Patents Examined by Cassandra Cox
  • Patent number: 10134835
    Abstract: A power semiconductor device is disclosed. The device includes a semiconductor body coupled to a first load terminal structure and a second load terminal structure, a first cell and a second cell. A first mesa is included in the first cell, the first mesa including: a first port region and a first channel region. A second mesa included in the second cell, the second mesa including a second port region. A third cell is electrically connected to the second load terminal structure and electrically connected to a drift region. The third cell includes a third mesa comprising: a third port region, a third channel region, and a third control electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2018
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventors: Anton Mauder, Franz-Josef Niedernostheide, Frank Dieter Pfirsch, Christian Philipp Sandow
  • Patent number: 10116294
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for detecting zero-volt crossing in a field-effect transistor. A comparator compares a drain-to source voltage of the transistor to a threshold voltage. A gate voltage signal of the transistor is provided to a clock input of the comparator such that said gate voltage signal is used to latch a result of said comparison to an output of the comparator. A control function with respect to the transistor is performed based on the value of the comparator output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2018
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Jingwei Xu, Vijayalakshmi Devarajan, Gangqiang Zhang, Angelo William Pereira
  • Patent number: 10094525
    Abstract: There is provided a battery powered lighting system having illuminating units and a battery module with rechargeable batteries for providing electrical power to the illuminating units. A temperature sensor is arranged to measure a temperature of the battery pack. A charger and discharger are arranged to (dis)charge the battery module, where discharging means powering the illumination units. A control system is arranged to adjust a lighting profile using measurements received from the temperature sensor. The adjusted lighting profile will assures that the temperature of said battery module stays within a predefined temperature range, and in particular above a predefined temperature. This will extend the life time of the batteries.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2018
    Assignee: PHILIPS LIGHTING HOLDING B.V.
    Inventor: Bjorn Christiaan Wouter Kaag
  • Patent number: 10081259
    Abstract: A charging facility collects DC power supplied from a plurality of power supply devices in a DC bus, and then uses the DC power to charge an on-board rechargeable battery for an electric vehicle. In an energy management method for a charging facility, each power supply device operates under independent automatic control according to a change in voltage in the DC bus. An upper-level control unit which collectively controls a plurality of power supply sources is not required, and a plurality of power supply devices can be combined with a simple configuration achieved by merely connecting respective output terminals to the DC bus. In addition, the entire charging facility can be operated flexibly. Thus, it is possible to achieve a simple configuration and to allow flexible operation while a plurality of power converters are combined with a system power supply.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2018
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Ryosuke Yoko, Masanori Maruyama, Yoshinori Takeichi
  • Patent number: 10075214
    Abstract: Patient care equipment includes a wireless coupler that transfers power and/or data between an architectural unit and the patient care equipment. The patient care equipment may also include additional wireless couplers that transfer power and/or data between first and second components of the equipment. The second component may be movable relative to the first component. A structure or hot swapping batteries is also disclosed, the swapped battery being charged on an inductive charging mat.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2018
    Assignee: Hill-Rom Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Charles A. Howell, William G. Pittenger, Michael S. Hood, Edward J. Koors, Steven Alan Dixon, Richard Joseph Schuman, Matthew D. Morgan, Laurie Lee Gutzwiller, Kelly F. Walton
  • Patent number: 10075152
    Abstract: The present invention provides an integrated circuit with a multiplexed pin and a pin multiplexing method. The multiplexed pin of the integrated circuit extends out with two connecting ends to receive two logic level signals which are finally restored in a chip. A first signal input end receives a signal representing whether to enable or disable, a second signal input end receives a function signal which achieves a certain function, and a diode, a resistor, and a first current source are used together to achieve multiplexing of the pin based on turn-on and clamping characteristics of the diode. The number of pins to be packaged and the area occupied by a chip on board are reduced, which is conducive to a small package design of the chip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2018
    Assignee: JOULWATT TECHNOLOGY (HANGZHOU) CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yang Cheng, Pitleong Wong, Yuancheng Ren, Xunwei Zhou
  • Patent number: 10075097
    Abstract: To generate a PWM signal, as an on/off signal of a semiconductor switch that constitutes a power conversion main circuit, by comparing a modulation wave command based on an input voltage waveform command of the power conversion main circuit with a carrier wave having changes from a lower limit to an upper limit and from the upper limit to the lower limit for an integral number of times per one cycle of an AC power supply, where the carrier wave has characteristics such that one change time from the lower limit to the upper limit and then returning to the lower limit is constant, and a time ratio between a change time from the lower limit to the upper limit and a change time from the upper limit to the lower limit changes periodically.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2018
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kotaro Matsuda, Hisanori Yamasaki
  • Patent number: 10050631
    Abstract: In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a master oscilloscope propagates a slave signal to one or more slave oscilloscopes. The slave signal includes a synchronized trigger pulse that is used in the master oscilloscope to provide a display of a first signal and also includes a timing interpolation parameter which indicates a timing delay applied in the master oscilloscope with respect to the synchronized trigger pulse when providing the display. A slave oscilloscope can use the synchronized trigger pulse and the timing interpolation parameter to provide a display of a second signal on the slave oscilloscope, thereby ensuring that a triggered edge of the second signal is time-aligned with a triggered edge of the first signal. This arrangement reduces/eliminates absolute as well as relative timing uncertainties when an observer observes the first signal displayed on the master oscilloscope and/or the second signal displayed on the slave oscilloscope.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2018
    Assignee: Keysight Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Thomas L Schmidt
  • Patent number: 10038431
    Abstract: An electronic circuit includes a plurality of current-mirror devices, which are physically laid-out in an array and are configured to receive a digital word, to further receive a reference current, and to convert the digital word into an output current by mirroring the reference current. The current-mirror devices include (i) first current-mirror devices, which are laid-out along a perimeter of the array and are configured to generate a fixed baseline component of the output current that is independent of the digital word, and (ii) second current-mirror devices, which are laid-out in an interior of the array and are configured to generate a programmable component of the output current that depends on the digital word.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 31, 2018
    Assignee: NUVOTON TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: On Magen, Ido Miller
  • Patent number: 10014105
    Abstract: A coil unit includes a non-magnetic conductive plate which is disposed along an axis of a coil, and a magnetic body. The magnetic body includes a first portion which is positioned in an outer side than an outline of one side of the conductive plate in the axis direction of the coil, and a second portion which is positioned in an outer side than an outline of the other side of the conductive plate in the axis direction of the coil. When viewing from the axis direction of the coil, the first and second portions are positioned on a side of the conductive plate where is opposite to a side which faces the coil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2018
    Assignee: TDK CORPORATION
    Inventors: Noritaka Chiyo, Tetsuya Nishiyama, Yasuhiro Terasaki, Mitsunari Suzuki
  • Patent number: 10009022
    Abstract: Embodiment of the inventive subject matter include an apparatus comprising a first switch, a second switch, a third switch, and a transistor. The first switch is coupled to a first voltage device and the transistor to selectively electrically connect the first voltage device to the transistor to provide a first charge to the transistor. The second switch is coupled to a second voltage device and the transistor to selectively electrically connect the second voltage device to the transistor to remove charge from the transistor. The third switch is coupled to the third voltage device and the transistor to selectively couple the third voltage device to the transistor to provide a second charge to the transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2018
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventor: Yogesh Kumar Ramadass
  • Patent number: 10009032
    Abstract: Embodiments include systems and methods for providing reliable and precise sample alignment across different clock domains. Some embodiments operate in context of microprocessor power management circuits seeking correlated measurements of voltage droop (VD) and phase delay (PD). For example, a rolling code is generated for each of multiple second clock domain sample times (CDSTs). VD and the rolling code are both sampled according to a first clock domain to generate VD samples and corresponding VCode samples for each of multiple first CDSTs. PD can be sampled according to the second clock domain to generate PD samples for each of the second CDSTs, each associated with the rolling code for its second CDST. For any first CDST, the VD sample for the first CDST can be aligned with a PD sample for a coinciding second CDST by identifying matching associated rolling codes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2018
    Assignee: ORACLE INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION
    Inventor: Bruce E. Petrick
  • Patent number: 10002708
    Abstract: A coil unit includes a non-magnetic conductive plate which is disposed in an arrangement direction of first and second coils have reverse winding direction to each other, and a magnetic body. The magnetic body includes a first portion which is positioned in an outer side than an outline of one side of the conductive plate in the arrangement direction of the first and second coils, and a second portion which is positioned in an outer side than an outline of the other side of the conductive plate in the arrangement direction of the first and second coils. When viewing from the arrangement direction of the first and second coils, the first and second portions are positioned on a side of the conductive plate where is opposite to a side which faces the first and second coils.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2018
    Assignee: TDK CORPORATION
    Inventors: Noritaka Chiyo, Tetsuya Nishiyama, Yasuhiro Terasaki, Mitsunari Suzuki
  • Patent number: 9998001
    Abstract: A control circuit eliminates the Zeno phenomenon in a power supply controller while transferring control from a primary side controller to a secondary side controller. The primary side controller generates a feedback voltage (e.g., threshold voltage) that is input to a comparator. An output node voltage of the control circuit is fed back to the linear amplifier to be compared with the threshold voltage. While the output node voltage is less than the threshold voltage, a charge pump is coupled to the output node of the control circuit. After the output node voltage has toggled around the threshold voltage a number of times, the comparator output node is coupled to the output node of the control circuit and the charge pump is decoupled from the output node. When the output node voltage has discharged to be equal to the threshold voltage, control is handed off from the primary side controller to the secondary side controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: Analog Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Daly, Subodh Prakash Madiwale
  • Patent number: 9991720
    Abstract: A load control apparatus and a load control system capable of more efficiently using power generated from a private power generator, in which a load control apparatus includes a memory, a selector, and a load controller. The memory is configured to store a plurality of patterns having a plurality of control operations that are prioritized for a plurality of loads operated by consuming electric power. The selector is configured to select one of the patterns stored in the memory. The load controller is configured to operate the loads in order of priority on the basis of the control operation of the selected pattern while a total sum of power consumed by the loads does not exceed a target power value representing a value based on power suppliable by the electric generator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Nagako Hisada, Koichi Shimozato, Takao Nosaka, Kenichi Yamazaki, Saori Machida, Koji Kimura, Ikuro Komamura, Tomohiro Asazuma
  • Patent number: 9985434
    Abstract: A multi-terminal DC power system includes: a DC network connecting together multiple terminals. Each terminal is represented by one of: a voltage source converter having a capacitor at an interface to the DC network, wherein a difference between a converter-side current and a network-side current charges the capacitor, and a current source converter having an inductor at an interface to the DC network, wherein a difference between a converter-side voltage and a network-side voltage drives current through the inductor. A local controller for each terminal directly controls the converter-side current of each voltage source controller and the converter-side voltage of each current source converter, independent of the terminals, leaving network-side currents and voltages to be determined by the network, resulting in simplified terminal control and avoidance of the need for high-speed communication among all terminals at all times.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2018
    Assignee: RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
    Inventor: Jian Sun
  • Patent number: 9979218
    Abstract: At least some embodiments herein provide a UPS comprising an input, a transformer including at least one primary winding, a relay, a sense circuit, and a current control circuit, wherein the sense circuit is configured to monitor input power, control the relay to couple, in a first mode, the input to the at least one primary winding when input power is above an input threshold, and control the relay to decouple, in a second mode, the input from the at least one primary winding when input power is below the input threshold, and wherein the current control circuit is configured, in the first mode, to control current from an AC source through the at least one primary winding to generate an output voltage and, in the second mode, to control current from a DC source through the at least one primary winding to generate the output voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignee: SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC IT CORPORATION
    Inventor: Indra Prakash
  • Patent number: 9973343
    Abstract: A power sourcing equipment is provided. The power sourcing equipment is connected to an Ethernet cable. The power sourcing equipment includes a switching circuit, a power circuit, and a detection circuit. The power circuit is coupled to a power supply output terminal via the switching circuit. The detection circuit is configured to control a state of the switching circuit according to a first resistance between a first pin and a second pin of the Ethernet cable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2018
    Assignee: SERCOMM CORPORATION
    Inventors: Chun-En Lin, Kuo-Fu Weng, Meng-Chien Chiang
  • Patent number: 9966937
    Abstract: A system includes a signal generator and a signal combiner. The signal generator is configured to output a first signal having a first frequency and to output one or more signals having the first frequency and having phases shifted relative to the first signal by predetermined amounts. The signal combiner is configured to combine the first signal and the one or more signals to output a frequency multiplied second signal having a second frequency. The second frequency is greater than the first frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2018
    Assignee: Marvell World Trade LTD.
    Inventors: Mustafa Oguzhan Yayla, Xiang Gao, Li Lin
  • Patent number: 9966938
    Abstract: In some embodiments, a differential amplifier with duty cycle correction is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2018
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Eduard Roytman, Mahalingam Nagarajan, Pradeep R Vempada