Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 10
Claim 1
Independent Claim
156 words
A signal scrambler, comprising: a signal conductor having a plurality of distinct angularly related contiguous subsections disposed on a substrate material including a ground plane, and having an impedance relative to said ground plane and exhibiting a nonresonant transmission characteristic when input signals provide a proper impedance match thereto; a plurality of resonant conductors disposed in close proximity to a plurality of said signal conductor subsections for providing significant electrical coupling to said signal conductor, each of said plurality of resonant conductors having a selected resonant frequency; and control means disposed on said substrate and being operative to provide an active and a passive state for each of said plurality of resonant conductors, wherein each said resonant conductor in the passive state provides no influence on the transmission characteristics of the signal conductor, and each said resonant conductor in the active state causes a significant transmission loss at the resonant frequency of the active resonant conductor.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
156 words
A signal scrambler, comprising: a signal conductor having a plurality of distinct angularly related contiguous subsections disposed on a substrate material including a ground plane, and having an impedance relative to said ground plane and exhibiting a nonresonant transmission characteristic when input signals provide a proper impedance match thereto; a plurality of resonant conductors disposed in close proximity to a plurality of said signal conductor subsections for providing significant electrical coupling to said signal conductor, each of said plurality of resonant conductors having a selected resonant frequency; and control means disposed on said substrate and being operative to provide an active and a passive state for each of said plurality of resonant conductors, wherein each said resonant conductor in the passive state provides no influence on the transmission characteristics of the signal conductor, and each said resonant conductor in the active state causes a significant transmission loss at the resonant frequency of the active resonant conductor.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
17 words
The signal scrambler of claim 1, wherein said plurality of resonant conductors have a different resonant frequency.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
18 words
The signal scrambler of claim 1, further including means for tuning at least one of said resonant conductors.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
20 words
The signal scrambler of claim 1, wherein said plurality of resonant conductors are selected to provide an aggregate band-reject function.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
19 words
The signal scrambler of claim 1, wherein said resonant conductors are λ/4 wavelength sections at the selected resonant frequency.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
39 words
The signal scrambler of claim 5, wherein said resonant conductors include RF grounds at each end when in the active mode, and said control means includes an RF switch operable to enable at least one of said RF grounds.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
14 words
The signal scrambler of claim 6, wherein said RF switch comprises a diode switch.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
42 words
The signal scrambler of claim 6, wherein said control means includes a modem for receiving control signals simultaneously with the signal provided to said signal conductor and for providing an enable signal to said RF switch according to the received control signals.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
72 words
The signal scrambler of claim 1, wherein said resonant conductor has a thermal expansion coefficient, said signal scrambler further comprising: a substrate retaining said plurality of resonant conductors and having a thermal expansion coefficient and an electrical dielectric coefficient, wherein said resonant conductor thermal coefficient, said substrate thermal coefficient, and said substrate electrical dielectric coefficient and selected to cancel changes in electrical characteristics in said signal scrambler caused by changes in temperature.