All The Claims

1. A digital phase locked loop (DPLL), comprising:
an adjustable delay line configured to receive at least one of a reference clock and a feedback clock as an input and to output a dithered signal;
a phase and frequency detector (PFD) configured to compare clock signals including a reference clock signal and a feedback clock signal wherein at least one of the clock signals is the dithered signal to determine phase and frequency differences between the clock signals, and further wherein a gain of the PFD is adjusted such that noise power is shaped to higher frequencies beyond a loop bandwidth of the DPLL; and
a digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) configured to receive early or late determinations from the PFD to adjust an output in accordance therewith, wherein the dithered signal distributes jitter response to enhance overall operation of the DPLL.
2. The DPLL as recited in claim 1, wherein the PFD includes a transfer function that is linearized by the use of the adjustable delay line to modulate behavior of a clock input.
3. The DPLL as recited in claim 2, wherein the transfer function enables control of gain of the PFD.
4. The DPLL as recited in claim 1, wherein the jitter is injected into the DPLL to make the behavior of the DPLL more controllable and predictable, and, at the same time, improve jitter performance of the DPLL in frequency bands of interest.
5. The DPLL as recited in claim 1, wherein the adjustable delay line includes a plurality of stages controlled using delay line controls derived by feedback from at least one of the DCO and the PFD.
6. The DPLL as recited in claim 1, wherein the stages each include a plurality of buffers wherein the buffers are activated in accordance with a delay range signal.
7. The DPLL as recited in claim 1, further comprising a row-column control block configured to drive varactors of the DCO such that the DCO is configured as having extra steps created dynamically by dithering between adjacent fine steps to scale DCO gain to match separation between DCO steps.
8. The DPLL as recited in claim 1, further comprising a dithering control circuit for changing an operating frequency to the DCO, the dithering control circuit including a feedback loop connected to an output to feed back a control sequence to enable a frequency of operation, wherein the DCO is thereby dithered at a rate equal to or exceeding its operating frequency and a spectral density of an oscillator frequency distribution is shaped so that dithering energy falls at or near zero so that no additional jitter or phase noise is introduced by the dithering.
9. A method for controlling jitter in a digital phase locked loop (DPLL), comprising:
adjusting delay in a delay line configured to receive at least one of a reference clock signal and a feedback clock signal as an input and to output a dithered signal;
comparing the reference clock signal with the feedback clock signal, wherein at least one of the reference clock signal and the feedback clock signal is dithered, by using a phase and frequency detector (PFD) configured to determine phase and frequency differences, and further wherein adjusting delay includes adjusting a gain of the PFD such that noise power is shaped to higher frequencies beyond a loop bandwidth of the DPLL; and
adjusting an output of a digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) in accordance with early or late determinations from the PFD, wherein the dithered signal distributes jitter response to enhance overall operation of the DPLL.
10. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein adjusting delay includes linearizing the PFD using a transfer function by the use of the delay line to modulate behavior of a clock input.
11. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the transfer function enables control of gain of the PFD.
12. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein adjusting delay includes injecting jitter into the DPLL to make the behavior of the DPLL more controllable and predictable, and, at the same time, improve jitter performance of the DPLL in frequency bands of interest.
13. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the adjustable delay line includes a plurality of stages and further comprising controlling the delay line using delay line controls derived by feedback from at least one of the DCO and the PFD.
14. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the stages each include a plurality of buffers wherein the buffers are activated in accordance with a delay range signal.
15. The method as recited in claim 9, further comprising a row-column control block configured to drive varactors of the DCO such that the DCO is configured as having extra steps created dynamically by dithering between adjacent fine steps to scale DCO gain to match separation between DCO steps.
16. A method for optimizing dither in a digitally controlled oscillator (DCO), comprising:
dithering a DCO at a rate equal to or exceeding its operating frequency; and
actively shaping a spectral density of an oscillator frequency distribution so that dithering energy falls at or near zero such that no additional jitter or phase noise is introduced in the dithering.
17. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein the spectral density is given by
\u03c3
T
2

=
\u222b
0

+
\u221e
\u2062
S
\u03a9

\u2061

(
\u03c9
)
\u03c9
2
\u2062
4
\u2062
\u2062
sin
2

\u2061

(
\u03c9
\u2062
\u2062
T

2

)
\u2062

\u2146
\u03c9
,
where \u03c3 is standard variance of the oscillator period jitter, \u03c9 is angular velocity, S\u03a9 is a corresponding frequency noise spectrum (power spectral density of the oscillator frequency) and T is the oscillator period, and actively shaping includes determining frequencies to reduce an integrand to zero or substantially zero.
18. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein dithering includes running the DCO at f+\u0394f for one half of an oscillation period and at f for another half of the oscillation period.
19. The method as recited in claim 18, wherein oscillation period remains constant at a value corresponding to approximately f+\u0394f2.
20. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein dithering includes controlling the DCO between frequencies off and f+\u0394f during an oscillation cycle to achieve \u0394f2 during the cycle without additional jitter.
21. A self-dithered digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) circuit, comprising;
a DCO; and
a dithering control circuit for changing an operating frequency to the DCO, the dithering control circuit including a feedback loop connected to an output to feed back a control sequence to enable a frequency of operation, wherein the DCO is thereby dithered at a rate equal to or exceeding its operating frequency and a spectral density of an oscillator frequency distribution is shaped so that dithering energy falls at or near zero so that no additional jitter or phase noise is introduced by the dithering.
22. The DCO as recited in claim 21, wherein the spectral density is given by
\u03c3
T
2

=
\u222b
0

+
\u221e
\u2062
S
\u03a9

\u2061

(
\u03c9
)
\u03c9
2
\u2062
4
\u2062
\u2062
sin
2

\u2061

(
\u03c9
\u2062
\u2062
T

2

)
\u2062

\u2146
\u03c9
,
where \u03c3 is standard variance of the oscillator period jitter, \u03c9 is angular velocity, S\u03a9 is a corresponding frequency noise spectrum (power spectral density of the oscillator frequency) and T is the oscillator period, and actively shaping includes determining frequencies to reduce an integrand to zero or substantially zero.
23. The DCO as recited in claim 21, wherein the DCO is operated at one of: f+\u0394f for one half of an oscillation period and at f for another half of the oscillation period and a constant value corresponding to approximately f+\u0394f2.

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 speaker comprising:
at least one electrode electrically coupled with an audio signal input;
a film comprising at least one electret layer, the film being configured to interact with the electrode in response to an audio signal supplied by the audio signal input and to vibrate to generate sound waves,
wherein the electret layer is formed from a polymer-containing solution which includes a polymer with a surfactant mixed therein,
wherein the polymer comprises at least one of cyclic olefin copolymer (COC), polystyrene (PS), polycarbonate (PC), polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyimide (PI), polyetherimide (PEI), high density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP), and wherein the surfactant comprises at least one of (n+1)-hydroxy-alkanoic acid, (n+1)-amino-alkanoic acid, HO\u2014(CH2)n-COOH, 2,3-bis-(n-hydroxy-alkyloxy)-succinic acid, 2,3-bis-(n-amino-alkyloxy)-succinic acid, (n+1)-triazol-alkanoic acid, and 2,3-bis-(n-triazol-alkyloxy)-succinic acid.
2. The speaker of claim 1, wherein the polymer-containing solution further comprises at least one of tetrahydrofuran (THF), toluene, xylene, p-xylene, dichloromethane, chloroform, n-methylpyrrolidone (NMP), and dimethylformamide (DMF) as a solvent.
3. The speaker of claim 1, wherein the film contains self-assembling structure providing holes in the range of nanometer to micrometer scale.
4. The speaker of claim 1, wherein the film further comprises a conductive layer.
5. The speaker of claim 1, wherein the electret layer is formed via at least one of a spraying-coating, spin-coating, screen-printing, and scraping process.
6. The speaker of claim 1, wherein the electret layer is formed with a thickness between about 0.5\u02dc100 \u03bcm.
7. The speaker of claim 1, wherein the film is an actuator remotely coupled with and insulated from the electrode to allow the actuator to vibrate in relation to the electrode.
8. The speaker of claim 1, wherein the at least one electrode comprises two electrodes that sandwich the film between the two electrodes with an air gap between the electrodes and the film.
9. The speaker of claim 1, wherein the film comprises an electret-metal-electret structure.
10. The speaker of claim 1, wherein the at least one electrode has openings for allowing the sound waves to pass through the openings.
11. The speaker of claim 1, wherein the speaker is an electrostatic push-pull speaker.
12. The speaker of claim 1, wherein the electret layer is formed on a non-woven material.
13. The speaker of claim 12, wherein the non-woven material comprises at least one of polypropylene (PP), poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), and nylon.
14. The speaker of claim 1, wherein the electret layer comprises nanometer-scale particles or micrometer-scale fibers.
15. The speaker of claim 14, wherein the nanometer-scale particles or micrometer scale fibers comprise at least one of Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), poly tetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), silicon dioxide, aluminum oxide, and high density polyethylene (HDPE).
16. The speaker of claim 1, wherein the surfactant comprises
Y\u2014(\u2014CH2)n\u2014COOH,
in which
Y is OH or NH2; and
n is an integer ranging from 5 to 10.
17. The speaker of claim 1, wherein the surfactant comprises
Y\u2014(\u2014CH2)n\u2014(COOH)2,
in which
Y is OH or NH2; and
n is an integer ranging from 5 to 10.
18. An electret material comprising a layer formed from a polymer-containing solution, wherein the polymer-containing solution comprises a polymer material with a surfactant material mixed therein, wherein the polymer material comprises at least one of cyclic olefin copolymer (COC), polystyrene (PS), polycarbonate (PC), polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyimide (PI), polyetherimide (PEI), high density polyethylene (HDPE), and polypropylene (PP), and wherein the surfactant material comprises at least one of (n+1)-hydroxy-alkanoic acid, (n+1)-amino-alkanoic acid, HO\u2014(CH2)n-COOH, 2,3-bis-(n-hydroxy-alkyloxy)-succinic acid, 2,3-bis-(n-amino-alkyloxy)-succinic acid, (n+1)-triazol-alkanoic acid, and 2,3-bis-(n-triazol-alkyloxy)-succinic acid.
19. The electret material of claim 18, wherein the polymer-containing solution further comprises at least one of tetrahydrofuran (THF), toluene, xylene, p-xylene, dichloromethane, chloroform, n-methylpyrrolidone, (NMP), and dimethylformamide (DMF) as a solvent.
20. The electret material of claim 18, wherein the surfactant material comprises
Y\u2014(\u2014CH2)n\u2014COOH,
in which
Y is OH or NH2; and
n is an integer ranging from 5 to 10.
21. The electret material of claim 18, wherein the surfactant material comprises
Y\u2014(\u2014CH2)n\u2014(COOH)2,
in which
Y is OH or NH2; and
n is an integer ranging from 5 to 10.

1. A computer implemented method for providing customer initiated flexible financing for one or more purchases, wherein the method is executed by a programmed computer processor, the method comprising the steps of:
issuing a card product to a customer for financing a plurality of products and services, including at least one revenue producing property;
receiving a request from the customer for financing a future purchase of the at least one revenue producing property, wherein the request is specific to the revenue producing property;
analyzing financing options available to the customer prior to the purchase of the at least one revenue producing property using the programmed computer processor;
authorizing the future purchase of the at least one revenue producing property to enable the customer to purchase the at least one revenue producing property with the card product, wherein the card product provides the ability to make a combination of an online purchase, phone order purchase and merchant location purchase;
receiving a customer contact after the purchase is made for designating one or more of the financing options available to the customer for financing of the at least one revenue producing property, wherein the financing options comprise one or more of installment loan, asset-backed loan, line of credit, product lease and equipment lease;
transferring a balance attributed to the card product to one or more designated financing options; and
transforming the purchase into a secured loan secured by the at least one revenue producing property or an unsecured loan, based at least in part on credit information associated with the customer.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the purchase is made with one or more of a password and identifier representative of the card product.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the request from the customer is received within a predetermined time period before the purchase of the at least one revenue producing property.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the predetermined time period is less than 1 hour.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the customer contact is received within 5 days after the purchase is made.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the customer contact further comprises executing one or more loan documents.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:
generating an optimal financial plan specific to the customer for financing the future purchase.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the request from the customer comprises a request for a credit line extension.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one revenue producing property comprises at least one of computers, copiers, machinery and equipment.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one revenue producing property comprises property that is capitalized for a business.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the purchase reverts to a default product if the customer fails to perfect the purchase of the at least one revenue producing property wherein the default product is unsecured.
12. A system for providing customer initiated flexible financing for one or more purchases, the system comprising:
a programmed computer processor;
a card issuing module for issuing a card product to a customer for financing a plurality of products and services, including at least one revenue producing property;
a request receiving module for receiving a request from the customer for financing a future purchase of the at least one revenue producing property, wherein the request is specific to the revenue producing property, and for analyzing financing options available to the customer prior to the purchase of the at least one revenue producing property;
an authorizing module for authorizing the future purchase of the at least one revenue producing property to enable the customer to purchase the at least one revenue producing property with the card product, wherein the card product provides the ability to make a combination of an online purchase, phone order purchase and merchant location purchase; and
a designating module for receiving a customer contact after the purchase is made for designating one or more of the financing options available to the customer for financing of the at least one revenue producing property, wherein the financing options comprise one or more of installment loan, asset-backed loan, line of credit, product lease and equipment lease; for transferring a balance attributed to the card product to one or more designated financing options; and for transforming the purchase into a secured loan secured by the at least one revenue producing property or an unsecured loan, based at least in part on credit information associated with the customer.
13. The system of claim 12, wherein the purchase is made with one or more of a password and identifier representative of the card product.
14. The system of claim 12, wherein the request from the customer is received within a predetermined time period before the purchase of the future purchase.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein the predetermined time period is less than 1 hour.
16. The system of claim 12, wherein the customer contact is received within 5 days after the purchase is made.
17. The system of claim 12, wherein the customer contact further comprises executing one or more loan documents.
18. The system of claim 12, wherein an optimal financial plan is generated specific to the customer for financing the future purchase.
19. The system of claim 12, wherein the request from the customer comprises a request for a credit line extension.
20. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one revenue producing property comprises at least one of computers, copiers, machinery and equipment.
21. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one revenue producing property comprises property that is capitalized for a business.
22. The system of claim 12, wherein the purchase reverts to a default product if the customer fails to perfect the purchase of the at least one revenue producing property wherein the default product is unsecured.
23. A computer implemented method for initiating flexible financing for one or more purchases, wherein the method is executed by a programmed computer processor, the method comprising the steps of:
receiving a card product from a provider for financing a plurality of products and services, including at least one revenue producing property;
contacting the provider with a request for flexible financing for a future purchase of the at least one revenue producing property, wherein the request is specific to the revenue producing property;
receiving authorization for the future purchase of the at least one revenue producing property from the provider, using the programmed computer processor;
purchasing the at least one revenue producing property with the card product, wherein the card product provides the ability to make a combination of an online purchase, phone order purchase and merchant location purchase;
contacting the provider after the purchase of the at least one revenue producing property for designating one or more financing options available to a customer for financing of the purchase, wherein the financing options comprise one or more of installment loan, asset-backed loan, line of credit, product lease and equipment lease;
transferring a balance attributed to the card product to one or more designated financing options; and
transforming the purchase into a secured loan secured by the at least one revenue producing property or an unsecured loan, based at least in part on credit information associated with the customer.
24. The method of claim 23, wherein the purchase is made with one or more of a password and identifier representative of the card product.
25. The method of claim 23, wherein the step of contacting the provider for flexible financing for a future purchase is performed within a predetermined time period before the purchase of the future purchase.
26. The method of claim 23, the step of contacting the provider after the future purchase is purchased for designating one or more financing options for the financing of the purchase made further comprises executing one or more loan documents.
27. The method of claim 23, wherein the request from the customer comprises a request for a credit line extension.
28. The method of claim 23, wherein the at least one revenue producing property comprises at least one of computers, copiers, machinery and equipment.
29. The method of claim 23, wherein the at least one revenue producing property comprises property that is capitalized for a business.
30. The method of claim 23, wherein the purchase reverts to a default product if the customer fails to perfect the purchase of the at least one revenue producing property wherein the default product is unsecured.

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 process for conducting an endothermic chemical reaction which has a gas phase reactant and a gas phase product, while performing separations by pressure swing adsorption of the product component from the reactant component over an adsorbent material on which one of the reactant and the product components is a more readily adsorbed component and the other is a less readily adsorbed component under increase of pressure, the process including the steps of:
(a) introducing a feed gas containing the reactant component to a reaction space,
(b) conducting the reaction within the reaction space so as to obtain a gas mixture containing the reactant and the product components
(c) contacting the gas mixture containing the reactant and the product components with the adsorbent material in flow paths extending between first and second valve faces in a rotor,
(d) supplying gas to the first or second valve face to achieve an upper pressure of the process,
(e) withdrawing gas from the first or second valve face to achieve a lower pressure of the process,
(f) rotating the rotor at a rotational speed so as to establish cyclic fluid communication for each of the flow paths through the first and the second valve faces in a cyclic sequence, so as to establish flow in each flow path directed from the first valve face to the second valve face at substantially the upper pressure, and to establish flow in each flow path directed from the second valve face to the first valve face at substantially the lower pressure; and
(g) contacting a purge gas stream with the adsorbent material in the flow paths wherein the purge gas stream includes oxygen so as to provide heat in the flow paths by catalytic combustion of a reactant component.
2. The process of claim 1, in which the reactant component is the less readily adsorbed component, and withdrawing a product enriched in the more readily adsorbed component from adjacent the first valve face.
3. The process of claim 2, further withdrawing gas enriched in the more readily adsorbed component from the first valve face, compressing that gas to an increased pressure, and refluxing the gas to the first valve face and thence the flow paths at the increased pressure, so as to increase the concentration of the more readily adsorbed component adjacent the first valve face.
4. The process of claim 1, further maintaining the temperature of the flow path adjacent the first valve face approximately at a first temperature, and maintaining the temperature of the flow path adjacent the second valve face approximately at a second temperature.
5. The process of claim 1, maintaining the first temperature to be greater than the second temperature, and exchanging heat between the gas mixture in the flow paths and solid material with heat capacity disposed along the flow paths.
6. The process of claim 1, maintaining the second temperature to be greater than the first temperature, and exchanging heat between the gas mixture in the flow paths and solid material with heat capacity disposed along the flow paths.
7. The process of claim 1, further conducting the reaction within the flow paths, a portion of each of which being a reaction space.
8. The process of claim 1, further comprising the step of conducting heat between extended heat transfer surfaces in the rotor and the flow paths intermediately between the first and second valve faces.
9. The process of claim 1, further comprising the step of conducting heat to the flow paths from a heat transfer fluid externally contacting heat exchange surfaces in the rotor.
10. The process of claim 1, wherein the reactant component comprises a first component which is a hydrocarbon and a second component, comprising steam, and wherein the product component comprises a strongly adsorbed component, which is carbon dioxide, and a component, which is hydrogen, and wherein the adsorbent material is selective for carbon dioxide in the presence of steam at elevated temperature.
11. The process of claim 10 further comprising the step of providing a nickel catalyst in the flow paths.
12. The process of claim 10 further comprising the step of providing a platinum group catalyst in the flow paths.
13. The process of claim 10 in which the first and second reactant components are introduced to the first valve face at substantially the upper pressure while hydrogen is delivered from the second valve face, and carbon dioxide is delivered from the first valve face at substantially the lower pressure.
14. The process of claim 11 in which steam is admitted to the second valve face at substantially the lower pressure so as to assist purge.
15. The process of claim 10 in which air or oxygen is admitted to the second valve face at substantially the lower pressure so as to assist purge while providing heat to the flow paths for the endothermic reaction.