With Capacitive Bootstrapping Patents (Class 327/390)
  • Patent number: 11916543
    Abstract: An analog switch circuit of an embodiment includes a CMOS analog switch, a first gate drive circuit, and a second gate drive circuit, a gate operating withstand voltage of the CMOS analog switch being VGT, an enable signal and a control signal being inputted to the first gate drive circuit and the second gate drive circuit. Assuming that VGT<VSH?(2×VGT), in a case where the enable signal is 0, the second gate drive circuit outputs a signal of voltage (VSH/2) to a gate terminal of a PMOS when the control signal is 0, and the first gate drive circuit outputs a signal of voltage (VSH/2) to a gate terminal of an NMOS when the control signal is 1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Assignees: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA, TOSHIBA ELECTRONIC DEVICES & STORAGE CORPORATION
    Inventor: Shigeo Imai
  • Patent number: 11908528
    Abstract: An integrated circuit includes a charge pump. The charge pump includes a plurality of charge pump stages and a plurality of switches. The switches can operated to selectively couple the charge pump stages in various arrangements of series and parallel connections based on a currently selected operational mode of the charge pump. The charge pump assists in performing read and write operations for a memory array of the integrated circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics International N.V.
    Inventors: Vikas Rana, Arpit Vijayvergia
  • Patent number: 11804836
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides designs and techniques to improve turn “off” times of a bootstrapped switch, maximizing the total “on” time of the bootstrapped switch. The techniques described herein provide a protection device coupled to the bootstrapped switch. The protection device may be controlled by an input voltage to the bootstrapped switch during a boosting phase and may be controlled by a constant voltage during a non-boosting phase. The techniques for reducing turn “off” times are particularly useful in high-speed applications, such as high-speed, low-voltage analog-to-digital converters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Assignee: Analog Devices, Inc.
    Inventor: Ronald A. Kapusta
  • Patent number: 11528102
    Abstract: Aspects of the invention include a driver arranged at a stand-alone receiver that is configured to receive a binary sequence from a pseudorandom binary sequence (PRBS) generator arranged at the receiver. The driver is configured to adjust the signal characteristics of the binary sequence to simulate channel loss at the receiver. The driver is further configured to output the adjusted binary sequence to a downstream data path of the receiver to enable the receiver to perform a self-test.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Dereje Yilma, Nathan Ross Blanchard, Erik English, Chad Andrew Marquart, Glen A. Wiedemeier, Jeffrey Kwabena Okyere, James Crugnale, Christopher Steffen, Vikram B Raj, Michael Wayne Harper, Venkat Harish Nammi
  • Patent number: 11482155
    Abstract: Variations in a receiving circuit employing differential signaling are reduced. The receiving circuit converts a first signal and a second signal which are supplied through differential signaling into a third signal which is a single-ended signal and outputs the third signal. The receiving circuit includes an operational amplifier, a first element, a first transistor, and a first circuit. The first element is connected to the first circuit through a first node to which the first transistor is connected. The first signal and the second signal that is the inverse of the first signal are supplied to the operational amplifier. The operational amplifier supplies an output signal to the first element, and a first preset potential is supplied to the first node through the first transistor. A signal including variations of the operational amplifier is stored in the first element in accordance with the first preset potential.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takeya Hirose, Takahiro Fukutome
  • Patent number: 11437907
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a charge pump architecture in which boosting capacitors of adjacent stages are connected only by NMOS type transistors and comprising a first stage receiving a first voltage and outputting an internal voltage; a second stage receiving the internal voltage and outputting a second voltage at an output terminal, and an auxiliary stage connected to the output terminal, the first stage and second stage including a first type of MOS transistors transferring the voltage from input node internal boosting nodes and being cross-coupled; a second type of MOS transistors with their gate biased by a third type of MOS transistors and fourth type of MOS transistors; the third type of MOS transistors connecting the gate of the second type of MOS transistors; and the fourth type of MOS transistors connecting the gate of the second type of MOS transistors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Assignee: SK hynix Inc.
    Inventors: Onur Aker, Marco Passerini
  • Patent number: 11404094
    Abstract: An apparatus is provided, where the apparatus includes a first transistor coupled between a supply node and an output node; a resistor and a second transistor coupled in series between the output node and a ground terminal; a circuitry to receive data, and to output a first control signal and a second control signal to respectively control the first transistor and the second transistor, wherein an output signal at the output node is indicative of the data, and wherein the first transistor is a N-type transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Harishankar Sridharan, Karthik Tyamgondlu
  • Patent number: 11315612
    Abstract: A semiconductor storing apparatus capable of suppressing a peak current in a pre-charge operation and shortening a sense time is provided. A pre-charge method of a bit line of an NAND type flash memory includes: turning on a transistor (BLPRE) and supplying a pre-charge voltage to a sense node (SNS) at time (t1); turning on a transistor (BLCLAMP) connected to the sense node (SNS) and used for generating a clamp voltage and turning on a transistor (BLCN) connected to a node (BLS) at time (t2), turning on a transistor (BLSe/BLSo) connected between the node (BLS) and a bit line (GBLe/GBLo) at time (t3), and performing the pre-charge operation on the bit line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2022
    Assignee: Winbond Electronics Corp.
    Inventor: Sho Okabe
  • Patent number: 11128300
    Abstract: A level shifter circuit with an intermediate power domain and method for operating the same is disclosed. The level shifter circuit includes an input circuit, an output circuit, and an intermediate circuit. The input circuit is coupled to receive an input signal from a first voltage domain operating according to a first supply voltage, and generates a first intermediate signal. The intermediate circuit receives the first intermediate signal and generates a second intermediate signal. The output circuit receives the intermediate signal and provides an output signal into a second voltage domain operating at a second supply voltage different from the first. A voltage multiplexer is configured to provide one of the first or second supply voltages to the intermediate circuit depending on a state of the input signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Nathan F. Hanagami, Hao Zhou, Jianbao Wang, Ruopeng Wang, Ludmil N. Nikolov
  • Patent number: 11081176
    Abstract: Provided are a device comprising a bit cell tile including at least two memory cells, each of the at least two memory cells including a resistive memory element, and methods of operating an array of the memory cells, each memory cell including a resistive memory element electrically coupled in series to a corresponding first transistor and to a corresponding second transistor, the first transistor including a first gate coupled to a corresponding one of a plurality of first word lines and the second transistor including a second gate coupled to a corresponding one of a plurality of second word lines, each memory cell coupled between a corresponding one of a plurality of bit lines and a corresponding one of a plurality of source lines. The methods may include applying voltages to the first word line, second word line, source line, and bit line of a memory cell selected for an operation, and resetting the resistive memory element of the memory cell in response to setting the selected bit line to ground.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2021
    Assignee: Hefei Reliance Memory Limited
    Inventors: Deepak Chandra Sekar, Wayne Frederick Ellis, Brent Steven Haukness, Gary Bela Bronner, Thomas Vogelsang
  • Patent number: 10886931
    Abstract: A circuit includes analog input nodes and switches selectively coupling each of the analog input nodes to a capacitive node. Each of the switches is controlled by a respective bit of a channel selection word. Level shifting circuits are respectively coupled in parallel with the switches. A sampling capacitor is coupled between an output node and ground, the output node being coupled to the capacitive node. An analog to digital converter operates to digitize voltages at the output node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 5, 2021
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics International N.V.
    Inventors: Rajesh Narwal, Kavindu Shekhar Benjwal
  • Patent number: 10868469
    Abstract: A power converter for converting an input voltage at an input port into an output voltage at an output port of the power converter is described. The power converter comprises an inductor having a first inductor port and a second inductor port, wherein the second inductor port is coupled to the output port. Furthermore, the power converter comprises a flying capacitor having a first capacitor port and a second capacitor port, and a switching cell. In addition, the power converter comprises a control unit to operate the switching cell in a first sequence of operation phases to perform step-up conversion; and in a second sequence of operation phases to perform step-down conversion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 15, 2020
    Assignee: Dialog Semiconductor (UK) Limited
    Inventor: Holger Petersen
  • Patent number: 10771055
    Abstract: Provided is a switching device including: a cascode switch including at least two transistors connected in series and receiving a switching control signal; and a third switch receiving the switching control signal, wherein the at least two transistors include a first transistor receiving the switching control signal through a control terminal and a second transistor having a control terminal connected to a first voltage source, and wherein the third switch is connected between the control terminal and the first terminal of the second transistor, is turned off when the first transistor is turned on, and is turned on when the first transistor is turned off.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2020
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Nikolay Nikolayevich Olyunin, Alexander Nikolayevich Khripkov, Alexander Gennadyevich Chernokalov
  • Patent number: 10715137
    Abstract: Devices, systems, and methods are provided for generating a high, dynamic voltage boost. An integrated circuit (IC) includes a driving circuit having a first stage and a second stage. The driving circuit is configured to provide an overdrive voltage. The IC also includes a charge pump circuit coupled between the first stage and the second stage. The charge pump circuit is configured generate a dynamic voltage greater than the overdrive voltage. The IC also includes a bootstrap circuit coupled to the charge pump circuit, configured to further dynamically boost the overdrive voltage of the driving circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2020
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited
    Inventors: Chan-Hong Chern, Tysh-Bin Liu, Kun-Lung Chen
  • Patent number: 10475705
    Abstract: Disclosed is a voltage regulator for an integrated circuit. The voltage regulator can be configured to regulate a supply voltage provided to the integrated circuit. The integrated circuit can operate a near threshold value irrespective of a magnitude of the supply voltage. The voltage regulator can include a single Field Effect Transistor (FET) based circuit. The single FET based circuit can be configured to regulate the supply voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2019
    Assignee: BOARD OF REGENTS, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SYSTEM
    Inventors: Shuza Binzaid, Avadhoot Herlekar
  • Patent number: 10476390
    Abstract: A power converter for converting an input voltage at an input port into an output voltage at an output port of the power converter is described. The power converter comprises an inductor having a first inductor port and a second inductor port, wherein the second inductor port is coupled to the output port. Furthermore, the power converter comprises a flying capacitor having a first capacitor port and a second capacitor port, and a switching cell. In addition, the power converter comprises a control unit to operate the switching cell in a first sequence of operation phases to perform step-up conversion; and in a second sequence of operation phases to perform step-down conversion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2019
    Assignee: Dialog Semiconductor (UK) Limited
    Inventor: Holger Petersen
  • Patent number: 10396579
    Abstract: An electronic circuit is disclosed. The electronic circuit includes a GaN substrate, a first power supply node on the substrate, an output node, a signal node, and an output component on the substrate, where the output component is configured to generate a voltage at the output node based at least in part on a voltage at the signal node. The electronic circuit also includes a capacitor coupled to the signal node, where, the capacitor is configured to selectively cause the voltage at the signal node to be greater than the voltage of the first power supply node, such that the output component causes the voltage at the output node to be substantially equal to the voltage of the first power supply node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2019
    Assignee: NAVITAS SEMICONDUCTOR, INC.
    Inventors: Daniel Marvin Kinzer, Santosh Sharma, Ju Zhang
  • Patent number: 10355686
    Abstract: Methods and systems for reliable bootstrapping switches may comprise sampling a received signal with a bootstrapping switch, where the bootstrapping switch comprises a switching metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistor having a pull-down path coupled to a gate terminal of the switching MOS transistor, wherein: source terminals of both a diode-connected transistor and a second MOS transistor are coupled to the gate terminal of the switching MOS transistor; drain terminals of both the diode-connected transistor and the second MOS transistor are coupled to a source terminal of a third MOS transistor, the third MOS transistor coupled in series with a fourth MOS transistor; and a drain terminal of the fourth MOS transistor is coupled to ground. The third and fourth MOS transistors may be in series with the second MOS transistor. A gate terminal of the fourth transistor may be switched from ground to a supply voltage to activate the pull-down path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2019
    Assignee: Maxlinear, Inc.
    Inventors: Yongjian Tang, Xuefeng Chen
  • Patent number: 10250250
    Abstract: The trend in wireless communication receivers is to capture more and more bandwidth to support higher throughput, and to directly sample the radio frequency (RF) signal to enable re-configurability and lower cost. Other applications like instrumentation also demand the ability to digitize wide bandwidth RF signals. These applications benefit from input circuitry which can perform well with high speed, wide bandwidth RF signals. An input buffer and bootstrapped switch are designed to service such applications, and can be implemented in 28 nm complementary metal-oxide (CMOS) technology.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2019
    Assignee: ANALOG DEVICES, INC.
    Inventors: Siddharth Devarajan, Lawrence A. Singer
  • Patent number: 10236770
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a high-voltage generator with multi-stage selection in low-voltage transistor process which include a boosted circuit, a plurality of switch and a feedback circuit. The boosted circuit includes multiple charge pump, so that can generate a DC output voltage higher or lower than the input signal. Turning on or turning off each switch controlled by a control signal respectively. Both ends of the circuit is connected to the output end of the high-voltage generator and charge pumps. By controlling the turning on or turning off each switch, it determines the magnitude of the boost and it also can ensure that switches will not be damaged due to excessive voltage difference.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2019
    Assignee: NATIONAL CHIAO TUNG UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Ming-Dou Ker, Li-Chin Yu
  • Patent number: 10198052
    Abstract: Embodiments are described including those for controlling peak current consumption of a multi-chip memory package during power-up. In one embodiment, each memory device of the multi-chip package includes a power level detector used to compare an internal voltage signal to a threshold. A current limiter controls the ramping rate of the internal voltage signal in response to the power level detector as the internal voltage signal ramps up towards the threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2019
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: June Lee
  • Patent number: 10050621
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a power transistor and a driving circuit. The driving circuit is coupled to and is configured to drive the power transistor and includes first and second stages. The second stage is coupled between the first stage and the power transistor. Each of the first and second stages includes a pair of enhancement-mode high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs). The construction as such lowers a static current of the driving circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2018
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited
    Inventors: Chan-Hong Chern, Chu Fu Chen, Chun Lin Tsai, Mark Chen, King-Yuen Wong, Ming-Cheng Lin, Tysh-Bin Liu
  • Patent number: 9972586
    Abstract: In order to realize a silicon PUF of lower power consumption, a semiconductor device includes first and second MIS transistors of the same conductive type in off-state coupled in series, as a PUF element. The PUF element outputs a signal of high level or low level depending on the potential of a connection node of the first and the second MIS transistors. Preferably, the MIS transistors are fin-type FETs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2018
    Assignee: Renesas Electronics Corporation
    Inventor: Takeshi Okagaki
  • Patent number: 9847713
    Abstract: A charge pump circuit having first and second input nodes to be coupled to a first power source, and top and bottom output nodes and an intermediate node. The charge pump circuit produces i) a voltage at the top output node that is higher than a voltage of the intermediate node, and ii) a voltage at the bottom output node that is lower than the voltage of the intermediate node. A bias voltage source has i) an input that is to be coupled to a second power source and ii) an output that produces an output voltage, which is a predetermined proportion of an input voltage at the input and that follows the input voltage downward and upward as the input voltage sags and recovers, respectively. The output of the bias voltage source is directly connected to the intermediate node of the output stage. Other embodiments are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2017
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: David C. Breece, III, Roderick B. Hogan, Nathan A. Johanningsmeier
  • Patent number: 9813057
    Abstract: A sampling circuit for sampling an input voltage and generating an output voltage, comprising six switches, a capacitor and a voltage buffer. The first switch has a control terminal and makes the output voltage equal to the input voltage when switching on. The second switch is coupled to a first terminal of the capacitor and a first level. The third switch is coupled to a second terminal of the capacitor and a second level. The fourth switch is coupled to the first terminal of the capacitor and the control terminal. The fifth switch is coupled to the control terminal and the second level. The voltage buffer has large input impedance, and has an input receiving the input voltage, an output providing a voltage equal or close to the input voltage. The sixth switch is coupled to the second terminal of the capacitor and the output of the voltage buffer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2017
    Assignee: REALTEK SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ming-Cheng Chiang, Li-Lung Kao
  • Patent number: 9781371
    Abstract: A solid state image sensor includes a pixel array, as well as charge-to-voltage converters, reset gates, and amplifiers each shared by a plurality of pixels in the array. The voltage level of the reset gate power supply is set higher than the voltage level of the amplifier power supply. Additionally, charge overflowing from photodetectors in the pixels may be discarded into the charge-to-voltage converters. The image sensor may also include a row scanner configured such that, while scanning a row in the pixel array to read out signals therefrom, the row scanner resets the charge in the photodetectors of the pixels sharing a charge-to-voltage converter with pixels on the readout row. The charge reset is conducted simultaneously with or prior to reading out the signals from the pixels on the readout row.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2017
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi Yanagita, Keiji Mabuchi, Hiroaki Ishiwata
  • Patent number: 9755582
    Abstract: A switch circuit comprising: a plurality of switches; a switching module; and a capacitor, having a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal is coupled to a predetermined voltage, and the second terminal is coupled to a control terminal of at least the switch in a conductive mode via the switching module, to thereby control a conductive state for the at least one switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2017
    Assignee: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
    Inventors: Jian-Ru Lin, Shin-Syong Huang
  • Patent number: 9641166
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for implementing a bootstrapped switching circuit having improved (i.e. faster) turn-on time is provided. In an embodiment, an inner switching loop is implemented in a bootstrapped switching circuit where the inner switching loop is configured to turn on an input switch in the bootstrapped drive circuit independent of the drive circuit output. The embodiment decouples the inner switching loop circuitry from the output drive circuit of the bootstrapped switching circuit, which typically has a larger load capacitance than the inner switching loop. This allows the inner switching loop to turn on the input switch in the bootstrapped switching circuit faster and decreases the turn-on time of the bootstrapped switching circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: ANALOG DEVICES, INC.
    Inventors: Siddharth Devarajan, Lawrence A. Singer
  • Patent number: 9621157
    Abstract: A sampling circuit for sampling an input voltage and generating an output voltage, comprising six switches, a capacitor and a voltage buffer. The first switch has a control terminal and makes the output voltage equal to the input voltage when switching on. The second switch is coupled to a first terminal of the capacitor and a first level. The third switch is coupled to a second terminal of the capacitor and a second level. The fourth switch is coupled to the first terminal of the capacitor and the control terminal. The fifth switch is coupled to the control terminal and the second level. The voltage buffer has large input impedance, and has an input receiving the input voltage, an output providing a voltage equal or close to the input voltage. The sixth switch is coupled to the second terminal of the capacitor and the output of the voltage buffer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: REALTEK SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ming-Cheng Chiang, Li-Lung Kao
  • Patent number: 9584020
    Abstract: Devices and methods provide a duty cycle clamping device for preventing an output voltage of a power converter from decreasing as the duty cycle of a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal driving the power converter increases, the clamping device including duty cycle clamping circuitry configured to determine a critical duty cycle for the PWM signal based on an input voltage, a top voltage of a flying capacitor and a bottom voltage of the flying capacitor, and configured to clamp an actual duty cycle of the PWM signal at the critical duty cycle if a desired duty cycle exceeds the critical duty cycle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Assignee: Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventor: Rendon Holloway
  • Patent number: 9559713
    Abstract: An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is used for dynamic tracking nonlinearity correction. The correction employs an analog sampling technique to determine the signal derivative by measuring the derivative current arising from sampling an analog input signal undergoing analog-to-digital conversion, at the sampling instant. The analog derivative sampling technique achieves significant reduction in power consumption with less complexity compared with a digital approach, with strong improvements in HD3, SDFR, and IM3 measures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignee: Broadcom Corporation
    Inventors: Rong Wu, Tianwei Li
  • Patent number: 9479882
    Abstract: An audio accessory key detection system (40) includes a host circuit (2-3) coupled to communicate via a microphone line (7) with an accessory circuit (3-3) in either a MSFT mode or a digital communication mode. Depletion mode transistors (44-1,2,3) in the accessory circuit are coupled between keys (15-1,2,3) of the accessory circuit, respectively. The depletion mode transistors are allowed to remain conductive for MSFT mode operation. For digital communications mode operation, the host circuit sends a command via the microphone line to a key detector and controller circuit (29A) in the accessory circuit. In response, a voltage is generated to turn the depletion mode transistors off so as to allow digital communications mode operation between the accessory circuit and the host circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2016
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Ball Fan, Wenpang David Wang, Christopher Michael Graves
  • Patent number: 9466493
    Abstract: A sense amplifier (SA) comprises a semiconductor substrate having an oxide definition (OD) region, a pair of SA sensing devices, a SA enabling device, and a sense amplifier enabling signal (SAE) line for carrying an SAE signal. The pair of SA sensing devices have the same poly gate length Lg as the SA enabling device, and they all share the same OD region. When enabled, the SAE signal turns on the SA enabling device to discharge one of the pair of SA sensing devices for data read from the sense amplifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2016
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yen-Huei Chen, Chien Chi Tien, Kao-Cheng Lin, Jung-Hsuan Chen
  • Patent number: 9401727
    Abstract: In a time-interleaved Analog to Digital Converter, circuit components and capacitances may be shared among a plurality of sample and hold circuits in each of two sets. The two shared circuits alternate, on different half-periods of a master clock signal, between charging a capacitance and sampling an input in an overlapping manner such that one is charging while the other is sampling. One sample and hold circuit is activated during each successive half-period (following a charging half-period) by independent, sequential, non-overlapping clocking signals. To improve SNDR, at least one switch is bootstrapped by driving its gate terminal with the voltage of a capacitor configured between the gate and the input signal. By sharing at least some components among multiple sample and hold circuits, the number of gates driven by clock signals is reduced, reducing clock distribution and calibration complexity, and the circuit area is reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2016
    Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)
    Inventors: Daniele Mastantuono, Mattias Palm, Roland Strandberg
  • Patent number: 9378844
    Abstract: Electric charge is stored, in accordance with a bias voltage, in a gate of a transistor performing switching operation between an input terminal and an output terminal, and the gate is brought into an electrically floating state at the time of completing the storage of electric charge in the gate. One electrode of a capacitor is connected to the gate in an electrically floating state, and the potential of the other electrode of the capacitor is increased, so that the voltage of the gate is increased using capacitive coupling. The potential of the gate of the transistor is increased, and the bias voltage is sampled without being decreased. Each of the transistor performing switching operation and a transistor connected to the gate of the transistor is a transistor with an extremely low off-state current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2016
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Kei Takahashi
  • Patent number: 9325312
    Abstract: An input control circuit that can be used to drive analog switches of analog modules such as an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) enables a sampling switch to receive a higher input voltage than the voltage rating of the devices comprising the sampling switch without risk of damage and without the need for a resistor divider network. The input control circuit and switch both receive an input voltage to be processed and the input control circuit generates a control signal for the switch that is derived from a pre-charged capacitor. The control circuit permits the design and manufacture of high voltage analog modules using low voltage devices, which can save on mask costs without any performance trade-offs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2016
    Assignee: FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR, INC.
    Inventors: Mayank Jain, Sanjoy K. Dey
  • Patent number: 9287002
    Abstract: A sampling circuit may include a sampling capacitance, an electronic sampling switch, and a switch controller. The electronic sampling switch may have a control input that controls whether the electronic sampling switch is in a sample state or a hold state. The electronic sampling switch may connect the sampling capacitance to an input signal while in the sample state and disconnect the sampling capacitance from the input signal while in the hold state. The switch controller may control the control input to the electronic sampling switch so as to cause the electronic sampling switch to be in the sample state during one period and the hold state during another period. While in the sample state, the switch controller may cause the impedance of the electronic sampling switch that is seen by the input signal to be substantially independent of the voltage of the input signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2016
    Assignee: LINEAR TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventor: David M. Thomas
  • Patent number: 9247172
    Abstract: A solid state image sensor includes a pixel array, as well as charge-to-voltage converters, reset gates, and amplifiers each shared by a plurality of pixels in the array. The voltage level of the reset gate power supply is set higher than the voltage level of the amplifier power supply. Additionally, charge overflowing from photodetectors in the pixels may be discarded into the charge-to-voltage converters. The image sensor may also include a row scanner configured such that, while scanning a row in the pixel array to read out signals therefrom, the row scanner resets the charge in the photodetectors of the pixels sharing a charge-to-voltage converter with pixels on the readout row. The charge reset is conducted simultaneously with or prior to reading out the signals from the pixels on the readout row.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2016
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi Yanagita, Keiji Mabuchi, Hiroaki Ishiwata
  • Patent number: 9218513
    Abstract: A switching circuit is linearized by using a capacitor to apply a drive voltage to an FET, wherein the drive voltage is independent of the signal switched by the switching circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 22, 2015
    Assignee: Sequans Communications
    Inventors: Thomas Winiecki, Olujide Adeyemi Adeniran
  • Patent number: 9152497
    Abstract: A storage module may include a NAND-type flash memory array and one or more controllers configured to increase gate bias voltage levels applied to gates in the memory array to overcome possible gate shorts and recover data identified as being uncorrectable. The increased gate bias voltages may be applied to gates of a single type of transistor or to different types of transistors in the memory array, including drain select transistors, source select transistors, or floating gate transistors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: SanDisk Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: Dana Lee, Abhijeet Manohar
  • Patent number: 9093232
    Abstract: An electronic switch may include transfer transistor having a first conduction terminal for receiving an input signal, a second conduction terminal, and a control terminal. The transfer transistor may enable/disable a transfer of the input signal from the first conduction terminal to the second conduction terminal according to a control signal. The control signal may take a first value and a second value different from the first value, a difference between the first value and the second value defining, in absolute value, an operative value of the control signal. The electronic switch may further comprise a driving circuit for receiving the input signal and the control signal, and for providing a driving signal equal to the sum between the input signal and the operative value of the control signal to the control terminal of the transfer transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2015
    Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS S.R.L.
    Inventors: Enrico Castaldo, Antonino Conte, SantiNunzioAntonino Pagano, Stefania Rinaldi
  • Patent number: 9024558
    Abstract: A bridge output circuit includes an output terminal, a high side transistor, a low side transistor, a high side driver for controlling a gate voltage of the high side transistor, a low side driver for controlling a gate voltage of the low side transistor, and a controller for controlling the high side and low side drivers. The low side driver includes a first current source, a second current source, and a first assist circuit. The controller is configured to control the turning-on and turning-off states of the first current source, the second current source and the first assist circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2015
    Assignee: Rohm Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Hisashi Sugie
  • Patent number: 9019000
    Abstract: A driver circuit for a semiconductor switching device includes a drive power source, a capacitor and four switches, which form a bridge circuit. The capacitor is provided between the four switches. In one cycle of application of a voltage to a gate of the semiconductor switching device to turn on the semiconductor switch, the first and the second switches, which are diagonal, are turned off and the third and the fourth switches, which are diagonal, are turned on to charge the capacitor. Then only the first switch is turned on to apply the voltage to the gate, and lastly only the second switch is turned on to discharge the capacitor thereby to apply a negative voltage to the gate of the semiconductor switching device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2015
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kazuhiro Umetani
  • Publication number: 20150109161
    Abstract: A bootstrapped switch circuit capable of operating at input signals from far below the negative supply rail to far beyond the positive supply rail may include (a) a switch having a first terminal coupled to an input terminal, a second terminal coupled to an output terminal, and a control terminal; (b) a charge pump coupled to one or more clock signals and isolated from a timing circuit via a first capacitor and a second capacitor, the charge pump generating an output voltage; and (c) a logic circuit coupled to one or more clock signals and isolated from the timing control circuit via a third capacitor and a fourth capacitor, wherein the logic circuit provides a control signal to the control terminal of the switch that is derived from the output voltage of the charge pump.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 16, 2014
    Publication date: April 23, 2015
    Applicant: Linear Technology Corporation
    Inventor: Gerd TRAMPITSCH
  • Patent number: 8994439
    Abstract: A semiconductor device which has reduced power consumption and includes a selection transistor is provided. A semiconductor device in which the number of wirings and terminals for inputting a power supply potential is reduced and which operates at high speed is provided. A buffer circuit connected to a gate line connected to a gate of the selection transistor has a function of generating a potential higher than a high power supply potential by using the high power supply potential and outputs the potential depending on the selection signal. A bootstrap circuit boosts a high power supply potential that is input to an inverter that is the closest to an output side among a plurality of inverters included in a buffer circuit. Further, by providing a delay circuit in the buffer circuit, the bootstrap circuit starts to boost a potential at the timing later than the input of the selection signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Makoto Kaneyasu, Kouhei Toyotaka
  • Patent number: 8981843
    Abstract: This document discusses, among other things, a control circuit, such as a translator circuit, configured to reduce voltage stress of first and second transistors when a first voltage received by the first transistor exceeds a voltage rating of at least one of the first or second transistors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventors: Nickole Gagne, Kenneth P. Snowdon
  • Publication number: 20150042547
    Abstract: A gate driver, including multiple stages of gate driving circuits, wherein each stage of the gate driving circuits includes an input part configured to generate a Q node signal in response to a carry signal of one of previous stages and a clock signal, the Q node signal being applied to Q node, an output part configured to output a gate output signal to a gate output terminal in response to the Q node signal, and a charge sharing part connected to the gate output terminal of a present stage and a gate output terminal of one of next stages, the charge sharing part configured to operate charge-sharing between the gate output signal of the present stage and a gate output signal of one of the next stages in response to a select signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 23, 2014
    Publication date: February 12, 2015
    Inventors: Oh-Kyong KWON, Yeong-Keun KWON, Jong-Hee KIM, Ji-Sun KIM, Jae-Keun LIM, Chong-Chul CHAI
  • Patent number: 8907701
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a CMOS differential logic circuit. The CMOS differential logic circuit includes a precharge differential logic unit, which is precharged to a source voltage in response to a clock signal and is configured to output voltage having an increased load-driving ability using a boosting voltage; a voltage-boosting unit, which is pulled down by a ground voltage in response to the clock signal and is configured to boost the pulled-down voltage using capacitive coupling and output the boosting voltage; and a switching unit, which is configured to couple the precharge differential logic unit and the voltage-boosting unit in response to the clock signal. The propagation delay of a signal from the input terminal to the output terminal of a circuit in a low-source-voltage environment can be reduced, and the operating speed of the circuit and energy efficiency of the operation thereof can be improved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2014
    Assignee: Research & Business Foundation Sungkyunkwan University
    Inventors: Bai Sun Kong, Jong Woo Kim, Joo Seong Kim
  • Patent number: 8866652
    Abstract: An example apparatus, system, and method for sampling in an interleaved sampling circuit having multiple channels. In an embodiment, an input clock is used to synchronize the transitions of sampling clocks from a first to second voltage level, relative to one another. The sampling clocks are input to a sampling circuit. The input clock switches a common switch that pulls each sampling clock to the second voltage level through a common path on input clock transitions from a first to a second clock state. The transition from the first to a second voltage level of each sampling clock triggers a sample taken on one of the channels. The first voltage level may be boosted to drive switches on in the sampling circuit. Synchronizing transitions of the outputs through the common switch and common path reduces timing mismatch between the sampling clocks controlling the channels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Analog Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Lawrence A. Singer, Siddharth Devarajan
  • Publication number: 20140266395
    Abstract: A coupling apparatus having a first branch and a second branch is disclosed. The first branch generally comprises (A) a first switch group configured to connect an input signal to an output node through a first capacitor, and (B) second switch group configured to connect either (i) a second signal, or (ii) a ground voltage, to the output node through a second capacitor. The second branch generally comprises (A) a third switch group configured to connect the input signal to the output node through a third capacitor, and (B) a fourth switch group configured to connect either (i) the second signal, or (ii) the ground voltage, to the output node through a fourth capacitor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 6, 2013
    Publication date: September 18, 2014
    Applicant: LSI Corporation
    Inventor: LSI Corporation