Patents Assigned to STMicroelectronics
  • Publication number: 20130070861
    Abstract: A processing system, such as typically a CPU, is used for converting a digital signal organized in pixels, such as a video signal, between a first format and a second multiple-description format. The system comprises at least one input register and at least one output register, and is configured via instructions, that can be constituted at least in part by instructions of a SIMD type, so as to: order the pixels of the signal to be converted in a set of input registers; and take selectively the pixels from the aforesaid set of input registers and place them in an orderly way in at least one output register.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 14, 2012
    Publication date: March 21, 2013
    Applicant: STMICROELECTRONICS S.R.L.
    Inventors: Fabrizio Simone Rovati, Andrea Lorenzo Vitali
  • Publication number: 20130071026
    Abstract: A method for performing a modification of the color saturation of at least one pixel of an image involving: determining, based on pixel values of a first pixel, at least one of a color saturation value, luminance value and hue value corresponding to said first pixel; determining, based on said at least one value, a saturation factor; and modifying the color saturation level of said first pixel based on said saturation factor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 21, 2012
    Publication date: March 21, 2013
    Applicant: STMICROELECTRONICS (GRENOBLE 2) SAS
    Inventor: STMICROELECTRONICS (GRENOBLE 2) SAS
  • Publication number: 20130071725
    Abstract: A method for encapsulating a device, such as an battery, having two opposite and parallel main faces and a peripheral edge, wherein one main face includes an electrical contact zone, includes the steps of retaining the device within an injection chamber of a mold and injecting encapsulation material into the injection chamber to overmold an encapsulation block on the device. The injection chamber is configured to hold a portion of the device, adjacent its peripheral edge, so as to center the device within the injection chamber. The mold includes centering structures that at least partially cover the electrical contact zone. Opposite positioning studs protrude into the injection chamber and bear on the opposite main faces of the device. The resulting packaged device includes an overmolded encapsulation block enveloping the device except for portions covered by the centering structure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 5, 2012
    Publication date: March 21, 2013
    Applicant: STMICROELECTRONICS (TOURS) SAS
    Inventor: Patrick Hougron
  • Patent number: 8399280
    Abstract: A method for protecting, against laser attacks, an integrated circuit chip formed inside and on top of a semiconductor substrate and including in the upper portion of the substrate an active portion in which are formed components, this method including the steps of: forming in the substrate a gettering area extending under the active portion, the upper limit of the area being at a depth ranging between 5 and 50 ?m from the upper surface of the substrate; and introducing diffusing metal impurities into the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2013
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics (Rousset) SAS
    Inventors: Pascal Fornara, Fabrice Marinet
  • Patent number: 8401404
    Abstract: An on-chip receiver for flows of information conveyed to a target via optical signals with different wavelengths includes a plurality of photo-detector modules, each sensitive to a different wavelength, for converting a respective optical signal at input into an electrical signal, a plurality of de-serialization circuits acting on the electrical signals for converting into packet traffic the flows of information received via the photo-detector modules, and an arbitration node acting on the packet traffic to enable a single packet at a time to achieve the target.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2013
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: Alberto Scandurra, Giuseppe Guarnaccia, Salvatore Pisasale, Fabio Zito
  • Patent number: 8402191
    Abstract: System and method for virtualization of computing elements. A hypervisor provides virtualization of one or more peripherals for one or more computing elements. The hypervisor may further allow separate instances of an operating system to be suspended on one computing element to allow another application to be processed by replacing the state information of the computing element. The suspended instance may be resumed on the same or a different computing element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2013
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Kurt Godwin, Shaun McMaster
  • Patent number: 8397360
    Abstract: A method of adjustment on manufacturing of a monolithic oscillator including circuit elements and a BAW resonator, this method including the steps of: a) forming the circuit elements and the resonator and electrically connecting them; b) covering the resonator with a frequency adjustment layer; c) measuring the output frequency of the oscillator; d) modifying the thickness of the frequency adjustment layer to modify the output frequency of the oscillator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2013
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics SA
    Inventors: Pierre Bar, Sylvain Joblot, Jean-Francois Carpentier
  • Patent number: 8400798
    Abstract: A pulse width modulated current control method and system architecture may achieve the high performance of an advanced current control for full-bridge stages, in terms of accuracy, error, speed, and frequency response, but with a reduced complexity in terms of used analog circuits, being comparable with that of an elementary peak current control. The only analog blocks used may be a current sense transducer, i.e. a series resistor or a sense-FET, and a comparator for the current sensing while the rest of the control circuitry is digital.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2013
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S. R. L.
    Inventors: Fulvio Giacomo Bagarelli, Vincenzo Marano
  • Patent number: 8400257
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to a thin film resistor structure that includes a resistive element electrically connecting first conductor layers of adjacent interconnect structures. The resistive element is covered by a dielectric cap layer that acts as a stabilizer and heat sink for the resistive element. Each interconnect includes a second conductor layer over the first conductive layer. The thin film resistor includes a chromium silicon resistive element covered by a silicon nitride cap layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2013
    Assignees: STMicroelectronics PTE Ltd, STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Ting Fang Lim, Chengyu Niu, Olivier Le Neel, Calvin Leung
  • Patent number: 8400132
    Abstract: A circuit may generate a clock signal with a variable period given by a ratio between an initial switching period and a number of phase circuits through which a current of a multi-phase PWM voltage converter flows. The circuit may include an adjustable current generator driven by a signal representing the number of phase circuits through which the current flows and configured to generate a current proportional to the number of phase circuits through which the current flows, and a tank capacitor charged by the adjustable current generator. The circuit may include a comparator of a voltage on the tank capacitor with a threshold value configured to generate a pulse of the clock signal when the threshold value is attained, and a discharge path of the tank capacitor, the discharge path being enabled during the pulses of the clock signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2013
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.R.L.
    Inventors: Osvaldo Enrico Zambetti, Daniele Giorgetti
  • Patent number: 8400820
    Abstract: An embodiment of a memory device includes a plurality of memory cells; each memory cell includes a latch adapted to store an information bit. Said latch includes a first logic gate including a first input terminal and a first output terminal and a second logic gate including a second input terminal and a second output terminal. Said first input terminal is connected to said second output terminal and said first output terminal is connected to said second input terminal. The memory device further includes reading and writing means adapted to perform a read operation or a write operation of the information bit. Said first logic gate includes a pull-up branch coupled between a terminal for providing a supply voltage and the first output terminal, and a pull-down branch coupled between the first output terminal and a terminal for providing a reference voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2013
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: Danilo Rimondi, Donatella Brambilla, Rita Zappa, Carolina Selva
  • Patent number: 8401063
    Abstract: A decision feedback equalizer includes a correction circuit to correct a sampled value of an incoming bit based on intersymbol interference of at least one preceding bit, and to generate a received bit. The correction circuit includes a first multiplexer and a first pair of latches coupled thereto. The first multiplexer is controlled by a clock signal to generate a digital level representative of a sign of a first correction coefficient to be subtracted from the sampled value of the incoming bit for deleting the intersymbol interference. The first pair of latches receives as input the received bit and is clocked in phase opposition by the clock signal to generate respective latched replicas of the received bit during respective active phases of the clock signal. The respective latched replicas are input to the first multiplexer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2013
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.R.L.
    Inventors: Simone Erba, Massimo Pozzoni
  • Patent number: 8401388
    Abstract: A transmitter for generating, starting from a data-packet traffic at input, flows of information to be conveyed via optical signals with different wavelengths towards a plurality of targets in a communications network, the transmitter including: a destination decoder to identify, for each packet in the input packet traffic, a respective destination target in the plurality of targets; a plurality of emitter modules operating at different wavelengths for converting the electrical signals into optical signals; and a de-multiplexer, which is controlled by the destination decoder and is able to drive the emitter modules by sending selectively to each emitter module the electrical signals corresponding to a given packet of the input packet traffic according to the respective destination target identified by the destination decoder. A serialization module is set upstream of the de-multiplexer for converting the packet traffic into a serial flow of bits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2013
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: Alberto Scandurra, Mirko Dondini, Salvatore Pisasale, Letizia Fragomeni
  • Publication number: 20130064143
    Abstract: A circuit including an initiator of a transaction, an interconnect, and a controller. The controller is configured in response to a condition in a least one first part of the circuit to send a notification via the interconnect to at least one block in a second part of the circuit. The notification includes information about the condition in the first part of the circuit, the condition preventing a response to the transaction from being received by the initiator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 27, 2012
    Publication date: March 14, 2013
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics (R&D) Ltd.
    Inventors: Stuart Ryan, Andrew Michael Jones
  • Publication number: 20130064021
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to a sense amplifier comprising a cascode transistor and means for biasing the cascode transistor, supplying a control voltage to a gate terminal of the cascode transistor. The means for biasing the cascode transistor comprise means for isolating the gate terminal of the cascode transistor from the output of the voltage generator during a first period of the precharge phase, so as to boost the bitline voltage, then for linking the gate terminal to the output of the voltage generator during a second period of the precharge phase. Application in particular to sense amplifiers for non-volatile memories.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 14, 2012
    Publication date: March 14, 2013
    Applicant: STMICROELECTRONICS (ROUSSET) SAS
    Inventor: Francesco La Rosa
  • Publication number: 20130062730
    Abstract: An embodiment of an electronic device includes first and second semiconductor bodies. The first semiconductor body houses a first conductive strip having a first end portion and a second end portion, and houses a first conduction terminal electrically coupled to the first end portion and facing a surface of the first semiconductor body. The second semiconductor body houses a second conductive strip having a third end portion and a fourth end portion, and houses a second conduction terminal electrically coupled to the third end portion and facing a surface of the second semiconductor body. The first and second semiconductor bodies are arranged relative to one another so that the respective surfaces face one another, and the first conduction terminal and the second conduction terminal are coupled to one another by means of a conductive element so as to form a loop of an inductor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 10, 2012
    Publication date: March 14, 2013
    Applicant: STMICROELECTRONICS S.R.L.
    Inventors: Vincenzo PALUMBO, Dario PACI, Paolo IULIANO, Fausto CARACE, Marco MORELLI
  • Publication number: 20130065366
    Abstract: An integrated circuit on a semiconductor substrate has logic gates comprising FDSOI-type transistors made on said substrate, including at least one first transistor comprising a gate with a first work function, and including a transistor comprising a second work function, a memory including memory cells, each memory cell comprising FDSOI type transistors, including at least one third nMOS transistor with a gate presenting a third work function, the third transistor comprising a buried insulating layer and a ground plane at least one fourth pMOS transistor with a gate presenting said third work function, the fourth transistor comprising a buried insulating layer and a ground plane, the ground planes of the third and fourth transistors being made in a same well separating these ground planes from said substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 7, 2012
    Publication date: March 14, 2013
    Applicants: STMicroelectronics, Commissariat a I'energie atomique et aux energies alternatives
    Inventors: Olivier Thomas, Jerome Mazurier, Nicolas Planes, Olivier Weber
  • Publication number: 20130061666
    Abstract: A system may monitor a vibration isolating connection between a first part and a second part. The system may include a light source, an optical sensor mounted to receive light from the light source, and a processing unit for providing an output indicative of the deformation of the vibration isolating connection based on the output of the optical sensor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 13, 2012
    Publication date: March 14, 2013
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics (Research & Development) Limited
    Inventor: Stuart GILLIES
  • Publication number: 20130063349
    Abstract: An optical navigation device may have an adaptive sleep mode for preventing unwanted scrolling inputs. A motion indicator may move a device between a sleep mode and an active mode. According to the sleep mode, a number of different sleep states are defined which have further reduced frame rates. The device may be only woken from the deeper sleep modes once repeated motion events are detected. This may prevent the device from being woken accidentally, while preserving the user experience.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 7, 2012
    Publication date: March 14, 2013
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics (Research & Development) Limited
    Inventor: Julie M. RANKIN
  • Publication number: 20130063157
    Abstract: The disclosure comprises: linking a first terminal of the capacitance to the mid-point of a first voltage divider bridge, applying a first voltage to a second terminal of the capacitance, maintaining a voltage of a mid-point of the first divider bridge near a reference voltage, and discharging a mid-point of a second divider bridge with a constant current. When a voltage of the mid-point of the second bridge reaches a first voltage threshold, applying a second voltage to the second terminal of the capacitance, and measuring the time for the voltage to reach a second threshold.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 6, 2012
    Publication date: March 14, 2013
    Applicant: STMICROELECTRONICS (ROUSSET) SAS
    Inventor: STMicroelectronics (Rousset) SAS