Patents Assigned to STMicroelectronic S.A.
  • TRANSMISSION LINE FOR ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
    Publication number: 20120106120
    Abstract: A transmission line formed in a device including a stack of first and second chips having their front surfaces facing each other and wherein a layer of a filling material separates the front surface of the first chip from the front surface of the second chip, this line including: a conductive strip formed on the front surface side of the first chip in at least one metallization level of the first chip; and a ground plane made of a conductive material formed in at least one metallization level of the second chip.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 21, 2011
    Publication date: May 3, 2012
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics S.A.
    Inventors: Pierre Bar, Sylvain Joblot, Jean-François Carpentier
  • Self-cooled vertical electronic component
    Patent number: 8166769
    Abstract: A self-cooled electronic component comprising a vertical monolithic circuit, in which the vertical monolithic circuit is electrically connected in series with a Peltier cooler so that the D.C. current flowing through the circuit supplies the cooler and in which the circuit and the cooler are placed against each other so that the cold surface of the cooler is in thermal contact with the circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2012
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.A.
    Inventor: Jean-Luc Morand
  • Method and device for processing the frequency shift of the carrier frequency of a signal modulated with a quadrature continuous single-carrier modulation
    Patent number: 8165259
    Abstract: A frequency shift of a carrier frequency of an input signal is estimated with a frequency estimator in order to obtain an estimate value. Then, the estimate of the frequency shift is refined, and the carrier frequency is corrected in consequence, with a phase-locked loop that is initialized with the estimate value. The phase-locked loop has a locking frequency range that is narrower than a locking frequency range of the frequency estimator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2012
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics, S.A.
    Inventor: Bruno Paille
  • Integrated circuit cooling device
    Patent number: 8164183
    Abstract: A pump having: a cavity formed inside an insulating substrate, the upper part of the substrate being situated near the cavity having an edge; a conductive layer covering the inside of the cavity up to the edge and optionally covering the edge itself; a flexible membrane made of a conductive material placed above the cavity and resting against the edge; a dielectric layer covering the conductive layer or the membrane whereby insulating the portions of the conductive layer and of the membrane that are near one another; at least one aeration line formed in the insulating substrate that opens into the cavity via an opening in the conductive layer, and; terminals for applying a voltage between the conductive layer and the membrane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2012
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.A.
    Inventor: Guillaume Bouche
  • Generator of a signal with an adjustable waveform
    Patent number: 8166283
    Abstract: A generator of a signal including a memory in which instructions are stored, each instruction including a code portion and an argument portion; circuitry for successively reading instructions stored in the memory; decoding circuitry capable of receiving, for each read instruction, the code portion of the instruction and of providing an activation signal which depends on the code portion; and circuitry for providing the signal capable of receiving, for each read instruction, the argument portion of the instruction and capable, according to the activation signal, of storing the argument portion and of providing the signal equal to the argument portion or of providing the signal equal to the previously-stored argument portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2012
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.A.
    Inventor: Xavier Cauchy
  • Microresonator
    Patent number: 8159109
    Abstract: A microresonator comprising a single-crystal silicon resonant element and at least one activation electrode placed close to the resonant element, in which the resonant element is placed in an opening of a semiconductor layer covering a substrate, the activation electrode being formed in the semiconductor layer and being level at the opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2012
    Assignees: STMicroelectronics (Crolles 2) SAS, STMicroelectronics S.A.
    Inventors: Nicolas Abelé, Pascal Ancey, Alexandre Talbot, Karim Segueni, Guillaume Bouche, Thomas Skotnicki, Stéphane Monfray, Fabrice Casset
  • Process for forming a silicon-based single-crystal portion
    Patent number: 8158495
    Abstract: Silicon-based single-crystal portions are produced on a surface of a substrate, selectively in zones where a single-crystal material is initially exposed. To do this, a layer is firstly formed over the entire surface of the substrate, using a silicon precursor of the non-chlorinated hydride type, and under suitable conditions so that the layer is a single-crystal layer in the zones of the substrate where a single-crystal material is initially exposed and amorphous outside these zones. The amorphous portions of the layer are then selectively etched so that only the single-crystal portions of the layer remain on the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2012
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.A.
    Inventors: Didier Dutartre, Laurent Rubaldo, Alexandre Talbot
  • Protection of the execution of a program executed by an integrated circuit
    Patent number: 8161293
    Abstract: A method and a circuit for protecting the execution of a program, including initializing at least one counter, carrying on with the normal program execution, interrupting this execution when the counter reaches a given value, and executing at least one integrity check of the calculation after this interrupt.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2012
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.A.
    Inventors: Yannick Teglia, Pierre-Yvan Liardet, Alain Pomet
  • Pixel read circuitry
    Patent number: 8159587
    Abstract: A method of reading voltages from an image sensor having an array of pixels, each pixel Having at least one photodiode connectable to a storage node, the method including: controlling each pixel in a row of pixels to store and output a first voltage value at a first instance, a second voltage value at a second instance, and a third voltage value at a third instance, the first, second and third voltage values being representative of charge accumulated by the photodiodes during an integration phase; comparing the first voltage value from each pixel with a reference threshold; sampling for each pixel, based on the comparison, one of the second and third voltage values, and generating an output pixel value based on the sampled one of the second and third voltage values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2012
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.A.
    Inventors: Benoît Deschamps, Frédéric Barbier
  • BACKSIDE IMAGE SENSOR
    Publication number: 20120086091
    Abstract: A backside image sensor including an assembly of pixels, each pixel including, in a vertical stack, a photosensitive area and a filtering element topping the photosensitive area on the back surface side, wherein at least two adjacent filtering elements of adjacent pixels are separated by a vertical metal wall extending over at least eighty percent of the height of the filtering elements or over a greater height.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 20, 2011
    Publication date: April 12, 2012
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics S.A.
    Inventor: Axel Crocherie
  • Electronic circuit comprising a device to measure phase noise of an oscillating and/or resonant device
    Patent number: 8154307
    Abstract: An electronic circuit includes several (at least two) oscillating and/or resonant devices. The circuit uses a measuring device to measure the phase noise of one of the two oscillating/resonant devices. This measuring device is integrated on a chip on which the oscillating/resonant device to be measured is also integrated. The circuits and methods described find application in the area of radiofrequency/high frequency electronics RF/HF, in particular adapted to general public applications in mobile communication systems and/or to metrology.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2012
    Assignees: STMicroelectronics S.A., Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
    Inventors: Andrea Cathelin, Sylvain Godet, Olivier Llopis, Éric Tournier, Stephane Thuries
  • Pixel circuit for global electronic shutter
    Patent number: 8153947
    Abstract: An image sensor formed of an array of pixels, each pixel including a photodiode coupled between a first reference voltage and a first switch, the first switch being operable to connect the photodiode to a first node; a capacitor arranged to store a charge accumulated by the photodiode, the capacitor being coupled between a second reference voltage and a second node; a second switch coupled between the first and second nodes, the second switch being operable to connect the capacitor to the first node; and read circuitry coupled for reading the voltage at the second node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2012
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.A.
    Inventors: Frédéric Barbier, Yvon Cazaux
  • READ BOOST CIRCUIT FOR MEMORY DEVICE
    Publication number: 20120081978
    Abstract: A read boost circuit arranged to boost the voltage difference between a pair of complementary bit lines of a memory device during a read operation, the read boost circuit including: a first transistor adapted to be controlled by the voltage level on a first bit line of the pair of bit lines to couple a second bit line of the pair of bit lines to a first supply voltage; and a second transistor connected directly to ground and adapted to be controlled by the voltage level on the second bit line to couple the first bit line to ground.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 22, 2011
    Publication date: April 5, 2012
    Applicants: STMicroelectronics S.A., Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, STMicroelectronics Crolles 2 SAS
    Inventors: Fady Abouzeid, Sylvain Clerc, Philippe Roche
  • Image sensor with an improved sensitivity
    Patent number: 8149322
    Abstract: An image sensor having a surface intended to be illuminated and pixels, each pixel including a photosensitive area formed in an active area of the substrate, at least one first pixel including a first microlens located on the surface, the sensor including at least one second pixel including a transparent portion forming a pedestal located at least partly on the surface and a second microlens at least partially covering the pedestal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2012
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.A.
    Inventor: Jérôme Vaillant
  • Method and device for generating candidate motion vectors from selected spatial and temporal motion vectors
    Patent number: 8144775
    Abstract: A motion estimation method and device are provided for processing images to be inserted, between a preceding original image and a following original image, into a sequence of determined images. Each image is divided into pixel blocks and a motion vector is associated with each block of a processed image. Motion vectors associated with respective blocks of the image are processed and motion vectors associated with respective blocks of a preceding processed image (spatial and temporal motion vectors) are selected with respect to a current block of an image being processed. Candidate motion vectors are generated from the motion vectors selected. One vector is elected from among the candidate vectors. Information associating the elected vector with the block is stored. A temporal motion vector is selected only if it satisfies a determined selection criterion based on the orientation of the motion vector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2012
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.A.
    Inventor: Marina Nicolas
  • Protection of the execution of a DES algorithm
    Patent number: 8144865
    Abstract: A method for protecting an execution, by an integrated circuit, of a ciphering and/or deciphering algorithm taking into account data and at least one valid key and performing several iterations of the same calculation, including at least one execution of an iteration with the valid key between several executions of the same iteration with the invalid keys obtained by applying at least one non-linear one-way function to the valid key.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2012
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.A.
    Inventors: Yannick Teglia, Pierre-Yvan Liardet, Alain Pomet
  • Control of an electroluminescent display
    Patent number: 8138998
    Abstract: A device for controlling an electroluminescent matrix display by successive selection of its lines, including a column control circuit having circuitry capable of placing, at the beginning of the selection of a line, the display column at a precharge voltage based on the operating voltage of the previous line, the column control circuit also having circuitry capable of modifying the precharge voltage according to the difference between luminance instructions of the previous line and those of the selected line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2012
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.A.
    Inventors: Céline Mas, Corinne Ianigro, Hervé Pierrot
  • Method for capturing images comprising a measurement of local motions
    Patent number: 8139823
    Abstract: A method for capturing a sequence of video images, using an imager including an estimation of the parameters of a model of global motion between successive images. The method may include measurement of local motions on edges of the images, with the estimation of the parameters of the global motion model performed using the result of the measurement of local motions on the edges of the images.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2012
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.A.
    Inventors: Fabrice Gensolen, Lionel Martin, Guy Cathebras
  • Protection of a modular exponentiation calculation performed by an integrated circuit
    Patent number: 8135129
    Abstract: A method and a circuit for protecting a numerical quantity contained in an integrated circuit on a first number of bits, in a modular exponentiation computing of a data by the numerical quantity, including: selecting at least one second number included between the unit and said first number minus two; dividing the numerical quantity into at least two parts, a first part including, from the bit of rank null, a number of bits equal to the second number, a second part including the remaining bits; for each part of the quantity, computing a first modular exponentiation of said data by the part concerned and a second modular exponentiation of the result of the first by the FIG. 2 exponentiated to the power of the rank of the first bit of the part concerned; and computing the product of the results of the first and second modular exponentiations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2012
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.A.
    Inventors: Yannick Teglia, Pierre-Yvan Liardet, Alain Pomet
  • Electromagnetic field generation antenna for a transponder
    Patent number: 8130159
    Abstract: An antenna generating an electromagnetic field for an electromagnetic transponder and a terminal provided with such an antenna. The antenna comprises a first inductive element designed to be connected to two terminals employing an energizing voltage, and a parallel resonant circuit coupled with the first inductive element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2012
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.A.
    Inventors: Luc Wuidart, Michel Bardouillet