Patents by Inventor Kevin S. Donnelly

Kevin S. Donnelly has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20220103405
    Abstract: A signaling system includes a pre-emphasizing transmitter and an equalizing receiver coupled to one another via a high-speed signal path. The receiver measures the quality of data conveyed from the transmitter. A controller uses this information and other information to adaptively establish appropriate transmit pre-emphasis and receive equalization settings, e.g. to select the lowest power setting for which the signaling system provides some minimum communication bandwidth without exceeding a desired bit-error rate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 15, 2021
    Publication date: March 31, 2022
    Inventors: Jared L. Zerbe, Fred F. Chen, Andrew Ho, Ramin Farjad-Rad, John W. Poulton, Kevin S. Donnelly, Brian S. Leibowitz, Vladimir Stojanovic
  • Patent number: 11165613
    Abstract: A signaling system includes a pre-emphasizing transmitter and an equalizing receiver coupled to one another via a high-speed signal path. The receiver measures the quality of data conveyed from the transmitter. A controller uses this information and other information to adaptively establish appropriate transmit pre-emphasis and receive equalization settings, e.g. to select the lowest power setting for which the signaling system provides some minimum communication bandwidth without exceeding a desired bit-error rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: Rambus Inc.
    Inventors: Jared L. Zerbe, Fred F. Chen, Andrew Ho, Ramin Farjad-Rad, John W. Poulton, Kevin S. Donnelly, Brian S. Leibowitz, Vladimir Stojanovic
  • Patent number: 10366045
    Abstract: An integrated circuit device includes a transmitter circuit including an output driver. The integrated circuit device includes a first register to store a value representative of a drive strength setting associated with the transmitter circuit such that the output driver outputs data in accordance with the drive strength setting. The integrated circuit device also includes a second register to store a value representative of an equalization setting associated with the transmitter circuit such that the output driver outputs data in accordance with the equalization setting. The integrated circuit device further includes a third register to store a value representative of a slew rate setting associated with the transmitter circuit such that the output driver outputs data in accordance with the slew rate setting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2019
    Assignee: Rambus Inc.
    Inventors: Mark A. Horowitz, Craig E. Hampel, Alfredo Moncayo, Kevin S. Donnelly, Jared L. Zerbe
  • Publication number: 20190199563
    Abstract: A signaling system includes a pre-emphasizing transmitter and an equalizing receiver coupled to one another via a high-speed signal path. The receiver measures the quality of data conveyed from the transmitter. A controller uses this information and other information to adaptively establish appropriate transmit pre-emphasis and receive equalization settings, e.g. to select the lowest power setting for which the signaling system provides some minimum communication bandwidth without exceeding a desired bit-error rate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 24, 2019
    Publication date: June 27, 2019
    Inventors: Jared L. Zerbe, Fred F. Chen, Andrew Ho, Ramin Farjad-Rad, John W. Poulton, Kevin S. Donnelly, Brian S. Leibowitz, Vladimir Stojanovic
  • Patent number: 10310999
    Abstract: An integrated circuit device includes a transmitter circuit operable to transmit a timing signal over a first wire to a DRAM. The DRAM receives a first signal having a balanced number of logical zero-to-one transitions and one-to-zero transitions and samples the first signal at a rising edge of the timing signal to produce a respective sampled value. The device further includes a receiver circuit to receive the respective sampled value from the DRAM over a plurality of wires separate from the first wire. In a first mode, the transmitter circuit repeatedly transmits incrementally offset versions of the timing signal to the DRAM until sampled values received from the DRAM change from a logical zero to a logical one or vice versa; and in a second mode, it transmits write data over the plurality of wires to the DRAM according to a write timing offset generated based on the sampled values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2019
    Inventors: Jared LeVan Zerbe, Kevin S. Donnelly, Stefanos Sidiropoulos, Donald C. Stark, Mark A. Horowitz, Leung Yu, Roxanne Vu, Jun Kim, Bruno W. Garlepp, Tsyr-Chyang Ho, Benedict Chung-Kwong Lau
  • Publication number: 20190163661
    Abstract: An integrated circuit device includes a transmitter circuit including an output driver. The integrated circuit device includes a first register to store a value representative of a drive strength setting associated with the transmitter circuit such that the output driver outputs data in accordance with the drive strength setting. The integrated circuit device also includes a second register to store a value representative of an equalization setting associated with the transmitter circuit such that the output driver outputs data in accordance with the equalization setting. The integrated circuit device further includes a third register to store a value representative of a slew rate setting associated with the transmitter circuit such that the output driver outputs data in accordance with the slew rate setting.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 15, 2017
    Publication date: May 30, 2019
    Inventors: Mark A. Horowitz, Craig E. Hampel, Alfredo Moncayo, Kevin S. Donnelly, Jared L. Zerbe
  • Patent number: 10205614
    Abstract: A signaling system includes a pre-emphasizing transmitter and an equalizing receiver coupled to one another via a high-speed signal path. The receiver measures the quality of data conveyed from the transmitter. A controller uses this information and other information to adaptively establish appropriate transmit pre-emphasis and receive equalization settings, e.g. to select the lowest power setting for which the signaling system provides some minimum communication bandwidth without exceeding a desired bit-error rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2019
    Assignee: Rambus Inc.
    Inventors: Jared L. Zerbe, Fred F. Chen, Andrew Ho, Ramin Farjad-Rad, John W. Poulton, Kevin S. Donnelly, Brian S. Leibowitz, Vladimir Stojanovic
  • Publication number: 20180367350
    Abstract: A signaling system includes a pre-emphasizing transmitter and an equalizing receiver coupled to one another via a high-speed signal path. The receiver measures the quality of data conveyed from the transmitter. A controller uses this information and other information to adaptively establish appropriate transmit pre-emphasis and receive equalization settings, e.g. to select the lowest power setting for which the signaling system provides some minimum communication bandwidth without exceeding a desired bit-error rate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 16, 2018
    Publication date: December 20, 2018
    Inventors: Jared L. Zerbe, Fred F. Chen, Andrew Ho, Ramin Farjad-Rad, John W. Poulton, Kevin S. Donnelly, Brian S. Leibowitz
  • Patent number: 10003484
    Abstract: A signaling system includes a pre-emphasizing transmitter and an equalizing receiver coupled to one another via a high-speed signal path. The receiver measures the quality of data conveyed from the transmitter. A controller uses this information and other information to adaptively establish appropriate transmit pre-emphasis and receive equalization settings, e.g. to select the lowest power setting for which the signaling system provides some minimum communication bandwidth without exceeding a desired bit-error rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2018
    Assignee: Rambus Inc.
    Inventors: Jared L. Zerbe, Fred F. Chen, Andrew Ho, Ramin Farjad-Rad, John W. Poulton, Kevin S. Donnelly, Brian S. Leibowitz
  • Patent number: 9998305
    Abstract: An integrated circuit device includes an output driver having a data signal terminal, logic circuitry, and a driver circuit coupled to the logic circuitry and data signal terminal. The driver circuit is configured to drive a signal corresponding to a symbol onto the data signal terminal, wherein the symbol is an N-bit symbol, having one of 2N predefined values, N is an integer greater than 1, and the signal corresponding to the symbol has one of 2N signal levels. The driver circuit includes first, second and third driver sub-circuits, each driven by an input corresponding to one or more bits of the N-bit symbol, wherein the second and third driver sub-circuits are weighted, relative to the first driver sub-circuit, to reduce gds distortion in the signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: RAMBUS INC.
    Inventors: Jared L. Zerbe, Bruno W. Garlepp, Pak S. Chau, Kevin S. Donnelly, Mark A. Horowitz, Stefanos Sidiropoulos, Billy W. Garrett, Jr., Carl W. Werner
  • Publication number: 20180157615
    Abstract: An integrated circuit device includes a transmitter circuit including an output driver. The integrated circuit device includes a first register to store a value representative of a drive strength setting associated with the transmitter circuit such that the output driver outputs data in accordance with the drive strength setting. The integrated circuit device also includes a second register to store a value representative of an equalization setting associated with the transmitter circuit such that the output driver outputs data in accordance with the equalization setting. The integrated circuit device further includes a third register to store a value representative of a slew rate setting associated with the transmitter circuit such that the output driver outputs data in accordance with the slew rate setting.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 15, 2017
    Publication date: June 7, 2018
    Inventors: Mark A. Horowitz, Craig E. Hampel, Alfredo Moncayo, Kevin S. Donnelly, Jared L. Zerbe
  • Publication number: 20180095916
    Abstract: An integrated circuit device includes a transmitter circuit operable to transmit a timing signal over a first wire to a DRAM. The DRAM receives a first signal having a balanced number of logical zero-to-one transitions and one-to-zero transitions and samples the first signal at a rising edge of the timing signal to produce a respective sampled value. The device further includes a receiver circuit to receive the respective sampled value from the DRAM over a plurality of wires separate from the first wire. In a first mode, the transmitter circuit repeatedly transmits incrementally offset versions of the timing signal to the DRAM until sampled values received from the DRAM change from a logical zero to a logical one or vice versa; and in a second mode, it transmits write data over the plurality of wires to the DRAM according to a write timing offset generated based on the sampled values.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 13, 2017
    Publication date: April 5, 2018
    Inventors: Jared LeVan Zerbe, Kevin S. Donnelly, Stefanos Sidiropoulos, Donald C. Stark, Mark A. Horowitz, Leung Yu, Roxanne Vu, Jun Kim, Bruno W. Garlepp, Tsyr-Chyang Ho, Benedict Chung-Kwong Lau
  • Publication number: 20180006852
    Abstract: A signaling system includes a pre-emphasizing transmitter and an equalizing receiver coupled to one another via a high-speed signal path. The receiver measures the quality of data conveyed from the transmitter. A controller uses this information and other information to adaptively establish appropriate transmit pre-emphasis and receive equalization settings, e.g. to select the lowest power setting for which the signaling system provides some minimum communication bandwidth without exceeding a desired bit-error rate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 17, 2017
    Publication date: January 4, 2018
    Inventors: Jared L. Zerbe, Fred F. Chen, Andrew Ho, Ramin Farjad-Rad, John W. Poulton, Kevin S. Donnelly, Brian S. Leibowitz
  • Patent number: 9852105
    Abstract: An integrated circuit device includes a transmitter circuit including an output driver. The integrated circuit device includes a first register to store a value representative of a drive strength setting associated with the transmitter circuit such that the output driver outputs data in accordance with the drive strength setting. The integrated circuit device also includes a second register to store a value representative of an equalization setting associated with the transmitter circuit such that the output driver outputs data in accordance with the equalization setting. The integrated circuit device further includes a third register to store a value representative of a slew rate setting associated with the transmitter circuit such that the output driver outputs data in accordance with the slew rate setting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2017
    Assignee: Rambus Inc.
    Inventors: Mark A. Horowitz, Craig E. Hampel, Alfredo Moncayo, Kevin S. Donnelly, Jared L. Zerbe
  • Patent number: 9785589
    Abstract: An integrated circuit device includes a transmitter circuit operable to transmit a timing signal over a first wire to a DRAM. The DRAM receives a first signal having a balanced number of logical zero-to-one transitions and one-to-zero transitions and samples the first signal at a rising edge of the timing signal to produce a respective sampled value. The device further includes a receiver circuit to receive the respective sampled value from the DRAM over a plurality of wires separate from the first wire. In a first mode, the transmitter circuit repeatedly transmits incrementally offset versions of the timing signal to the DRAM until sampled values received from the DRAM change from a logical zero to a logical one or vice versa; and in a second mode, it transmits write data over the plurality of wires to the DRAM according to a write timing offset generated based on the sampled values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2017
    Assignee: Rambus Inc.
    Inventors: Jared LeVan Zerbe, Kevin S. Donnelly, Stefanos Sidiropoulos, Donald C. Stark, Mark A. Horowitz, Leung Yu, Roxanne Vu, Jun Kim, Bruno W. Garlepp, Tsyr-Chyang Ho, Benedict Chung-Kwong Lau
  • Patent number: 9742602
    Abstract: A signaling system includes a pre-emphasizing transmitter and an equalizing receiver coupled to one another via a high-speed signal path. The receiver measures the quality of data conveyed from the transmitter. A controller uses this information and other information to adaptively establish appropriate transmit pre-emphasis and receive equalization settings, e.g. to select the lowest power setting for which the signaling system provides some minimum communication bandwidth without exceeding a desired bit-error rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2017
    Assignee: Rambus Inc.
    Inventors: Jared L. Zerbe, Fred F. Chen, Andrew Ho, Ramin Farjad-Rad, John W. Poulton, Kevin S. Donnelly, Brian S. Leibowitz
  • Publication number: 20170222845
    Abstract: An integrated circuit device includes an output driver having a data signal terminal, logic circuitry, and a driver circuit coupled to the logic circuitry and data signal terminal. The driver circuit is configured to drive a signal corresponding to a symbol onto the data signal terminal, wherein the symbol is an N-bit symbol, having one of 2N predefined values, N is an integer greater than 1, and the signal corresponding to the symbol has one of 2N signal levels. The driver circuit includes first, second and third driver sub-circuits, each driven by an input corresponding to one or more bits of the N-bit symbol, wherein the second and third driver sub-circuits are weighted, relative to the first driver sub-circuit, to reduce gds distortion in the signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 6, 2017
    Publication date: August 3, 2017
    Inventors: Jared L. Zerbe, Bruno W. Garlepp, Pak S. Chau, Kevin S. Donnelly, Mark A. Horowitz, Stefanos Sidiropoulos, Billy W. Garrett, Carl W. Werner
  • Publication number: 20170031854
    Abstract: An integrated circuit device includes a transmitter circuit operable to transmit a timing signal over a first wire to a DRAM. The DRAM receives a first signal having a balanced number of logical zero-to-one transitions and one-to-zero transitions and samples the first signal at a rising edge of the timing signal to produce a respective sampled value. The device further includes a receiver circuit to receive the respective sampled value from the DRAM over a plurality of wires separate from the first wire. In a first mode, the transmitter circuit repeatedly transmits incrementally offset versions of the timing signal to the DRAM until sampled values received from the DRAM change from a logical zero to a logical one or vice versa; and in a second mode, it transmits write data over the plurality of wires to the DRAM according to a write timing offset generated based on the sampled values.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 29, 2016
    Publication date: February 2, 2017
    Inventors: Jared LeVan Zerbe, Kevin S. Donnelly, Stefanos Sidiropoulos, Donald C. Stark, Mark A. Horowitz, Leung Yu, Roxanne Vu, Jun Kim, Bruno W. Garlepp, Tsyr-Chyang Ho, Benedict Chung-Kwong Lau
  • Publication number: 20170031864
    Abstract: An integrated circuit device includes a transmitter circuit including an output driver. The integrated circuit device includes a first register to store a value representative of a drive strength setting associated with the transmitter circuit such that the output driver outputs data in accordance with the drive strength setting. The integrated circuit device also includes a second register to store a value representative of an equalization setting associated with the transmitter circuit such that the output driver outputs data in accordance with the equalization setting. The integrated circuit device further includes a third register to store a value representative of a slew rate setting associated with the transmitter circuit such that the output driver outputs data in accordance with the slew rate setting.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 4, 2016
    Publication date: February 2, 2017
    Inventors: Mark A. Horowitz, Craig E. Hampel, Alfredo Moncayo, Kevin S. Donnelly, Jared L. Zerbe
  • Patent number: 9553745
    Abstract: A signaling system includes a pre-emphasizing transmitter and an equalizing receiver coupled to one another via a high-speed signal path. The receiver measures the quality of data conveyed from the transmitter. A controller uses this information and other information to adaptively establish appropriate transmit pre-emphasis and receive equalization settings, e.g. to select the lowest power setting for which the signaling system provides some minimum communication bandwidth without exceeding a desired bit-error rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2017
    Assignee: Rambus Inc.
    Inventors: Jared L. Zerbe, Fred F. Chen, Andrew Ho, Ramin Farjad-Rad, John W. Poulton, Kevin S. Donnelly, Brian Leibowitz