Patents Assigned to NXP
  • Distributed spectrum sensing
    Patent number: 8694274
    Abstract: In summary, the invention relates to a device, a system, a method and a computer program for spectrum sensing. A detection procedure for detecting a signal of interest or an event by using a plurality of sensing devices capable of communicating with a central unit is proposed. The sensing devices can compute soft detection metrics and communicate this information to a central unit, where the information may be used to make a final detection decision using a certain specified rule. The signaling overhead of the proposed approach can be of the same order as that of a hard signaling approach. However, the proposed approach may achieve a better detection performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignees: Koninklijke Philips N.V., NXP Semiconductor Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Ashish Vijay Pandharipande, Hongming Yang, Johan Paul Marie Gerard Linnartz
  • Communications with adaptive equalization
    Patent number: 8693532
    Abstract: Signal equalization is facilitated in a manner that provides for feedback operation with desirable equalization operation. As consistent with one or more embodiments, a sign is assigned to received signals by generating an output that is an absolute value of the received signals, and a comparator processes the output and to generate a signal having a voltage level limited to a predetermined value. A sign of a signal output by an equalizer is detected and used to assign a sign to the output of the comparator. A summation circuit sums the output of the equalizer with the output of the comparator, and provides the sum to the equalizer as an error signal. The equalizer modifies a frequency component of received signals based on the error signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Sujan Pandey, Hubertus Gerardus Hendrikus Vermeulen, Abhijit Kumar Deb
  • Transponder
    Patent number: 8690071
    Abstract: A transponder comprising an antenna, such as an antenna coil, is provided for inductively coupling the transponder to a reader, transferring energy from the reader to the transponder, the electromagnetic field alternating with a carrier frequency, a rectifier having an antenna side coupled to the antenna for receiving an alternating current from the antenna and a transponder side for supplying the transponder with a direct current, and optionally a subcarrier modulator for modulating a subcarrier wave with a data signal to obtain a transmit signal. The rectifier modulates the electromagnetic field with the transmit signal so that the transmit signal is transmitted to the reader. By using a rectifier both for converting alternating current to direct current and as an analog mixer, increased range of the transponder is achieved without the need of generation and synchronization of a carrier wave.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventor: Ralph Christian Josef Oskar Prestros
  • Enrollment of physically unclonable functions
    Patent number: 8694778
    Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure are directed toward a method that includes a physically-unclonable function (PUF) device that receives a communication that includes a first challenge value, a second challenge value and a remote message authenticity value. The method includes the generation of additional challenge-response pairs in a secure manner. The additional challenge-response pairs are securely communicated between the PUF device and an authenticating server or other device for subsequent use in authentication.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Philippe Teuwen, Ventzislav Nikov
  • Method of controlling a ballast, a ballast, a lighting controller, and a digital signal processor
    Patent number: 8692479
    Abstract: A method of controlling a ballast in a circuit for a lighting application and connected to a mains power supply is disclosed. The method comprises determining whether a dimmer is present in the circuit; in response to detecting that a dimmer is present, determining a zero-crossing of the power supply and setting a bleeder current through the ballast in dependence on the phase of the power supply within a mains half-cycle; and in response to determining that a dimmer is not present, disabling the bleeder current. A ballast which is controlled by such a method is also disclosed. Additionally, a controller, which may include a digital signal processor, for a ballast and operable according to the above method is disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Frederic Mercier, Philippe Maugars
  • Power stage
    Patent number: 8692591
    Abstract: A power stage has a differential output stage 2 driven by one or more buffer stages 4. The buffer stages 4 are implemented as high and low side buffers 12,14, each of which is itself a differential buffer implemented using transistors formed in an isolated-well technology such as triple-well CMOS.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Mustafa Acar, Katarzyna Nowak
  • Single under voltage monitor for gate driver circuits
    Patent number: 8692587
    Abstract: A gate driver including: a first input; a first output driver having a first gate drive signal output, wherein the first output driver is connected to the first input; a second input; a second output driver having a second gate drive signal output, wherein the second output driver is connected to the second input; a first converter configured to convert an input voltage level to a first converted voltage level, wherein the converter receives an input voltage from a first high side gate driver output; a multiplexer with a first input connected to the first converter, a second input connected to a low side output, and an output; and an under voltage monitor connected to the output of the multiplexer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Luc van Dijk, Issa Niakate, Matthijs Hoogeveen
  • Capacitive communication circuit and method therefor
    Patent number: 8693554
    Abstract: Data is communicated. In accordance with one or more example embodiments, a communications circuit communicates a digital data signal using a carrier signal having a frequency that is different than the frequency of the data signal. The communications circuit includes first and second sets of capacitors, a first circuit and a second circuit. The first circuit generates mixed data signals respectively mixed with the carrier signal and an inverse of the carrier signal, generates mixed inverted data signals respectively mixed with the carrier signal and an inverse of the carrier signal, provides the mixed data signals to the first set of capacitors, and provides the mixed inverted data signals to the second set of capacitors. The second circuit recovers the data signal from the mixed signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Rameswor Shrestha, Patrick Emanuel Gerardus Smeets
  • VALIDATING A TRANSACTION WITH A SECURE INPUT WITHOUT REQUIRING PIN CODE ENTRY
    Publication number: 20140095388
    Abstract: A method for secure transactions on a mobile handset or tablet equipped with a touch screen controlled by a secure processor such as a master secure element or Trusted Execution Environment having gesture recognition capabilities. Since the touch screen is fully controlled by the secure processor, the user can securely enter the transaction amount using gestures to validate the transaction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 1, 2012
    Publication date: April 3, 2014
    Applicant: NXP B.V.
    Inventor: Cedric Colnot
  • FET RF POWER DETECTOR
    Publication number: 20140091814
    Abstract: An FET RF signal detector circuit comprising two unbalanced differential transistor pair circuits is disclosed. A current mirror output circuit is included for generating an output current derived from currents flowing in the differential transistor pair circuits. The first unbalanced differential transistor pair circuit comprises two branches, each with a respective tail, and a first variable resistor between the branch tails. The first unbalanced differential transistor pair circuit connects to a first current source tail arrangement. The second unbalanced differential transistor pair circuit comprises two branches, each with a respective tail, and a second variable resistor between the branch tails. The second unbalanced differential transistor pair circuit connects to a second current source tail arrangement.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 18, 2013
    Publication date: April 3, 2014
    Applicant: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Claire Boucey, Fabian Rivière, Sidina Wane
  • SECURE USER AUTHENTICATION USING A MASTER SECURE ELEMENT
    Publication number: 20140096222
    Abstract: The master secure element comprises a processor, a memory and a logic unit and at least controls the user input of the handset in order to secure the user authentication based on PIN entry. The PIN code is entered directly into the secure element with no possibility for the host processor to intercept the code or for a malware program to inject the code into the master secure element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 1, 2012
    Publication date: April 3, 2014
    Applicant: NXP B.V.
    Inventor: Cedric Colnot
  • CAPACITIVE POSITION SENSOR SYSTEM
    Publication number: 20140091815
    Abstract: A capacitive position sensor system for determining the position of an object, in particular on a surface of a contactless smartcard, is provided. The object is positioned within a sensitive area of the capacitive position sensor system and changes the capacitance of capacitors being arranged underneath the object. The capacitive position sensor system comprises a set of sensing elements being arranged in the form of a column. Each sensing element includes a first capacitor having a first electrode and a second electrode and a second capacitor having a first electrode and a second electrode. A specific weighting factor is assigned to each capacitor. A control unit is adapted to determine the position of the object in one dimension by analyzing the results of a plurality of sensed voltage levels for the first capacitors and the second capacitors of a plurality of integration cycles.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 26, 2013
    Publication date: April 3, 2014
    Applicant: NXP B.V.
    Inventor: Thomas Suwald
  • VALIDATING A TRANSACTION WITH A SECURE INPUT AND A NON-SECURE OUTPUT
    Publication number: 20140095387
    Abstract: In accordance with the invention, in order to validate a transaction on a mobile handset, PC, tablet or similar device, a user closes the loop between a non-secure display controlled by a host processor and a secure keypad controlled by a secure processor such as a master secure element or trusted execution environment. The user validates the transaction by entering on the secure keypad the data shown on the non-secure display. The transaction is validated because the user only enters the data that the user agrees to and only the user is able to enter the data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 1, 2012
    Publication date: April 3, 2014
    Applicant: NXP B.V.
    Inventor: Cedric Colnot
  • ADAPTIVE DETECTOR THRESHOLD COMPENSATION IN BINARY FRAME BASED COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
    Publication number: 20140092945
    Abstract: Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method of producing adaptive thresholds in a binary frame based communication system, including: collecting Kst samples of a received signal corresponding to a start bit; computing an estimate of as received signal parameter Pst in the start bit; adjusting an start threshold based upon Pst; collecting Ksp samples of the received signal corresponding to a stop bit; computing an estimate of a received signal parameter Psp in the stop bit; and adjusting an stop threshold based upon Psp.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 28, 2012
    Publication date: April 3, 2014
    Applicant: NXP B.V.
    Inventor: Shakti Prasad Shenoy
  • ENCAPSULATED WAFER-LEVEL CHIP SCALE (WLSCP) PEDESTAL PACKAGING
    Publication number: 20140091458
    Abstract: Consistent with an example embodiment, there is semiconductor device assembled to resist mechanical damage. The semiconductor device comprises an active circuit defined on a top surface, contact areas providing electrical connection to the active circuit. There is a pedestal structure upon which the active circuit is mounted on an opposite bottom surface; the pedestal structure has an area smaller than the area of the active device. An encapsulation, consisting of a molding compound, surrounds the sides and the underside of the active device and it surrounds the contact areas. The encapsulation provides a resilient surface protecting the active device from mechanical damage. A feature of the embodiment is that the contact areas may have solder bumps defined thereon.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 9, 2013
    Publication date: April 3, 2014
    Applicant: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Leonardus Antonius Elisabeth VAN GEMERT, Tonny KAMPHUIS, Hartmut BUENNING, Christian ZENZ
  • PROCESSOR FOR A RADIO CIRCUIT
    Publication number: 20140092941
    Abstract: A processor for a radio circuit is disclosed. The processor includes a full spectrum receiver and a white space classifier. The full spectrum receiver is configured to receive an analogue radio signal comprising multiple channels within a frequency band and transform the analogue radio signal to a digital radio signal. The full spectrum receiver is also configured to transform the digital radio signal from a time domain signal to a frequency domain signal. The white space classifier is configured to identify an unused channel within the frequency band using the frequency domain signal derived from the analogue radio signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 20, 2013
    Publication date: April 3, 2014
    Applicant: NXP B.V
    Inventors: Manvi AGARWAL, Klaas BRINK
  • Electromechanical transducer and a method of providing an electromechanical transducer
    Patent number: 8686714
    Abstract: The invention relates to an electromechanical transducer (100). The electromechanical transducer (100) comprises a cantilever beam (101) and an excitation unit (102) that is adapted for exciting a motion of the cantilever beam (101). A detection unit (103) is adapted for detecting an electrical signal (iout) in response to the excited motion of the cantilever beam (101).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2014
    Assignee: NXP, B.V.
    Inventors: Martijn Goossens, Jozef Thomas Martinus Van Beek
  • Mobile OFDM receiver
    Patent number: 8687749
    Abstract: A receiver is provided, in particular a mobile Orthogonal Frequency Division (OFDM) receiver, wherein the receiver comprises a receiving unit for receiving a multicarrier signal via a transmitting channel, a channel estimation unit for estimating a channel estimation signal indicative of properties of the transmitting channel based on the multicarrier signal and a feedback provided at a position of a signal processing path of the receiver downstream of the channel estimation unit, and a compensation unit adapted for at least partially compensating signal distortions within the transmitting channel on basis of the multicarrier signal received by the receiving unit and the channel estimation signal estimated by the channel estimation unit, and for outputting the received multicarrier signal with at least partially compensated signal distortions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2014
    Assignee: NXP, B.V.
    Inventor: Semih Serbetli
  • Plop-free amplifier
    Patent number: 8687821
    Abstract: An amplifier is disclosed, wherein the output stage is split between a primary output stage and a secondary stage. To minimize or eliminate any audible plop when the amplifier is switched on, the primary stage is connected, and the second stage is gradually connected using a switch. The gradual connection can be by means of varying the pulse-density of a pulse wave modulation on the switch, from fully open (0% pulse-density) to fully closed (100%). The inverse process can minimize or eliminate plop during switch-off. Separate feedback loops are switchable, from the primary and secondary stages; in a DC-coupled embodiment, the feedback loop from the secondary stage may include DC-offset cancelling circuitry, to both reduce or eliminate the plop and avoid and DC-offset current through the speaker.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2014
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventor: Han Martijn Schuurmans
  • Software defined radio
    Patent number: 8687524
    Abstract: A multi-protocol, multi-standard, software-defined radio (SDR) includes one or more RF front ends to support each radio frequency band, and a programmable processor that replaces special-purpose hardware for the tuning and demodulation of each radio service. The programmable processor has limited peak processing capabilities, and calculations are made to see if present user terminal assignments will result in processing conflicts that could exceed the peak processing capabilities. In traffic slot applications in particular, any possible simultaneous arrival or overlap of traffic slots from the respective radio services is projected. If conflicts will result from the current user terminal assignments, then those assignments are reshuffled to obtain a non-conflicting result.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2014
    Assignee: NXP, B.V.
    Inventors: Yanmeng Sun, Liangliang Hu