Abstract: A built-in self-test mechanism for an interface chip. During a loopback test procedure, a transmission terminal of the interface chip is coupled back to the interface chip by a reception terminal of the interface chip and a loopback test circuit within the interface chip generates a test sequence which includes a synchronization section and a section of repeated test code. The test sequence is scrambled by a scrambler and then is transmitted via the transmission terminal and looped back to the reception terminal. The signal looped back to the reception terminal is processed by an equalizer and descrambled by a descrambler to be further checked by the loopback test circuit for determining whether the interface chip is functioning normally. The dynamically-changed keys used in the scrambler and the descrambler are synchronized according to the synchronization section. The equalizer is optimized by the scrambled section of repeated test code.

Abstract: An electronic apparatus and an operation method thereof are provided. The electronic apparatus includes a nonvolatile memory, a first integrated circuit and a second integrated circuit. The nonvolatile memory stores the first firmware code of the first integrated circuit and the second firmware code of the second integrated circuit. The first integrated circuit is coupled to a memory access interface of the nonvolatile memory to read the first firmware code and the second firmware code. The first integrated circuit has an emulation memory access interface to emulate an emulation memory. The second integrated circuit is coupled to the emulation memory access interface of the first integrated circuit. The second integrated circuit reads the second firmware code from the first integrated circuit via the emulation memory access interface.

Abstract: A circuit substrate has the following elements. A stacked circuit structure has a first surface and a second surface opposite thereto surface. A first patterned inner conductive layer is disposed on the first surface and has multiple pads. A first patterned outer conductive layer is disposed on the patterned inner conductive layer and has multiple conductive pillars, wherein each of the first conductive pillar is located on the corresponding first pad. The first dielectric layer covers the first surface, the first patterned inner conductive layer and the first patterned outer conductive layer, and has multiple first concaves, wherein the first concave exposes the top and side of the corresponding first conductive pillar. A semiconductor package structure applied the above circuit substrate and a process for fabricating the same are also provided here.

Abstract: A non-volatile memory (NVM) apparatus and an iteration sorting method thereof are provided. The NVM apparatus performs the iteration sorting method to select one target block from a plurality of blocks of a NVM, and to perform a management operation on the target block. The iteration sorting method includes: selecting a plurality of candidate blocks among the blocks of the NVM to join into a sorting set, sorting all of the candidate blocks in the sorting set according to metadata, picking one candidate block with maximum (or minimum) metadata from the sorting set to serve as the target block, and keeping M candidate blocks in the sorting set and discarding the rest of the candidate blocks from the sorting set.

Abstract: The LDPC apparatus includes an LDPC iteration calculating circuit, a decision-bit storage circuit, and a convergence detection circuit. The LDPC iteration calculating circuit performs an LDPC iteration calculation to obtain a new decision bit value of a corresponding variable node. The decision-bit storage circuit uses the new decision bit value to update one corresponding old decision bit value among a plurality of old decision bit values. The convergence detection circuit stores check sums of a plurality of check nodes. The convergence detection circuit uses the new decision bit value and the corresponding old decision bit value to update one corresponding check sum among the check sums. The convergence detection circuit determines whether the LDPC iteration calculation is converged based on the check sums of the check nodes.

Abstract: A semiconductor device includes first and second winding portions disposed in a first level of an insulating layer and surrounding a center region thereof. Each of the winding portions includes conductive lines arranged from the inside to the outside. First and second extending conductive lines are disposed in the first level of the insulating layer. A third extending conductive line is disposed in a second level of the insulating layer. The first extending conductive line is coupled between the innermost conductive line of the second winding and the third extending conductive line. The second extending conductive line is coupled between the innermost conductive line of the first winding portion and the third extending conductive line. The first extending conductive line and the third extending conductive line coupled thereto are arranged in a helix or a spiral spatial configuration.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus for processing surrounding images of a vehicle are provided. In the method, plural cameras disposed on the vehicle are used to capture images of plural perspective views surrounding the vehicle. The images of the perspective views are transformed into images of a top view. An interval consisted of at least a preset number of consecutive empty pixels is found from one column of pixels in each image of the top view, and the images of the perspective views and the top view are divided into floor side images and wall side images according to the height of the interval in the image. The divided floor side images and wall side images are stitched to generate a synthetic image surrounding the vehicle.

Abstract: An electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes: a first processing unit; a storage unit, configured to store at least one audio file; a first memory unit; and a modulator-demodulator (modem), configured to perform audio processing of the electronic device during a phone call, wherein when the electronic device is used to play the audio file, the first processing unit reads the audio file from the storage unit, retrieves header information of the audio file, and writes the audio file into the first memory unit, wherein the modem accesses the audio file stored in the first memory unit based on the header information, and performs audio decoding on the audio file.

Abstract: A paddle card includes a circuit board, a pad group and first to fourth shielding planes. The circuit board has an upper surface and a lower surface opposite to each other. The pad group is adapted to connect wires of a cable or terminals of a plug, and includes a pair of upper differential pads on the upper surface and a pair of lower differential pads on the lower surface. The pair of upper differential pads is respectively configured corresponding to the pair of lower differential pads in an up and down manner. The first to fourth shielding planes are stacked at intervals between the upper and lower surfaces in sequence. An orthogonal projection of a second opening of the second shielding plane on a geometric plane that a pair of third openings of the third shielding plane is located in is separate from the pair of third openings.

Abstract: A microprocessor includes an indicator and a plurality of processing cores. Each of the plurality of processing cores is configured to sample the indicator. When the indicator indicates a first predetermined value, the plurality of processing cores are configured to collectively designate multiple of the plurality of processing cores to be a bootstrap processor. When the indicator indicates a second predetermined value distinct from the first predetermined value, the plurality of processing cores are configured to collectively designate a single processing core of the plurality of processing cores to be the bootstrap processor.

Abstract: A secure memory, key expansion logic, and decryption logic are provided for a microprocessor that executes encrypted instructions. The secure memory stores a plurality of decryption key primitives. The key expansion logic selects two or more decryption key primitives from the secure memory and then derives a decryption key from them. The decryption logic uses the decryption key to decrypt an encrypted instruction fetched from the instruction cache. The decryption key primitives are selected on the basis of an encrypted instruction address, one of them is rotated by an amount also determined by the encrypted instruction address, and then they are additively or subtractively accumulated, also on the basis of the encrypted instruction address.

Abstract: An apparatus is provided that compensates for misalignment on a synchronous data bus. The apparatus includes a replica radial distribution element, a bit lag control element, and a synchronous lag receiver. The replica radial distribution element is configured to receive a lag pulse signal, and is configured to generate a replicated strobe signal, where the replica radial distribution network comprises replicated propagation path lengths, loads, and buffering of a radial distribution network for a strobe. The bit lag control element is configured to measure the time between assertion of the lag pulse signal and assertion of the replicated strobe signal when an update signal is asserted, and is configured to generate a first value on a lag bus that indicates the time.

Abstract: A superscalar pipelined microprocessor includes a register set defined by an instruction set architecture of the microprocessor, execution units, and a store unit, coupled to the cache memory and distinct from the other execution units of the microprocessor. The store unit comprises an ALU. The store unit receives an instruction that specifies a source register of the register set and an operation to be performed on a source operand to generate a result. The store unit reads the source operand from the source register. The ALU performs the operation on the source operand to generate the result, rather than forwarding the source operand to any of the other execution units of the microprocessor to perform the operation on the source operand to generate the result. The store unit operatively writes the result to the cache memory.

Abstract: A multi-core microprocessor supports a plurality of operating states that provide different levels of performance and power consumption to the microprocessor and its cores. A control unit puts selected cores into selected operating states at selected times. A core-specific synchronization register is provided for each core external to the core and readable by the control unit. Each core responds to an instruction to target an operating state by writing a value identifying the target operating state to the synchronization register. The control unit causes power saving actions that affect shared resources provided that the actions do not reduce performance of any core sharing the resources below the core's target operating state.

Abstract: A non-volatile memory (NVM) apparatus and an address classification method thereof are provided. The NVM apparatus includes a NVM and a controller. The controller accesses the NVM in accordance with a write command of a host. The controller may perform the address classification method. The address classification method includes: providing a data look-up table, wherein the data look-up table includes a plurality of data entries, each of the data entries includes a logical address information, a counter value and a timer value; searching the data look-up table based on the logical address of the write command in order to obtain a corresponding counter value and a corresponding timer value; and determining whether the logical address of the write command is a hot data address based on the corresponding counter value and the corresponding timer value.

Abstract: A battery management system for a battery pack including a plurality of battery cells connected in series is provided. The battery management system includes a first switching unit coupled to an anode of a first battery cell of the battery pack, having a first P-type transistor coupled to the anode of the first battery cell, a first resistor coupled between the anode of the first battery cell and a gate of the first P-type transistor, and a current mirror coupled to the gate of the first P-type transistor and the first resistor, draining a first mirror current from the first resistor in response to a control signal, so as to turn on the first P-type transistor. The system further includes a detection circuit coupled to the first switching unit.

Abstract: An apparatus is provided for protecting a basic input/output system (BIOS) in a computing system. The apparatus includes a BIOS read only memory (ROM), an event detector, and a tamper detector. The BIOS ROM has BIOS contents that are stored as plaintext, and an encrypted message digest, where the encrypted message digest comprises an encrypted version of a first message digest that corresponds to the BIOS contents, and where and the encrypted version is generated via a symmetric key algorithm and a key. The event detector is configured to generate a BIOS check interrupt that interrupts normal operation of the computing system upon the occurrence of an event, where the event includes one or more occurrences of an operating system call.

Abstract: A microprocessor is provided in which an encrypted program can replace the decryption keys that are used to decrypt sections of the encrypted program. The microprocessor may be decrypting and executing a first section of the encrypted program when it encounters, decrypts, and executes an encrypted store-key instruction to store a new set of decryption keys. After executing the store-key instruction, the microprocessor decrypts and executes a subsequent section of the encrypted program using the new set of decryption keys. On-the-fly key switching may occur numerous times with successive encrypted store-key instructions and successive sets of encrypted instructions.

Abstract: A charger and a power delivery control chip and a charging method thereof are provided. Resistance values of equivalent resistances corresponding to a power supply bus are calculated according to a charging current and voltage sensing signals respectively provided by chips of a first connector and a second connector. A charging voltage supplied to the power supply bus is adjusted according to a target charging voltage, a current charging current, and variations of the resistance values of the equivalent resistances corresponding to the power supply bus.

Abstract: A microprocessor natively translates and executes instructions of both the x86 instruction set architecture (ISA) and the Advanced RISC Machines (ARM) ISA. An instruction formatter extracts distinct ARM instruction bytes from a stream of instruction bytes received from an instruction cache and formats them. ARM and x86 instruction length decoders decode ARM and x86 instruction bytes, respectively, and determine instruction lengths of ARM and x86 instructions. An instruction translator translates the formatted x86 ISA and ARM ISA instructions into microinstructions of a unified microinstruction set architecture of the microprocessor. An execution pipeline executes the microinstructions to generate results defined by the x86 ISA and ARM ISA instructions.