Patents Examined by Jeffrey Zweizig
  • Patent number: 9176511
    Abstract: A series of current repeaters with localized feedback is provided. Each current that precedes a subsequent current repeater in the series is configured to receive a feedback current from the subsequent current repeater and generate an error signal accordingly with a differential amplifier so as to reduce current repetition errors that would otherwise result from an offset voltage in the differential amplifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2015
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Nam Van Dang, Rajeev Jain, Terrence Brian Remple, Jingcheng Zhuang, Mong Chit Wong
  • Patent number: 9179521
    Abstract: An operating device (1) for light-emitting device (5), where the operating device (1) has an interface circuit (2) and a drive circuit (3), where the interface circuit (2) generates an interface signal (21, 31, 41, 51) depending on a control signal (Vn, 10), and where the drive circuit (3) drives at least one light-emitting device (5) depending on the interface signal (21, 31, 41, 51). The control signal (Vn, 10) is an AC voltage control signal generated outside the operating device (1). The interface circuit (2) detects overshooting of an upper threshold value of only one of two half-waves of the control signal (Vn, 10), and the interface circuit (2) generates a first signal pulse (22, 55) in the interface signal (21, 31, 41, 51) for each detection of overshooting of an upper threshold value and identifies overshooting of a lower threshold value for the other half-wave.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2015
    Assignee: TRIDONIC GMBH & CO KG
    Inventor: Reinhard Böckle
  • Patent number: 9168865
    Abstract: An organic EL lighting device for a vehicle is provided, which includes an organic EL lighting portion provided in a matrix form on a ceiling of the vehicle, an organic EL touch portion provided on the organic EL lighting portion, an organic EL detection portion for detecting a position in which the organic EL touch portion is touched, an organic EL determination portion for determining a lighting area of the organic EL lighting portion based on the position detected by the organic EL detection portion, and an organic EL driving portion for lighting the lighting area of the organic EL lighting portion determined by the organic EL determination portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2015
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation, Hyundai Motor Japan R&D Center, Inc.
    Inventor: Hiroshi Nakamura
  • Patent number: 9172306
    Abstract: A driver circuitry includes a capacitor, a first switch, and a second switch. The capacitor includes a first node and a second node. The first switch is electrically coupled to the first node of the capacitor. The second switch is electrically coupled to the second node of the capacitor. Additionally, the second node of the capacitor and the second switch are electrically coupled to an output pin of the driver circuitry operable to drive an external switch. As discussed herein, settings of the first switch and the second switch control a voltage outputted from the output pin and charging of the capacitor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2015
    Assignee: International Rectifier Corporation
    Inventors: Danny Clavette, Xingsheng Zhou
  • Patent number: 9166560
    Abstract: A decoupling circuit comprises an output buffer that includes a transistor, and a capacitor that has an end thereof connected to an output node of the output buffer and the other end thereof connected to a power supply line, and a logic level outputted by the output node of the output buffer is fixed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2015
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventor: Kazuhiro Kashiwakura
  • Patent number: 9167642
    Abstract: An LED lighting device includes: a resistor R1 configured to output a detection value of an inductor current I1 flowing through an inductor L1 during an ON period of a switching element Q1; a threshold generation section 42 configured to generate a threshold value Vs of the inductor current I1 corresponding to a dimming level; and a switching control section 44 configured to control the switching element Q1 to turn on and off. The switching control section 44 is configured to determine an OFF timing of the switching element Q1 based on comparison between the detection value and the threshold value Vs of the inductor current I1. The LED lighting device increases a period of a switching cycle of the switching element Q1 with decrease of the dimming level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2015
    Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yuji Yoshimoto, Katsunobu Hamamoto, Hiroyuki Asano, Masafumi Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 9158325
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a method includes receiving power at a power consumer device coupled to a power provider device by a cable. The received power is supplied at a first current at an input of the power consumer device and is supplied to a load in the power consumer device. The method includes measuring a rate of change of the voltage at the input of the power consumer device, and determining whether the rate of change of the voltage at the input of the power consumer device is less than a first target rate of change of voltage. The current received at the input of the power consumer device is reduced to a second current lower than the first current if the rate of change of the voltage at the input of the power consumer device is greater than the first target rate of change of voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2015
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventor: Cheow Guan Lim
  • Patent number: 9158352
    Abstract: A microelectronic package includes a microelectronic element operable to output a discrete-value logic signal indicating an imminent increase in demand for current by at least some portion of the microelectronic element. An active power delivery element within the package is operable by the logic signal to increase current delivery to the microelectronic element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2015
    Assignee: Tessera, Inc.
    Inventors: Richard Dewitt Crisp, Michael C. Parris, Mark Kroot
  • Patent number: 9157580
    Abstract: The invention relates to a retrofit LED lamp having an LED module, a driver circuit for supplying power to the LED module, a base for making mechanical and electrical contact with a bulb fitting and a heat sink arrangement for dissipating the heat produced during operation at the LED module and/or the driver circuit. The heat sink arrangement in this case has a metal mount insert consisting of a mount plate with an integrally attached collar, the mount plate bearing, in thermally conductive contact, the LED module, and a transparent upper shell being fitted to the collar of the mount insert in the light exit direction and a thermally conductive lower shell being fitted, in areal contact, in the direction of the base for heat dissipation, said upper shell and said lower shell together forming a housing of the LED lamp which surrounds the LED module and the mount insert.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2015
    Assignee: Tridonic Jennersdorf GmbH
    Inventor: Istvan Bakk
  • Patent number: 9161407
    Abstract: Disclosed are dimmable LED driver circuits and methods. A dimmable LED driver can include: an SCR, an electronic transformer, and a rectifier bridge to convert an AC voltage to a DC voltage signal; a power stage circuit that receives the DC voltage signal, and outputs a constant current to drive an LED load, where the power stage circuit includes first and second power stage circuits, the first power stage circuit receiving the DC voltage signal, and generating a first output voltage to the second power stage; and an input current control circuit that receives an input current of the first power stage circuit and the first output voltage, and generates a first control signal to control the input current as a square wave signal during an on time of the SCR, and the input current is substantially zero during an off time of the SCR.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2015
    Assignee: Silergy Semiconductor Technology (Hangzhou) LTD
    Inventors: Feng Yu, Xiaodong Huang
  • Patent number: 9152163
    Abstract: This disclosure describes techniques for regulating a kILIS factor (i.e., a load current-to-sensing current ratio) of a current sensing power metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET). The techniques may include generating a reference voltage based on a configurable function that defines the reference voltage as a function of two or more main terminal voltages which are obtained at two or more different locations on a metallization that forms a main terminal of a current sensing power MOSFET, and regulating a sensing terminal of the current sensing power MOSFET at a voltage that is determined based on the reference voltage. Using a configurable function of two or more main terminal voltages to regulate a sensing terminal of a current sensing power MOSFET may allow the voltage at which the sensing terminal is regulated to be trimmed in order to improve the accuracy of the kILIS factor produced by the current sensing power MOSFET.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies Austria AG
    Inventors: Simone Fabbro, Emiliano Puia, Giacomo Cascio
  • Patent number: 9152237
    Abstract: A circuit having a core circuit for sinking a first current from a first internal power supply node; a power bouncing reduction circuit for receiving power from a second internal power supply node and sourcing a second current to the first internal power supply node in accordance with a comparison between a voltage at the first internal power supply node and a low-pass filtered voltage of the first internal power supply node; and a package for coupling the first internal power supply node and the second internal power supply node to a first external power supply node and a second external power supply node, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: REALTEK SEMICONDUCTOR CORP.
    Inventor: Chia-Liang (Leon) Lin
  • Patent number: 9154123
    Abstract: An integrated circuit can include a plurality of drive monitoring sections, each including at least one transistor under test (TUT) having a source coupled to a first power supply node, a gate coupled to receive a start indication, and a drain coupled to a monitor node, at least one monitor capacitor coupled to the monitor node, and a timing circuit configured to generate a monitor value corresponding to a rate at which the TUT can transfer current between the monitor node and the first power supply node; and a body bias circuit configured to apply a body bias voltage to at least one body region in which at least one transistor is formed; wherein the body bias voltage is generated in response to at least a plurality of the monitor values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: Mie Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited
    Inventors: Lawrence T. Clark, Michael S. McGregor, Robert Rogenmoser, David A. Kidd, Augustine Kuo
  • Patent number: 9144124
    Abstract: An LED driving method is provided. The method includes the steps of: receiving a brightness control signal, wherein the brightness control signal represents a duty cycle of an LED within a pulse width modulation cycle, and the duty cycle is indicated by a plurality of illuminating clocks; dividing the PWM cycle into a plurality of sub-PWM cycles; and equally distributing the illuminating clocks to each of the sub-PWM cycles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2015
    Assignee: Princeton Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Ming-Yuan Tsao, Ko-Han Chen
  • Patent number: 9130541
    Abstract: Active EMC filter connectable between an electric power source and an electric load. The filter has capacitors (C×N, C×U) connected between active conductors of the power source and a star point electric node. A filter capacitor (Cst, CstU) is connected between the star point and ground. A half-bridge has two switching devices (T3, T4; T1, T2) connected in cascade between a positive supply voltage and a negative supply voltage. A smoothing circuit (RgN, LgN; RgU, RgU) is connected between a common node of the switching devices and the star point. A control unit (Drive_N, Drive_U) drives the switching devices (T3, T4; T1, T2) digitally either in an ON-state or in an OFF-state, such as to limit a leakage current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2015
    Assignee: Schaffner EMV AG
    Inventors: Eckart Hoene, Andre Domurat-Linde, Oleg Zeiter
  • Patent number: 9122095
    Abstract: Disclosed is a display device which includes a display panel, an LED bar configured to output a light to the display panel, and a source printed circuit board including a driver circuit driving the display panel and an LED driver circuit driving the LED bar, wherein the LED bar and the LED driver circuit are connected via a socket disposed at the source printed circuit board.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: SAMSUNG DISPLAY CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Moonshik Kang
  • Patent number: 9124174
    Abstract: A method is described comprising conducting a first current through a switching transistor. The method also comprises conducting a second current through a pair of transistors whose conductive channels are coupled in series with respect to each other and are together coupled in parallel across the switching transistor's conductive channel. The second current is less than and proportional to the first current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Gerhard Schrom, Peter Hazucha, Vivek K. De, Tanay Karnik
  • Patent number: 9123268
    Abstract: A stick-type controller 21 comprises an acceleration sensor 61 that obtains acceleration values generated in respective directions of the X-axis, the Y-axis, and the Z-axis, LEDs 64 that emit light corresponding to the acceleration values on the X-axis, the Y-axis, and the Z-axis obtained by the acceleration sensor 61, and a CPU 63 that controls the light emission of the LEDs 64. Further, if the acceleration values obtained by the acceleration sensor 61 are not a value that can be regarded as 0 on at least one axis among the three axes of the X-axis, the Y-axis, and the Z-axis of the stick-type controller 21, the CPU 63 causes the LEDs 64 to emit light in a color corresponding to the axis or axes on which an acceleration value other than a value that can be regarded as 0 was obtained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: CASIO COMPUTER CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Naotaka Uehara
  • Patent number: 9121596
    Abstract: There is provided a LED lamp assembly (1300) comprising a heat sink (1301) having a cooling structure with an outer circumference part and a center part (1311), which supports a plurality of LEDs, and the material thickness of the cooling structure increases inwards from the outer circumference part to the center of the heat sink. The LED assembly may further comprise a lampshade supported by the outer circumference part of the heat sink. There is also provided a LED lamp assembly comprising a heat sink having a center, an outer circumference part supporting a plurality of LEDs, and a cooling structure with a number of vent-holes allowing passage of air, the cooling structure supported by the outer circumference part and extending inwards towards the center from the outer circumference part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: Alexiou & Tryde Holding ApS
    Inventors: Alexandra Alexiou, Jacob Willer Tryde
  • Patent number: 9119270
    Abstract: Systems and method for detecting failure in solid state light sources and recovering from the failure are provided. A light engine including a controller circuit and strings of solid state light sources emits light in response to drive current provided by a driver circuit. The controller circuit monitors an output voltage of the driver circuit, and detects a failure of one of the solid state light sources. The failure is associated with a change in the output voltage of the driver circuit. The controller circuit then transmits a first signal to the driver circuit in response to detecting a failure, and the driver circuit is configured to decrease the drive current in response to the first signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2015
    Assignee: OSRAM SYLVANIA Inc.
    Inventors: Keng Chen, Christian Breuer, Markus Ziegler