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein negotiating with the second gateway node further comprises:
receiving from the second gateway node virtual private network (VPN) membership data that indicates a public L3 address for each gateway node that previously negotiated with the second gateway node; and
establishing the first set of private L3 addresses for the first LAN wherein no address in the first set of private L3 addresses is also in a set of private addresses of a gateway node indicated by the VPN membership data.
5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein negotiating with the second gateway node further comprises:
establishing the second set of private L3 addresses for the second LAN wherein no address in the second set of private L3 addresses is also in a set of private addresses of a gateway node indicated by the VPN membership data.
6. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the discovery packet is a data-link layer (L2) discovery packet.
7. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the discovery packet is a L3 discovery packet.
8. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising associating a media access control (MAC) identifier in a data-link layer (L2) source address of the second discovery packet with the second public L3 address.
9. A method as recited in claim 8, further comprising bridging L2 data packets, including:
receiving at the first gateway node from the first LAN a L2 data packet that includes a destination MAC identifier in a L2 layer destination address and does not include an internetwork-layer header data;
determining whether the destination MAC identifier is associated with the second public L3 address; and
if it is determined that the destination MAC identifier is associated with the second public L3 address, then performing:
encapsulating the L2 data packet in a second tunnel packet with a destination L3 address that indicates the second public L3 address; and
sending the second tunnel packet over the wide area network, whereby the tunnel packet is delivered to the second gateway node and the L2 data packet is extracted from the tunnel packet,
wherein the second gateway node is configured to send the L2 data packet over the second LAN.
10. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising routing L3 data packets including:
receiving at the first gateway node from the first LAN a L3 data packet that includes a destination L3 address;
determining whether the destination L3 address is in the second set of private L3 addresses; and
if it is determined that the destination L3 address is in the second set of private L3 addresses, then performing:
encapsulating the internetwork-layer data packet in a second tunnel packet with a destination L3 address that indicates the second public L3 address; and
sending the second tunnel packet over the wide area network, whereby the tunnel packet is delivered to the second gateway node and the L3 data packet is extracted from the tunnel packet,
wherein the second gateway node is configured to send the L3 data packet over the second LAN.
11. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first gateway node is at customer premises different from premises of a provider that provides access to the wide area network.
12. A method as recited in claim 11, wherein the second gateway node is at different second customer premises different from the premises of the provider.
13. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein:
establishing the control channel further comprises establishing a layer 2 tunneling protocol version 3 (L2TPv3) control channel; and
encapsulating the discovery packet in a tunnel packet further comprises encapsulating the discovery packet in an L2TPv3 packet.
14. A method as recited in claim 13, further comprising:
establishing a first L2TPv3 session for tunneling data packets that include a L3 header that includes a destination address that indicates a private network address from the second set; and
establishing a different second L2TPv3 session for tunneling data-link layer (L2) data packets that do not include a L3 header.
15. A method as recited in claim 14, wherein:
the method further comprises determining whether the discovery packet includes a L3 header that includes a destination address that indicates a private network address from the second set; and
if it is determined that the discovery packet includes a L3 header, then encapsulating the discovery packet further comprises
encapsulating the discovery packet in a tunnel packet for the first L2TPv3 session, and
excluding a L2 header in the packet from the tunnel packet.
16. A method as recited in claim 14, further comprising:
receiving at the first gateway node from the first LAN the data packet;
determining whether the data packet includes a L3 header that includes a destination address that indicates a private network address from the second set; and
if it is determined that the data packet includes a L3 header, then encapsulating the L3 header and L3 payload of the data packet in a new tunnel packet for the first L2TPv3 session by excluding a L2 header of the data packet from the tunnel packet; and
sending the new tunnel packet over the wide area network.
17. An apparatus comprising:
a first network interface that is configured for communicating a data packet with a first packet-switched local area network (LAN);
a second network interface that is configured for communicating a data packet with a packet-switched wide area network, which second network interface has a first public internetwork layer (L3) address;
one or more processors;
one or more computer-readable media; and
software encoded in the one or more computer-readable media and, when executed on the one or more processors, operable for:
negotiating over a control channel to establish a first set of private L3 addresses for the first LAN and a second set of private L3 addresses for the second LAN, wherein a first gateway node sends to a second gateway node virtual private network (VPN) membership data that indicates a public L3 address for each gateway node that previously negotiated with the first gateway node;
communicating over the control channel to establish a first pseudo wire between the gateway nodes for exchanging Ethernet traffic, and to establish a second pseudo wire between the gateway nodes for exchanging IP traffic;

providing a different private L3 address for each different end node in the first and second LANs from the first and second sets of private L3 addresses, respectively;
receiving at the first gateway node from the first LAN a discovery packet that requests one or both of an identifier or a service associated with nodes on the first LAN;
encapsulating the discovery packet in a tunnel packet with a destination L3 address that corresponds to a second public L3 address;
sending the tunnel packet over the wide area network, whereby the tunnel packet is delivered to the second gateway node and the discovery packet is extracted from the tunnel packet, wherein the second gateway node is configured to send the discovery packet over the second LAN;
receiving at the first gateway node from the second gateway node a tunnel packet that encapsulates a second discovery packet that requests identifiers of nodes on the first LAN for discovering activities for nodes on the second LAN;
extracting the second discovery packet; and
sending the second discovery packet over the first LAN such that a particular one of the identifiers is used to establish a communication session between the first and second LANs.
18. An apparatus as recited in claim 17, wherein establishing the control channel further comprises:
receiving the configuration data that contains
the secret data that indicates a password for a single virtual private network (VPN) over the wide area network that connects a plurality of local area networks, and
the identifier that indicates the second public L3 address of the different apparatus, wherein the different apparatus is either already a member of the single VPN or one of a first two nodes in the single VPN.
19. An apparatus as recited in claim 17, wherein establishing the control channel further comprises:
receiving the configuration data that contains the secret data that indicates a password for a single virtual private network (VPN) over the wide area network that connects a plurality of local area networks;
receiving a configuration data packet that includes the identifier that indicates the second public L3 address of the different apparatus, wherein the different apparatus is either already a member of the single VPN or one of a first two nodes in the single VPN.
20. An apparatus as recited in claim 17, wherein negotiating with the different apparatus further comprises:
receiving through the second network interface from the different apparatus virtual private network (VPN) membership data that indicates a public L3 address for each node that previously negotiated with the different apparatus; and
establishing the first set of private L3 addresses for the first LAN wherein no address in the first set of private L3 addresses is also in a set of private addresses of a node indicated by the VPN membership data.
21. An apparatus as recited in claim 17, wherein negotiating with the different apparatus further comprises:
establishing the second set of private L3 addresses for the second LAN wherein no address in the second set of private L3 addresses is also in a set of private addresses of a node indicated by the VPN membership data.
22. An apparatus as recited in claim 17, wherein the discovery packet is a data-link layer (L2) discovery packet.
23. An apparatus as recited in claim 17, wherein the discovery packet is a L3 discovery packet.
24. An apparatus as recited in claim 17, wherein the software, when executed on the one or more processors, is further operable for associating a media access control (MAC) identifier in a data-link layer (L2) source address of the second discovery packet with the second public L3 address.
25. An apparatus as recited in claim 24, wherein the software, when executed on the one or more processors, is further operable for bridging L2 data packets, including:
receiving through the first network interface a L2 data packet that includes a destination MAC identifier in a L2 layer destination address and does not include L3 header data;
determining whether the destination MAC identifier is associated with the second public L3 address; and
if it is determined that the destination MAC identifier is associated with the second public L3 address, then performing:
encapsulating the L2 data packet in a second tunnel packet with a destination L3 address that indicates the second public L3 address; and
sending the second tunnel packet through the second network interface, whereby the tunnel packet is delivered to the different apparatus and the L2 layer data packet is extracted from the tunnel packet,
wherein the different apparatus is configured to send the L2 data packet over the second LAN.
26. An apparatus as recited in claim 17, wherein the software, when executed on the one or more processors, is further operable for routing L3 data packets, including:
receiving through the first network interface a L3 data packet that includes a destination L3 address;
determining whether the destination L3 address is in the second set of private L3 addresses; and
if it is determined that the destination L3 address is in the second set of private L3 addresses, then performing:
encapsulating the L3 data packet in a second tunnel packet with a destination L3 address that indicates the second public L3 address; and
sending the second tunnel packet through the second network interface, whereby the tunnel packet is delivered to the different apparatus and the L3 data packet is extracted from the tunnel packet,
wherein the different apparatus is configured to send the L3 data packet over the second LAN.
27. An apparatus as recited in claim 17, wherein the apparatus is at customer premises different from premises of a provider that provides access to the wide area network.
28. An apparatus as recited in claim 27, wherein the different apparatus is at different second customer premises different from the premises of the provider.
29. An apparatus as recited in claim 17, wherein:
establishing the control channel further comprises establishing a layer 2 tunneling protocol version 3 (L2TPv3) control channel; and
encapsulating the discovery packet in a tunnel packet further comprises encapsulating the discovery packet in an L2TPv3 packet.
30. An apparatus as recited in claim 29, wherein the software, when executed on the one or more processors, is further operable for:
establishing a first L2TPv3 session for tunneling data packets that include a L3 header that includes a destination address that indicates a private network address from the second set; and
establishing a different second L2TPv3 session for tunneling data-link layer (L2) data packets that do not include a L3 header.
31. An apparatus as recited in claim 30, wherein:
the software, when executed on the one or more processors, is further operable for determining whether the discovery packet includes a L3 header that includes a destination address that indicates a private network address from the second set; and
if it is determined that the discovery packet includes a L3 header, then encapsulating the discovery packet further comprises
encapsulating the discovery packet in a tunnel packet for the first L2TPv3 session, and
excluding a L2 header in the packet from the tunnel packet.
32. An apparatus as recited in claim 30, wherein the software, when executed on the one or more processors, is further operable for:
receiving through the first network interface the data packet;
determining whether the data packet includes a L3 header that includes a destination address that indicates a private network address from the second set; and
if it is determined that the data packet includes a L3 header, then encapsulating the L3 header and L3 payload of the data packet in a new tunnel packet for the first L2TPv3 session by excluding a L2 header of the data packet from the tunnel packet; and
sending the new tunnel packet through the second network interface.

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. Device for time-shifted playback of audio andor video data comprising:
means of storing audio andor video data received,
means of recording said audio andor video data received on said storage means,
means of displaying said audio andor video data received as it is recorded,
means of pausing at the display of said audio andor video data while continuing to record the audio andor video data,
means of triggering the creation of a video summary of the audio andor video data received during said pause upon detection of a user initiated pause; and
means of marking the audio andor video data before it is recorded so as to identify the audio andor video data forming the summary and to detect a start and end of the audio andor video data to be retained in the summary by analyzing the content of the audio andor video data;
wherein upon switching back to playback mode from pause mode, said display means displays said summary of audio andor video data before resuming the playback of said audio andor video data being received in real time.
2. Device according to claim 1, wherein the means of creating said summary determines and extracts important representative moments from the audio or video data.
3. Device according to claim 1, wherein the means of creating said summary mark the audio andor video data before the audio andor video data is recorded so as to identify the audio andor video data forming the summary.
4. Device according to claim 2, wherein the means of creating said summary create a file containing the audio andor video data corresponding to the determined representative moments of the audio andor video data recorded while the display is stopped.
5. Device according to claim 1, wherein the means of creating said summary detect the end of data to be retained in the summary by analysing the video data and detect the start of the data to be retained by analysing the video data.
6. Method for time-shifted playback of audio andor video data in a recording and display device comprising storage means, comprising steps for:
storing the audio andor video data received,
recording the audio andor video data received on said storage means,
displaying the audio andor video data received as it is recorded,
pausing at a given time the display of the data while continuing to record the data,
detecting the pause initiated by a user, and in response to said detection, triggering the creation of a video summary of the audio andor video data received during said pause;
marking the audio andor video data before it is recorded so as to identify the audio andor video data forming the summary and to detect a start and end of the audio andor video data to be retained in the summary by analyzing the content of the audio andor video data;
wherein upon switching back to the playback mode, displaying said video summary before resuming the playback of the data received in real time.