Patent ID: 7177499

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: a package attachable to a signal propagation medium that includes a device to affect a characteristic of a signal propagated in the signal propagation medium, the device disposed between first and second points on the signal propagation medium, the package having: a first portion formed from a first passive material and coupled to the signal propagation medium at the first point; a second portion, coupled to the first portion, formed from a second material; and a third portion, coupled to the second portion and the signal propagation medium at the second point, having a first section formed from a third passive material and having a second section formed from a fourth passive material, wherein each of the materials are selected to at least partially compensate for a temperature change, wherein each of the first passive material, the second material, and the third passive material have thermal responses different from the other two materials, wherein the first and third portions apply a tensile strain to the signal propagation medium at the first and second points, respectively.