Patent ID: 6987784

Claim:
An apparatus for synthesizing an electric field, comprising: a plurality of groups of electrodes, wherein the electrodes within each group and the groups of electrodes are positioned successively one after another along a predetermined direction in space, wherein the electrodes within each group are organized into a plurality of subgroups of electrodes, wherein the electrodes within each subgroup are electrically-connected to each other, and wherein each group of electrodes is electrically-insulated from all other groups of electrodes; a first plurality of storage elements encoded with a corresponding first plurality of digital values indicative of a first plurality of voltage levels to be applied to the groups of electrodes, wherein the first plurality of digital values are greater in number than a minimum number used for representing a highest frequency component in a representation of an electric field distribution from which the first plurality of digital values are derived, wherein each group of electrodes is coupled to a different storage element in the first plurality of storage elements.