Author: claimsbot

1. A wireless telecommunications device comprising:
a housing;
an antenna;
a passive magnetic preamplifier electrically connected to the antenna;
wherein the device communicates in frequencies greater than 0.3 gigahertz; and,
wherein the preamplifier is one of a lumped element component amplifier and a ferrite core magnetic preamplifier.
2. The wireless telecommunications device of claim 1, wherein the preamplifier includes an input matching circuit and an output matching circuit, and the impedance of the input and output circuits are matched to each other.
3. The wireless telecommunications device of claim 2, wherein the impedance of the input and output circuits of the preamplifier are matched to an impedance of fifty ohms.
4. A wireless telecommunications device comprising:
a housing;
an antenna;
a passive magnetic preamplifier electrically connected to the antenna;
wherein the device communicates in frequencies greater than 0.3 gigahertz.
5. The wireless telecommunications device of claim 4, wherein the preamplifier is one of a lumped element component amplifier and a ferrite core magnetic preamplifier.
6. The wireless telecommunications device of claim 4, wherein the preamplifier includes an input matching circuit and an output matching circuit, and the impedance of the input and output circuits are matched to each other.
7. The wireless telecommunications device of claim 6, wherein the impedance of the input and output circuits of the preamplifier are matched to an impedance of fifty ohms.

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 channel estimator, comprising:
an extension circuit configured to receive a pilot signal, to add a front extension signal to a front of the pilot signal, and to add a back extension signal to a back of the pilot signal, to create a first intermediate signal, the front extension signal being an extension of a first symbol in the pilot signal, and the back extension signal being an extension of a last symbol in the pilot signal;
an inverse discrete Fourier transform circuit configured to perform an inverse discrete Fourier transform function on the first intermediate signal to generate a second intermediate signal;
a signal processing element configured to perform one or more operations on the second intermediate signal to generate a third intermediate signal;
a discrete Fourier transform circuit configured to perform a discrete Fourier transform function on the third intermediate signal to generate a fourth intermediate signal; and
a reduction circuit configured to truncate a front end of the fourth intermediate signal and a back end of the fourth intermediate signal to generate a channel estimation signal.
2. The channel estimator of claim 1, wherein the signal processing element comprises a zero insertion circuit configured to split the second intermediate signal in half, and to insert a zeroed signal having an amplitude of approximately zero between the a front half and a back half of the second intermediate signal to create the third intermediate signal.
3. The channel estimator of claim 1, wherein the signal processing element comprises a non-linear filter for performing a filtering operation on the second intermediate signal to generate the third intermediate signal.
4. The channel estimator of claim 3, further comprising:
a noise estimator configured to provide an estimation of a noise level in a received signal; and
a threshold set circuit configured to provide threshold level to control the operation of the filter based on the estimation of noise level.
5. The channel estimator of claim 1, wherein the signal processing element comprises:
a filter for performing a filtering operation on the second intermediate signal to generate a fifth intermediate signal;
a zero insertion circuit configured to split the fifth intermediate signal in half, and to insert a zeroed signal having an amplitude of approximately zero between the a front half and a back half of the fifth intermediate signal to create the third intermediate signal.
6. The channel estimator of claim 5, wherein when the filtering operation comprises:
setting all points in a front portion of the fifth intermediate signal that are below a noise threshold to a zero or near-zero value,
setting all points in an end portion of the fifth intermediate signal that are below the noise threshold to a zero or near-zero value, and
setting all points in a middle portion of the fifth intermediate signal between the front portion and the end portion to a zero or near-zero value.
7. The channel estimator of claim 1, wherein when the front extension signal is concatenated to the end of the back extension signal, a resulting concatenated signal is a continuous differentiable function.
8. The channel estimator of claim 1,
wherein a symbol length of the first intermediate signal is a power of 2, and
wherein the inverse discrete Fourier transform circuit is an inverse fast Fourier transform circuit.
9. The channel estimator of claim 1,
wherein a symbol length of the third intermediate signal is a power of 2, and
wherein the discrete Fourier transform circuit is a fast Fourier transform circuit.
10. The channel estimator of claim 1, wherein the channel estimator is implemented in one of an integrated circuit or software.
11. A method of estimating a channel response, comprising:
receiving a pilot signal comprising a series of pilot symbols;
adding a front extension signal comprising one or more front symbols to a front of the pilot signal and a back extension signal comprising one or more back symbols to a back of the pilot signal, to create a first intermediate signal;
performing an inverse discrete Fourier transform function on the first intermediate signal to generate a second intermediate signal;
performing one or more signal processing operations on the second intermediate signal to generate a third intermediate signal;
performing a discrete Fourier transform function on the third intermediate signal to generate a fourth third intermediate signal; and
cutting off a front end of the fourth third intermediate signal and a back end of the fourth third intermediate signal to generate a channel estimation signal,
wherein the front extension signal is differentiable at all points of interest in the front extension signal and at a transition between the front extension signal and the pilot signal, and
wherein the back extension signal is differentiable at all points of interest in the back extension signal and at a transition between the back extension signal and the pilot signal.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the performing of one or more signal processing operations comprises:
splitting the first intermediate channel signal in half to form a first signal half and a second signal half; and
inserting a zeroed signal having an amplitude of zero or approximately zero between the first signal half and the second signal half to create the third intermediate signal.
13. The method of estimating a channel response, as recited in claim 11, further comprising performing a non-linear filtering operation on the first intermediate channel signal before the inserting of a zeroed signal.
14. The method of estimating a channel response, as recited in claim 13, further comprising:
determining an estimation of a noise level in a received signal containing the pilot signal; and
setting a threshold level to control the filtering operation based on the estimation of noise level.
15. The method of estimating a channel response, as recited in claim 11,
wherein the front extension signal is a first essentially flat linear signal having a first constant value equal to a first value in the pilot signal, and
wherein the back extension signal is a second essentially flat linear signal having a second constant value equal to a last value in the pilot signal.
16. The method of estimating a channel response, as recited in claim 11, wherein when the front extension signal is concatenated to the end of the back extension signal, a resulting concatenated signal is a continuous differentiable function.
17. The method of estimating a channel response, as recited in claim 11, wherein the method is implemented in one of an integrated circuit or software.
18. A method of estimating a channel response, comprising:
receiving an initial channel signal comprising a series of P pilot symbols;
adding a front extension signal comprising a series of F front symbols to a front of the initial channel signal;
adding a back extension signal comprising a series of B back symbols to a back of the initial channel signal, to create an extended channel signal;
performing an inverse discrete Fourier transform function on the extended channel signal at a sampling length of (P+F+B) to generate a first intermediate channel signal;
splitting the first intermediate channel signal in half;
inserting a signal having an effective length of Z symbols and an amplitude of zero or approximately zero between the two halves of the first intermediate channel signal to create an expanded channel signal;
performing a discrete Fourier transform function on the expanded channel signal at a sampling length of (P+F+B+Z) to generate a second intermediate channel signal; and
cutting off a front end of the second intermediate channel signal and a back end of the second intermediate channel signal to generate a channel estimation signal of length D,
wherein B, D, F, P, and Z are all integers and F and B are both greater than 1,
wherein P identifies a number of pilot symbols in one data slot, and D identifies a number of data symbols in one data slot,
wherein the P pilot symbols, the F front symbols, and the B back symbols are all selected from a constellation of available symbols,
wherein the F front symbols are selected to be differentiable at all points of interest over the F front symbols and at a transition between the front extension signal and the initial channel signal, and
wherein the B back symbols are selected to be differentiable at all points of interest over the B back symbols and at a transition between the back extension signal and the initial channel signal.
19. The method of estimating a channel response, as recited in claim 18,
wherein the F front symbols are selected to be the same as the first pilot symbol in the P pilot, and
wherein the B back symbols are selected to be the same as the last pilot symbol in the P pilot symbols.
20. The method of estimating a channel response, as recited in claim 18,
wherein the F front symbols and the B back symbols have values based on a continuous function that bridges the first and the last sample of the original data,
wherein a continuous function is one that is differentiable at all point of interest.

1. An aquarium comprising:
an aquarium tank having a top, a bottom and at least one side forming a space for holding water therein;
a tube having a first end and a second end, the first end disposed proximate the bottom of the aquarium tank, the tube running vertically to a point proximate the top of the aquarium tank, wherein the second end of the tube opens at a location outside of the aquarium tank for draining water from the aquarium tank.
2. The aquarium of claim 1 wherein the tube has a bend near the point proximate the top of the aquarium tank.
3. The aquarium of claim 2 wherein the second end of the tube is disposed downwardly for draining water from the aquarium tank.
4. The aquarium of claim 1 wherein the tube exits the aquarium tank through the side of the aquarium tank.
5. The aquarium of claim 1 wherein the tube exits the aquarium tank through the side of the aquarium tank at a point proximate the top of the aquarium tank.
6. The aquarium of claim 1 wherein the tube exits the aquarium tank through the top of the aquarium tank.
7. The aquarium of claim 1 wherein the tube exits the aquarium tank through the side of the aquarium tank at a point proximate the bottom of the aquarium tank.
8. The aquarium of claim 1 further comprising:
a reservoir disposed at the bottom of the aquarium tank, the reservoir for collecting debris falling to the bottom of the aquarium tank.
9. The aquarium of claim 8 wherein the reservoir is funnel-shaped.
10. The aquarium of claim 8 further comprising:
a substrate disposed over the reservoir, the substrate allowing water to flow therethrough. 11. The aquarium of claim 10 wherein the substrate is a grill.
12. The aquarium of claim 10 wherein the substrate comprises a plurality of rocks.
13. The aquarium of claim 1 further comprising:
a constrictor disposed at the second end of the tube for restricting the flow of water through the second end of the tube.
14. The aquarium of claim 1 wherein the first end of the tube is disposed beneath the reservoir, and further comprising:
an opening in the reservoir, providing passage of water therethrough into the tube.
15. The aquarium of claim 1 wherein the first end of the tube is disposed above the reservoir.
16. A method of draining water from an aquarium comprising the steps of:
providing an aquarium comprising an aquarium tank having a top, a bottom and at least one side forming a space for holding water therein, a reservoir disposed proximate the bottom of the aquarium tank, and a tube having a first end and a second end, the first end disposed proximate the reservoir, the tube running vertically to a point proximate the top of the aquarium tank, wherein the second end of the tube opens outside the aquarium tank for draining water from the aquarium tank, the tank comprising a first quantity of water therein; and
pouring a second quantity of water into the tank, the second quantity of water causing water to flow into the first end of the tube and out of the second end of the tube.
17. The method of claim 16 wherein the second end of the tube further comprises a constrictor for restricting the flow of water through the second end of the tube.
18. The method of claim 16 wherein the first end of the tube is disposed beneath the reservoir, and further wherein the reservoir comprises an opening providing passage of water therethrough into the tube.
19. The method of claim 16 wherein the first end of the tube is disposed above the reservoir.
20. The method of claim 16 further comprising the steps of:
collecting debris in the reservoir; and
moving the debris through the tube and out of the aquarium when the second quantity of water is added to the aquarium.

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 image processing method, comprising:
capturing an original image;
obtaining a high-bright image, a medium-bright image, and a low-bright image from the original image;
determining a high-bright weight array, a medium-bright weight array, and a low-bright weight array according to the high-bright image, the medium-bright image, and the low-bright image; and
obtaining a high-dynamic-range image according to the high-bright image, the medium-bright image, the low-bright image, the high-bright weight array, the medium-bright weight array, and the low-bright weight array.
2. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the step of obtaining the high-bright image, the medium-bright image, and the low-bright image from the original image comprises executing a bit filtering procedure, so as to obtain the high-bright image, the medium-bright image, and the low-bright image from the original image.
3. The image processing method according to claim 2, wherein the bit filtering procedure comprises:
obtaining the medium-bright image from a medium bit interval of the original image;
obtaining the high-bright image from a high bit interval of the original image; and
obtaining the low-bright image from a low bit interval of the original image.
4. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining the high-bright weight array, the medium-bright weight array, and the low-bright weight array comprises executing an edge detection procedure, so as to obtain the high-bright weight array, the medium-bright weight array, and the low-bright weight array from the high-bright image, the medium-bright image, and the low-bright image.
5. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining the high-bright weight array, the medium-bright weight array, and the low-bright weight array comprises executing a brightness determination procedure, so as to obtain the high-bright weight array, the medium-bright weight array, and the low-bright weight array from the high-bright image, the medium-bright image, and the low-bright image.
6. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the step of obtaining the high-dynamic-range image according to the high-bright image, the medium-bright image, the low-bright image, the high-bright weight array, the medium-bright weight array, and the low-bright weight array comprises obtaining the high-dynamic-range image through a weight aggregation method.
7. The image processing method according to claim 1, wherein the step of obtaining the high-dynamic-range image according to the high-bright image, the medium-bright image, the low-bright image, the high-bright weight array, the medium-bright weight array, and the low-bright weight array further comprises:
executing a hierarchical procedure according to the high-bright image, the medium-bright image, and the low-bright image, so as to obtain a softened image;
obtaining an artificial image according to the high-bright image, the medium-bright image, the low-bright image, the high-bright weight array, the medium-bright weight array, and the low-bright weight array; and
obtaining the high-dynamic-range image according to the softened image and the artificial image.
8. The image processing method according to claim 7, wherein the step of executing the hierarchical procedure according to the high-bright image, the medium-bright image, and the low-bright image, so as to obtain the softened image comprises:
obtaining a high main soft image, a medium main soft image, and a low main soft image according to the high-bright image, the medium-bright image, and the low-bright image;
determining a high main soft weight array, a medium main soft weight array, and a low main soft weight array according to the high main soft image, the medium main soft image, and the low main soft image; and
obtaining the softened image through a weight aggregation method according to the high main soft image, the medium main soft image, the low main soft image, the high main soft weight array, the medium main soft weight array, and the low main soft weight array.