Patents by Inventor Masafumi Kondou

Masafumi Kondou 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).

  • Patent number: 9337732
    Abstract: A charge and discharge signal circuit includes: high side transistors connected in series; low side transistors connected in series; high side drive circuits; low side drive circuits; and a drive signal generation circuit, wherein each drive circuit includes: a high side level shifter; a high side capacitor switch string of a capacitor and a switch element connected in series, being connected in parallel with the high side transistor; and a high side drive part, to which an output of the high side level shifter is supplied, and each of the low side drive circuits includes: a low side level shifter; a low side capacitor switch string of a capacitor and a switch element connected in series, being connected in parallel with the low side transistor; and a low side drive part, to which an output of the low side level shifter is supplied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2016
    Assignees: FUJITSU LIMITED, FUJITSU SEMICONDUCTOR LIMITED
    Inventors: Masafumi Kondou, Koji Takekawa
  • Patent number: 9270157
    Abstract: A DC-DC converter includes: a high-side switch; a low-side switch coupled to the high-side switch in series; a capacitor configured to be charged while the low-side switch is turned on and to increase a driving voltage for turning on the high-side switch by a charged voltage; a buffer configured to output a control signal for controlling the high-side switch; a latch configured to receive the control signal at a first input terminal, retain the control signal, and output the control signal to the high-side switch; and a switch configured to receive the control signal from the latch and deactivate the buffer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2016
    Assignee: FUJITSU LIMITED
    Inventors: Masafumi Kondou, Toshihiko Mori
  • Patent number: 9263935
    Abstract: A charge and discharge signal circuit includes: high side transistors connected in series; low side transistors connected in series; high side drive circuits; low side drive circuits; and a drive signal generation circuit, wherein each drive circuit includes: a level shifter; a capacitor switch string connected in series, being connected in parallel with the transistor; and a drive part, to which an output of the level shifter is supplied, at least one pair of neighboring ones of the level shifters are commonly formed, and two neighboring ones of the drive parts receive a same output from the common shifters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 16, 2016
    Assignee: FUJITSU LIMITED
    Inventor: Masafumi Kondou
  • Patent number: 9240753
    Abstract: An oscillator includes a transformer, a first capacitor, a first transistor, a depletion or native second transistor, and a current control circuit. The transformer includes a primary winding configured to receive an input voltage and a secondary winding configured to boost the input voltage to generate an output voltage. The first capacitor is configured to form an LC resonant circuit together with the secondary winding to cause oscillation operation, the first transistor is connected in series with the primary winding, and the output voltage is applied to a control terminal of the first transistor. The depletion or native second transistor is connected in series with the primary winding and the first transistor, and the current control circuit is configured to adjust a control voltage applied to a control terminal of the second transistor to control a current flowing through the first winding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 19, 2016
    Assignee: FUJITSU LIMITED
    Inventors: Hong Gao, Masafumi Kondou, Hiroyuki Nakamoto
  • Publication number: 20150180411
    Abstract: An oscillator includes a transformer, a first capacitor, a first transistor, a depletion or native second transistor, and a current control circuit. The transformer includes a primary winding configured to receive an input voltage and a secondary winding configured to boost the input voltage to generate an output voltage. The first capacitor is configured to form an LC resonant circuit together with the secondary winding to cause oscillation operation, the first transistor is connected in series with the primary winding, and the output voltage is applied to a control terminal of the first transistor. The depletion or native second transistor is connected in series with the primary winding and the first transistor, and the current control circuit is configured to adjust a control voltage applied to a control terminal of the second transistor to control a current flowing through the first winding.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2014
    Publication date: June 25, 2015
    Inventors: Hong GAO, Masafumi Kondou, Hiroyuki Nakamoto
  • Publication number: 20150123640
    Abstract: A charge and discharge signal circuit includes: high side transistors connected in series; low side transistors connected in series; high side drive circuits; low side drive circuits; and a drive signal generation circuit, wherein each drive circuit includes: a level shifter; a capacitor switch string connected in series, being connected in parallel with the transistor; and a drive part, to which an output of the level shifter is supplied, at least one pair of neighboring ones of the level shifters are commonly formed, and two neighboring ones of the drive parts receive a same output from the common shifters.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 20, 2014
    Publication date: May 7, 2015
    Inventor: Masafumi KONDOU
  • Publication number: 20150061613
    Abstract: A DC-DC converter includes: an inductor; a first capacitor and a second capacitor; a plurality of switching elements coupled to the inductor, the first capacitor, and the second capacitor; a control circuit configured to control the plurality of switching elements to be switched ON/OFF such that a connection form of the inductor, the first capacitor, and the second capacitor is alternately switched between a first form where the inductor, the first capacitor, and the second capacitor are coupled in series such that the first capacitor and the second capacitor are charged and a second form where the inductor, the first capacitor, and the second capacitor are coupled in parallel such that the first capacitor and the second capacitor are discharged; and a detection circuit configured to detect a difference between each of a voltage across the first capacitor and a voltage across the second capacitor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 7, 2014
    Publication date: March 5, 2015
    Inventor: Masafumi KONDOU
  • Publication number: 20140306674
    Abstract: A charge and discharge signal circuit includes: high side transistors connected in series; low side transistors connected in series; high side drive circuits; low side drive circuits; and a drive signal generation circuit, wherein each drive circuit includes: a high side level shifter; a high side capacitor switch string of a capacitor and a switch element connected in series, being connected in parallel with the high side transistor; and a high side drive part, to which an output of the high side level shifter is supplied, and each of the low side drive circuits includes: a low side level shifter; a low side capacitor switch string of a capacitor and a switch element connected in series, being connected in parallel with the low side transistor; and a low side drive part, to which an output of the low side level shifter is supplied.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 28, 2014
    Publication date: October 16, 2014
    Applicants: FUJITSU SEMICONDUCTOR LIMITED, FUJITSU LIMITED
    Inventors: Masafumi KONDOU, Koji Takekawa
  • Publication number: 20140028271
    Abstract: A DC-DC converter includes: a high-side switch; a low-side switch coupled to the high-side switch in series; a capacitor configured to be charged while the low-side switch is turned on and to increase a driving voltage for turning on the high-side switch by a charged voltage; a buffer configured to output a control signal for controlling the high-side switch; a latch configured to receive the control signal at a first input terminal, retain the control signal, and output the control signal to the high-side switch; and a switch configured to receive the control signal from the latch and deactivate the buffer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 7, 2013
    Publication date: January 30, 2014
    Inventors: Masafumi KONDOU, Toshihiko Mori
  • Patent number: 8456203
    Abstract: A multiphase clock generation circuit includes: a first frequency divider to generate a first intermediate clock and a second intermediate clock; a second frequency divider to generate output clocks of a first group including a first output clock and a second output clock; a third frequency divider to generate output clocks of a second group including a third output clock and a fourth output clock; a selector to supply one of the second intermediate clock and a value to the third frequency divider in response to a switching signal; an error detection circuit to detect an error in a phase relationship between the output clock of the first group and the output clock of the second group; and a re-reset circuit to output the switching signal to the selector based on the error.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2013
    Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
    Inventor: Masafumi Kondou
  • Patent number: 8217725
    Abstract: An electrical circuit includes a first path including even-number inverters connected in series from a first node serving as an input side to a second node serving as an output side, a second path including even-number inverters connected in series from the second node serving as an input side to the first node serving as an output side, a latch circuit providing a connection between the first node and the second node such that a logical value of the first node and a logical value of the second node are opposite to each other, and one or more control signal paths to supply one or more control signals to the latch circuit to provide and sever a connection between the latch circuit and a power supply.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2012
    Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
    Inventor: Masafumi Kondou
  • Patent number: 8138842
    Abstract: A frequency synthesizer includes a voltage-controlled oscillator, a frequency range tuning circuit which detects a frequency control code that sets a voltage-controlled frequency range of the voltage-controlled oscillator corresponding to the frequency division ratio which is variably-set, and a frequency control code memory which stores the frequency control code detected by the frequency range tuning circuit corresponding to the frequency division ratio. In an initialization interval, the frequency range tuning circuit detects the frequency control code corresponding to the frequency division ratio which is variably-set, and the frequency control code memory stores the frequency control code which is detected. In a normal operation interval, in response to the frequency selection signal, the frequency control code, which is stored in the frequency control code memory and corresponds to the frequency division ratio which is variably-set, is output to the voltage-controlled oscillator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2012
    Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
    Inventors: Masafumi Kondou, Toshihiko Mori
  • Publication number: 20120056644
    Abstract: A multiphase clock generation circuit includes: a first frequency divider to generate a first intermediate clock and a second intermediate clock; a second frequency divider to generate output clocks of a first group including a first output clock and a second output clock; a third frequency divider to generate output clocks of a second group including a third output clock and a fourth output clock; a selector to supply one of the second intermediate clock and a value to the third frequency divider in response to a switching signal; an error detection circuit to detect an error in a phase relationship between the output clock of the first group and the output clock of the second group; and a re-reset circuit to output the switching signal to the selector based on the error.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 1, 2011
    Publication date: March 8, 2012
    Applicant: FUJITSU LIMITED
    Inventor: Masafumi KONDOU
  • Patent number: 8008955
    Abstract: There is provided a semiconductor device having a voltage-controlled oscillator outputting an output clock signal; N pieces of control units generating a frequency-divided clock signal by frequency-dividing the output clock signal, comparing a reference clock signal and the frequency-divided clock signal, and outputting an output signal based on a comparison result; an adder adding output signals from each of the control units; and a low-pass filter filtering an output of the adder and outputting to the voltage-controlled oscillator, wherein setting information related to a frequency division ratio made of N pieces of data cycled and supplied in a sequence in synchronization with the frequency-divided clock signal is supplied to each of the control units with initial values made different from one another and a frequency-division operation and a comparison operation are performed thereby to form a moving average filter by N pieces of control units and to reduce a quantization noise, so that occurrence of a sp
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2011
    Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
    Inventor: Masafumi Kondou
  • Patent number: 7911252
    Abstract: A clock signal generation apparatus includes a clock signal generation circuit generating a plurality of clock signals, and a self-test circuit measuring a phase difference of one pair of clock signals. The self-test circuit includes a clock signal selection circuit selecting the pair of clock signals among the plurality of clock signals, a phase detection circuit generating a phase difference pulse signal, a test signal generation circuit generating a test signal having a frequency which is lower than the phase difference pulse signal, and a counter circuit counting the pulse number of the test signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2011
    Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
    Inventor: Masafumi Kondou
  • Publication number: 20110053548
    Abstract: An electrical circuit includes a first path including even-number inverters connected in series from a first node serving as an input side to a second node serving as an output side, a second path including even-number inverters connected in series from the second node serving as an input side to the first node serving as an output side, a latch circuit providing a connection between the first node and the second node such that a logical value of the first node and a logical value of the second node are opposite to each other, and one or more control signal paths to supply one or more control signals to the latch circuit to provide and sever a connection between the latch circuit and a power supply.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 9, 2010
    Publication date: March 3, 2011
    Applicant: FUJITSU LIMITED
    Inventor: Masafumi KONDOU
  • Publication number: 20100259307
    Abstract: There is provided a semiconductor device having a voltage-controlled oscillator outputting an output clock signal; N pieces of control units generating a frequency-divided clock signal by frequency-dividing the output clock signal, comparing a reference clock signal and the frequency-divided clock signal, and outputting an output signal based on a comparison result; an adder adding output signals from each of the control units; and a low-pass filter filtering an output of the adder and outputting to the voltage-controlled oscillator, wherein setting information related to a frequency division ratio made of N pieces of data cycled and supplied in a sequence in synchronization with the frequency-divided clock signal is supplied to each of the control units with initial values made different from one another and a frequency-division operation and a comparison operation are performed thereby to form a moving average filter by N pieces of control units and to reduce a quantization noise, so that occurrence of a sp
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 2, 2010
    Publication date: October 14, 2010
    Applicant: FUJITSU LIMITED
    Inventor: Masafumi Kondou
  • Publication number: 20100134162
    Abstract: A clock signal generation apparatus includes a clock signal generation circuit generating a plurality of clock signals, and a self-test circuit measuring a phase difference of one pair of clock signals. The self-test circuit includes a clock signal selection circuit selecting the pair of clock signals among the plurality of clock signals, a phase detection circuit generating a phase difference pulse signal, a test signal generation circuit generating a test signal having a frequency which is lower than the phase difference pulse signal, and a counter circuit counting the pulse number of the test signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 27, 2009
    Publication date: June 3, 2010
    Applicant: FUJITSU LIMTED
    Inventor: Masafumi KONDOU
  • Publication number: 20100007425
    Abstract: A frequency synthesizer includes a voltage-controlled oscillator, a frequency range tuning circuit which detects a frequency control code that sets a voltage-controlled frequency range of the voltage-controlled oscillator corresponding to the frequency division ratio which is variably-set, and a frequency control code memory which stores the frequency control code detected by the frequency range tuning circuit corresponding to the frequency division ratio. In an initialization interval, the frequency range tuning circuit detects the frequency control code corresponding to the frequency division ratio which is variably-set, and the frequency control code memory stores the frequency control code which is detected. In a normal operation interval, in response to the frequency selection signal, the frequency control code, which is stored in the frequency control code memory and corresponds to the frequency division ratio which is variably-set, is output to the voltage-controlled oscillator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2009
    Publication date: January 14, 2010
    Applicant: FUJITSU LIMITED
    Inventors: Masafumi KONDOU, Toshihiko MORI
  • Patent number: 7078953
    Abstract: A level down converter having a first inverter supplied a first power supply voltage, and outputting signals made by logical inversions of input signals, and a second inverter supplied a second power supply voltage being lower than the first power supply voltage, and outputting signals made by logical inversions of output signals from the first inverter, is provided. The first inverter contains a transistor including a gate insulation film having a first film thickness. The second inverter contains a transistor including a gate insulation film having a second film thickness which is thinner than the first film thickness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2004
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2006
    Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
    Inventors: Masafumi Kondou, Toshihiko Mori