Abstract: Short-range vehicular radar systems are described. In one implementation, an apparatus used in radar applications includes a programmable digital receiver having an adaptable interference filter that is configured to reject radar pulses received from another radar system. In another implementation, a short-range vehicular radar system includes receive and transmission antennae, a programmable delay generator, and programmable receiver. The programmable delay generator is configured to control transmission of pulses from the transmission antenna at randomly selected times to prevent ambiguities associated with target objects that are distances away from the transmission antenna that are greater than the speed of light times the pulse repetition rate divided by two. The programmable receiver is calibrated to sample signals received by the receive antenna relative to when the pulses are emitted from the transmission antenna.

Abstract: The invention is a hermetically sealed semiconductor die package wherein a surface of the die can be positioned very close to the hermetic package and a method of fabricating such a package. The invention is particularly suited to hermetically sealed circuit components, such as dies with a light emitting surface or light receiving surface for which it would be desirable to place the light emitting or light receiving surface as close as possible to a transparent window in the package so as to maximize the amount of light that can be transmitted out of the package.

Abstract: A method of fabricating a plurality of layers of metal on a substrate depositing a first layer of metal on the substrate; depositing a first layer of planarization material over the substrate and first layer of metal to a depth above the top of the first layer of metal; polishing the first layer of planarization material down to at least the top of the first layer of metal; and depositing a second layer of metal on the first layer of metal and the first layer of planarization material.

Abstract: A PIN diode comprising an N-type substrate comprising a cathode of the PIN diode and having an intrinsic layer disposed upon the N-type substrate and having a top surface a P-type material disposed upon the top surface of the intrinsic layer comprising an anode of the PIN diode and a N-type material disposed over the sidewall of the cathode and over the sidewall and a portion of the top surface of the intrinsic material that is not occupied by the anode, wherein a horizontal gap is defined between the anode and the cathode through the intrinsic material, the gap being variable in width and/or the horizontal gap is less than the thickness of the intrinsic layer.

Abstract: A system and method for detecting the presence and precise location of a device bearing a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag comprising a plurality of resonators, a first circuit for driving the plurality of resonators with a low frequency drive signal for exciting nearby RFID tags via magnetic field excitation, a multiplexer having a plurality of input terminals, each input terminal coupled to one of the plurality of resonators, and an output terminal, and a signal processing circuit coupled to the output terminal of the multiplexer for reading the signals of the resonators and determining the identification of any RFID tags excited by the resonators.

Abstract: Various techniques involving polar modulation are disclosed. For instance, an apparatus may include a storage medium and a calibration module. The storage medium stores multiple adjustment settings. Each of these adjustment settings corresponds to an operating condition. The calibration module selects one of the stored adjustment settings that corresponds to a current operating condition. With the selected adjustment setting, the calibration module reduces a polar modulation timing misalignment. The current operating condition may include one or more operational parameter values. Examples of such parameter values include output power level, signal frequency, and/or temperature.

Abstract: The invention is directed to a system for adaptively re-aligning a modulated output signal having an error component by generating a reference phase signal using a phase input signal; generating a sample phase signal from the output signal; comparing the reference and sample signals; and adaptively re-aligning any difference between the reference and sample signals to substantially reduce the error component.

Abstract: An apparatus for electromagnetic processing comprises a modulator for generating one or more elements representative of an input signal; a divider controlled by the one or more elements and receiving an electromagnetic wave to generate a modified signal; a comparator for comparing the modified signal to a reference signal and for generating a processed signal based upon the comparison; and a channel number calculator for selecting a channel for the processed signal, wherein the input signal incorporated the channel selection.

Abstract: Techniques to reduce signal amplitude peak-to-average ratio (PAR) in a wireless communications system are described. The apparatus may include a signal conditioning module to receive a baseband signal. The signal conditioning module may split the baseband signal along multiple paths, delay one or more of the paths, and combine the multiple paths to form a conditioned signal having lower signal amplitude PAR than the baseband signal. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Abstract: Various embodiments are directed to providing an electronic device with an integrated thermal heat spreader. In one embodiment, an electronic device may comprise an integrated circuit fabricated on a substrate and a heat spreader integrated with the electronic device after fabrication of the integrated circuit. The heat spreader may comprise one or more layers of composite plating material including solid particles incorporated into a metal plating material. The composite plating material may be patterned to the substrate to define the heat spreader. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Abstract: Apparatus, method and article of manufacture are shown for linear signal modification. An input signal is modified by providing one or more non-linear current sources and regulating at least one of the one or more current sources to output a signal based on one or more of the input signal characteristics. The modification of the output signal includes both amplification and attenuation.

Abstract: A microphone unit comprising a voice input for receiving a voice input signal, an analog to digital converter for creating a digital signal from voice signal, a voice coding device for creating a voice coded signal output from the digital signal, encryption means for encrypting the voice coded signal, and a modulator for generating a transmittable signal that can be supplied to a radio via the microphone input. Additionally, the microphone unit is capable of performing the steps in reverse upon receiving an encrypted signal. The received signal output from the radio is demodulated, un-encrypted, voice decoded, converted from a digital voice signal to an analog voice signal, and output via a speaker which is preferably built into the microphone unit.

Abstract: The present invention is a system and a method of filtering a signal at a receiver, the signal having at least a desired channel and blockers. A first converter converts a first copy of the signal resulting in a relatively narrow band, high-resolution first signal. A second converter converts a second copy of the signal resulting in a relatively wide band, low-resolution second signal. Once each copy of the signal is converted, the copies are passed to a combiner. At the combiner, the two copies of the signal are analyzed and the desired channel is extracted from the first copy of the signal by removing any inter-modulation product caused by any interference detected in the second copy from the blockers (not detected in the first copy).

Abstract: Various embodiments are directed to providing constant phase digital attenuation. In one embodiment, a digital attenuator circuit comprises an input node to receive an input signal to be attenuated, an output node to output an attenuated signal, a reference loss path between the input node and the output node, and an attenuation path between the input node and the output node. The reference loss path comprises switching elements and matching circuitry to improve Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR), and the attenuation path comprises switching elements and attenuating circuitry to attenuate the input signal when the digital attenuator circuit is switched from a reference loss state to an attenuation state. An effective phase length of the reference loss path and an effective phase length of the attenuation path may be equalized to provide a constant phase when the digital attenuator circuit is switched between states. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Abstract: An antenna comprising a layer of conductor having an edge, and a slot in the layer of conductor wherein conductor is absent, the slot having first and second opposing longitudinal ends and being opened to the edge at the first longitudinal end and not open to the edge at the second longitudinal end.

Abstract: An antenna comprising a layer of conductor having a plurality of non-conductive slits disposed therein, each slit comprising a longitudinal dimension greater than a transverse direction, a feed line disposed beneath the layer of conductor to couple signal energy between the feed line and the slits, wherein the feed line crosses each slit in the transverse direction at least once, and a dielectric layer separating the layer of conductor from the feed line.

Abstract: A circuit for combining/splitting at least two RF signals comprising: (a) at least two or more transmission portions coupled at an intersection, the intersection having a common port for inputting or outputting a combination of the at least two RF signals; (b) each transmission portion extending from the intersection to a port for inputting or outputting a selection of signals from the combination, and comprising at least one set of intersecting transmission lines; (c) each set of intersecting transmission lines rejecting a particular signal of the combination; and (d) each intersecting transmission line of a given set having a length of about an odd multiple of a quarter wavelength of the particular signal which is rejected by the given set.

Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a lead frame package comprising a die attach pad and two or more electrical interconnections, wherein at least one of the two or more interconnections is affixed to the die attach pad for electrically grounding the lead frame package. The present disclosure further relates to a method for providing a lead frame package. The lead frame package comprises two or more electrical interconnections and a die attach pad. At least one electrical interconnection is affixed to the die attach pad to ground the lead frame package and at least one of the electrical interconnections is an RF signal interconnection. At least one of the die attach pad and the at least one grounding electrical interconnection is connected to a grounding contact of a circuit-board. The at least one RF signal electrical interconnection is connected to an RF signal contact on the circuit-board, thereby forming a mounted semi-conductor circuit.

Abstract: The invention is a method and circuit for generating a pulsed periodic signal comprising a sub-harmonic mixer and a control circuit adapted to cause the output signal of the sub-harmonic mixer to be pulsed.

Abstract: An analog to digital converter that first converts an analog input voltage into first and second periodic signals having a phase difference there between that is a function of the analog input voltage and then introduces the first periodic signal into a forward direction data path through a series of consecutive delay cells so that the first periodic signal propagates through the cells via the first series of delay elements in a first direction, and introduces the second periodic signal into a reverse direction data path through the same series of delay cells so that the second periodic signal propagates through the cells via the second series of delay elements in an opposite direction, and using the second periodic signal to latch the first periodic signal in each cell so as to generate an output signal for each cell, said output signals of said cells collectively indicating the unique cell in which the leading edges of corresponding pulses in the first and second directions met, and decoding the outputs of