Abstract: Methods and systems are described for transmitting and displaying video data after a hot plug event during a start-up dead period. In particular, hot plug events occurring when a toggleable hot plug detection mechanism is use.

Abstract: A control device controls a switching converter that converts an alternating supply voltage to a regulated voltage and comprises a switch connected to an inductor. The control device is adapted to control the on period and the off period of said switch for each cycle. The control device comprises a ramp generator adapted to generate a ramp voltage, a comparator adapted to determine the final instant of the on period of the switch by crossing the ramp voltage with a first voltage. The control device has a first signal representing a current through the inductor and a second signal representative of the current flowing through at least one element of the converter. The control device is adapted to control the closing of said switch according to said first signal and comprises a synchronizer adapted to synchronize the start of the ramp voltage with the zero crossing of said second signal.

Abstract: Circuitry and method for dividing the frequency of an input clock signal for use in a prescaler of a digital frequency synthesizer. A flip flop is clocked on a first type of edge of the input clock signal, and provides an output for use as a divided clock signal. Feedback circuitry is clocked on the first type of edge of the input clock signal and provides a signal to a data input of the flip flop based on the inverse of the output of the flip flop.

Abstract: An optical sensor package has a transparent substrate with a redistribution layer formed on a face thereof, which includes a window and a plurality of electrically conductive traces. A semiconductor substrate, including an optical sensor and a plurality of contact terminals on a face thereof, is positioned on the transparent substrate in a face-to-face arrangement, with the optical sensor directly opposite the window, and with each of the contact terminals electrically coupled to a respective one of the electrically conductive terminals. The transparent substrate has larger overall dimensions than the semiconductor substrate, so that one or more edges of the transparent substrate extend beyond the corresponding edges of the semiconductor substrate. A plurality of solder balls are positioned on the face of the transparent substrate, each in electrical contact with a respective one of the electrically conductive terminals.

Abstract: A system for compensating orientation of a portable device is provided with a processing unit for: determining a roll rotation angle of the portable device in a mobile reference system associated thereto; and applying a rotation matrix, which is a function of the roll rotation angle, for transforming relative displacements of the mobile device in the mobile reference system into corresponding displacements in a fixed reference system, of an inertial type, thus compensating the orientation of the portable device. The processing unit determines the roll rotation angle, in the presence of dynamic acceleration, by means of: acquisition of a roll angular velocity of the portable device by a gyroscopic sensor fixed with respect thereto; and time integration of the same roll angular velocity.

Abstract: A touch screen panel is operated with an interlaced scanning pattern. All of the even rows are scanned first, followed by all of the odd rows. The interlacing method reduces the chance of a slow response due to a missed scan by 50%. The interlacing method can expanded to scan every other 3rd line or 4th line for further improvement in performance.

Abstract: A processor module including a processor configured to share data with at least one further processor module processor; and a memory mapped peripheral configured to communicate with at least one further processor memory mapped peripheral to control the sharing of the data, wherein the memory mapped peripheral includes a sender part including a data request generator configured to output a data request indicator to the further processor module dependent on a data request register write signal from the processor; and an acknowledgement waiting signal generator configured to output an acknowledgement waiting signal to the processor dependent on a data acknowledgement signal from the further processor module, wherein the data request generator data request indicator is further dependent on the data acknowledgement signal and the acknowledgement waiting signal generator acknowledgement waiting signal is further dependent on the acknowledgement waiting register write signal.

Abstract: An embodiment of a consumer electronics product having a thumbnail display feature includes a system for generating and storing thumbnails having a given size from images, such as JPEG images, for which a spatial frequency domain representation is available. The system includes a zooming processor to reduce the size of the images by zooming. The zooming processor is configured to perform both spatial frequency domain zooming to approximate the desired thumbnail size and then image pixel domain zooming to fit the desired thumbnail size. The product includes cache storage configured to store a plurality of thumbnails in a file system as free blocks in the file system, so that file system data structures are left unchanged.

Abstract: An embodiment of a consumer electronics product having a thumbnail display feature includes a system for generating and storing thumbnails having a given size from images, such as JPEG images, for which a spatial frequency domain representation is available. The system includes a zooming processor to reduce the size of the images by zooming. The zooming processor is configured to perform both spatial frequency domain zooming to approximate the desired thumbnail size and then image pixel domain zooming to fit the desired thumbnail size. The product includes cache storage configured to store a plurality of thumbnails in a file system as free blocks in the file system, so that file system data structures are left unchanged.

Abstract: An integrated circuit comprising a mechanical device for electrical switching comprising a first assembly being thermally deformable and having a beam held at at least two different locations by at least two arms, the beam and the arms being metal and disposed within the same metallization level, and further comprising at least one electrically conducting body. The first assembly has a first configuration at a first temperature and a second configuration at a second temperature different from the first temperature. The beam is out of contact with the electrically conducting body in one configuration in contact with the body in the other configuration. The beam establishes or breaks an electrical link passing through the said at least one electrically conducting body and through the said beam in the different configurations.

Abstract: An integrated circuit package structure includes a bottom portion having a cavity, an integrated circuit attached to a top surface of the stepped cavity, a leadframe attached to the bottom portion, wire bonding for electrically coupling the integrated circuit to the leadframe, and a top portion conformally covering the integrated circuit and the bottom portion.

Abstract: A solar light concentration photovoltaic conversion system, uses a solar light collector to focus collected light onto a termination of at least one multi-fiber cable. A wavelength splitter is optically coupled to the other termination of the multi-fiber cable for producing light beams of different wavelengths, each illuminating the optical termination of one or more lambda-dedicated tap fibers or multi-fiber cables. From the wavelength splitter depart a number of lambda-dedicated groups of tap fibers adapted to convey the radiation to remotely arranged lambda-specific photovoltaic cells, configured for efficiently converting light energy of the specific wavelength spectrum carried along respective fiber or group of fibers into electrical energy. The lambda-specific photovoltaic cells are formed onto light spreading structures optically coupled to a respective tap fiber or multi-fiber cable, adapted to trap the injected light and convert it into electricity.

Abstract: An integrated circuit die has a dielectric layer positioned over all the contact pads on the integrated circuit die. Openings are provided in the dielectric layer over each of the contact pads of the integrated circuit die in order to permit electrical coupling to be made between the integrated circuit and circuit boards outside of the die. For those contact pads located in the central region of the die, the opening in the dielectric layer is in a central region of the contact pad. For those contact pads located in a peripheral region of the die, spaced adjacent the perimeter die, the opening in the dielectric layer is offset from the center of the contact pad and is positioned closer to the central region of the die than the center of the contact pad is to the central region of the die.

Abstract: A process for manufacturing a semiconductor device envisages the steps of: providing a semiconductor material body having at least one deep trench that extends through said body of semiconductor material starting from a top surface thereof; and filling the deep trench via an epitaxial growth of semiconductor material, thereby forming a columnar structure within the body of semiconductor material. The manufacturing process further envisages the step of modulating the epitaxial growth by means of a concurrent chemical etching of the semiconductor material that is undergoing epitaxial growth so as to obtain a compact filling free from voids of the deep trench; in particular, a flow of etching gas is introduced into the same reaction environment as that of the epitaxial growth, wherein a flow of source gas is supplied for the same epitaxial growth.

Abstract: Audio acquisition systems and methods to determine a direction of arrival of an audio signal are disclosed. In an embodiment, an apparatus includes a continuous sampling stage configured to receive audio information and to generate one or more correlations from the received audio information, and a processing stage configured to receive the one or more correlations and to generate direction of arrival information for the audio information. In another embodiment, a method includes generating audio signals from an ambient acoustic environment, and performing beamforming on the generated audio signals. The method further includes calculating signal-to-interference ratios from the beamformed signals, forming correlations between the signal-to-interference ratios and audio sampling angles, selecting at least one correlation based upon predetermined selection criteria, and determining a direction of arrival for the audio signals.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a microfluidic pumping device having a piezoelectric member positioned above a displaceable membrane. A voltage is applied across the piezoelectric member causing the piezoelectric member to displace the membrane. Displacement of the membrane increases and decreases pressure in a cavity that is below the membrane. The increases and decreases in pressure actuate cantilevered check valve members to facilitate unidirectional liquid flow through the pumping device.

Abstract: An integrated circuit, comprising a capacitive device having a thermally variable capacitive value and comprising a thermally deformable assembly disposed within an enclosure, and comprising an electrically-conducting fixed body and a beam held at at least two different locations by at least two arms rigidly attached to edges of the enclosure, the beam and the arms being metal and disposed within the first metallization level. A part of the said thermally deformable assembly may form a first electrode of the capacitive device and a part of the said fixed body may form a second electrode of the capacitive device. The thermally deformable assembly has a plurality of configurations corresponding respectively to various temperatures of the said assembly and resulting in a plurality of distances separating the two electrodes and various capacitive values in the capacitive device corresponding to the plurality of distances.

Abstract: A microelectromechanical gyroscope includes a body and a sensing mass, which is movable with a degree of freedom in response to rotations of the body about an axis. A self-test actuator is capacitively coupled to the sensing mass for supplying a self-test signal. The capacitive coupling causes, in response to the self-test signal, electrostatic forces that are able to move the sensing mass in accordance with the degree of freedom at an actuation frequency. A sensing device detects transduction signals indicating displacements of the sensing mass in accordance with the degree of freedom. The sensing device is configured for discriminating, in the transduction signals, spectral components that are correlated to the actuation frequency and indicate the movement of the sensing mass as a result of the self-test signal.

Abstract: An electronic circuit includes a node coupled to a load to be driven, and a power device, which can be switched between activation and deactivation and coupled to the node. The circuit further includes a current generator having an output connected to the node and that can be enabled to generate current at least when the power device is deactivated. The circuit also includes a comparator for comparing an electric voltage of the node with a reference voltage and is configured to generate a comparison signal based thereon.

Abstract: A bulk acoustic wave resonator has an adjustable resonance frequency. A piezoelectric element is provided having first and second electrodes. A switching element is provided in the form of a MEMS structure which is deformable between a first and second position. The switching element forms an additional electrode that is selectively disposed on top of, and in contact with, one of the first and second electrodes. This causes a total thickness of the electrode of the resonator to be changed resulting in a modification of the resonance frequency of the resonator.