Patents Represented by Attorney Vedder Price Kaufman & Kammholz, P.C.
  • Patent number: 7286175
    Abstract: Bias control circuitry and method for use in controlling one or more cathode ray tube (CRT) beam currents.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2007
    Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventor: Charles Guan
  • Patent number: 7283083
    Abstract: A double-sampled pipeline analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) system and method in which latching of the intrastage digital quantization signals occurs approximately midway the leading and trailing edges of the clock signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2007
    Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventors: Abu-Hena Mostafa Kamal, Arlo Aude
  • Patent number: 7283364
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a thermal management apparatus used to manage temperature of components mounted to a circuit substrate, such as electronic or optical components. The apparatus includes a heat dissipation structure that includes at least one protrusion extending from a surface of the heat dissipation structure. A carrier structure is also included and engages with the heat dissipation structure. The carrier structure includes an aperture that receives the at least one protrusion. Additionally, the apparatus includes at least one biasing structure that is configured to allow movement of the heat dissipation structure relative to the carrier structure and provides a biasing force tending to move the heat dissipation structure and carrier structure together.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2007
    Assignee: ATI Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: Gamal Refai-Ahmed, Xiaohua H. Sun, Nima Osqueizadeh, Salim Lakhani, Jim E. Loro, A. Mei Lan Shepherd-Murray, Ross Lau
  • Patent number: 7279976
    Abstract: A differential amplifier circuit with a self-controlled common mode output voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2007
    Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventor: Hon Kin Chiu
  • Patent number: 7281122
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for nested control flow includes a processor having at least one context bit. The processor includes a plurality of arithmetic logic units for performing single instruction multiple data (SIMD) operations. The method and apparatus further includes a first memory device storing a plurality of instructions wherein each of the plurality of instructions includes a plurality of extra bits. The processor is operative to execute the instructions based on the extra bits and in conjunction with a context bit. The method and apparatus further includes a second memory device, such as a general purpose register operably coupled to the processor, the second memory device receiving an incrementing counter instruction upon the execution of one of the plurality of instructions. As such, the method and apparatus allows for nested control flow through a single context bit in conjunction with instructions having a plurality of extra bits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2007
    Assignee: ATI Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: Norman Rubin, Andrew Gruber
  • Patent number: 7280119
    Abstract: The embodiments of the present invention are a method and apparatus to perform anti-aliasing using multi-sampling on a non-power-of-two pixel grid. Using the present invention with 6 sample multisampling gives the same visual antialiasing quality as 8 samples using a prior art technique but uses less memory. A non-power-of-two equally spaced sample from a conventional grid of size N×N, where N is 12 can be chosen using the present invention. A scan conversion to determine the set of pixels covered by a polygon is performed in two parts. According to one embodiment, the present invention can multiply and divide by “N” in order to multisample an image using samples per pixel chosen from a N×N sub-sample grid, where “N” is not necessarily a power of 2. The present invention performs the divide by “N” step, where the step is achieved using a quick divide by 3 or 12 technique.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2007
    Assignee: ATI Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: Mark M. Leather, Eric Demers
  • Patent number: 7277483
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for rate control for a constant-bit-rate finite-buffer-size video encoder is described. Rate control is provided by adjusting the size of non-intra frames based on the size of intra frames. A sliding window approach is implemented to avoid excessive adjustment of non-intra frames located near the end of a group of pictures. A measurement of “power” based on a sum of absolute values of pixel values is used. The “power” measurement is used to adjust a global complexity value, which is used to adjust the sizes of frames. The global complexity value responds to scene changes. An embodiment of the invention calculates and uses L1 distances and pixel block complexities to provide rate control. An embodiment of the invention implements a number of bit predictor block. Predictions may be performed at a group-of-pictures level, at a picture level, and at a pixel block level. An embodiment of the invention resets a global complexity parameter when a scene change occurs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2007
    Assignee: ATI International SRL
    Inventor: Stefan Eckart
  • Patent number: 7277135
    Abstract: Video signal control circuitry for use in a video display system in which a variation in a brightness level of a video display signal causes a corresponding variation in a beam current signal, wherein such video signal control circuitry maintains a controllable video display signal brightness level at a substantially constant average value notwithstanding a variation in the incoming video signal brightness level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2007
    Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventors: Peyman Hojabri, Hon Kin Chiu, Robert Eddy, Leonard Stencel, Wayne Harlan
  • Patent number: 7272564
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for providing multimodal communication outputs information, such as retrieved content, in a first modality. An output modality change command is generated, such as via a multimodal user input interface, or other suitable mechanism. A multimodal communication apparatus and method then reprovides the previously output information as reprovided information in a different output modality in response to receiving the output modality change command. Accordingly, a user or unit may have content delivered in one modality and redelivered in a different preferred modality or modalities. Accordingly, a user or device may request output modalities dynamically so that content can be delivered using a different user preference after the content has already been provided in a first modality.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2007
    Assignee: Motorola, Inc.
    Inventors: W. Garland Phillips, Dwight Randall Smith
  • Patent number: 7271841
    Abstract: A method for deinterlacing interlaced video using a graphics processor includes receiving at least one instruction for a 2D/3D engine to facilitate creation of an adaptively deinterlaced frame image from at least a first interlaced field. The method also includes performing, by the 2D/3D engine, at least a portion of adaptive deinterlacing based on at least the first interlaced field, in response to the at least one instruction to produce at least a portion of the adaptively deinterlaced frame image. Once the information is deinterlaced, the method includes retrieving, by a graphics processor display engine, the stored adaptively deinterlaced frame image generated by the 2D/3D engine, for display on one or more display devices. The method also includes issuing 2D/3D instructions to the 2D/3D engine to carry out deinterlacing of lines of video data from interlaced fields. This may be done, for example, by another processing device, such as a host CPU, or any other suitable processing device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2007
    Assignee: ATl International SRL
    Inventors: Philip L. Swan, Edward G. Callway
  • Patent number: 7266145
    Abstract: An adaptive signal equalizer with a feedforward filter in which the feedback error signal and corresponding incoming data signal are dynamically aligned in time using signal interpolation, and further, to control the precursor/postcursor filter taps configuration, thereby producing more adaptive filter tap coefficient signals for significantly improved and robust signal equalization.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2007
    Assignee: Scintera Networks, Inc.
    Inventors: Venugopal Balasubramonian, Jishnu Bhattacharjee, Edem Ibragimov, Debanjan Mukherjee, Abhijit Phanse, Abhijit G. Shanbhag, Qian Yu
  • Patent number: 7256795
    Abstract: Power consumption in a portable computer device that provides true-color simulation on a liquid crystal display can be realized by selectively operating a graphics controller that drives the LCD to selectively enable or disable true color simulation. Disabling dithering which provides true color simulation in an LCD, can significantly reduce power consumption by a portable computer device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2007
    Assignee: ATI Technologies Inc.
    Inventor: I-Cheng Chen
  • Patent number: 7253663
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a differential signaling circuit including differential signaling circuitry having at least one output and one input, that can operate in multiple mode of operations while using a single, low voltage supply source. Two or more switches are included and configured to selectively couple a supply voltage to the output dependent on a mode of operation of the differential signaling circuitry. The circuit also includes a switch control biasing circuit operatively coupled to at least one of the switches and to the output of the differential signaling circuitry. The switch control biasing circuit provides a switch control biasing voltage to control a state of the switch based on a voltage level of the output. Further, a bulk biasing circuit is included and operatively coupled to the switch. The bulk biasing circuit selectively provides a bulk biasing voltage to the switch based on the voltage level of the output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2007
    Assignee: ATI Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: Junho Cho, Nancy Chan, Ramesh Senthinathan, Stephen Yue, Richard W Fung
  • Patent number: 7254231
    Abstract: A structure and associated method to implement encryption/decryption under the Data Encryption Standard (DES). Several additional instructions are included in the instruction set of a general purpose microprocessor to operate in conjunction with hardware included in a data path of the general purpose microprocessor. The additional instructions perform a portion of the DES algorithm, in particular, a portion of a DES round. The state information used at each step of the encryption portion of the DES algorithm is provided in various general purpose registers of the general purpose microprocessor. In one embodiment, all sixteen subkeys are selected prior to the DES step in the general processor after a DES key is known. In another embodiment, each subkey is selected during the round it is used. In yet another embodiment, each subkey is selected during the round it is used, as part of an additional instruction executed by the general purpose microprocessor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 1999
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2007
    Assignee: ATI International SRL
    Inventors: Don Van Dyke, Korbin Van Dyke, Stephen C. Purcell
  • Patent number: 7242400
    Abstract: The present invention provides a scheme for compressing and decompressing the depth, or Z, components of image data. Image data is grouped into a plurality of tiles. A test is performed to determine if a tile can be compressed so that its size after compression is less than its size before compression. If so, the tile is compressed. A tile table includes a flag that can be set for each tile that is compressed. In one scheme, each tile comprises a 4×4 block of pixels. For each pixel, the visible depth complexity is determined where each visible level of depth complexity is represented by a plane equation. Depending on the depth complexity, a compression scheme is chosen that stores multiple plane equations in cache lines. The compression scheme can be used with unsampled or multisampled data and provides higher levels of compression in multisampled environments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2002
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2007
    Assignee: ATI Technologies ULC
    Inventors: Timothy Van Hook, Farhad Fouladi
  • Patent number: 7239198
    Abstract: An integrated differential receiver includes a single gate oxide differential receiver and an associated switchable voltage supply circuit. The integrated differential receiver determines the desired receiver supply voltage and selects a supply voltage for the single gate oxide differential receiver. When a lower supply voltage is determined as the desired supply voltage, the integrated differential receiver automatically provides a supply voltage to the single gate oxide differential receiver with a voltage higher than the I/O pad supply voltage and higher than the maximum input signal voltage to increase the speed of operation for the differential receiver. The switchable voltage supply circuit is operatively responsive to a control signal which indicates the desired supply voltage for the I/O pad. In one embodiment, both the single gate oxide differential receiver and the switchable voltage supply circuit are single gate oxide circuits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 1998
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2007
    Assignee: ATI International SRL
    Inventors: Oleg Drapkin, Grigori Temkine
  • Patent number: 7236040
    Abstract: A multiphase clock generating circuit includes a multiphase clock generator that produces a plurality of multiphase output signals at a first frequency and a multiphase divider with delayed reset control. The multiphase divider with delayed reset control is operatively coupled to receive the plurality of multiphase output signals at the first frequency and further operative to produce a plurality of multiphase output signals at a second frequency based on reset control information. As a result, an interface can be supplied with and switch between multiphase clock at different frequencies within a short amount of time with reduced power consumption and circuit area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2007
    Assignee: ATI Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: Ronny C. Chan, Mikhail Rodionov, Karen Wan, Richard W. Fung, Paul Edelshteyn, Ramesh Senthinathan
  • Patent number: D552391
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2007
    Assignee: Grayline Housewares
    Inventor: Frederick K. Rosen
  • Patent number: D552392
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2007
    Assignee: Grayline Housewares
    Inventor: Frederick K. Rosen
  • Patent number: D552393
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2007
    Assignee: Grayline Housewares
    Inventor: Frederick K. Rosen