IP Communications

Acacia Patent Acquisition, a subsidiary of Acacia Research Corporation (News - Alert), announced that it has acquired patents relating to network remote access technology.

 

The patented technology incorporates architectures and methods that can be used for converting time division multiplexed (TDM) data to packet-based data. It relates to remote access to local area networks or wide area networks.

 

For those who are not familiar with time division multiplexing (TDM), it is a type of digital multiplexing that utilizes two or more signals or bit streams that are transferred simultaneously as sub-channels in one communication channel, but are physically taking turns on the channel. Here, the time domain is divided into several recurrent timeslots of fixed length, one for each sub-channel. 

 

The patented technology can be utilized in equipment such as gateways, DSL add/drop multiplexers (DSLAM’s) and voice over IP (VoIP) phone adapters.

 

In general, network remote access technology provides the ability to connect to the network from a distant location. There are different methods to achieve this. The technology might require a computer, a modem with different multiplexing technologies and remote access software to allow the computer to dial into the network over a telephone line, cable or satellite service, and then connect.

 

"As Acacia's licensing success grows, more companies are selecting us as their partner for the licensing of their patented technologies," said Paul Ryan, chairman and CEO of Acacia. "Acacia is rapidly becoming the leader in technology licensing and we continue to grow our base of future revenues by adding new patent portfolios."

 

Recently, Acacia Patent Acquisition obtained the rights to patents relating to lighting ballast technology. This technology relates to controlling power to fluorescent lamps, which can be used to lighting ballasts for industrial applications.   

 

Acacia Research’s subsidiaries are into developing, acquiring, and licensing patented technologies. The company claims to have control of 98 patent portfolios, which include U.S. patents and certain foreign counterparts, which covers technologies that are utilized in a wide-array of industries.