Salphasic distribution of timing signals for the synchronization of physically separated entities
First Claim
1. An apparatus for distributing a sinusoidal signal comprising:
- means for generating said sinusoidal signal with a first temporal phase φ
g ;
means for receiving the signal with a specific second temporal phase φ
i, said receiving means being substantially energy lossless; and
means for propagating the signal, said propagating means being substantially energy lossless, having a substantially energy lossless finite boundary, having a geometry independent of a wavelength of said sinusoidal signal, and coupled to said generating and receiving means to cause said sinusoidal signal to propagate through said propagating means to form a standing wave so that said specific second temporal phase φ
i =φ
g +δ
i -ni ×
180°
at said receiving means, where δ
i is a small, location-dependent phase offset, and n, is a location-dependent non-negative integer.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus is disclosed for providing salphasic distributions of synchronization signals to physically separated entities typically composing a system. Salphasic behavior is a fundamental property of standing waves in any physical situation governed by the wave equation and where the signal is isophasic, i.e., its phase remains constant, over extended regions and abruptly jumps by 180° between adjacent regions. This behavior is used to minimize the phase shifts due to propagation path lengths. A sinusoidal signal is generated and impressed on a distribution medium which is in turn connected to receivers at the various entities to be synchronized. The medium and loads due to the receivers are composed to cause the synchronizing signal to form nearly pure standing waves in the medium. This enables all the entities to receive the synchronizing signal substantially in the same phase to within an ambiguity of exactly 180°, and all the entities within an isophasic region to receive the synchronizing signal in substantially the same phase. Salphasic behavior may be exploited for any geometry of medium, one-, two-, or three dimensional; and is well suited but not restricted to electrical/electronic systems.
105 Citations
56 Claims
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1. An apparatus for distributing a sinusoidal signal comprising:
-
means for generating said sinusoidal signal with a first temporal phase φ
g ;means for receiving the signal with a specific second temporal phase φ
i, said receiving means being substantially energy lossless; andmeans for propagating the signal, said propagating means being substantially energy lossless, having a substantially energy lossless finite boundary, having a geometry independent of a wavelength of said sinusoidal signal, and coupled to said generating and receiving means to cause said sinusoidal signal to propagate through said propagating means to form a standing wave so that said specific second temporal phase φ
i =φ
g +δ
i -ni ×
180°
at said receiving means, where δ
i is a small, location-dependent phase offset, and n, is a location-dependent non-negative integer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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- 3. An apparatus according 2, wherein said receiving means comprises a plurality of receiving modules coupled exclusively within said one region that occurs in the propagating means so that said plurality of modules receive said sinusoidal signal in substantially the same phase.
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31. A method of distributing a synchronous sinusoidal clock signal in an electronic system containing a plurality of modules, each module having a substantially reactive electrical input, comprising the steps of:
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forming a substantially dissipationless electromagnetic propagating medium having a geometry independent of a wavelength of said sinusoidal signal with a substantially energy lossless finite boundary; coupling the substantially reactive electrical inputs of said plurality of modules to the medium at a plurality of first locations; generating a sinusoidal electrical clock signal with a first temporal phase φ
g ; andcoupling the clock signal to the medium at a second location so that each of said plurality of modules receives the clock signal with a second temporal phase φ
i =φ
g +δ
i -ni ×
180°
, where n, is a non-negative integer, and δ
i is a small location-dependent phase offset caused by energy loss at the boundary and by dissipation in the medium and in the inputs.
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32. A method for providing a sinusoidal timing signal to a plurality of modules, each module having a substantially energy lossless input, comprising the steps of:
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forming a substantially energy lossless propagating medium having a geometry with a substantially energy lossless finite boundary; coupling said substantially energy lossless input to the medium at a plurality of first locations; generating a sinusoidal timing signal; and coupling said sinusoidal timing signal to said medium at a second location in the medium so that said timing signal forms a substantially pure standing wave having a wavelength independent of said geometry and thereby establishes regions in the standing wave within which the timing signal remains in substantially constant phase and between said regions the signal phase abruptly shifts substantially 180°
thereby providing said timing signal to each of the modules coupled to the medium.
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33. A method for distributing a sinusoidal signal to a plurality of spatially separated entities, each entity having a substantially energy lossless input, comprising the steps of:
-
forming a substantially energy lossless propagating medium having a geometry with a substantially energy lossless finite boundary; coupling the medium to each of said substantially energy lossless inputs of said entities; generating said sinusoidal signal with a first temporal phase φ
g ; andcoupling said sinusoidal signal to the medium to cause said sinusoidal signal to propagate through the medium to form a substantially pure standing wave due to said substantially energy lossless propagating medium and said substantially energy lossless inputs, said standing wave having a wavelength independent of said geometry, and being received with a specific second temporal phase φ
i at each of said substantially energy lossless inputs, wherein each of said specific second temporal phases φ
i corresponding to said substantially energy lossless inputs is φ
i =100 g +δ
i -ni ×
180°
, where δ
i is a small, location-dependent phase offset, and ni is a location-dependent non-negative integer. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
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Specification