Patents Examined by Brandon Bowers
  • Patent number: 10500964
    Abstract: An electric power reception device for a vehicle is equipped with an electric power reception unit that is configured to be able to receive electric power from an electric power transmission device in a non-contact manner, a communication portion that transmits information on a position or dimension of the electric power reception unit to the electric power transmission device, and a vehicle ECU that controls the communication portion. Preferably, the vehicle ECU transmits pre-stored information to the electric power transmission device with the aid of the communication portion, before allowing a vehicle to be parked at an electric power reception position of the electric power transmission device. The information includes at least one of a size of the electric power reception unit, a size of the vehicle in which the electric power reception unit is mounted, and a mounting position of the electric power reception unit in the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2019
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Shinji Ichikawa
  • Patent number: 10496771
    Abstract: In a compression scan, the number of test steps is reduced without reducing a defection efficiency. A semiconductor apparatus includes one or more scan chains each including one or more MMSFFs being serially connected and combinational circuits and can switch between a scan shift operation and a capture operation. The MMSFF includes an MUX that selects one of an external input test signal which is externally input and a shift test signal which is input via the MMSFF in a preceding stage in the same scan chain, and an FF that outputs one of the external input test signal and the shift test signal which has been selected by the MUX.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2019
    Assignee: RENESAS ELECTRONICS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Hiroyuki Iwata
  • Patent number: 10489547
    Abstract: A method of designing a layout includes assigning a first color group to a plurality of first routing tracks. The method includes assigning a second color group to a plurality of second routing tracks. A first routing track is between adjacent second routing tracks. The method includes assigning a color from the first color group to each default conductive element along each first routing track. A color of a first default conductive element along each first routing track is different from a color of an adjacent default conductive element along a same first routing track. The method includes assigning a color from the second color group to each default conductive element along each second routing track. A color of a first default conductive element along each second routing track is different from a color of an adjacent default conductive element along a same second routing track.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Yen-Hung Lin, Chung-Hsing Wang, Yuan-Te Hou
  • Patent number: 10489542
    Abstract: A neural network including an embedding layer to receive a gate function vector and an embedding width and alter a shape of the gate function vector by the embedding width, a concatenator to receive a gate feature input vector and concatenate the gate feature input vector with the gate function vector altered by the embedding width, a convolution layer to receive a window size, stride, and output feature size and generate an output convolution vector with a shape based on a length of the gate function vector, the window size of the convolution layer, and the output feature size of the convolution layer, and a fully connected layer to reduce the gate output convolution vector to a final path delay output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Assignee: NVIDIA Corp.
    Inventors: Mark Ren, Brucek Khailany
  • Patent number: 10460069
    Abstract: Electronic design automation systems and methods for functional reactive parameterized cells (FR-PCells) are described. In one embodiment, a PCell includes a reactive parameter that is based on context information regarding other cells or elements of an overall circuit design. Processing of the FR-PCell may then depend on processing of other PCells or other elements of a circuit design. Similarly, an FR-PCell may provide context information to other FR-PCells. In some embodiments, processing of an FR-PCell to generate an instance of the FR-PCell is managed by a reaction engine that monitors updates to context information or other PCells to automatically adjust instances of the FR-PCells.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2019
    Assignees: Cadence Design Systems, Inc., Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Thomas Burdick, Peter Herth, Göran Jerke, Christel Bürzele, Daniel Marolt, Vinko Marolt
  • Patent number: 10430544
    Abstract: A method of generating a plurality of photomasks includes generating a circuit graph. The circuit graph comprises a plurality of vertices and a plurality of edges. Each of the plurality of vertices is representative of one of a plurality of conductive lines. The plurality of edges are representative of a spacing between the conductive lines less than an acceptable minimum distance. Kn+1 graph comprising a first set of vertices selected from the plurality of vertices connected in series by a first set of edges selected from the plurality of edges and having at least one non-series edge connection between a first vertex and a second vertex selected from the first set of vertices is reduced by merging a third vertex into a fourth vertex selected from the first set of the plurality of vertices. An n-pattern conflict check is performed and the photomasks generated based on the result.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2019
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Nien-Yu Tsai, Chin-Chang Hsu, Wen-Ju Preet Yang, Hsien-Hsin Sean Lee
  • Patent number: 10402528
    Abstract: A method of generating electronic circuit layout data can include electronically providing data representing a first standard cell layout including a first scaling enhanced circuit layout in an electronic storage medium. The first scaling enhanced circuit layout included in the first standard cell layout can be electronically defined using a marker layer. The first scaling enhanced circuit layout can be electronically swapped for a second scaling enhanced circuit layout to electronically generate data representing a second standard cell layout in the electronic storage medium. The data representing the second standard cell layout can be electronically verified.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2019
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Chul-Hong Park, Su-Hyeon Kim, Sharma Deepak
  • Patent number: 10394981
    Abstract: A programmable integrated circuit includes rows of circuit blocks and up and down driving vertical interconnect resources. Each of the up and down driving vertical interconnect resources comprises a programmable signal path coupled to at least two of the rows of circuit blocks. A defect in any one of the up driving vertical interconnect resources in the programmable integrated circuit causes circuit blocks in a different set of the rows to store incorrect values compared to defects in the up driving vertical interconnect resources that originate in different ones of the rows of circuit blocks. A defect in any one of the down driving vertical interconnect resources in the programmable integrated circuit causes circuit blocks in a different set of the rows to store incorrect values compared to defects in the down driving vertical interconnect resources that originate in different ones of the rows of circuit blocks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2019
    Assignee: Altera Corporation
    Inventors: Kalyana Kantipudi, Neil Da Cunha
  • Patent number: 10387605
    Abstract: A system and method for managing and composing verification engines and simultaneously applying such compositions to verify properties with design constraints allocates computing resources to verification engines based upon properties to be checked and optionally a user-specified budget. The verification engines are run in order to verify a received register transfer level (RTL) design description of a circuit according to user-specified assertions and constraints received by the system. The particular verification engines to be run are selected from a database of such engines and a run order is designated in sequential, parallel and distributed flows.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2019
    Assignee: Synopsys, Inc.
    Inventors: Maher Mneimneh, Scott Cotton, Mohamed Shaker Sarwary, Fahim Rahim, Sudeep Mondal, Paras Mal Jain
  • Patent number: 10372863
    Abstract: A system for dynamic circuit board design, preferably including a library of modular circuits and a merge tool. A method for merging modular circuitry into a unified electronics module, preferably including: receiving a circuit board layout, the circuit board layout preferably including a set of modular circuits arranged on a virtual carrier board; converting the circuit board layout into a virtual circuit representation; applying transformations to the virtual circuit representation; and generating a unified circuit board design based on the transformed virtual circuit representation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Assignee: Arch Systems Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy Matthew Burke, Christopher Ling
  • Patent number: 10372857
    Abstract: One example includes a machine-readable storage medium encoded with instructions. The instructions are executable by a processor of a system to cause the system to receive at least one target electrical characteristic indicating a target impedance of a passive printed circuit board (PCB) structure. The passive PCB structure is a component of a serial communication channel. The instructions are executable by the processor to cause the system to divide the passive PCB structure into a plurality of elements. Each element has an input and an output. The instructions are executable by the processor to cause the system to determine at least one parameter of each element such that an image impedance of the input and the output of each element equals the target impedance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP
    Inventors: Benjamin Toby, Karl J. Bois
  • Patent number: 10366200
    Abstract: A method of forming a layout design for fabricating an integrated circuit is disclosed. The method includes generating a first layout of the integrated circuit based on design criteria, generating a standard cell layout of the integrated circuit, generating a via color layout of the integrated circuit based on the first layout and the standard cell layout and performing a color check on the via color layout based on design rules. The first layout having a first set of vias arranged in first rows and first columns. The standard cell layout having standard cells and a second set of vias arranged in the standard cells. The via color layout having a third set of vias. The third set of vias including a portion of the second set of vias and corresponding locations, and color of corresponding sub-set of vias.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2019
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Wei-Cheng Lin, Chih-Liang Chen, Chih-Ming Lai, Charles Chew-Yuen Young, Jiann-Tyng Tzeng, Kam-Tou Sio, Ru-Gun Liu, Shih-Wei Peng, Wei-Chen Chien
  • Patent number: 10340712
    Abstract: One embodiment of the invention is an apparatus for determining the initiation of a charging process for a secure charging apparatus. The apparatus has circuitry for authorising a user, circuitry for confirming connection of a device, and circuitry for confirming charging of the device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2019
    Assignee: CHARGEBOX LTD
    Inventors: Ian Timothy Hobson, Jonathan John Cheese, Jonathan Anthony Hogg
  • Patent number: 10325055
    Abstract: This application discloses a computing system configured to determine a timing window for reception of a signal propagated through a victim channel in a circuit design, generate an aggressor window bump for each noise bump capable of being induced on the victim channel by one or more aggressor channels, determine a delta delay corresponding to the timing window for the signal propagated through the victim channel based, at least in part, on one or more of the aggressor window bump, and utilize the delta delay corresponding to the timing window for the signal to determine whether the victim channel operates within a timing constraint associated with the circuit design.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2019
    Assignee: Mentor Graphics Corporation
    Inventors: Dhananjay Kumar Griyage, Mohan Rangan Govindaraj
  • Patent number: 10325849
    Abstract: In some embodiments, the present disclosure relates to an integrated chip. The integrated chip has a plurality of gate structures arranged over a substrate. A plurality of first MOL (middle-of-line) structures are arranged at a first pitch over the substrate at locations interleaved between the plurality of gate structures. The plurality of first MOL structures connect active regions within the substrate to an overlying metal interconnect layer. A plurality of second MOL structures are arranged at a second pitch over the plurality of gate structures at locations interleaved between the plurality of first MOL structures. The plurality of second MOL structures connect the plurality of gate structures to the metal interconnect layer. The second pitch is different than the first pitch. The different pitches avoid misalignment errors between the plurality of gate structures and the metal interconnect layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2019
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Liang-Yao Lee, Tsung-Chieh Tsai, Juing-Yi Wu, Chun-Yi Lee
  • Patent number: 10325054
    Abstract: Methods and apparatuses are described for sharing inductive invariants while performing formal verification of a circuit design. Specifically, some embodiments assume at least an inductive invariant for a property to be true while proving another property. According to one definition, an inductive invariant of a property is an inductive assertion such that all states that satisfy the inductive assertion also satisfy the property. According to one definition, an inductive assertion describes a set of states that includes all legal initial states of the circuit design and that is closed under a transition relation that models the circuit design.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2019
    Assignee: Synopsys, Inc.
    Inventors: Himanshu Jain, Per M. Bjesse, Carl P. Pixley
  • Patent number: 10318684
    Abstract: Systems and techniques for clock tree optimization are described. An electronic design automation (EDA) tool can receive a graph that represents a circuit design, wherein a set of trees in the graph can correspond to a set of clock trees in the circuit design. For each tree in the set of trees, a set of leaf node pairs can be determined. Next, for each leaf node pair, a flow can be created in the graph between the two leaf nodes in the leaf node pair. Aggregate flows can be determined for edges in the graph based on the flows. A set of edges based on the aggregate flows can be identified, and then circuitry corresponding to the set of edges can be identified. Next, the identified circuitry in the circuit design can be optimized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2019
    Assignee: SYNOPSYS, INC.
    Inventors: Zuo Dai, Aiqun Cao
  • Patent number: 10310386
    Abstract: Methods of reducing a pattern displacement error, contrast loss, best focus shift, and/or tilt of a Bossung curve of a portion of a design layout used in a lithographic process for imaging that portion onto a substrate using a lithographic apparatus. The methods include adjusting an illumination source of the lithographic apparatus, placing one or more assist features onto, or adjusting a position and/or shape of one or more existing assist features in, the portion. Adjusting the illumination source and/or the one or more assist features may be by an optimization algorithm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2019
    Assignee: ASML Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Duan-Fu Stephen Hsu, Feng-Liang Liu
  • Patent number: 10296692
    Abstract: A method of metrology target design is described. The method includes providing a range or a plurality of values for design parameter of a metrology target and by a processor, selecting, by solving for and/or sampling within the range or the plurality of values for the design parameters, a plurality of metrology target designs having one or more design parameters meeting a constraint for a design parameter of the metrology target.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2019
    Assignee: ASML Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Guangqing Chen, Justin Ghan, David Harold Whysong
  • Patent number: 10296695
    Abstract: Methods and systems for implementing track pattern for electronic designs are disclosed. The method identifies a first track in a design and viable implementing options for the first track. When adding a second track to the track pattern, the method determines whether the second track corresponds to the viable implementing options for the track. The second track is inserted to the track pattern and situated immediately adjacent to the first track if the second track is determined to correspond to a viable implementing option for the first track. One or more intermediate tracks may be inserted immediately adjacent to the first track before inserting the second track to produce a legal track pattern. Tracks may be removed from a track pattern. One or more intermediate tracks may be inserted into the space occupied by a track being removed to ensure track pattern's compliance with design rules after the track removal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2019
    Assignee: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Yinnie Lee, Jeffrey Markham, Roland Ruehl, Karun Sharma