Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a transmission medium for propagating electromagnetic waves. The transmission medium can include a core for propagating electromagnetic waves guided by the core without an electrical return path, a rigid material surrounding the core, wherein an inner surface of the rigid material is separated from an outer surface of the core, and a conductive layer disposed on the rigid material. Other embodiments are disclosed.

A millimeter-wave transmission device including a waveguide made of a material having a dielectric constant in the range from 1 to 4, the waveguide being solid at each of its ends with an electronic unit embedded in the material of the waveguide, the electronic unit including a millimeter wave transceiver circuit, an antenna capable of transmitting and receiving the millimeter waves, a modulation-demodulation circuit, and input-output conductors.

A method for deploying an electromagnetic wave guiding structure includes a communication dead zone analysis step and an improvement measure determination step. In the former step, a frequency band in use and an electromagnetic wave signal strength threshold value are preset, and a processing module creates an electromagnetic map for the electromagnetic wave intensity over an area in the frequency band in use based on an electronic map of the area, wherein the electromagnetic map shows a communication dead zone. In the latter step, the processing module obtains an existing electromagnetic wave path according to the electromagnetic map and infers from the existing electromagnetic wave path the installation position and type of at least one electromagnetic wave guiding structure assembly suitable for use to guide the electromagnetic wave to the communication dead zone and ensure that the coverage ratio of the electromagnetic wave in the area reaches a threshold value.

An information processing system includes an information processing device provided with a housing. The information processing device includes: a placement section that is disposed on an upper surface of the housing, the placement section on which a portable communication object is placed; a wireless communicator that wirelessly communicates with the communication object placed on the placement section; and a first protrusion that extends in a left-right direction along a lower end of the placement section. The placement section includes a placement surface sloping downward from a back side toward a front side, the placement surface on which the communication object is placed. A step, forming a gap between the placement surface and the communication object, is disposed in a lower end portion of the placement surface.

An information processing system includes an information processing device provided with a housing. The information processing device includes: a placement section that is disposed on an upper surface of the housing, the placement section on which a portable communication object is placed; a wireless communicator that wirelessly communicates with the communication object placed on the placement section; and a first protrusion that extends in a left-right direction along a lower end of the placement section. The placement section includes a placement surface sloping downward from a back side toward a front side, the placement surface on which the communication object is placed. A step, forming a gap between the placement surface and the communication object, is disposed in a lower end portion of the placement surface.

An apparatus is disclosed for flexible beamforming using frequency-division multiplexing. In an example aspect, an apparatus includes an antenna array and a wireless transceiver with two or more dedicated receive paths respectively coupled to two or more antenna elements of the antenna array, two or more mixers, a first combiner, a second combiner, and a switching circuit. The first combiner has a first input coupled to a first dedicated receive path and an output coupled to an input of a first mixer. The second combiner has a first input coupled to an output of the first mixer and a second input coupled to an output of a second mixer. The switching circuit is configured to selectively connect a second dedicated receive path to a second input of the first combiner or connect the second dedicated receive path to an input of the second mixer.

An apparatus is disclosed for flexible beamforming using frequency-division multiplexing. In an example aspect, an apparatus includes an antenna array and a wireless transceiver with two or more dedicated receive paths respectively coupled to two or more antenna elements of the antenna array, two or more mixers, a first combiner, a second combiner, and a switching circuit. The first combiner has a first input coupled to a first dedicated receive path and an output coupled to an input of a first mixer. The second combiner has a first input coupled to an output of the first mixer and a second input coupled to an output of a second mixer. The switching circuit is configured to selectively connect a second dedicated receive path to a second input of the first combiner or connect the second dedicated receive path to an input of the second mixer.

A system for bidirectional transmission in a plastic waveguide of a plurality of signals, between a first transceiver device and a second transceiver device, the plurality of signals comprising a payload carrier signal and one or more reference signals generated by one or more local oscillators on different frequencies, the first transceiver device being a power radio transceiver device, the second transceiver device being a multisignal transceiver device with no energy consumption which comprises a passive transmitter and a passive receiver.

One embodiment is a method that includes retrieving key performance indicators from multi-tone signals captured by a data collector located in a cable network; identifying a fault signature based on the key performance indicators, in which the fault signature is identified based on phase domain analysis of a channel response; and accessing a data repository located in a cloud network for geographical information associated with the cable network. The method further includes determining a location of a fault in the cable network based on the fault signature and the geographical information, in which the determining further includes: determining a length of a fault cavity associated with the fault; identifying at least one segment having a length the same as the length of the fault cavity; identifying terminating devices associated with the at least one segment; and tagging the identified terminating devices as potentially faulty.

One embodiment is a method that includes retrieving key performance indicators from multi-tone signals captured by a data collector located in a cable network; identifying a fault signature based on the key performance indicators, in which the fault signature is identified based on phase domain analysis of a channel response; and accessing a data repository located in a cloud network for geographical information associated with the cable network. The method further includes determining a location of a fault in the cable network based on the fault signature and the geographical information, in which the determining further includes: determining a length of a fault cavity associated with the fault; identifying at least one segment having a length the same as the length of the fault cavity; identifying terminating devices associated with the at least one segment; and tagging the identified terminating devices as potentially faulty.