Patents Assigned to MaxLinear, Inc.
  • Patent number: 9124925
    Abstract: One or more circuits for use in a transceiver that is collocated with a satellite dish, may receive a satellite signal carrying media content, and remove content protection from the received media content. After removing the first content protection, the one or more circuits may apply second content protection to the media content. The content protection applied by the one or more circuits may adhere to a different protocol, utilize different keys, and/or otherwise be distinguishable from the content protection that was removed. After applying the content protection, the one or more circuits may transmit the media content onto one or more links between the satellite dish and one or more client devices. The removal of the content protection may comprise descrambling and/or decrypting the media content. The application of the content protection may comprise scrambling and/or encrypting the media content.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: MaxLinear, Inc.
    Inventors: Brian Sprague, Glenn Chang, Timothy Gallagher, Sridhar Ramesh
  • Patent number: 9124338
    Abstract: A wireless communication receiver includes a multitude of look-up tables each storing a multitude of DC offset values associated with the gains of an amplification stage disposed in the wireless communication receiver. The entries for each look-up table are estimated during a stage of the calibration phase. During such a calibration stage, for each selected gain of an amplification stage, a search logic estimates a current DC offset number and compares it to a previous DC offset estimate that is fed back to the search logic. If the difference between the current and previous estimates is less than a predefined threshold value, the current estimate is treated as being associated with the DC offset of the selected gain of the amplification stage and is stored in the look-up table. This process is repeated for each selected gain of each amplification stage of interest until the look-up tables are populated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: MaxLinear, Inc.
    Inventors: Curtis Ling, Andy Lo, Tete Sedalo
  • Patent number: 9124291
    Abstract: A system for processing signals may be configured to detect occurrence of particular errors, comprising meta-stability events, during digital conversion to analog signals, and to handle any detected meta-stability event, such as by adjusting at least a portion of a corresponding digital output based on detection of the meta-stability event. The adjusting of the digital output may comprise setting at least the portion of the digital output, such as to one of a plurality of predefined digital values or patterns. The system may comprise a code generator for generating and/or outputting the predefined digital values or patterns. The system may comprise a selector for adaptively selecting, for portions of the digital output, between output of normal processing path and between predefined values or patterns.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: MAXLINEAR, INC.
    Inventors: Xuefeng Chen, Kok Lim Chan, Eric Fogleman, Sheng Ye
  • Patent number: 9125185
    Abstract: A WiFi access point (AP) includes a receive radio frequency (RF) front end and a baseband processor that controls operation of the receive RF front end. The RF front end captures signals over a wide spectrum that includes a plurality of WiFi frequency bands (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) and channelizes one or more WiFi channels from the captured signals. The baseband processor combines a plurality of blocks of WiFi channels to create one or more aggregated WiFi channels. The receive RF front end may be integrated on a first integrated circuit and the baseband processor may be integrated on a second integrated circuit. The first and second integrated circuits may be integrated on a single package. The RF front end and the baseband processor may be integrated on a single integrated circuit. The WiFi access point comprises a routing module that is communicatively coupled to the baseband processor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: MaxLinear, Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy Gallagher, Curtis Ling, Alan Trerise, Kishore Seendripu
  • Patent number: 9113302
    Abstract: A satellite dish assembly may comprise a broadcast receive module and a basestation module. The broadcast receive module may be operable to receive a satellite signal, recover media carried in the satellite signal, and output the media. The basestation module may be operable to accept the media output by the broadcast receive module and transmit the media in accordance with one or more wireless protocols. In being conveyed from the broadcast receive module to the basestation, the media content may not traverse any wide area network connection. The one or more wireless protocols may comprise one or more of: a cellular protocol and IEEE 802.11 protocol. The satellite dish assembly may comprise a routing module that may be operable to route data between the broadcast receive module, the basestation, and a gateway.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2015
    Assignee: MaxLinear, Inc.
    Inventors: Curtis Ling, Timothy Gallagher, Glenn Chang
  • Patent number: 9113410
    Abstract: A CMTS may receive a request that a network device be permitted to enter a power-saving mode of operation. In response, the CMTS may enter a power-saving mode of operation wherein MAC management messages, transmission opportunities for the sleeping network device, and/or contention periods on one or more channels occur at independently determinable intervals. The CMTS may then transmit a message granting the network device permission to enter the power-saving mode of operation. The CMTS may start a sleep timer upon transmitting the MAC management message and may deregister the network device if no communication is received from the network device prior to expiration of the sleep timer. The CMTs may buffer traffic destined for the network device in a buffer of the CMTS while the network device is in the power-saving mode of operation, and may wake the network device upon the amount of buffered traffic reaching a threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2015
    Assignee: MaxLinear, Inc.
    Inventors: Curtis Ling, Timothy Gallagher, Sridhar Ramesh
  • Patent number: 9106244
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for using localized dynamic element matching (DEM) and/or dynamic noise scaling (DNS) in digital-to-analog converters (DACs). Adaptive (localized) DEM may be applied in a DAC, by selecting one or more of a plurality DAC elements in the DAC, forcing the selected one or more of the plurality of DAC elements not to switch during digital-to-analog conversions, and scrambling remaining one or more of plurality of DAC elements when generating an output of the DAC. The adaptive DEM may be applied when the DAC input is backed off from full-scale. DNS may be applied in a DAC, by adaptively selecting one or more of a plurality DAC elements in the DAC and switching off the selected one or more of the plurality DAC elements such that the selected one or more of the plurality DAC elements do not contribute to generating an output of the DAC.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2015
    Assignee: MAXLINEAR, INC.
    Inventor: Jianyu Zhu
  • Patent number: 9100666
    Abstract: Methods and systems for cross-protocol time synchronization may comprise, for example, in a premises-based network, receiving, by a root node network controller in the premises, signals that conform to one or more first communications protocols. The received signals may be bridged to conform to a second communications protocol different from the first communications protocol, and the bridged signals may be communicated to networked devices within the network, where only signals conforming to the second communications protocol may be concurrently communicated over the network in a frequency range of the first communications protocol and in a frequency range of the second communications protocol, the frequency range used by the first communications protocol being different from and not overlapping with the frequency range used by the second communications protocol.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2015
    Assignee: Maxlinear, Inc.
    Inventors: Curtis Ling, Timothy Gallagher
  • Patent number: 9100088
    Abstract: A signal processing circuit, which is within a satellite reception assembly, may be operable to analyze actual frequency information corresponding to a plurality of downconverted signals. Each of the downconverted signals may be downconverted using one or more corresponding local oscillators (LOs). Based on the analyzing, one or more of the following may be determined: one or more frequency offsets associated with the one or more corresponding LOs and one or more actual guard bands. The signal processing circuit may generate information on the determined frequency offsets and the determined actual guard bands. The signal processing circuit may perform, based on the generated information, one or both of a band stacking operation and a channel stacking operation so as to prevent channels/bands being stacked on each other or being overlapped. The signal processing circuit may perform, based on the generated information, frequency corrections for channel tuning in a gateway.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2015
    Assignee: MAXLINEAR, INC.
    Inventors: Raja Pullela, Glenn Chang, Sridhar Ramesh
  • Patent number: 9100622
    Abstract: A wideband receiver system is provided to concurrently receive multiple RF channels including a number of desired channels that are located in non-contiguous portions of a radio frequency spectrum and to group the number of desired channels into a contiguous frequency band. The system includes a wideband receiver having a complex mixer for down-shifting the multiple RF channels and transforming them to an in-phase signal and a quadrature signal in the baseband. The system further includes a wideband analog-to-digital converter module that digitizes the in-phase and quadrature signals and a digital frontend module that transforms the digital in-phase and quadrature signals to baseband signals that contains only the number of desired RF channels that are now located in a contiguous frequency band. An up-converter module up-shifts the baseband signals to a contiguous band in an IF spectrum so that the system can directly interface with commercially available demodulators.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2015
    Assignee: MaxLinear, Inc.
    Inventors: Madhukar Reddy, Curtis Ling, Tim Gallagher
  • Patent number: 9094036
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for calibrating nonlinearity correction during analog-to-digital conversions on received analog signals. Correction-parameters may be estimated, such as to reduce, when applied to total spectral content, distortion resulting from the nonlinearity in originally-unoccupied spectral regions. Digital signals generated based on sampling of the received analog signals may then be corrected, to remove nonlinearity related distortion, based on the estimated correction-parameters. The nonlinearity correction calibration may be performed during reception and handling of the analog signals. The correction-parameters may be generated based on signals located in particular spectral regions, such as the originally-unoccupied spectral regions. These signals may be injected within the device, into the particular spectral regions, and the signal may have known characteristics to enable estimating the required correction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2015
    Assignee: MAXLINEAR, INC.
    Inventors: Mansour Rachid, Timothy Gallagher, Curtis Ling
  • Patent number: 9094269
    Abstract: A transmitter may comprise a first domain translation circuit, a first PAPR suppression circuit, and a descriptor generation circuit. The first domain translation circuit may convert a plurality of frequency-domain symbols of a first OFDM symbol to a corresponding plurality of first time-domain signals. The first PAPR suppression circuit may group the plurality of first time-domain signals into a plurality of sub-bands of the first time-domain. The first PAPR suppression circuit may invert one or more of the sub-bands of the first time-domain signals according to a value of a first descriptor. The descriptor generation circuit may determine the value of the first descriptor using an iterative process in which each iteration comprises random selection of a value of the first descriptor, determination of a PAPR of the first OFDM symbol processed using the randomly-selected value, and determination of whether said PAPR meets one or more determined criteria.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2015
    Assignee: MaxLinear, Inc.
    Inventors: Curtis Ling, Timothy Leo Gallagher
  • Patent number: 9083376
    Abstract: Aspects of a method and apparatus for converting an analog input value to a digital output code are provided. One embodiment of the apparatus includes a digital-to-analog converter, a comparator, and control logic circuitry. The digital-to-analog converter is configured to generate an analog reference value based on a received digital reference value. The comparator is configured to compare an analog input value to the analog reference value after expiration of an allotted settling time for the digital-to-analog converter and generate a comparison result indicative a relationship between the analog input value and the analog reference value. The control logic circuitry is configured to select the allotted settling time for the digital-to-analog converter based on a bit position of a digital output code to be determined, and update the bit position of the digital output code based on the comparison result.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2015
    Assignee: MAXLINEAR, INC.
    Inventors: Kaveh Moazzami, Pawan Tiwari, Gaurav Chandra
  • Patent number: 9077936
    Abstract: A filter for processing a digital TV composite signal having a video component and an audio component includes a digital video filter and a digital audio filter. The digital video filter includes a lowpass finite impulse response (FIR) filter, an up-mixer, an asymmetric filter for compensating a Nyquist slope of the video component, and a down-mixer connected in this order. The digital audio filter includes an audio down-mixer, a decimated FIR filter, an enhancing FIR filter, an interpolated FIR filter, and an audio up-mixer. These components are connected in series. Optionally, the decimating FIR filter is decimated by an integer decimation factor M, and the interpolated FIR filter is interpolated by an integer factor N. The integer M and N may have the same value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: MaxLinear, Inc.
    Inventors: Chengzhi Zhou, Curtis Ling
  • Patent number: 9077429
    Abstract: Methods and systems for repurposing of a global navigation satellite system receiver for receiving low-earth orbit (LEO) communication satellite timing signals may comprise receiving medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellite signals and/or LEO signals in a receiver of the communication device. A radio frequency (RF) path may be configured to down-convert either of the signals, and a position of the communication device may be calculated utilizing the down-converted signals. The signals may be down-converted utilizing a local oscillator signal generated by a phase locked loop (PLL), which may be delta-sigma modulated via a fractional-N divider. A clock signal may be communicated to the PLL utilizing a temperature-compensated crystal oscillator. The signals may be down-converted to an intermediate frequency or down-converted directly to baseband frequencies. The signals may be processed utilizing surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: Maxlinear, Inc.
    Inventors: Maxime Leclercq, Ioannis Spyropoulos, Nishant Kumar, Anand Anandakumar
  • Patent number: 9071470
    Abstract: A radio integrated circuit includes, in part, an analog front end block, an analog-to-digital converter responsive to the analog-front end block, a digital signal processor responsive to the analog-to-digital converter and adapted to generate in-phase and quadrature signals, and a serial communication interface configured to receive and transmit the in-phase and quadrature signals. The serial communication interface supplies a gain control signal to the analog front end block when a switch disposed in the radio integrated circuit is in a first position. When the switch is in a second position, a gain control block disposed in the radio integrated circuit receives a gain control signal from the analog-to-digital converter and supplies the gain control signal to the analog front end block. The digital signal processor may be configured to interleave the in-phase and quadrature signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: MaxLinear, Inc.
    Inventors: Madhukar Reddy, Curtis Ling
  • Patent number: 9059672
    Abstract: An automatic gain control loop disposed in a receiver is adapted to compensate for varying levels of out of band interference sources by adaptively controlling the gain distribution throughout the receive signal path. One or more intermediate received signal strength indicator (RSSI) detectors are used to determine a corresponding intermediate signal level. The output of each RSSI detector is coupled to an associated comparator that compares the intermediate RSSI value against a corresponding threshold. The take over point (TOP) for gain stages is adjusted based in part on the comparator output values. The TOP for each of a plurality of gain stages may be adjusted in discrete steps or continuously.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2015
    Assignee: MaxLinear, Inc.
    Inventors: Curtis Ling, Madhukar Reddy, John Wetherell
  • Patent number: 9055329
    Abstract: A system and method in a broadband receiver (e.g., a satellite television receiver) for efficiently receiving and processing signals, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2015
    Assignee: MaxLinear, Inc.
    Inventors: Glenn Chang, Timothy Gallagher, Sridhar Ramesh
  • Patent number: 9055324
    Abstract: A method and an apparatus for achieving fast resynchronization of received signals in a time slice in DVB-T/H systems. When the clock drift is low, the location of the symbol window can be decided based on a previous time slice. When the clock drift is high and when there are large delay spreads, the location of the symbol window can be decided based on the detected scattered pilot positions. The placement of the symbol window can further be enhanced through processing of the received TPS bits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2015
    Assignee: MaxLinear, Inc.
    Inventors: Anand K. Anandakumar, Sridhar Ramesh
  • Patent number: 9055405
    Abstract: A satellite reception assembly that provides satellite television and/or radio service to a customer premises may comprise a wireless interface via which it can communicate with other satellite reception assemblies. Wireless connections between satellite reception assemblies may be utilized for providing satellite content between different satellite customer premises. Wireless connections between satellite reception assemblies may be utilized for offloading traffic from other network connections.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2015
    Assignee: MaxLinear, Inc.
    Inventors: Curtis Ling, Timothy Gallagher, Glenn Chang