Patents Assigned to STMicroelectronics, Inc.
  • Enabling interoperability of dual-radio and single-radio devices for vehicular multi-channel operations
    Patent number: 8462704
    Abstract: Methods and systems are disclosed for interoperations between single-radio (channel switching) devices, dual radio devices, and single-radio (always-on) devices in radio communication systems, both with and without a safety channel. The methods and systems may be applied in communication systems for wireless access in vehicular environments (WAVE), such as those according to IEEE 802.11p. When there is a safety channel, some embodiments add a Safety Channel Interval within an operation period. Other embodiments disclose how various device types can operate to coordinate safety message transmissions, both with and without a safety channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2013
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Wendong Hu
  • Constant Current DC-DC Converter
    Publication number: 20130141006
    Abstract: A device includes a positive power supply voltage node; and a first operational amplifier including a first input, a second input, and an output coupled to the second input. The device further includes a first resistor coupled between the second input of the first operational amplifier and the positive power supply voltage node; a second resistor coupled between the output of the first operational amplifier and an electrical ground, and is configured to receive a same current flowing through the first resistor; a second operational amplifier including a first input coupled to the second resistor, and an output coupled to an output node; and a third resistor coupled between the electrical ground and a second input of the second operational amplifier.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 18, 2011
    Publication date: June 6, 2013
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Wei Song
  • Scan chain modification for reduced leakage
    Patent number: 8453098
    Abstract: A leakage power control vector is loaded into existing test scan chain elements for application to circuit elements of a circuit in which the leakage currents are to be controlled. The vector is designed to configure the circuit elements into states in which leakage currents are reduced. A multiplexer selects the power control vector for loading into the scan chain elements, and a clock generator clocks the configuration vector into the scan chain elements. A sleep mode detector may be provided to configure the multiplexer to select the power control vector and to operate the clock generator to clock the power control vector into the scan chain elements when a sleep mode of the circuit is detected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2013
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Razak Hossain
  • METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ENABLING USER FEEDBACK FROM DIGITAL MEDIA CONTENT
    Publication number: 20130132983
    Abstract: An apparatus for enabling feedback from a recipient of media content includes a receiver that receives a content data stream, containing media content and embedded Meta-Data, and a decoder that decodes the content data stream to extract the media content and the Meta-Data. A playback signal dependent upon the extracted content is passed to a content playback device of the content recipient. A control device interface receives a signal from a local control device operated by the content recipient and a network interface provides the desired feedback by accessing a network in accordance with the Meta-Data and the signal from the local control device of the content recipient. The Meta-Data, which may be related to the content, is embedded in the encoded media content data sequence before the sequence is transmitted or at a later stage in the transmission network.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 5, 2012
    Publication date: May 23, 2013
    Applicant: STMICROELECTRONICS, INC.
    Inventor: Srinivas Ramkumar Yadavalli
  • SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IMPROVING SOLDER JOINT RELIABILITY IN AN INTEGRATED CIRCUIT PACKAGE
    Publication number: 20130130492
    Abstract: Solder joint reliability in an integrated circuit package is improved. Each terminal of a quad, flat, non-leaded integrated circuit package is formed having portions that define a solder slot in the bottom surface of the terminal. An external surface of the die pad of the integrated circuit package is also formed having portions that define a plurality of solder slots on the periphery of the die pad. When solder is applied to the die pad and to the terminals, the solder that fills the solder slots increases the solder joint reliability of the integrated circuit package.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 8, 2012
    Publication date: May 23, 2013
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventor: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
  • MICROFLUIDIC JETTING DEVICE WITH PIEZOELECTRIC ACTUATOR AND METHOD FOR MAKING THE SAME
    Publication number: 20130120506
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a microfluidic jetting device having a piezoelectric member positioned above a displaceable membrane. A voltage is applied across the piezoelectric member causing deformation of the piezoelectric member. The deformation of the piezoelectric member results in a displacement of the membrane, which is formed above a cavity. Displacement of the membrane creates pressure to jet or eject liquid from the cavity and suction liquid into the cavity through ports or apertures formed in the in membrane.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 11, 2011
    Publication date: May 16, 2013
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Michele Palmieri
  • BATTERY PACK MANAGEMENT
    Publication number: 20130124121
    Abstract: A battery pack management system provides information such as remaining capacity and/or run time to empty for a battery. A time taken for a battery voltage to drop a threshold amount is measured and used to determine a remaining capacity of the battery. The time may be associated with a temperature and current of the battery. The remaining capacity of a battery is calculated by monitoring a discharge of the battery. For example, current drawn from the battery is monitored over a period of time and an initial amount by which the battery has been discharged is calculated. Compensation of this initial amount is carried out in order to take into account factors such as temperature, self-discharge rate and age of the battery.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 11, 2011
    Publication date: May 16, 2013
    Applicants: STMicroelectronics, Inc., STMicroelectronics PVT LTD
    Inventors: K. R. Hariharasudhan, Frank J. Sigmund
  • VIDEO WINDOW DETECTION
    Publication number: 20130120588
    Abstract: A video window detector includes a region characteristic determiner to generate at least one characteristic value for at least one region of a display output; a characteristic map generator to generate an image map from the at least one characteristic value for at least one region of the display output; and a window detector to detect at least one video window dependent on the image map.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 16, 2011
    Publication date: May 16, 2013
    Applicants: STMicroelectronics, Inc., STMicroelectronics Pvt Ltd.
    Inventors: RajeshSidana OMPRAKASH, Ravi Ananthapurbacche, Peter Swartz, JeongWoo Lee, Greg Neal, Ramesh Dandapani
  • System and Method for an Energy Efficient Network Adapter
    Publication number: 20130121157
    Abstract: In accordance with an embodiment, a network device includes a network controller and at least one network interface coupled to the network controller that includes at least one media access control (MAC) device configured to be coupled to at least one physical layer interface (PHY). The network controller may be configured to determine a network path comprising the at least one network interface that has a lowest power consumption of available media types coupled to the at least one PHY.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 28, 2012
    Publication date: May 16, 2013
    Applicant: STMICROELECTRONICS, INC.
    Inventor: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
  • Switchable display system
    Patent number: 8441712
    Abstract: A display system for a portable device is switchable by electrical addressing. The display system can absorb ambient light and reflect at least a portion of the absorbed light to render an image on a surface of the display. The display includes a plurality of pixel electrodes. Each of the plurality of pixel electrodes includes linkers with acceptor molecules and donor molecules that form groups having respective color properties. In an off-state, a respective pixel is configured to reflect white light. In an on-state, a respective pixel is configured to reflect light according to the molecular grouping of the acceptor-donor group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2013
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Michele Palmieri
  • Wide input voltage range power factor correction circuit
    Patent number: 8436593
    Abstract: A boost circuit is used for power factor correction (PFC). In a low power application, transition mode control is utilized. However, switching frequency varies with different input voltages, and over a wide input voltage range, the switching frequency can become too high to be practical. To address this issue, a boost circuit is provided whose effective inductance changes as a function of input voltage. By changing the inductance, control is exercised over switching frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2013
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Jianwen Shao, Thomas Lea R. Hopkins
  • Radio frequency architecture for spectrum access networks
    Patent number: 8437314
    Abstract: Radio frequency (RF) architectures for spectrum access networks are provided. Embodiments of the invention generally provide a radio frequency (RF) architecture for customer premise equipment (CPE) for use in, for example, IEEE 802.22 wireless regional area networks (WRANs). In some embodiments, the CPE RF architecture includes two receive chains with a directional antenna and an omni-directional antenna, respectively. The CPE RF architecture facilitates opportunistic out-of-band spectrum sensing and WRAN signal receiving that are performed in parallel with data transmission.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2013
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventors: George A. Vlantis, Wendong Hu
  • Contention based period beamforming
    Patent number: 8437333
    Abstract: Contention based period beamforming includes the establishment of synchronized communications between a beamforming initiator and a beamforming responder to precisely define a start time for beamforming training. Synchronization between the beamforming initiator and beamforming responder begins with the sending of control information to the responder so that the start of the beamforming process will be synchronized. With beamforming training synchronized, beamforming is initiated using the sector sweep process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2013
    Assignees: STMicroelectronics, Inc., STMicroelectronics Srl
    Inventors: Liwen Chu, George A. Vlantis, Vincenzo Scarpa
  • SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR LIGHT COMPENSATION IN A VIDEO PANEL DISPLAY
    Publication number: 20130107060
    Abstract: A system for adjusting the light uniformity of a monitor. The system comprises a camera for capturing a test pattern image on a display of the monitor and a controller configured to select the test pattern image and to cause the monitor to display the selected test pattern image. The controller receives the captured image from the camera and compares pixel values from the captured image to known pixel values associated with the selected test pattern image. The selected test pattern image has an ideal uniform light distribution and the captured image has a non-uniform light distribution. In response to the comparison, the controller calculates a compensation light distribution that may be combined with the non-uniform light distribution to generate a resulting image on the display of the monitor having a resulting light distribution that approximates the ideal uniform light distribution.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 1, 2012
    Publication date: May 2, 2013
    Applicant: STMICROELECTRONICS, INC.
    Inventors: Dong Wei, Zhao Huang, Greg Neal, Caba Moldvai
  • System and method for relieving stress and improving heat management in a 3D chip stack having an array of inter-stack connections
    Patent number: 8432042
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a system and method for relieving stress and providing improved heat management in a 3D chip stack of a multichip package. A stress relief apparatus is provided to allow the chip stack to adjust in response to pressure, thereby relieving stress applied to the chip stack. Additionally, improved heat management is provided such that the chip stack adjusts in response to thermal energy generated within the chip stack to remove heat from between chips of the stack, thereby allowing the chips to operate as desired without compromising the performance of the chip stack. The chip stack also includes an array of flexible conductors disposed between two chips, thereby providing an electrical connection between the two chips.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2013
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventor: John Hongguang Zhang
  • High aspect ratio capacitively coupled MEMS devices
    Patent number: 8432006
    Abstract: A method that includes forming an opening between at least one first electrode and a second electrode by forming a recess in a first electrode layer, the recess having sidewalls that correspond to a surface of the at least one first electrode, forming a first sacrificial layer on the sidewalls of the recess, the first sacrificial layer having a first width that corresponds to a second width of the opening, forming a second electrode layer in the recess that corresponds to the second electrode, and removing the first sacrificial layer to form the opening between the second electrode and the at least one first electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2013
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Venkatesh Mohanakrishnaswamy, Loi N. Nguyen
  • VTS frame format
    Patent number: 8432847
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for transmitting a video frame in wireless local area network communications are proposed. In one aspect, a method generates and transmits an IEEE 802.11 media access control (MAC) frame containing a video transport stream (VTS) frame. The VTS frame includes a video frame and a VTS control header that includes control information with respect to the video frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2013
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Liwen Chu, George A. Vlantis
  • Flat panel display driver method and system
    Patent number: 8429440
    Abstract: Methods and systems are described for enabling display system data transmission during use. An integrated circuit package includes input interface circuitry configured to receive an audio-video data stream having a video signal and timing information and timing extraction circuitry that can identify blanking patterns for the video signal. The package includes input processing circuitry for receiving audio-video signal and converting the audio-video data stream input into a low voltage differential signal (LVDS). The package includes a timing controller having timing extraction circuitry, a set of symbol buffers, a scheduler, and timing control circuitry. All configured to implement LVDS data transfer and in some implementation enable point to point data transfer from data buffers to associated column drivers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2013
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Osamu Kobayashi
  • System and method for remote temperature sensing
    Patent number: 8425113
    Abstract: An apparatus and method are disclosed for temperature measurement that includes performing a first ?Vbe measurement of a first temperature of a diode circuit comprising a transistor and, subsequently, performing a first Vbe measurement of a second temperature of the diode circuit. A temperature difference is calculated between the second temperature and the first temperature. If the temperature difference is not greater than a predetermined amount, a second Vbe measurement of a third temperature of the diode circuit is subsequently performed. If the temperature difference is greater than the predetermined amount, a second ?Vbe measurement of the second temperature of the diode circuit is performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2013
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Sooping Saw, Alphonse Chesneau
  • Leadless semiconductor package with routable leads, and method of manufacture
    Patent number: 8426254
    Abstract: A leadless semiconductor package includes a package body on a leadframe that includes a die paddle and a plurality of high-aspect-ratio leads, each coupled at a first end to a contact pad of the package, and at a second end to a semiconductor die mounted to the die paddle. During manufacture of the package, molding compound is deposited over a face of the leadframe on which the die paddle and leads are positioned. After the molding compound is cured, a back side of the leadframe is etched to isolate the die paddle and leads, and to thin a portion of each of the leads. Back surfaces of the leads remain exposed at a back face of the body. The thinned portions of the leads are covered with a dielectric. During manufacture of the leadframe, a parent substrate is etched to define the die paddle and a plurality of leads on one side of the substrate and a plurality of cavities on the opposite face.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2013
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Jerry Tan, William Cabreros