Abstract: Multiple test access port (TAP) controllers on a single chip are accessed, while maintaining the appearance to an outside observer of having only a single test access port controller. By adding a single bit to a data register (212) of each of a plurality of TAP controllers (102, 106), along with straightforward combinational logic, the plurality of TAP controllers can be accessed without the need for additional chip pins, and without the need for additional TAP controllers. Toggling the state of the added bits in the respective data registers of the plurality of TAP controllers provides the control information for either selecting one TAP controller or daisy-chaining of the plurality of TAP controllers.

Abstract: Conductions and vias between different, stacked metallic layers of a semiconductor device may be mechanically damaged by mechanical strain. According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, this mechanical strain may be transferred through the layer structure to the substrate by a grid of grounding structures and isolation and passivation layers which are connected by the grounding structures. This may provide for an enhancement of the lifetime of the semiconductor devices.

Abstract: One embodiment of the present application includes the preparation of an assertion for inclusion in an integrated circuit simulation performed with a processing device (21). In response to an input to this processing device (21), a set of integrated circuit waveforms are defined to test the assertion. The processing device (21) tests the assertion with these waveforms; and after successful testing, the integrated circuit simulation is performed with the assertion.

Abstract: A method of operating battery power management unit (PMU) in over-discharge situation is disclosed. Furthermore, a power management unit (PMU) and a device comprising a power management unit (PMU) are disclosed. The power management unit (PMU) is part of a system, comprising a battery and a safety circuit connected to the battery. The state of the safety circuit of the battery is determined and the on/off control of the device is made inactive while the safety circuit remains active. Thereby avoiding an application run on the device to go into an active state, i.e. to be turned on, at a moment when the battery has not returned to its normal operation mode.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes forming trench isolation structures, exposing some of the trench isolation structures 28 to leave others 30 masked, and then selectively etching a buried layer to form a cavity 32 under an active device region 34. The active device region 34 is supported by support regions in the exposed trenches 28. The buried layer may be a SiGe layer on a Si substrate.

Abstract: The present invention provides a broadband waveguide mixer, comprising: a waveguide having a substantially v-shaped groove in its inner surface; a broadband antenna coupling in the V-groove; and mixing means for mixing signals received by the broadband antenna. The present invention further provides a high frequency electromagnetic wave receiver comprising the aforesaid broadband waveguide mixer. The broadband waveguide mixer and the high frequency electromagnetic wave receiver have the advantages of broad single mode operating frequency band, lower loss, lower noise, and they can be easily produced and assembled to lower cost.

Abstract: Magnetic field sensors may be used for determination of a position or of a rotational speed of an object. According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a sensor system comprises a sensor unit generating a frequency output reflecting the rotational speed or the position of the object, wherein the frequency output has a higher frequency than an encoding frequency of the object. This may provide for an improved resolution. The intrinsic sensor characteristic leads to a signal having twice or four times the frequency of the encoded magnetic field. The sensor may be a giant magneto-resistance (GMR) sensor.

Abstract: In a transponder (1) and an integrated circuit (5), the integrated circuit (6) has a monitoring circuit (23) to which a d.c. supply voltage (VS) can be fed and by which a signalizing signal (POK) whose waveform is dependent on the relationship between the d.c. supply voltage (VS) and a voltage threshold value (VTHR1, VTHR2) can be generated, wherein the monitoring circuit (23) is arranged to be controllable in respect of the generation of the signalizing signal (POK), and wherein a control circuit (28) is provided for controlling the monitoring circuit (23) by means of at least one control signal (CS1, CS2).

Abstract: In a body-worn personal communications apparatus, for example a wrist-carried wireless telephone, an antenna (102) is a helical or other physically-shortened electric antenna that makes use of the enhanced normal component of electric field close to the body. A microphone (114) can act as a top load to the antenna, thereby enabling the use of a shorter antenna. The antenna (102) may be formed from coaxial cable, enabling it to provide electrical connections between the microphone (114) and transceiver circuitry in the body of the apparatus. By arranging for the microphone (114) to have low impedance at radio frequencies, the coaxial cable acts as an inductive stub and enables the antenna (102) to be further shortened.

Abstract: Apparatus (20) for generating a sine shaped output signal at an output (Sn, Sp). The apparatus (20) comprises a first transistors (M1) and a second transistor (M2) being arranged as differential pair (22). The differential pair (22) has two input nodes (Tp, Tn) allowing a triangular input signal (Vin(t)) with a given amplitude (A) to be applied between a gate (Tp) of the first transistor (M1) and a gate (Tn) of the second transistor (M2). The differential pair (22) further comprises a node (X) where a source of the first transistor (M1) and a source of the second transistor (M2) is connected. The sine wave shaped signal is provided between a drain (Sp) of the first transistor (M1) and a drain (Sn) of the second transistor (M2). A current mirror (21) is employed for feeding a predefined tail current (Iss) into/out of the node (X) of said differential pair (22).

Abstract: The communication bus system comprises a plurality of node circuits (10a-d) and a relay circuit (12, 14, 16) coupling the node circuits (10a-d). The relay circuit (12, 14, 16) has a transceiver circuit (124, 164) for relaying messages (21) between the node circuits (10a-d) in a normal mode. The transceiver circuit (124, 164) is powered down in a sleep mode. A detector circuit (120, 160) detects an incoming message (41) when the relay circuit (12, 14, 16) is in a sleep mode. A mode control circuit (122, 162) powers up the transceiver (124, 164) in response to detection of an incoming message (21). Steps are taken that ensure, in the normal mode, that messages (21) will not be relayed in unreadable form. The mode control circuit (122, 162) is arranged to cause the transceiver (124, 164) to relay a remainder (25) of the incoming message (21) after power up.

Abstract: A semiconductor device, for example a diode (200), having a pn junction (101) has an insulating material field shaping region (201) adjacent, and possibly bridging, the pn junction. The field shaping region (201) preferably has a high dielectric constant and is coupled via capacitive voltage coupling regions (204,205) to substantially the same voltages as are applied to the pn junction. When a reverse voltage is applied across the pn junction (101) and the device is non-conducting, a capacitive electric field, is present in a part of the field shaping region which extends beyond a limit of the pn junction depletion region which would exist in the absence of the field shaping region (201), the electric field in the field shaping region inducing a stretched electric field limited to a correspondingly stretched pn junction depletion region (208,209) and an increased reverse breakdown voltage of the device.

Abstract: Consistent with one example embodiment, communications systems, using a serial data transfer bus having a serial data line and a clock line used to implement a communications protocol, incorporate programmable loading of a logic value into parallel slave device registers. The communications system includes a slave device having two or more registers, each register having two or more bits, each register configured to load data therein received in accordance with the communications protocol over the data transfer bus in a first configuration, and to load a single logic value into the plurality of bits in a second configuration. A programmable configuration register is configured to be programmed, in accordance with the communications protocol over the data transfer bus, to select two or more of the registers for loading of the single logic value into the two or more of bits of the selected registers in the second configuration.

Abstract: A frequency scanning method to locate a carrier frequency of a base station in a CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) communication system, the method comprising a cell detection step (76) to determine if a listening frequency is the carrier frequency of a base station by identifying a synchronization code within a radio signal received at the listening frequency, wherein after having located an initial carrier frequency, the cell detection step is only performed for listening frequencies that are spaced apart from the initial carrier frequency by an integer multiple of the channel spacing, this channel spacing being equal to the frequency bandwidth of spreading codes used by base stations in the CDMA communication system.

Abstract: An RFID reader (1, 1?) comprises a signal generator (2) for generating high frequency electrical signals (ES) and an antenna (3) to which the high frequency electrical signals (ES) are feedable in a symmetric mode. The RFID reader (1) further comprises tuning means (4, 4?) for maintaining the antenna (3) in a symmetric operating mode, wherein the tuning means (4, 4?) are controllable in dependency of varying coupling impedances (CG) occurring between the antenna (3) and its environment (G).

Abstract: In order to provide an electronic communication system (100), having at least one base station (10) with at least one antenna unit (16), in particular in coil form; and at least one transponder station (40), in particular in data carrier form, with at least one antenna unit (32), in particular in coil form, for receiving electromagnetic radiation (26) in form of power to be supplied by the base station (10) with a particular carrier frequency and for exchanging data signals (22, 24) with the base station (10), wherein the receiving frequency (f) can be adapted, in particular optimized, during operation, it is proposed that the electronic communication system (100) comprises at least one controller unit (36) for controlling the receiving frequency (f) of the antenna unit (32) of the transponder station (40) during operation of the communication system (100), in particular for adapting the resonant frequency of the antenna unit (32) of the transponder station (40) to the carrier frequency defined by the base st

Abstract: Consistent with one example embodiment, communications systems (100), using a serial data transfer bus having a serial data line and a clock line used to implement a communications protocol, incorporate latched service requests. Methods for one or more slave devices to request service from a master device (130) involve detecting a condition that asserts a request for service signal (162), at a common node (150) independent from the serial data transfer bus, to a master device of the bus. The request for service is latched (164), within the slave, such that the request for service remains asserted regardless of a change in the detected condition. The request for service is de-asserted (166) in response to interrogation of the slave, using the serial data transfer bus, by the master device. Devices may be configured as general purpose Input/Output devices, CODEC arrangements, or other slave devices, and may conform to I2C and/or SMBus serial communication specifications.

Abstract: The invention relates to a Method for reception of DVB-H signals wherein a MPEG transport stream (MPEG-TS) is grouped into packets belonging to a certain IP data stream and forming bursts in time slices, the MPEG-TS is modulated into OFDM symbols, these symbols are grouped in frames, the frames themselves are grouped in superframes. A receiver is notified about a relative time from a first burst to transmission of the next burst and the receiver is switched off between the first and the next burst. The invention further relates to a DVB-H receiver. The invention solves the problem is to reduce the power consumption of DVB-H receivers by reducing the switch on time of the receiver by providing the receiver with means for maintaining accurate course symbol timing within the symbol with an accuracy better than 25 ppm and by switching on the receiver exactly at the superframe boundary.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a video decoder (DEC) for decoding a bit stream (BS) corresponding to pictures (P) of a video signal, the coded pictures being likely to include macroblocks coded in a progressive and in an interlaced way. The decoder includes a decoding unit (DEU) for decoding macroblocks coded in a progressive way, and a hybrid reference construction unit (HRCU) for constructing, for each reference picture, a hybrid reference texture (HRT) which has the property of representing said reference picture in a frame-based and in a field-based manner. Said hybrid reference texture is used by said decoding unit for decoding interlaced macroblocks.

Abstract: The invention provides a processing system, comprising a video signal processing unit for processing a video signal, the video signal processing entailing a video signal processing delay, and video delay control for controlling said video signal processing unit in dependence on a maximum allowed value for the video signal processing delay. The invention also provides an audio-video signal source, comprising an output for sending a video signal to a video signal processing unit, and an output for communicating to the video signal processing unit a maximum allowed value for a video signal processing delay entailed by video signal processing in the video signal processing unit.