Patents Examined by Hien Nguyen
  • Patent number: 9401207
    Abstract: A memory device includes a first select transistor having a first current electrode coupled to a first bit line, a control electrode and a second current electrode. A second select transistor has a first current electrode coupled to a second bit line, a control electrode and a second current electrode. A first bi-directional resistive element has a cathode coupled to the second current electrode of the first select transistor and an anode coupled to an internal node. A second bi-directional resistive element has a cathode coupled to the internal node and an anode coupled to the second current electrode of the second select transistor. A third transistor has a first current electrode coupled to a third bit line, a second current electrode coupled to the internal node, and a control electrode coupled to a word line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2016
    Assignee: Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventors: Anirban Roy, Frank K. Baker, Jr.
  • Patent number: 9392961
    Abstract: An apparatus and a method for detecting clinically-relevant features of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of a subject are disclosed. The apparatus includes a capsule to be swallowed by a subject and passing through the GI tract of the subject, a capsule housing, a radiation source emitting radiation, a rotatable collimator configured to rotate with respect to the housing and to collimate the radiation emitted by the radiation source, and a radiation detector configured to detect particles, such as photons, gamma radiation, beta radiation and electrons photons generated responsive to the emitted radiation. The apparatus also includes a control unit configured to analyze data regarding the photons. Movement of the capsule in the GI tract can be detected. The radiation source, radiation detector and control unit may advantageously be integrated inside a single housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2016
    Assignee: CHECK-CAP LTD.
    Inventors: Yoav Kimchy, Yitzak Klein, Gideon Baum, Rafi Sommer
  • Patent number: 9390815
    Abstract: A semiconductor system includes a semiconductor device comprising: a plurality of first input pins suitable for receiving a plurality of command/address signals; a plurality of multi-purpose registers; and a parity check unit suitable for determining a parity check result as a pass when the number of first logic values in the command/address signals corresponds to a logic value of a parity bit, determining the parity check result as a fail when the number of the first logic values does not correspond to the logic value of the parity bit, and controlling the command/address signals to be stored in the multi-purpose registers; and a function test device suitable for applying the command/address signals to the first input pins during a function test, and controlling the command/address signals such that the number of the first logic values does not correspond to the logic value of the parity bit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Assignee: SK Hynix Inc.
    Inventors: Sang-Ah Hyun, Jae-Il Kim
  • Patent number: 9384786
    Abstract: A method includes automatically charging a capacitor coupled to a battery configured to power a memory through a charge switch that is closed whenever a voltage of the battery exceeds a recovery trip voltage or exceeds a shutdown trip voltage but is less than the recovery trip voltage and opened whenever the voltage of the battery drops below the shutdown trip voltage such that a minimum voltage of the shutdown trip voltage is maintained on the battery, thereby enabling the memory to retain information therein. The method also includes rendering a stored energy of the capacitor available to all circuitry coupled to the battery following the charging thereof through coupling the capacitor in parallel with the battery based on closure of a discharge switch following the charging of the capacitor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2016
    Inventors: Christopher T. Schiller, Michael Joseph Shaw
  • Patent number: 9384789
    Abstract: A method includes configuring a battery and a voltage regulator configured to regulate an output voltage of the battery to supply power to a memory of an electronic circuit also comprising non-memory circuitry. The method also includes switching the supply of power between the battery and the voltage regulator such that: the memory is powered from the battery when the non-memory circuitry is inactive, the memory is powered from a combination of voltage from the battery and the voltage regulator when the memory is about to communicate with the non-memory circuitry during a transition of the non-memory circuitry into an active state thereof, and the memory and the non-memory circuitry are powered from the voltage regulator during the active state of the non-memory circuitry. Thus, minimal current is drawn from the battery while a state of the memory of the electronic circuit is preserved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2016
    Inventors: Christopher T. Schiller, Michael Joseph Shaw
  • Patent number: 9373403
    Abstract: The present invention relates to 3D memory devices and methods for programming such devices, and more particularly to memory devices having control circuitry which is responsive to the indicator memory to apply a first control voltage to a selected one of the horizontal structures, apply a second control voltage to a non-selected one of the horizontal structures, and apply a third control voltage to an excluded one of the horizontal structures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2016
    Assignee: MACRONIX INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Shih-Hung Chen
  • Patent number: 9362998
    Abstract: Technology to determine a Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest-ACKnowledge (HARQ-ACK) codebook size for inter-band time division duplex (TDD) carrier aggregation (CA) is disclosed. In an example, a user equipment (UE) operable to determine a HARQ-ACK codebook size for inter-band TDD CA can include computer circuitry configured to: Determine a HARQ bundling window for inter-band TDD CA including a number of downlink (DL) subframes using HARQ-ACK feedback; divide the HARQ bundling window into a first part and a second part; and calculate the HARQ-ACK codebook size based on the first part and the second part. The first part can include DL subframes of configured serving cells that occur no later than the DL subframe where a downlink control information (DCI) transmission for uplink scheduling on a serving cell is conveyed, and the second part can include physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) subframes occurring after the DCI transmission of the serving cells.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2016
    Assignee: INTEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hong He, Jong-Kae Fwu, Seunghee Han, Debdeep Chatterjee
  • Patent number: 9361950
    Abstract: A semiconductor device with reduced leakage current and a method of manufacturing these reduced leakage current semiconductor devices are disclosed. The reduced leakage current semiconductor devices may be used for both static circuits and dynamic circuits. The reduced leakage current semiconductor devices reduce leakage current in the device when the node is not transitioning which occurs more than 95% of the time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2016
    Assignee: COLD BRICK SEMICONDUCTOR, INC.
    Inventor: Gajendra Prasad Singh
  • Patent number: 9355721
    Abstract: A method of operating a memory device includes; applying a pre-write voltage to a selected memory cell by applying a first voltage to a first signal line connected to the selected memory cell and a second voltage to a second signal line connected to the selected memory cell during a first set writing interval, wherein a level of the first voltage is higher than a level of the second voltage, and thereafter, applying a write voltage to the selected memory cell by applying a third voltage having a level lower than the level of the first voltage and higher than the level of the second voltage to the first signal line during a second set writing interval.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2016
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Chi-Weon Yoon, Hyun-Kook Park, Dae-Seok Byeon
  • Patent number: 9355738
    Abstract: An operating method of a memory controller configured to control a nonvolatile memory device including a plurality of memory cells is provided. The operating method includes: programming evaluation data into desired memory cells among the plurality of memory cells; performing initial verify shift (IVS) charge loss evaluation on the desired memory cells after a time elapses from a time point when the evaluation data is programmed, the IVScharge loss evaluation including an operation of detecting threshold voltage variation of the desired memory cells over a period based on the time elapsed from the time point when the evaluation data is programmed; and storing a result of the IVScharge loss evaluation; and adjusting levels of a plurality of read voltages used in the nonvolatile memory device based on the stored result of the charge loss evaluation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2016
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Jung Been Im
  • Patent number: 9349451
    Abstract: A resistive memory and a repairing method of the resistive memory are provided. Steps of the repairing method includes: operating a plurality of set-reset cycles on the resistive memory; detecting whether the resistive memory encounters an over-set issue after the set-reset cycles are operated; if the resistive memory encounters the over-set issue, executing an enhanced reset programming on the resistive memory. Here, the enhanced reset programming is executed by applying an enhanced reset voltage on the resistive memory during an enhanced reset time period. A product of the enhanced reset voltage and the enhanced reset time period is larger than a product of a reset voltage and a reset time period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: Winbond Electronics Corp.
    Inventors: Meng-Hung Lin, Bo-Lun Wu, Ting-Ying Shen
  • Patent number: 9349418
    Abstract: A novel semiconductor device where multilevel data can be written and read. The semiconductor device includes first to fifth transistors, a capacitor, a bit line, and a power supply line. Write operation is performed in such a manner that first data is supplied to a gate of the fifth transistor through the first transistor; the first transistor is turned off; second data is supplied to a second electrode of the capacitor through the second transistor to convert the first data into third data; and the second electrode of the capacitor are made electrically floating. The second electrode of the capacitor is initialized to GND through the third transistor. Read operation is performed by charging or discharging the bit line through the fourth transistor and the fifth transistor. The first to third transistors are preferably oxide semiconductor transistors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshitaka Yamamoto, Kiyoshi Kato
  • Patent number: 9349456
    Abstract: A method of operating a non-volatile memory device includes erasing a memory cell block, supplying a first drain turn-on voltage higher than a target level to the drain select line of the memory cell block, and performing a soft program operation by supplying a soft program voltage to the word lines of the memory cell block.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: SK Hynix Inc.
    Inventors: Se Jun Kim, Hea Jong Yang
  • Patent number: 9343164
    Abstract: A method and non-volatile storage system are provided in which the voltage applied to the source end of a NAND string depends on the location of the non-volatile storage element that is selected for sensing. This may be done without body-biasing the NAND string. Having the magnitude of the voltage applied to the source end of a NAND string depend on the location of the selected memory cell (without any body biasing) helps to mitigate failures that are dependent on which word line is selected during a sensing operation of one embodiment. Additionally, the magnitude of a read pass voltage may depend on either the source line voltage or the location of the selected memory cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: SanDisk Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: Huai-Yuan Tseng, Dana Lee, Shih-Chung Lee, Deepanshu Dutta, Arash Hazeghi
  • Patent number: 9342650
    Abstract: An SRAM cell structure. In one embodiment, a bit cell first level contacts formed at a first and a second CVdd node, a first and a second CVss node, at a bit line node, at a bit line bar node, at a data node and at a data bar node; and second level contacts formed on each of the first level contacts at the first and second CVdd nodes, the first and second CVss nodes, the bit line node and the bit line bar node; wherein the first level contacts formed at the data node and the data bar node do not have a second level contact formed thereon. In another embodiment, a word line is formed and bit lines and a CVdd and a CVss line are formed overlying the SRAM cell and coupled to the corresponding ones of the nodes. Methods are disclosed for forming the cell structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Jhon-Jhy Liaw
  • Patent number: 9343176
    Abstract: A low-pin-count non-volatile (NVM) memory with no more than two control signals that can at least program NVM cells, load data to be programmed into output registers, or read the NVM cells. At least one of the NVM cells has at least one NVM element coupled to at least one selector and to a first supply voltage line. The selector is coupled to a second supply voltage line and having a select signal. No more than two control signals can be used to select the at least one NVM cells in the NVM sequentially for programming the data into the at least one NVM cells or loading data into the at least one output registers. Programming into the NVM cells, or loading data into output registers, can be determined by the voltage levels of the first to the second supply voltage lines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Inventor: Shine C. Chung
  • Patent number: 9343139
    Abstract: In one embodiment, an integrated circuit includes at least one logic circuit supplied by a first supply voltage and at least one memory circuit coupled to the logic circuit and supplied by a second supply voltage. The memory circuit is configured to be read and written responsive to the logic circuit even if the first supply voltage is less than the second supply voltage during use. In another embodiment, a method includes a logic circuit reading a memory cell, the logic circuit supplied by a first supply voltage; and the memory cell responding to the read using signals that are referenced to the first supply voltage, wherein the memory cell is supplied with a second supply voltage that is greater than the first supply voltage during use.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Brian J. Campbell, Vincent R. von Kaenel, Daniel C. Murray, Gregory S. Scott, Sribalan Santhanam
  • Patent number: 9336865
    Abstract: A multi-port SRAM module includes a cell array comprising a plurality of cells, each having a first port and a second port; a first word line which is coupled to a plurality of cells of a target row to open and close the first port; a second word line which is coupled to the cells of the target row to open and close the second port; and a switch, which is coupled to the first word line and the second word line and couples the second word line to a reference voltage level according to a voltage level of the first word line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2016
    Assignee: M31 TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Li-Wei Chu, Nan-Chun Lien
  • Patent number: 9333377
    Abstract: Described is an applicator for RF, ultrasound, and light skin treatment. The applicator allows a protrusion of skin to be formed within a cavity and maintained for a desired time, enables good coupling of the treatment energy with the skin and avoids negative pressure adversely affecting the skin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2016
    Assignee: SYNERON MEDICAL LTD
    Inventor: Avner Rosenberg
  • Patent number: 9336892
    Abstract: Read disturb due to hot electron injection is reduced in a 3D memory device by controlling the magnitude and timing of word line and select gate ramp down voltages at the end of a sensing operation. In an example read operation, the magnitude of a selected word line voltage is increased to be equal to pass voltages of unselected word lines, and the selected and unselected word line are ramped down at the same time, to avoid creating a channel gradient. In an example verify operation, the above procedure can be followed when the selected word line is at a source-side or middle range among all word lines. When the selected word line is at a drain-side among all word lines, a source-side select gate can be ramped down before the selected word line and a drain-side select gate can be ramped down after the selected word line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2016
    Assignee: SanDisk Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: Hong-Yan Chen, Yingda Dong, Charles Kwong