Patents Examined by Hieu P Nguyen
  • Patent number: 11791774
    Abstract: A supply voltage conditioning circuit comprises a differential amplifier, a comparator, a sample and hold (S/H) circuit, and a delay circuit. The differential amplifier receives an input supply voltage and a reference voltage, and outputs a difference signal. The comparator receives the difference signal and a value representative of a noise margin, and outputs a control signal indicative of whether the difference signal is greater than the value representative of the noise margin. The S/H circuit samples the input supply voltage in response to the control signal indicating the difference signal is greater than the noise margin, and outputs a substantially noise free supply voltage. This allows the output supply voltage to track underlying changes in the input supply voltage but filter out noise in the input supply voltage. The delay circuit receives and delays the output supply voltage to generate the reference voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventor: Sahiti Priya C
  • Patent number: 11784619
    Abstract: A circuit includes a first system-on-chip (SoC) driven by a first clock generator and a second SoC driven by a second clock generator where the first clock generator and the second clock generator have independent time bases. The first and second clock generators are synchronized using an RLC circuit external to the first clock generator and the second clock generator that converts an output of the first clock generator into current pulses and injects the current pulses into the second clock generator to pull an output of the second clock generator into synchronization with the output of the first clock generator. The RLC circuit converts a voltage output of the first clock generator into current pulses at the resonant frequency or specific harmonics of the output of the first clock generator. The second clock generator may include a ring oscillator into which the current pulses are injected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: Snap Inc.
    Inventors: Jason Heger, Gerald Nilles
  • Patent number: 11784615
    Abstract: A class-D amplifier with multiple “nested” levels of feedback. The class-D amplifier surrounds an inner feedback loop, which takes the output of a switching amplifier and corrects for errors generated across the switching amplifier, with additional feedback loops that also take the output of the switching amplifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: QSC, LLC
    Inventor: Anders Lind
  • Patent number: 11777460
    Abstract: Disclosed is an operational amplifier, including a first-stage gain circuit, a second-stage gain circuit, and a tail current compensation circuit. The first-stage gain circuit is connected to the second-stage gain circuit, the first-stage gain circuit is provided with an input terminal, the second-stage gain circuit is provided with an output terminal. The first-stage gain circuit at least includes a tail current source, a first terminal of the tail current compensation circuit is connected to the tail current source, and a second terminal of the tail current compensation circuit is connected to the output terminal of the second-stage gain circuit. The tail current compensation circuit is configured to compensate the tail current source with an output signal of the output terminal of the second-stage gain circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: SANECHIPS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Yiqiang Wu
  • Patent number: 11777415
    Abstract: An amplifier system may include at least one input source, a converter configured to provide voltage rails to an amplifier, the voltage rails including a first voltage rail and a second voltage rail, a MOSFET arranged at a secondary side of the system at the first voltage rail, a second MOSFET arranged at the first voltage rail, a third MOSFET arranged at the second voltage rail, a fourth MOSFET arranged at the second voltage rail; and, a first capacitor arranged at the first voltage rail and a second capacitor arranged at the second voltage rail, the first and forth MOSFETS are configured to operate simultaneously with one another and the second and third MOSFETs are configured to operate simultaneously with one another and opposite of the first and fourth MOSFETs so as to allow synchronous rectification so that the first and second capacitors reciprocally and mutually exclusively charge and discharge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: Harman International Industries, Incorporated
    Inventors: Matthew Ryan Parnell, Nathan Richard Dort
  • Patent number: 11764744
    Abstract: A distributed amplifier includes a first transmission line for input, a second transmission line for output, an input termination resistor connecting a line end of the first transmission line and a power supply voltage, an output termination resistor connecting an input end of the second transmission line and a ground, unit cells having input terminals connected to the first transmission line and output terminals connected to the second transmission line, and a bias tee configured to supply a bias voltage to an input transistor of each of the unit cells. An emitter or source resistor of the input transistor of each of the unit cells is set to a different resistance value from each other in order for a collector or drain current flowing through the input transistor of each of the unit cells to have a uniform value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
    Inventors: Teruo Jo, Munehiko Nagatani, Hideyuki Nosaka
  • Patent number: 11764740
    Abstract: Examples of amplifiers accurately generate control currents for control terminals of output drivers using current-replication transistors and current mirrors. An input terminal of a first current mirror is coupled to the control terminal of a first current-replication transistor, and an input terminal of a second current mirror is coupled to the control terminal of a second current-replication transistor. The output terminals of the first and second current mirrors are coupled to the control terminals of first and second output drivers, respectively. First and second intermediate currents indicative of first and second currents flowing to the first and second output driver elements, respectively, are generated. Using the first and second current mirrors, first and second control currents are generated to control the first and second output driver elements, respectively, by scaling the first and second intermediate currents according to the gain factors of the current mirrors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Tyler James Archer, Joel Martin Halbert, Bharath Karthik Vasan
  • Patent number: 11764741
    Abstract: A switched mode amplifier system may include a switched mode amplifier having an amplifier input coupled to an output of an analog integrator and an amplifier output, include a feedback network coupled between the amplifier output and an input of the analog integrator, and a calibration system. The calibration system may be configured to force the input of the analog integrator to a fixed known input value, force the amplifier output to a fixed known duty cycle, measure an analog signal generated at the output of the analog integrator in response to forcing the input of the analog integrator to the fixed value, determine an offset of the switched mode amplifier system based on the analog signal, and correct for the offset.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: Cirrus Logic Inc.
    Inventor: John L. Melanson
  • Patent number: 11764732
    Abstract: A high-speed high-linearity time-interleaved dynamic operational amplifier circuit includes a first current channel and a second current channel. The first current channel includes a first MOS transistor, a second MOS transistor and a third MOS transistor which are sequentially connected in series between a high level and a ground level. The first MOS transistor and the second MOS transistor have opposite conductivity types. A control end of the first MOS transistor is connected to a control end of the second MOS transistor. The second current channel includes a fourth MOS transistor, a fifth MOS transistor and a sixth MOS transistor which are sequentially connected in series between the high level and the ground level. The fourth MOS transistor and the fifth MOS transistor have opposite conductivity types. A control end of the fourth MOS transistor is connected to a control end of the fifth MOS transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: CHENGDU SINO MICROELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Feixiang Xiang, Yuanjun Cen
  • Patent number: 11764742
    Abstract: A switching amplifier comprises a controller, configured to receive an input signal and a reference signal, and to generate a control signal according to the input signal and the reference signal; a pulse-width modulation (PWM) modulator, coupled to the controller, configured to generate a PWM signal according to the input signal and the control signal; a power management unit, coupled to the controller, configured to receive a power supply and the control signal, and to provide an adaptive supply voltage according to the power supply and the control signal; and a switching power stage, coupled to the power management unit and the PWM modulator, configured to generate an output signal according to the PWM signal and the adaptive supply voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: National Cheng Kung University
    Inventor: Tai-Haur Kuo
  • Patent number: 11750970
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for determining signals representative of events in the environment of a reactive transducer while being driven by a switching amplifier is disclosed. While the switching amplifier is in a zero voltage state, a signal capture circuit that is also in a zero voltage state is connected to the transducer for a relatively brief period of time during which a measurement is made of the residual current flow due to the inductance of the transducer. A prediction of the output signal is then subtracted from the signal measured across the transducer, reducing the overall range of the signal and increasing the relative size of the back-EMF signal compared to any remaining output signal. If desired, conventional echo cancellation can then be performed. The back-EMF signal can then be subjected to further processing by an analog-to-digital converter as known in the art.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Assignee: SiliconIntervention Inc.
    Inventor: A. Martin Mallinson
  • Patent number: 11750155
    Abstract: Aspects of the description provide for a circuit. In some examples, the circuit includes a input pair of transistors, a bias transistor having a bias transistor gate, a bias transistor drain, and a bias transistor source, the bias transistor drain coupled to the input pair of transistors and the bias transistor source coupled to ground, and a resistor coupled between the bias transistor gate and the input pair of transistors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Aniruddha Roy, Kunal Suresh Karanjkar
  • Patent number: 11742803
    Abstract: An amplifier circuit includes a circuit path of serially connected complementary type transistors. First and second feedback loops include a loop amplifier, the transistors of the circuit path and a corresponding resistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: AMS AG
    Inventors: Carlo Fiocchi, Andreas Fitzi, Andras Mozsary
  • Patent number: 11742808
    Abstract: A nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) power supply system and method are disclosed. The architecture adopts a two-stage topology to reduce the required capacitance by over ten times, leading to a four-fold improvement in power density. The first stage is an isolated converter that only supplies average power, therefore input filter and transformer sizes can be reduced. The second stage is a fast response DC-DC converter followed by a RF transmitter to produce a pulsed RF signal, so that the mid-point voltage after the first stage can be allowed to droop considerably, leading to much smaller sized capacitors. These and other embodiments enforce the isolated converter to only transfer average power, which reduces the power rating and the volume of the system's transformer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: University of Houston System
    Inventors: Harish S. Krishnamoorthy, Yu Yao
  • Patent number: 11736073
    Abstract: An amplifier circuit has an output stage, a first current source, a second current source, a third current source, a fourth current source, and a voltage clamping voltage. The output stage has a first P-type transistor and a first N-type transistor. The voltage clamping circuit receives a first bias voltage and a second bias voltage, and has a first end and a second end. When a second input current is positive current and the input current is a negative current or a zero current, the first end provides a first clamping voltage greater than the first bias voltage to a gate of the first P-type transistor. When the first input current is positive and the second input current is a negative current or zero current, the second end provides a second clamping voltage lower than the second bias voltage to a gate of the first N-type transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: NUVOTON TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Po-Sheng Chen, Cheng-Tao Li
  • Patent number: 11728776
    Abstract: The present disclosure discloses a switched capacitor amplifier apparatus for improving level-shifting. An amplifier includes input terminals and output terminals. Two capacitor circuits correspond to signal input terminals and signal output terminals and each includes a sampling capacitor circuit, a load capacitor and a level-shifting capacitor. The sampling capacitor circuit samples an input signal from one of the signal input terminals to one of the input terminals. An electrical charge neutralizing capacitor is coupled between the output terminals. The load capacitor and the level-shifting capacitor are charged according to an output from one of the output terminals in an estimation period. The level-shifting capacitor charges the load capacitor in a level-shifting period to generate an output signal at one of the signal output terminals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: REALTEK SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION
    Inventor: Shih-Hsiung Huang
  • Patent number: 11722102
    Abstract: A protection circuit comprises a first transistor, a comparator, a second transistor, and a third transistor. The first transistor has a gate connected to an input terminal and configured to pass a drain current based on a potential at the input terminal. The comparator has a non-inverting terminal to which a source of the first transistor is connected and an inverting terminal to which a reference voltage is applied. The second transistor has a gate to which an output of the comparator is applied, a source connected to a power supply voltage, and a drain connected to the input terminal. The third transistor has a gate to which a predetermined voltage is applied, a drain connected to the gate of the second transistor, and a source connected to the drain of the input transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2023
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Tetsuro Itakura, Shuhei Miwa
  • Patent number: 11722107
    Abstract: Class-D amplifier circuits provide operation with low-distortion zero crossings outside of a unipolar power supply voltage range. The amplifiers include a first H-bridge driver circuit and a second H-bridge driver circuit. The class-D amplifier circuits also include a control circuit having an input for receiving an input signal to be reproduced by the class-D amplifier circuit. The control circuit has outputs coupled to inputs of the first and second H-bridge drivers, and includes one or more modulators. The control circuit selects between actively operating a selected one of the driver circuits or both, according to the signal to be reproduced, while setting an unselected driver circuit to turn either a high-side switch or a low-side switch of the unselected one of the first driver circuit or the second driver circuit fully on for at least some cycles of the one or more modulators.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2023
    Assignee: CIRRUS LOGIC, INC.
    Inventors: John L. Melanson, Cory J. Peterson, Chandra Prakash, Ramin Zanbaghi, Eric Kimball
  • Patent number: 11722104
    Abstract: Examples of amplifiers use current-replication transistors and a separation circuit coupled to such transistors to separate error current components from other current components in a pre-driver of an amplifier. In response to driving the current-replication transistors with the separated error current components, replica base current components that approximate error-modulation components of the pre-driver base currents are generated. Replica-current subtraction circuitry coupled to the current-replication transistors then subtract the replica base current components from the pre-driver base currents, affecting cancellation of the error-modulation components of the pre-driver base currents.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2023
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Tyler James Archer, Paul Gerard Damitio, Joel Martin Halbert, Bharath Karthik Vasan
  • Patent number: 11716061
    Abstract: A circuit for startup of a multi-stage amplifier circuit includes a pair of input nodes and at least two output nodes configured to be coupled to a multi-stage amplifier circuit. A startup differential stage includes a differential pair of transistors having respective control terminals coupled to the pair of input nodes, and each transistor in the differential pair of transistors has a respective current path therethrough between a respective output node and a common source terminal. The startup differential stage is configured to sense a common mode voltage drop at a first differential stage of the multi-stage amplifier circuit. Current mirror circuitry includes a plurality of transistors coupled to the common terminal of the differential pair of transistors and coupled to two output nodes of the at least two output nodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2023
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: Roberto Modaffari, Germano Nicollini