Methods and systems capable of launching signal-carrying transverse electromagnetic waves onto a transmission line in the higher voltage region of the transmission distribution network. Such methods and systems may include a surface wave launcher located in the higher voltage region, a network unit located in a lower voltage region, and an arrester separating the surface wave launcher and the network unit, the arrester preventing voltage from arcing over from the higher voltage region to the lower voltage region where the arrester provides the signal to the surface wave launcher.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, a dielectric coupler includes a neck portion configured to receive a first electromagnetic wave from a hollow waveguide. A flared portion is configured to generate, responsive to the first electromagnetic wave, a second electromagnetic wave along a surface of a transmission medium, wherein the flared portion at least partially surrounds the transmission medium, wherein the second electromagnetic wave propagates along the surface of the transmission medium without requiring an electrical return path. A tapered portion is configured to interface the neck portion to the flared portion.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, a dielectric coupler includes a neck portion configured to receive a first electromagnetic wave from a hollow waveguide. A flared portion is configured to generate, responsive to the first electromagnetic wave, a second electromagnetic wave along a surface of a transmission medium, wherein the flared portion at least partially surrounds the transmission medium, wherein the second electromagnetic wave propagates along the surface of the transmission medium without requiring an electrical return path. A tapered portion is configured to interface the neck portion to the flared portion.

An information processing system includes a first device, a second device, and a notification unit. The first device includes a position sensor and a communication unit. The second device includes a position sensor and a communication unit. The notification unit transmits, in a case where a relative distance between the first device and the second device calculated based on positional information detected by the position sensors exceeds a limit value, an alert to at least one of the first device and the second device.

System and method managing dismissal of students from school to parents/guardians (custodians) safely to avoid injury to students from disorganized movement of vehicles or transfer of custody to unauthorized individuals. The procedure monitors and controls the admission of vehicles to a dismissal zone utilizing bar code registration. Other recognition methods such as RFID tags or facial recognition may be used. The registration may be displayed by the vehicle or the custodian. Students are dismissed from the building only when a custodian's vehicle enters the dismissal zone. The vehicles may be positioned in an order. Entry of the custodian vehicle is communicated into the school. There may be a school representative present in the dismissal zone with a scanner. The scanner may be in communication with teachers or a central control point within the school. The students may exit from the school in the order of standing vehicles of custodians.

An example operation may include one or more of connecting, by a processor of a transport, to a network comprised of a plurality of transports, receiving, by the processor of the transport, an access key request to the transport from a device, broadcasting, by the processor of the transport, the request to the network, collecting, by the processor of the transport, authorizations from a subset of the plurality of the transports, and sending a one-time access key to the device, if the authorizations are received from a minimal required number of the transports.

An electronic shelf system includes a shelf, a first display unit, a first sensing unit, a storage unit and a processing unit, wherein the processing unit communicates with the first display unit, the first sensing unit and the storage unit. The shelf includes a compartment. The first display unit is disposed on the compartment. The first sensing unit is disposed on the shelf. The first sensing unit is configured to sense a characteristic parameter. The storage unit stores a plurality of display information. The processing unit receives the characteristic parameter from the first sensing unit and controls the first display unit to switch one of the display information being displayed currently to another one of the display information according to the characteristic parameter.

In some aspects, the present disclosure provides a method for communicating audio data. In one example, the method includes determining whether a condition for each transport opportunity on an audio channel is met based on an audio sample rate and a channel rate of the audio channel. For each transport opportunity, upon determining that the condition is met for the transport opportunity, the method also includes transmitting audio sample data over the transport opportunity or receiving audio sample data at the transport opportunity.

An audio apparatus includes a network interface, a receiver, at least one storage, and at least one processor. The processor is configured to determine that the audio apparatus is in a state capable of communicating with the other audio apparatus via the network interface. The processor is also configured to receive audio data via the receiver transmitted from an external apparatus different from the other audio apparatus. The processor is also configured to output a sound based on the received audio data. The processor is also configured to transmit the sound emission control information stored in the at least one storage to the other audio apparatus. The sound emission control information includes one or more of a sound volume, and a frequency band.

An integrated circuit for digital signal routing. The integrated circuit has analog and digital inputs and outputs, including digital interfaces for connection to other integrated circuits. Inputs, including the digital interfaces, act as data sources. Outputs, including the digital interfaces, act as data destinations. The integrated circuit also includes signal processing blocks, which can act as data sources and data destinations. Signal routing is achieved by means of a multiply-accumulate block, which takes data from one or more data source and, after any required scaling, generates output data for a data destination. Data from a data source is buffered for an entire period of a data sample clock so that the multiply-accumulate block can retrieve the data at any point in the period, and output data of the multiply-accumulate block is buffered for an entire period of the data sample clock so that the data destination can retrieve the data at any point in the period. Multiple signal paths can be defined by configuration data supplied to the device, either by a user, or by software. The multiply-accumulate block operates on a time division multiplexed basis, so that multiple signal paths can be processed within one period of the sample clock. Each signal path has a respective sample clock rate, and paths with different sample clock rates can be routed through the multiply-accumulate block on a time division multiplexed basis independently of each other. Thus, speech signals at 8 kHz or 16 kHz can be processed concurrently with audio data at 44.ikHz or 48 kHz.