Patents Assigned to STMicroelectronics
  • Patent number: 11982928
    Abstract: A scanning laser projector includes an optical module with a housing defined by a top surface, a bottom surface, and sidewalls extending between the top surface and bottom surface to define an interior compartment within the housing. A given one of the sidewalls has an exit window defined therein. A first light detector is positioned at an interior surface of the given one of the sidewalls about a periphery of the exit window. A second light detector positioned at the interior surface of the given one of the sidewalls about the periphery of the exit window and on a different side thereof than the first light detector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2024
    Assignees: STMicroelectronics LTD, STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: Alex Domnits, Elan Roth, Davide Terzi, Luca Molinari, Marco Boschi
  • Patent number: 11981558
    Abstract: The MEMS actuator is formed by a body, which surrounds a cavity and by a deformable structure, which is suspended on the cavity and is formed by a movable portion and by a plurality of deformable elements. The deformable elements are arranged consecutively to each other, connect the movable portion to the body and are each subject to a deformation. The MEMS actuator further comprises at least one plurality of actuation structures, which are supported by the deformable elements and are configured to cause a translation of the movable portion greater than the deformation of each deformable element. The actuation structures each have a respective first piezoelectric region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2024
    Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS S.r.l.
    Inventors: Domenico Giusti, Marco Ferrera, Carlo Luigi Prelini
  • Patent number: 11983594
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to a contactless card including an actuation security structure that is actuated to provide authorization in accessing identifying information on an integrated circuit within the contactless card. In at least one embodiment, the actuation security structure includes a pair of conductive layers and a pair of electrodes. Ends of the pair of conductive layers overlap respective ones of the pair of electrodes. The ends of the pair of conductive layers are at and in a first elastically deformable region and the respective ones of the pair of electrodes are at and in a second elastically deformable region. An owner of the contactless card may provide authorization to access the identification information on the contactless card by applying force to both the first and second elastically deformable regions inward resulting in the ends of the conductive layers moving into electrical communication with the pair of electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2024
    Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS ASIA PACIFIC PTE LTD
    Inventors: Jaehyun Kwak, Kyoung Min Cho
  • Patent number: 11984178
    Abstract: A flexible RAM loader including a shift register that includes a first data section coupled with a serial data input, and a second data section selectively coupled with a first parallel data input. The shift register is configured to load data serially from the serial data input to the first data section and the second data section when the second data section is uncoupled from the first parallel data input, and, when the second data section is coupled with the first parallel data input, configured to load data in parallel from the serial data input into the first data section and from the first parallel data input into the second data section. The flexible RAM loader also including a test register comprising a selection bit to couple the second data section with the first parallel data input.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2024
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventor: Gabriele Solcia
  • Patent number: 11984373
    Abstract: An encapsulation hood is fastened onto electrically conductive zones of a support substrate using springs. Each spring has a region in contact with an electrically conductive path contained in the encapsulation hood and another region in contact with a corresponding one of the electrically conductive zones. The fastening of the part of the encapsulation hood onto the support substrate compresses the springs and further utilizes a bead of insulating glue located between the compressed springs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2024
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics (Grenoble 2) SAS
    Inventor: Jerome Lopez
  • Patent number: 11984151
    Abstract: A circuit includes a memory array with SRAM cells connected in rows by word lines and in columns by bit lines. A row controller circuit simultaneously actuates, through a word line driver circuit for each row, word lines in parallel for an in-memory compute operation. A column processing circuit processes analog voltages developed on the bit lines in response to the simultaneous actuation to generate a decision output for the in-memory compute operation. A bit line precharge circuit generates a precharge voltage for application to each pair of bit lines. The precharge voltage has a first voltage level (not greater than a positive supply voltage for the SRAM cells) when the memory array is operating in a data read/write mode. The precharge voltage has a second voltage level (greater than the first voltage level) in advance of the simultaneous actuation of the word lines for the in-memory compute operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2024
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics International N.V.
    Inventors: Harsh Rawat, Kedar Janardan Dhori, Promod Kumar, Nitin Chawla, Manuj Ayodhyawasi
  • Publication number: 20240154599
    Abstract: A microelectromechanical resonator device has: a main body, with a first surface and a second surface, opposite to one another along a vertical axis, and made of a first layer and a second layer, arranged on the first layer; a cap, having a respective first surface and a respective second surface, opposite to one another along the vertical axis, and coupled to the main body by bonding elements; and a piezoelectric resonator structure formed by: a mobile element, constituted by a resonator portion of the first layer, suspended in cantilever fashion with respect to an internal cavity provided in the second layer and moreover, on the opposite side, with respect to a housing cavity provided in the cap; a region of piezoelectric material, arranged on the mobile element on the first surface of the main body; and a top electrode, arranged on the region of piezoelectric material, the mobile element constituting a bottom electrode of the piezoelectric resonator structure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 9, 2023
    Publication date: May 9, 2024
    Applicant: STMICROELECTRONICS S.r.l.
    Inventors: Federico VERCESI, Lorenzo CORSO, Giorgio ALLEGATO, Gabriele GATTERE
  • Publication number: 20240151828
    Abstract: A pixel includes a SPAD having a cathode connected to a first node and an anode coupled to a first negative voltage, and a transistor circuit coupled between a supply voltage and a third node, that turns on in response to an enable signal. A cascode transistor connected between the third node and the first node is controlled by a cascode control signal. A cathode setting capacitor is connected between the first node and ground. A readout inverter is coupled between the intermediate node and an output node and generates an output signal. Turn-on of the transistor circuit sources current from the supply voltage node to the cathode setting capacitor, setting a reverse bias voltage across the SPAD to greater than its breakdown voltage. A photon impinging upon the SPAD cause avalanche of the SPAD which, when occurring after turn off of the transistor circuit, discharges the cathode setting capacitor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 3, 2022
    Publication date: May 9, 2024
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics (Research & Development) Limited
    Inventors: Mohammed AL-RAWHANI, Bruce RAE
  • Publication number: 20240151741
    Abstract: The MEMS device is formed by a substrate and a movable structure suspended on the substrate. The movable structure has a first mass, a second mass and a first elastic group mechanically coupled between the first and the second masses. The first elastic group is compliant along a first direction. The first mass is configured to move with respect to the substrate along the first direction. The MEMS device also has a second elastic group mechanically coupled between the substrate and the movable structure and compliant along the first direction; and an anchoring control structure fixed to the substrate, capacitively coupled to the second mass and configured to exert an electrostatic force on the second mass along the first direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 27, 2023
    Publication date: May 9, 2024
    Applicant: STMICROELECTRONICS S.r.l.
    Inventors: Manuel RIANI, Gabriele GATTERE, Francesco RIZZINI
  • Publication number: 20240153557
    Abstract: A method for operating a sense amplifier in a one-switch one-resistance (1S1R) memory array, includes: generating a regulated full voltage and a regulated half voltage; applying the regulated full voltage and regulated half voltage to selected and unselected bit lines of the 1S1R memory array during read operations as an applied read voltage; and inducing and compensating for a sneak-path current during read operations by adjusting the applied read voltage based on the cell state of an accessed bit cell and an amplitude of the sneak-path current.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 11, 2023
    Publication date: May 9, 2024
    Applicants: Universite D'Aix Marseille, Centre National de la Recherche, STMicroelectronics (Crolles 2) SAS, STMicroelectronics (Roussel) SAS
    Inventors: Jean-Michel PORTAL, Vincenzo DELLA MARCA, Jean-Pierre WALDER, Julien GASQUEZ, Philippe BOIVIN
  • Publication number: 20240154034
    Abstract: A transistor includes a source region, a drain region and a body region arranged in a semiconductor layer. A gate region tops the body region. The body region includes a first doped layer and a second layer between the first doped layer and the gate region. The second layer is an epitaxial layer that is less heavily doped than the first doped layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 1, 2023
    Publication date: May 9, 2024
    Applicants: STMicroelectronics (Rousset) SAS, STMicroelectronics (Crolles 2) SAS
    Inventors: Julien DURA, Franck JULIEN, Julien AMOUROUX, Stephane MONFRAY
  • Publication number: 20240151844
    Abstract: A flash analog-to-digital converter (ADC) receives an input control signal and performs coarse tuning of a frequency of an output signal, produced between first and second nodes having an inductance coupled therebetween. The flash ADC quantizes an operating frequency range for the output signal produced between the first and second nodes as M·?f, where M is an integer from 0 to N?1, where N is a number of intervals into which a frequency range for the output signal is divided, and where ?f is a resulting frequency step produced by the quantizing. The value of M is generated based upon the input control signal and a word controlling switches of a plurality of switched capacitance circuits associated with the first and second nodes to close ones of those switches associated with the control word to coarsely tune the frequency of the output signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 21, 2024
    Publication date: May 9, 2024
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: Alessandro PARISI, Andrea CAVARRA, Alessandro FINOCCHIARO, Giuseppe PAPOTTO, Giuseppe PALMISANO
  • Publication number: 20240154515
    Abstract: A converter system includes a reference buffer buffering a reference input to produce a DAC reference, operating from a reference feedback voltage generated by a reference divider. A tail buffer generates a tail voltage from an input voltage generated from the DAC reference by a tail divider. An R-2R type DAC utilizes an R-2R ladder to generate a DAC output from a code. This ladder has a tail resistor coupled to the tail voltage. A feedback buffer buffers the DAC output to produce a converter reference. A DC-DC converter generates a DC output from a DC input, based upon a converter feedback voltage. A feedback divider coupled between the DC output and the converter reference generates the converter feedback voltage. Control circuitry selectively taps the reference divider to produce the reference feedback voltage (performing gain trimming) and selectively taps the tail divider to produce the input voltage (performing offset trimming).
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 3, 2022
    Publication date: May 9, 2024
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: Marco ATTANASIO, Stefano RAMORINI
  • Patent number: 11977186
    Abstract: In an embodiment, a method includes: resetting respective count values of a plurality of analog counters to an initial count value, each analog counter of the plurality of analog counters corresponding to a histogram bin of a time-of-flight (ToF) histogram; after resetting the respective count values, receiving a plurality of digital addresses from a time-to-digital converter (TDC); during an integration period, for each received digital address, selecting one analog counter based on the received digital address, and changing the respective count value of the selected one analog counter towards a second count value by a discrete amount, where each analog counter has a final count value at an end of the integration period; and after the integration period, determining an associated final bin count of each histogram bin of the ToF histogram based on the final count value of the corresponding analog counter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics (Research & Development) Limited
    Inventors: Kasper Buckbee, Neale Dutton
  • Patent number: 11978416
    Abstract: Display elements, each having anode and cathode terminals, are arranged into rows and columns. Each row has an anode-line coupled to the anode terminals for its display elements. Each column has a cathode-line coupled to the cathode terminals for its display elements. A switch for each anode-line selectively couples that anode-line to a storage capacitor, and a switch for each cathode-line selectively couples that cathode-line to the storage capacitor. A display driver activates the row driver for a given row and the column driver for a given column. A switch driver closes the switch for the cathode-line for the given column, then opens the switch for that cathode-line. The display driver deactivates the row driver for the given row, after closing the switch for the cathode-line for the given column. The switch driver closes the switch for the anode-line for the given row.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: Gaetano L'Episcopo, Giovanni Conti
  • Patent number: 11978411
    Abstract: A non-emissive display includes a backlight controller sending a pulse during each sub-frame of a plurality of frames to row and column drivers that drive backlight zones. The row drivers count each pulse to keep a pulse count total, and reset the pulse count total when it is equal to a first number indicating how many row drivers are present. Each row driver activates its channels and waits for a next pulse if the pulse count total is not equal to the first number and if the pulse count total is equal to a second number indicating in which sub-frame that first driver is to be activated. Each row driver waits for a next pulse if the pulse count total is not equal to the first number and the second number. Each column driver activates its channel in response to receipt of each pulse.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2023
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: Gaetano L'Episcopo, Giovanni Conti, Carmelo Occhipinti, Mario Antonio Aleo
  • Patent number: 11977438
    Abstract: A processing system includes a plurality of circuits configured to generate a plurality of error signals. The processing system further includes a plurality of error pads and a fault collection circuit configured to receive the plurality of error signals and to generate a respective combined error signal for each of the plurality of error pads. The fault collection circuit includes a combinational logic circuit configured to generate the combined error signal by selectively routing the plurality of error signals to the plurality of error pads as a function of a set of configuring bits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics Application GMBH
    Inventor: Roberto Colombo
  • Patent number: 11977424
    Abstract: A processing system includes a reset circuit, a memory storing configuration data, and a hardware configuration circuit transmitting the configuration data to configuration data clients. The system executes a reset phase, configuration phase, and software runtime phase. First and second reset terminals are associated with first and second circuitries which are respectively associated with configuration data clients. The configuration data includes first and second mode configuration data for the first and second terminals. During the reset and configuration phase, the first circuitry activates a strong pull-down, and the second circuitry activates a weak pull-down.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignees: STMicroelectronics Application GmbH, STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: Roberto Colombo, Nicolas Bernard Grossier
  • Patent number: 11979153
    Abstract: A system on chip includes a programmable logic array. The system on chip also includes a signal conditioner coupled to a data input of the programmable logic array and configured to condition a data signal prior to processing the data signal with the programmable logic array. The signal conditioner can selectively condition the signal by one or both of synchronizing the data signal with a clock signal of the programmable logic array and generating a pulse from the data signal with an edge detector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS (ROUSSET) SAS
    Inventors: Jean-Francois Link, Mark Wallis, Joran Pantel
  • Patent number: 11979704
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to a device that includes a headphone speaker housing that includes a coil having a first terminal and a second terminal that is configured to operate in a sound generation mode and a battery charging mode. A class D amplifier circuit is configured to rectify in a battery charging mode and amplify in a sound generation mode, the class D amplifier is coupled to the first terminal and the second terminal of the coil. The class D amplifier including a first, second, third, and fourth switch, the first terminal coupled between the first and second switch, the second terminal coupled between the third and fourth switch. An audio generation circuit having a third terminal and a fourth terminal, the third terminal coupled between the first and third switch of the class D amplifier and the fourth terminal coupled between the second and fourth switch of the class D amplifier. A battery charging circuit coupled to the third terminal and the fourth terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS DESIGN AND APPLICATION S.R.O.
    Inventors: Tomas Teply, Karel Blaha