Abstract: A vertical conduction NPN bipolar transistor with a tunneling barrier of silicon carbide in the emitter providing a high emitter injection efficiency and high, stable current gain. The emitter structure comprises a heavily doped polysilicon layer atop a silicon carbide layer that contacts a shallow, heavily doped emitter region at the surface of an epitaxial silicon layer, which is disposed on a monocrystallinie silicon substrate. The silicon carbide layer is about 100 to 200 angstroms thick and has a composition selected to provide an energy band gap in the 1.8 to 3.5 eV range. The thickness and composition of the silicon carbide can be varied within the preferred ranges to tune the transistor's electrical characteristics and simplify the fabrication process.

Abstract: A voltage regulator circuit produces a voltage reference with high line rejection even for low values of the supply voltage. The regulator is of the type that produces a regulated voltage value for a bandgap voltage generator and includes a regulation circuit portion and a reference circuit portion. The regulation circuit portions is supplied with the supply voltage and has an output at which the regulated voltage value is produced and an input that receives a voltage reference. The reference circuit portion produces the voltage reference and includes a first circuit leg that receives the supply voltage through a controlled switch and a second circuit leg that receives the regulated voltage value.

Abstract: A technique for testing wordline and related circuitry of a memory array is disclosed. The memory array includes a plurality of memory cells arranged in a plurality of rows, wherein each of the plurality of rows has a respective wordline connected to respective ones of the plurality of memory cells. The related circuitry includes a decode circuit connected to each of the respective wordlines for activating at least one of the respective wordlines based upon a corresponding address signal that is decoded by the decode circuit. The technique involves applying an address signal to the decode circuit so as to activate a corresponding one of the respective wordlines, and then monitoring the corresponding one of the respective wordlines so as to determine if the corresponding one of the respective wordlines has been activated and thereby determine if the memory array and related circuitry are operating in a proper manner.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of implementing an intermetallic capacitor in a multiple layer integrated circuit including, on a P-type substrate, at least five levels of metallization. The method includes letting remain, on either side of portions of end metallization levels of the capacitor, at least one portion of a biasable level distinct from the substrate and from the last metallization level, and biasing, at least above the capacitor and to the potential of the substrate, the two biasable portions.

Abstract: A variable capacitor in a semiconductor device is described in which the capacitance is varied by the movement of a dielectric material in the space between the plates of the capacitor in response to an external stimulus. A method of making such a variable capacitor is also described in which the capacitor is built in a layered structure with the top layer including a portion of dielectric material extending into the space between the capacitor plates. After formation of the top layer, an intermediate layer is etched away to render the top layer flexible to facilitate movement of the dielectric material in the space between the capacitor plates.

Abstract: A method is provided of forming a small geometry via or contact of a semiconductor integrated circuit, and an integrated circuit formed according to the same, is disclosed. According to a first disclosed embodiment, an opening is formed partially through an insulating layer overlying a conductive region. Sidewall spacers are formed along the sidewalls of the opening. The remaining insulating layer is etched to expose the underlying conductive region. The contact dimension of the opening is smaller than the opening which can be printed from modern photolithography techniques. According to an alternate embodiment, the opening in the insulating layer expose the underlying conductive region. A polysilicon layer is formed over the insulating layer and in the opening. The polysilicon is oxidized to form a thick oxide in the opening and is etched back to form oxidized polysilicon sidewall spacers which decrease the contact dimension of the opening.

Abstract: The process comprises the steps of: forming a through hole from the back of a semiconductor material body; forming a hole insulating layer of electrically isolating material laterally covering the walls of the through hole; forming a through contact region of conductive material laterally covering the hole insulating layer inside the hole and having at least one portion extending on top of the lower surface of the body; forming a protective layer covering the through contact region; and forming a connection structure extending on top of the upper surface of the body between and in electrical contact with the through contact region and the electronic component.

Abstract: A circuit device programs non-volatile memory cells having a single voltage supply, wherein each cell comprises a floating gate transistor having source and drain terminals and a control gate terminal, with the drain terminal being supplied a program voltage from a voltage booster circuit. The device includes a means of supplying a constant drain current to the drain terminal of the memory cell; an element for sampling the drain current drawn through the cell; and a means of voltage feedback driving the control gate terminal of the cell according to the sampled value of the drain current.

Abstract: A movable mass forming a seismic mass is formed starting from an epitaxial layer and is covered by a weighting region of tungsten which has high density. To manufacture the mass, buried conductive regions are formed in the substrate. Then, at the same time, a sacrificial region is formed in the zone where the movable mass is to be formed and oxide insulating regions are formed on the buried conductive regions so as to partially cover them. An epitaxial layer is then grown, using a nucleus region. A tungsten layer is deposited and defined and, using a silicon carbide layer as mask, the suspended structure is defined. Finally, the sacrificial region is removed, forming an air gap.

Abstract: A system and method for reducing noise using recursive noise level estimation. The system and method for noise reduction substitute a target pixel in a processing window with a weighted average of a plurality of neighboring pixels according to the degree of similarity between thc target pixel and the neighboring pixels. The similarity is based on the noise level affecting the image and the local brightness of the processing window. The filter is based on fuzzy logic and filters out noise without smoothing the image's fine details. The filter uses a human visual system (HVS) response to adjust brightness.

Abstract: A circuit is described with which an operation circuit for a discharge lamp can be switched between operation states with different lamp currents by hort interruptions of the power supply. Long interruptions than a certain time threshold result in basic state operation.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a high voltage diode which has a fast turn-off, formed of a series connection of several diodes, the relative intrinsic dispersion of recovered charges between the diodes being smaller than 5%.

Abstract: The synchronizing circuit of a digital drive system of an electric motor is configured to function in a closed loop or in an open loop mode by adding a minimum number of elements to the normal scheme of a closed loop synchronizing circuit. In practice, by adding only one programmable register and a pair of two-input de-multiplexers, the system is able to automatically switch from one mode of operation to the other mode. The programmable open loop mode permits compensating for the phase angle between the current flowing through the windings and the drive voltage applied thereto, as in case of a voltage mode driving.

Abstract: A battery backed-up semiconductor device employs a Vss switching configuration to provide uninterrupted battery power to critical circuitry of the device even in the event of external conditions, such as undershoot, that threaten to corrupt data stored by the device. Both primary power and battery power, when needed, are supplied to floating wells of the device rather than to the device substrate, making the device immune to undershoots that can short the battery to the device substrate and corrupt data stored by the device. The device substrate is permanently tied to the positive power supply voltage and the positive terminal of the battery voltage and is therefore not subject to the concerns associated with switching from a failed primary power supply to the back-up battery power supply.

Abstract: The present invention provides improved device speed by using two silicides with two different compositions: one silicide is overlaid on a polysilicon gate layer, to form a "polycide" layer with improved sheet resistance, and the other is clad on at least some "active" areas of the monocrystalline silicon, to form a "salicided" active area with improved sheet and contact resistance. Preferably one silicide is a reaction product and the other is deposited.

Abstract: In a fully integrated logarithmic amplifier, an input current is fed via a diode, and in a reference current branch parallel thereto, a constant current flows through a similar diode. A voltage divider forms of the differential voltage between the two diodes a partial voltage on a variable resistor of the voltage divider, which is processed by a differential amplifier for forming the output signal. Parallel to the two current branches mentioned, there is provided an additional current branch having a constant current source and a diode. The differential voltage between the diode of the reference current branch and the diode in the additional current branch is also divided by a voltage divider. A differential amplifier forms of the voltage on the variable resistor of the voltage divider an error signal which changes the variable resistance from which the differential amplifier has formed the error signal as well as the resistance fo the variable resistor of which the output signal is formed.

Abstract: A method of storing a picture in a memory such that the latency of the memory can be reduced when retrieving a picture from the memory to be displayed while still reducing the bandwidth when retrieving an array portion of the picture from the memory, and a memory architecture. The memory is subdivided into a plurality of words for storing a picture having rows and columns. The picture is partitioned into one or more tiles each having a predetermined number of rows and columns. The number of bytes in one row of one tile is equal to the number of bytes in one word, for storing the data in one row of a tile in one word. The chrominance Cr and Cb components can be stored in one word, with the first 8 bytes of the word containing one and the next eight containing the other.

Abstract: A device for selection of address words, each having n bit locations and serving for addressing m different receiving locations of a digital communications apparatus, comprising a digital acceptance device via which address words can be selected which are acceptable for the particular receiving location in consideration. The acceptance device includes an address word segmenting device through which each address word received by the receiving location is subdivided into s address word segments with b segment bit locations each, wherein b=n/s and n is an integral multiple of s, a decoder having a decoder input accepting the bit pattern of the address word segment of the particular address word being examined for acceptance, and having a decoder output at which, for each of the possible segment bit patterns, a decoder output bit pattern representing only this segment bit pattern is available.

Abstract: An integrated circuit having a passive circuit component that can be adjusted following the manufacturing process to provide a precise absolute value for resistance or capacitance. A plurality of passive elements are selectively combinable using logic gates to include or exclude each element from a network, wherein the combined value of the included passive elements equals the value of the passive circuit component. The logic gates are set by outputs from a decoder to reduce the required inputs to the chip.

Abstract: An electronic memory device organized into sections which are in turn divided into blocks formed of cells and their associated decoding and addressing circuits, the cells being connected in a predetermined circuit configuration and each block being included between two opposite contact regions which are interconnected by parallel continuous conduction lines referred to as the bit lines. In the present invention, at least one interruption is provided in each bit line near a contact region by inserting a controlled switch which functions as a block selector. Advantageously, the proposed solution allows each block to be isolated individually by enabling or disabling as appropriate the switches of the cascade connected blocks.