Patents Assigned to Acorn Technologies, Inc.
  • Patent number: 10749778
    Abstract: A wireless receiver receives location pilots embedded in received symbols and uses the location pilots to detect the first path for every base station the network has designated for the receiver to use in time of arrival estimation. The receiver preferably applies matching pursuit strategies to offer a robust and reliable identification of a channel impulse response's first path. The receiver may also receive and use estimation pilots as a supplement to the location pilot information in determining time of arrival. The receiver can use metrics characteristic of the channel to improve the robustness and reliability of the identification of a CIR's first path. With the first path identified, the receiver measures the time of arrival for signals from that path and the receiver determines the observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) to respond to network requests for OTDOA and position determination measurements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2020
    Assignee: ACORN TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Steven C Thompson, Fernando Lopez de Victoria
  • Patent number: 10388748
    Abstract: An electrical device in which an interface layer is disposed in between and in contact with a conductor and a semiconductor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2019
    Assignee: Acorn Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Daniel E. Grupp, Daniel J. Connelly
  • Patent number: 10193307
    Abstract: Tensile strained germanium is provided that can be sufficiently strained to provide a nearly direct band gap material or a direct band gap material. Compressively stressed or tensile stressed stressor materials in contact with germanium regions induce uniaxial or biaxial tensile strain in the germanium regions. Stressor materials may include silicon nitride or silicon germanium. The resulting strained germanium structure can be used to emit or detect photons including, for example, generating photons within a resonant cavity to provide a laser.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2019
    Assignee: Acorn Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Paul A. Clifton, Andreas Goebel, R. Stockton Gaines
  • Patent number: 10186592
    Abstract: An electrical device in which an interface layer is disposed in between and in contact with a conductor and a semiconductor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: Acorn Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Daniel E. Grupp, Daniel J. Connelly
  • Patent number: 10170627
    Abstract: A nanowire transistor includes undoped source and drain regions electrically coupled with a channel region. A source stack that is electrically isolated from a gate conductor includes an interfacial layer and a source conductor, and is coaxially wrapped completely around the source region, extending along at least a portion of the source region. A Schottky barrier between the source conductor and the source region is a negative Schottky barrier and a concentration of free charge carriers is induced in the semiconductor source region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2019
    Assignee: Acorn Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Paul A. Clifton, Andreas Goebel, Walter A. Harrison
  • Patent number: 10147798
    Abstract: An electrical contact structure (an MIS contact) includes one or more conductors (M-Layer), a semiconductor (S-Layer), and an interfacial dielectric layer (I-Layer) of less than 4 nm thickness disposed between and in contact with both the M-Layer and the S-Layer. The I-Layer is an oxide of a metal or a semiconductor. The conductor of the M-Layer that is adjacent to and in direct contact with the I-Layer is a metal oxide that is electrically conductive, chemically stable and unreactive at its interface with the I-Layer at temperatures up to 450° C. The electrical contact structure has a specific contact resistivity of less than or equal to approximately 10?5-10?7 ?-cm2 when the doping in the semiconductor adjacent the MIS contact is greater than approximately 2×1019 cm?3 and less than approximately 10?8 ?-cm2 when the doping in the semiconductor adjacent the MIS contact is greater than approximately 1020 cm?3.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2018
    Assignee: Acorn Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Paul A. Clifton, Andreas Goebel
  • Patent number: 10090395
    Abstract: An electrical device in which an interface layer is disposed in between and in contact with a conductor and a semiconductor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2018
    Assignee: Acorn Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Daniel E. Grupp, Daniel J. Connelly
  • Patent number: 10084091
    Abstract: An SOI wafer contains a compressively stressed buried insulator structure. In one example, the stressed buried insulator (BOX) may be formed on a host wafer by forming silicon oxide, silicon nitride and silicon oxide layers so that the silicon nitride layer is compressively stressed. Wafer bonding provides the surface silicon layer over the stressed insulator layer. Preferred implementations of the invention form MOS transistors by etching isolation trenches into a preferred SOI substrate having a stressed BOX structure to define transistor active areas on the surface of the SOI substrate. Most preferably the trenches are formed deep enough to penetrate through the stressed BOX structure and some distance into the underlying silicon portion of the substrate. The overlying silicon active regions will have tensile stress induced due to elastic edge relaxation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2018
    Assignee: Acorn Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Paul A. Clifton, R. Stockton Gaines
  • Patent number: 10008827
    Abstract: Tensile strained germanium is provided that can be sufficiently strained to provide a nearly direct band gap material or a direct band gap material. Compressively stressed or tensile stressed stressor materials in contact with germanium regions induce uniaxial or biaxial tensile strain in the germanium regions. Stressor materials may include silicon nitride or silicon germanium. The resulting strained germanium structure can be used to emit or detect photons including, for example, generating photons within a resonant cavity to provide a laser.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2018
    Assignee: Acorn Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Paul A. Clifton, Andreas Goebel, R. Stockton Gaines
  • Patent number: 9905691
    Abstract: An electrical device in which an interface layer is disposed in between and in contact with a conductor and a semiconductor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2018
    Assignee: Acorn Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Daniel E. Grupp, Daniel J. Connelly
  • Patent number: 9812542
    Abstract: An electrical device in which an interface layer is disposed in between and in contact with a conductor and a semiconductor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2017
    Assignee: Acorn Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Daniel E. Grupp, Daniel J. Connelly
  • Patent number: 9762414
    Abstract: An OFDM system generates a channel estimate in the time domain for use in either a frequency domain equalizer or in a time domain equalizer. Preferably channel estimation is accomplished in the time domain using a locally generated reference signal. The channel estimator generates an initial estimate from a cross correlation between the time domain reference signal and an input signal input to the receiver and generates at least one successive channel estimate. Preferably the successive channel estimate is determined by vector addition (or subtraction) to the initial channel estimate. The at least one successive channel estimate reduces the minimum mean square error of the estimate with respect to a received signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2017
    Assignee: ACORN TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventor: Fernando Lopez de Victoria
  • Patent number: 9755038
    Abstract: Techniques for reducing the specific contact resistance of metal-semiconductor (group IV) junctions by interposing a monolayer of group V or group III atoms at the interface between the metal and the semiconductor, or interposing a bi-layer made of one monolayer of each, or interposing multiple such bi-layers. The resulting low specific resistance metal-group IV semiconductor junctions find application as a low resistance electrode in semiconductor devices including electronic devices (e.g., transistors, diodes, etc.) and optoelectronic devices (e.g., lasers, solar cells, photodetectors, etc.) and/or as a metal source and/or drain region (or a portion thereof) in a field effect transistor (FET). The monolayers of group III and group V atoms are predominantly ordered layers of atoms formed on the surface of the group IV semiconductor and chemically bonded to the surface atoms of the group IV semiconductor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2017
    Assignee: ACORN TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Walter A. Harrison, Paul A. Clifton, Andreas Goebel, R. Stockton Gaines
  • Patent number: 9673327
    Abstract: An SOI wafer contains a compressively stressed buried insulator structure. In one example, the stressed buried insulator (BOX) may be formed on a host wafer by forming silicon oxide, silicon nitride and silicon oxide layers so that the silicon nitride layer is compressively stressed. Wafer bonding provides the surface silicon layer over the stressed insulator layer. Preferred implementations of the invention form MOS transistors by etching isolation trenches into a preferred SOI substrate having a stressed BOX structure to define transistor active areas on the surface of the SOI substrate. Most preferably the trenches are formed deep enough to penetrate through the stressed BOX structure and some distance into the underlying silicon portion of the substrate. The overlying silicon active regions will have tensile stress induced due to elastic edge relaxation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2017
    Assignee: Acorn Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Paul A. Clifton, R Stockton Gaines
  • Patent number: 9620611
    Abstract: An electrical contact structure (an MIS contact) includes one or more conductors (M-Layer), a semiconductor (S-Layer), and an interfacial dielectric layer (I-Layer) of less than 4 nm thickness disposed between and in contact with both the M-Layer and the S-Layer. The I-Layer is an oxide of a metal or a semiconductor. The conductor of the M-Layer that is adjacent to and in direct contact with the I-Layer is a metal oxide that is electrically conductive, chemically stable and unreactive at its interface with the I-Layer at temperatures up to 450° C. The electrical contact structure has a specific contact resistivity of less than or equal to approximately 10?5-10?7 ?-cm2 when the doping in the semiconductor adjacent the MIS contact is greater than approximately 2×1019 cm?3 and less than approximately 10?8 ?-cm2 when the doping in the semiconductor adjacent the MIS contact is greater than approximately 1020 cm?3.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: ACORN TECHNOLOGY, INC.
    Inventors: Paul A. Clifton, Andreas Goebel
  • Patent number: 9583614
    Abstract: A transistor having at least one passivated Schottky barrier to a channel includes an insulated gate structure on a p-type substrate in which the channel is located beneath the insulated gate structure. The channel and the insulated gate structure define a first and second undercut void regions that extend underneath the insulated gate structure toward the channel from a first and a second side of the insulated gate structure, respectively. A passivation layer is included on at least one exposed sidewall surface of the channel and metal source and drain terminals are located on respective first and second sides of the channel, including on the passivation layer and within the undercut void regions beneath the insulated gate structure. At least one of the metal source and drain terminals comprises a metal that has a work function near a valence band of the p-type substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Assignee: Acorn Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Daniel E. Grupp, Daniel J. Connelly
  • Publication number: 20170034027
    Abstract: A wireless receiver receives location pilots embedded in received symbols and uses the location pilots to detect the first path for every base station the network has designated for the receiver to use in time of arrival estimation. The receiver preferably applies matching pursuit strategies to offer a robust and reliable identification of a channel impulse response's first path. The receiver may also receive and use estimation pilots as a supplement to the location pilot information in determining time of arrival. The receiver can use metrics characteristic of the channel to improve the robustness and reliability of the identification of a CIR's first path. With the first path identified, the receiver measures the time of arrival for signals from that path and the receiver determines the observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) to respond to network requests for OTDOA and position determination measurements.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2015
    Publication date: February 2, 2017
    Applicant: ACORN TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Steven C Thompson, Fernando Lopez de Victoria
  • Patent number: 9497046
    Abstract: An OFDM communication system performs time domain channel estimation responsive to received symbols before the symbols are processed by a fast Fourier transform. The communication system generates virtual pilots from actual pilots to improve the stability and quality of channel estimation. The system generates a reference signal from the actual and virtual pilots and correlates the resulting reference signal with a signal responsive to the received symbol to generate an initial channel impulse response (CIR) and to determine statistics about the channel. In some circumstances, the resulting reference signal is correlated with a modified symbol in which the actual and virtual pilot locations are emphasized and the data locations are deemphasized. Time domain channel estimation iteratively improves on the initial CIR. The system determines channel estimates for data only symbols through averaging such as interpolation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2016
    Assignee: Acorn Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Steven C Thompson, Fernando Lopez de Victoria
  • Patent number: 9484426
    Abstract: Techniques for reducing the specific contact resistance of metal-semiconductor (group IV) junctions by interposing a monolayer of group V or group III atoms at the interface between the metal and the semiconductor, or interposing a bi-layer made of one monolayer of each, or interposing multiple such bi-layers. The resulting low specific resistance metal—group IV semiconductor junctions find application as a low resistance electrode in semiconductor devices including electronic devices (e.g., transistors, diodes, etc.) and optoelectronic devices (e.g., lasers, solar cells, photodetectors, etc.) and/or as a metal source and/or drain region (or a portion thereof) in a field effect transistor (FET). The monolayers of group III and group V atoms are predominantly ordered layers of atoms formed on the surface of the group IV semiconductor and chemically bonded to the surface atoms of the group IV semiconductor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2016
    Assignee: Acorn Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Walter A. Harrison, Paul A. Clifton, Andreas Goebel, R. Stockton Gaines
  • Publication number: 20160308057
    Abstract: An SOI wafer contains a compressively stressed buried insulator structure. In one example, the stressed buried insulator (BOX) may be formed on a host wafer by forming silicon oxide, silicon nitride and silicon oxide layers so that the silicon nitride layer is compressively stressed. Wafer bonding provides the surface silicon layer over the stressed insulator layer. Preferred implementations of the invention form MOS transistors by etching isolation trenches into a preferred SOI substrate having a stressed BOX structure to define transistor active areas on the surface of the SOI substrate. Most preferably the trenches are formed deep enough to penetrate through the stressed BOX structure and some distance into the underlying silicon portion of the substrate. The overlying silicon active regions will have tensile stress induced due to elastic edge relaxation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 23, 2016
    Publication date: October 20, 2016
    Applicant: Acorn Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Paul A. Clifton, R Stockton Gaines