Patents Assigned to Texas Instruments
  • Patent number: 6245606
    Abstract: This invention pertains generally to forming thin aluminum oxides at low temperatures, and more particularly to forming uniformly thick, aluminum gate oxides. We disclose a low temperature method for forming a thin, uniform aluminum gate oxide 16 on a silicon surface 12. This method includes providing a partially completed integrated circuit on a semiconductor substrate 10 with a clean, hydrogen terminated or atomically flat, silicon surface 12; forming a uniformly thick aluminum layer 13; and stabilizing the substrate at a first temperature. The method further includes exposing the aluminum layer to an atmosphere 14 including ozone, while maintaining the substrate 10 at the first temperature. In this method, the exposing step creates a uniformly thick, aluminum oxide film 16. This method is suitable for room temperature processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2001
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Glen D. Wilk, Robert M. Wallace
  • Patent number: 6246694
    Abstract: Baud rates for Rate Adaptive Digital Subscriber Line (RADSL) are provided. Optimal baud rates are about 200 KHz apart for loops with an 1 kft length difference. By adapting a set of baud rates with 200 KHz spacing a performance within 0.5 dB of the optimal performance may be maintained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2001
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: Walter Y. Chen
  • Patent number: 6244515
    Abstract: A gas furnace control for two stage gas furnaces which can be used with either a single stage or a two stage room thermostat monitors the length of time the first, low combustion, stage is energized and upon exceeding a selected period of time, e.g., 10 minutes, energizes the second, high combustion stage. Energization of the second stage signal (W2) also energizes the second stage without regard to timing of the first stage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2001
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Mitchell R. Rowlette, Mark A. Eifler
  • Patent number: 6245605
    Abstract: A method for protecting metal (112) from oxidation during various oxidation steps such as CVD SiO2 oxidation for forming an overlying oxide layer (114), smile oxidation, and sidewall (116) deposition. The gas CO2 is added to the oxidation chemistry. The CO2/H2 ratio is controlled for selective oxidation. The metal (112) is effectively protected from oxidation due to the existence of both H2 and CO2 as strong reduction reagents.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2001
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Ming Hwang, Wei-Yung Hsu, Chih-Chen Cho, Dirk N. Anderson
  • Patent number: 6246446
    Abstract: An image display system (10) having an auto-focus system (24). An image sensor (20) such as a CCD camera, senses the sharpness of pixels (26) comprising a portion of the image at a screen (16), preferably a magnified portion of the image. A sensor data processor (22) processes the pixel data from the sensor (20), and instructs the auto focus system (24) to adjust an optical parameter such as the focal length of a projector lens (14) as a function of the sensor (20) output. A DMD-type SLM is preferably utilized due to the uniform geometric features of the pixel mirrors, but other SLM's can be used. The sharpness or contrast between an “on” and an “off” pixel is sensed, and preferably a 10×10 array of pixels arranged in a checker board pattern is sensed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 1997
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2001
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Scott Heimbuch, James Vorgert
  • Patent number: 6247119
    Abstract: An integrated circuit (12) includes a processor (17) having an instruction execution pipeline (22). The pipeline has a plurality of successive stages (26-42) which correspond to respective successive phases of instruction execution. Instructions being executed move successively through the stages (26-42). A flattener section (18) is provided in the integrated circuit (12), and holds the state of certain pipeline signals until subsequent points in time. This permits various signals generated at different points in time during execution of an instruction to all be simultaneously available at a later point in time. A selector section (19) of the integrated circuit (12) selects either the output of the flattener section (18) or certain pipeline signals to be exported off the integrated circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2001
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: David R. Matt
  • Patent number: 6246557
    Abstract: A loss-of-ground protection circuit for an electronic relay including a control circuit driving a power transistor, and at least one cutoff transistor having a grounded control terminal, the cutoff transistor being interposed between the control circuit and a control terminal of the power transistor, and having a polarity such that loss of ground will cause the cutoff transistor to turn off.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2001
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Erich Bayer, Eckart Müller, Martin Rommel
  • Patent number: 6246102
    Abstract: An integrated circuit includes conductive elements and a radiation sensitive material interposed between the conductive elements and dosed to different conductivities in different portions thereof. Another aspect is a process of integrated circuit fabrication including steps of depositing a radiation sensitive material as a layer and variably dosing it with radiation to establish areas of higher and lower resistivity in the layer. A printed wiring board includes radiation sensitive material and the board further has a conductor layer affixed to the base. A transistor has a radiation sensitive material dosed to have two conductive regions separated by a gap of a lower conductivity in the radiation sensitive material, and a conductive substance deposited over the gap. These elements are useful in smart power devices, digital computers, controllers and electronic applications generally. Other devices, systems and processes are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 1995
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2001
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Roland Sauerbrey, Michael C. Smayling
  • Patent number: 6246185
    Abstract: A high frequency arc lamp power supply (518) and display system (500). The power supply (518) drives an arc lamp (504) at a frequency high enough to several times higher than the display system's LSB frequency. By pulsing the lamp many times during each LSB period, the variations in light output during the pulses are all integrated in each bit period and do not degrade the quality of the image display. This eliminates the need for the controller (514) to synchronize the arc lamp power supply (518) with the spatial light modulator (502) when using pulse width modulation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2001
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: David B. Parks
  • Patent number: 6245672
    Abstract: An integrated circuit structure including copper metallization (20, 32, 42), and a method of fabricating the same are disclosed. The structure includes a doped region (7) of a silicon substrate (9), which is typically clad with a metal silicide film (12) formed by way of direct react silicidation. At contact locations (CT) at which the copper metallization (20, 32, 42) is to make contact to the doped region (7), a chemically-densified barrier layer (16, 30, 38) provides a diffusion barrier to the overlying copper metallization (20, 32, 42). The chemically-densified barrier layer (16, 30, 38) is formed by an anneal of the structure to react impurities (14, 28, 36) with the underlying refractory-metal-based film (12, 34); the impurities are introduced by way of wet chemistry, plasma bombardment, or from the ambient in which the structure is annealed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2001
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Qi-Zhong Hong, Wei-Yung Hsu, Jiong-Ping Lu, Robert H. Havemann
  • Patent number: 6246592
    Abstract: A power supply having a transformer-coupled power converter cascaded with a buck power converter. The transformer-coupled power converter operates in a free-running mode at a nearly 100% maximum duty cycle to convert an input voltage to an intermediate voltage. The buck power converter produces a regulated output voltage from the intermediate voltage. The power supply further includes a pulse width modulation (PWM) controller employing leading-edge modulation of complementary control signals used to control buck switches in the buck converter. The PWM controller is synchronized to primary-side free-running switches of the transformer-coupled power converter by a synchronization signal that is fed-forward across an isolation boundary via a signal transformer. The power supply also may also employ a soft-switching technique to reduce switching losses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2001
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Laszlo Balogh, Christopher D. Bridge, William M. Andreycak
  • Patent number: 6246120
    Abstract: A structure and method to direct the via 270 etch to the top of the interconnect 210, by using a sidewall layer 240, preferably. TiN, and thus preventing the etching down the side of the interconnect 210 and exposure of materials residing between the interconnects 210.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2001
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Kenneth D. Brennan, David B. Aldrich, Eden M. Zielinski, Peter S. McAnally
  • Patent number: 6246376
    Abstract: A system and method for wireless communication between two devices allows the transfer of location information through a cellular or “BLUETOOTH” link that can be used to provide a continuous indication of estimated distance and direction relative to the two devices in communication with one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2001
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Stephan Bork, Oren Eliezer, Carl M. Panasik
  • Patent number: 6245583
    Abstract: An apparatus for mass fabrication of a semiconductor assembly comprising optical sources for supplying radiant energy for rapid and controlled heating of a multitude of integrated circuit chips and substrates. The resultant thermal profile is applied to reflowing solder interconnections as well as to filling chip-to-substrate gaps with polymeric precursors whereby any mechanical stress detrimental to mechanically weak solder joints and dielectric layers is avoided. The apparatus contains dispensing equipment with multiple degrees of freedom so that the chips and substraters to be assembled do not have to be moved within or from the apparatus. Processing in controlled environment is feasible.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2001
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Gonzalo Amador, Gregory B. Hotchkiss
  • Patent number: 6246184
    Abstract: A boost regulator circuit is designed to maintain nearly constant intensity from a flashlight lamp, compensating for the drop in battery voltage over an operating lifetime. The quality of the light output is improved, and battery life is extended. An asynchronous boost regulator circuit and two synchronous boost regulator circuits are shown. The regulator circuit begins boosting after battery voltage has fallen by 15-20%, and maintains output voltage at a substantially constant level until a major portion of the stored battery energy has been consumed. A circuit assembly is shown that can be used to retrofit existing flashlights. The circuit assembly resides on a disk-shaped circuit board that can be placed between the lamp and an adjacent battery. Contacts formed on the circuit board provide connections to the battery, the lamp, and to a common connection point such as ground.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2001
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: David C. Salerno
  • Patent number: 6242970
    Abstract: Provided is a method of operating a charge-pump, which may be implemented in IC devices such as digital signal processors (DSPs) and mixed signal analog circuits. The method includes the steps of charging a first capacitor, and then choosing between two switching sequences based on the relative values of the input voltage and the output voltage. When the input voltage is determined to be greater than the output voltage, the method applies a first switching sequence to discharge the first capacitor into a second capacitor by first partially discharging the first capacitor into the second capacitor, then fully discharging the first capacitor into the second capacitor. When the input voltage is determined to be less than or equal to the output voltage, the method uses a second switching sequence to prevent the discharge of the second capacitor into the first capacitor by electrically isolating the first capacitor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2001
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: David Grant, Robert Martinez
  • Patent number: 6243677
    Abstract: An improved method of providing out-of-vocabulary word rejection is achieved by adapting an initial garbage model (23) using received incoming enrollment speech (21).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2001
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Levent M. Arslan, Lorin P. Netsch, Periagaram K. Rajasekaran
  • Patent number: 6243841
    Abstract: An automated test and evaluation sampling system includes a fast pattern memory (130) and a slow pattern memory (137) storing first and second sets of tests states, respectively. Stimulus logic (131) is connected to the fast pattern memory to read the first set of test states at a first rate and stimulate a device under test (133) according to the first set of test states. Compare logic (135) is connected to the slow pattern memory to read the second set of test states at a second rate which is slower on average than the first rate and to compare the second set of test states with a sampled output signal from the device under test.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2001
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: Marc R. Mydill
  • Patent number: 6243727
    Abstract: The described embodiments of the present invention provide a docking station having connection means for coupling to an external monitor, an external keyboard, and means for connecting the portable computer to the docking station. The docking station further includes means for determining whether or not the external monitor is coupled to the docking station, automatically displaying on the external monitor when the external monitor is coupled to the docking station and displaying on the display of the portable computer when said external monitor is not coupled to said docking station. The docking system defaults to a default setting configured in a setup program of the portable computer if no external monitor is coupled to said docking station. In a preferred embodiment, at least a portion of a top housing cover of the docking station is moveable to facilitate opening of the portable computer to permit user access to the internal display and keyboard of the portable computer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 1994
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2001
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventor: LaVaughn F. Watts, Jr.
  • Patent number: H1970
    Abstract: A variable function calculator utilizes a fixed program memory array such as a programmed read only memory in which a number of programs are stored depending upon the desired functions of the calculator. The calculator also includes a program counter, an instruction register, control decoders, jump-condition circuits, a clock generator, a timing generator, digit and FLAG mask decoders, key input logic, a register and FLAG data storage array, a decimal and FLAG arithmetic logic unit, an output decoder, and a digit scanner which scans both the keyboard and display outputs. Aside from providing basic desk top calculator functions, the read only memory may be programmed so that the system provides metering functions, arithmetic teaching functions, control functions, etc.. A preferred embodiment of the invention is capable of being fabricated as a monolithic integrated semiconductor system utilizing contemporary metal-insulator-semiconductor techniques.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 1990
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2001
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Gary W. Boone, Michael J. Cochran