Patents Assigned to STMicroelectronics A.A.
  • Publication number: 20110309480
    Abstract: According to a process for manufacturing an integrated power device, projections and depressions are formed in a semiconductor body that extend in a first direction and are arranged alternated in succession in a second direction, transversely to the first direction. Further provided are a first conduction region and a second conduction region. The first conduction region and the second conduction region define a current flow direction parallel to the first direction, along the projections and the depressions. To form the projections and the depressions, portions of the semiconductor body that extend in the first direction and correspond to the depressions, are selectively oxidized.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 17, 2011
    Publication date: December 22, 2011
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics S.r.I.
    Inventors: Simone Dario Mariani, Andrea Paleari, Stephane Wen Yung Bach, Paolo Gattari
  • Publication number: 20110309532
    Abstract: A semiconductor structure includes a semiconductor substrate, formed on which are a first layer and a second layer, and an alignment-control mask. The alignment-control mask includes a first direction reference element, formed in a first region of the first layer and extending in a first alignment direction, and first position reference elements, formed in a first region of the second layer that corresponds to the first region of the first layer accommodating the first direction reference element. The first position reference elements are arranged in succession in the first alignment direction and in respective staggered positions with respect to a second alignment direction perpendicular to the first alignment direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 20, 2011
    Publication date: December 22, 2011
    Applicant: STMICROELECTRONICS S.R.L.
    Inventor: Emanuele Brenna
  • Publication number: 20110309320
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a phase change memory (PCM) includes forming a pinch plate layer transversely to a PCM layer that is insulated from the pinch plate layer by a dielectric layer. Biasing the pinch plate layer causes a depletion region to form in the PCM layer. During a read of the PCM in a reset or partial reset state the depletion region increases the resistance of the PCM layer significantly.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 25, 2011
    Publication date: December 22, 2011
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics S.r.I.
    Inventor: John M. Peters
  • Publication number: 20110309521
    Abstract: A method for stacking and interconnecting integrated circuits includes providing at least two substrates; forming a trench in each substrate; filling the trench with an insulating material; forming, in each substrate, at least one conductive area; thinning each substrate until reaching at least the bottom of the trench, to obtain in each substrate at least one electrically insulated region within the closed perimeter delineated by the trench; bonding the substrates together; making at least one hole through the bonded substrates so that the hole passes at least partially through the conductive areas and passes through the insulated region of each substrate; and filling the hole with an electrically conductive material so as to obtain a conductive column that traverses the isolated region of each substrate and is in lateral electrical contact with the conductive areas.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 26, 2011
    Publication date: December 22, 2011
    Applicant: STMICROELECTRONICS (ROUSSET) SAS
    Inventor: Brendan Dunne
  • Publication number: 20110310958
    Abstract: An embodiment relates to a decoder for decoding CABAC encoded video data in real time for HDTV applications. The decoder comprises a binary arithmetic decoder block for converting an input bit stream into a bin string, a context memory for storing a plurality of context values, and a plurality of finite state machines. Each of the finite state machines is adapted for decoding a particular one of the H.264 syntax elements by providing the binary arithmetic decoder block with an index of the relevant context value within the context memory and by converting the resulting bin stream into a value of the current syntax element. In this manner, a performance of one bin per cycle may be achieved.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 21, 2011
    Publication date: December 22, 2011
    Applicants: STMICROELECTRONICS S.R.L., STMICROELECTRONICS PVT. LTD.
    Inventors: Ravin SACHDEVA, Sumit JOHAR, Daniele ALFONSO
  • Patent number: 8080452
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for selective deposition of Si or SiGe on a Si or SiGe surface. The method exploits differences in physico-chemical surface behavior according to a difference in doping of first and second surface regions. By providing at least one first surface region with a Boron doping of a suitable concentration range and exposing the substrate surface to a cleaning and passivating ambient atmosphere in a prebake step at a temperature lower or equal than 800° C., a subsequent deposition step of Si or SiGe will not lead to a layer deposition in the first surface region. This effect is used for selective deposition of Si or SiGe in the second surface region, which is not doped with Boron in the suitable concentration range, or doped with another dopant, or not doped. The method thus saves a usual photolithography sequence required for selective deposition of Si or SiGe in the second surface region according to the prior art.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2011
    Assignees: NXP, B.V., STMicroelectronics (Crolles 2) SAS
    Inventors: Alexandre Mondot, Markus Gerhard Andreas Muller, Thomas Kormann
  • Publication number: 20110305094
    Abstract: An electrically programmable non-volatile memory device includes a plurality of memory cells, a plurality of lines for selectively biasing the memory cells, reconnection circuitry for reconnecting a pair of selected lines having different voltages, and a controller for controlling the memory device. The reconnection means includes a discharge circuit for discharging one of the selected lines being at the higher voltage in absolute value, an equalization circuit for equalizing the selected lines, a comparator circuit for measuring an indication of a voltage difference between the selected lines, and an evaluation circuit responsive to an enabling signal from the controller for activating the discharge circuit until an absolute value of the voltage difference exceeds a threshold value and for disabling the discharge circuit and enabling the equalization circuit when the absolute value of the voltage difference reaches the threshold value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2011
    Publication date: December 15, 2011
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics S.r.I
    Inventors: Maurizio Francesco Perroni, Giuseppe Castagna
  • Publication number: 20110305975
    Abstract: A catalytic particulate solution is provided for a micro fuel cell. The solution includes a suspension of catalytic nanoparticles in a solvent and a polymerizable oligomer. Also presented is a method for depositing such a catalytic particulate solution that includes a step of depositing the particulate solution onto a substrate, during which the oligomer polymerization is primed, for example, using UV lighting.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 15, 2009
    Publication date: December 15, 2011
    Applicants: Commissariat A L'Engergie Atomique et Aux Energies Alternatives, STMICROELECTRONICS (TOURS) SAS
    Inventors: Antoine Latour, Sylvain Nizou
  • Publication number: 20110305096
    Abstract: A circuit for reading memory cells includes: a sense node connectable to a memory cell; a sense device connected to the sense node and configured to be activated in a precharging step which precedes a cell reading step and to provide such an output signal to assume logic values dependant on an electric signal present at the sense node; a precharging circuit connected to said sense node and configured to be activated to make said sense node reach a precharging voltage and to be deactivated upon switching said output signal occurred in the precharging step.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 15, 2011
    Publication date: December 15, 2011
    Applicant: STMICROELECTRONICS S.R.L.
    Inventors: Maurizio Francesco Perroni, Giuseppe Castagna
  • Publication number: 20110305390
    Abstract: A digital image including a plurality of pixels is processed. Each pixel has at least one colorimetric component. The processing of the image includes processing for each pixel of a group of pixels of the image and for each colorimetric component of the pixel. In this processing, a modification is made to the value of the colorimetric component so as to obtain a modified value situated inside or outside a colorimetric range. A comparison is made of the modified value to the upper and lower limits of the associated colorimetric range. If the corrected value is outside the associated colorimetric range, a corrected value equal to an additional value is assigned to the corresponding colorimetric component of the pixel. The additional value is chosen to be unique and included in the associated colorimetric range and different from the values of the limits of the associated colorimetric range.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 11, 2011
    Publication date: December 15, 2011
    Applicant: STMICROELECTRONICS (GRENOBLE 2) SAS
    Inventor: Fritz Lebowsky
  • Publication number: 20110304014
    Abstract: A passive integrated circuit formed on a substrate, including contact areas of a conductive material specifically capable of receiving bonding pads, wherein the conductive material further creates connections between regions of a lower metallization level.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 8, 2011
    Publication date: December 15, 2011
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics (Tours) SAS
    Inventors: Claire Laporte, Hilal Ezzeddine
  • Publication number: 20110305092
    Abstract: An electrically programmable non-volatile memory device being integrated on a chip of semiconductor material is proposed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2011
    Publication date: December 15, 2011
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: Maurizio Francesco Perroni, Giuseppe Castagna
  • Patent number: 8078804
    Abstract: A data cache memory coupled to a processor including processor clusters are adapted to operate simultaneously on scalar and vectorial data by providing data locations in the data cache memory for storing data for processing. The data locations are accessed either in a scalar mode or in a vectorial mode. This is done by explicitly mapping the data locations that are scalar and the data locations that are vectorial.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2011
    Assignees: STMicroelectronics S.r.l., STMicroelectronics N.V.
    Inventors: Francesco Pappalardo, Giuseppe Notarangelo, Elena Salurso, Elio Guidetti
  • Publication number: 20110298010
    Abstract: A cell library intended to be used to form an integrated circuit, this library defining a first cell including a first MOS transistor of minimum dimensions, and a second cell including a second MOS transistor of lower leakage current, wherein the second cell takes up the same surface area as the first cell, and the second MOS transistor has a gate of same length as the gate of the first MOS transistor across at least a first width in its central portion, and of greater length across at least a second width on either side of the central portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 8, 2011
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicants: STMicroelectronics SA, Commissariat A L'Energie Atomique Et Aux Energies Alternatives, STMicroelectronics (Crolles 2) SAS
    Inventors: Olivier Menut, Laurent Bergher, Emek Yesilada, Yorick Trouiller, Franck Foussadier, Raphaël Bingert
  • Publication number: 20110298019
    Abstract: An etching mask, comprising the delineation pattern of the gate electrode, of a source contact, a drain contact and a counter-electrode contact, is formed on a substrate of semi-conductor on insulator type. The substrate is covered by a layer of dielectric material and a gate material. The counter-electrode contact is located in the pattern of the gate electrode. The gate material is etched to define the gate electrode, the source contact and drain contacts and the counter-electrode contact. A part of the support substrate is released through the pattern of the counter-electrode contact area. An electrically conductive material is deposited on the free part of the support substrate to form the counter-electrode contact.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 3, 2011
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicants: STMICROELECTRONICS (CROLLES 2) SAS, COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES
    Inventors: Claire FENOUILLET-BÉRANGER, Olivier THOMAS, Philippe CORONEL, Stéphane DENORME
  • Publication number: 20110302471
    Abstract: A method of testing a data connection using at least one test sequence, the method including providing a first bit sequence by a first generator; duplicating the first bit sequence to generate a second bit sequence identical to the first; and generating the at least one test sequence based on the first and second bit sequences and transmitting the at least one test sequence over a data connection to be tested.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 6, 2011
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics (Grenoble 2) SAS
    Inventor: Hervé Le-Gall
  • Publication number: 20110302539
    Abstract: A method for designing masks adapted to the forming of integrated circuits, including the steps of: (a) forming a first test file including a set of configurations of integrated circuit elements; (b) forming a second test file comprising the elements of the first test file, less the elements corresponding to configurations forbidden by design rule manuals; (c) trans-forming the second test file by means of a set of logical operations implemented by computing means to obtain a mask file; (d) testing the mask file and, if the test is negative, modifying the design rule manuals; and (e) repeating steps (a) to (d) until the test of step (d) is positive.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 27, 2011
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics (Rousset) SAS
    Inventor: Julia Castellan
  • Publication number: 20110298530
    Abstract: An apparatus is provided that comprises a test circuit; a first receiver unit arranged to receive test commands and to provide the test commands to the test circuit; a power supply unit arranged to supply power to the test circuit and to the first receiver unit; a second receiver unit arranged to receive power commands. The second receiver is arranged to control the operation of the power supply unit in response to the power commands received by the second receiver unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 3, 2011
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics (Research & Development) Limited
    Inventor: Edward Kent
  • Publication number: 20110299355
    Abstract: A word-line driver includes first, second and third transistors. The first transistor includes a gate terminal driven by a first group selection signal, a first conduction terminal driven by a second sub-group selection signal and a second conduction terminal coupled to the word-line. The second transistor includes a gate terminal driven by a second group selection signal, a second conduction terminal driven by the second sub-group selection signal, and a first conduction terminal coupled to the word-line. The third transistor includes a gate terminal driven by a third the group selection signal, a first conduction terminal driven by a first sub-group selection signal, and a second conduction terminal coupled to the word-line.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 21, 2010
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: STMICROELECTRONICS PVT. LTD.
    Inventor: Vikas Rana
  • Publication number: 20110299783
    Abstract: The invention concerns a method of performing, by an image processing device, object detection in an image comprising: performing one or more tests of a test sequence for detection of a first object on pixels values of a plurality of at least partially overlapping sub-regions (310, 312, 314) of a first search window (108); generating a cumulative score based on results of said one or more tests on said plurality of sub-regions; comparing said cumulative score with a threshold value; and based on said comparison, selectively performing one or more of said tests of said test sequence on at least one further sub-region of said first search window, said at least one further sub-region at least partially overlapping each of said plurality of sub-regions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 3, 2011
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics (Grenoble 2) SAS
    Inventors: Ludovic Chotard, Michel Sanches, Vitor Schwambach, Mahesh Chandra