Patents Examined by John Trimmings
  • Patent number: 8874980
    Abstract: A chip applied to a serial transmission system includes an input terminal, a core circuit, an output terminal, a first transmission line, a second transmission line and a spare transmission line, where the input terminal is used to receive an input signal from a source outside the chip, the output terminal is used to output an output signal, the first transmission lines is coupled between the input terminal and the core circuit, the second transmission line is coupled between the core circuit and the output terminal, and the spare transmission line is coupled between the input terminal and the output terminal. When the core circuit cannot process the input terminal normally, the input signal is directly transmitted to the output terminal via the spare transmission line, and the input signal serves as the output signal to be outputted from the output terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Silicon Touch Technology Inc.
    Inventors: Chi-Yuan Chin, Kuei-Jyun Chen
  • Patent number: 8869011
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a headerized SDS protected by unequal error protection; decoding a header from the headerized SDS and removing an impact of the header from C1 row parity to obtain a SDS; for a number of iterations: performing C2 column decoding, for no more than a number of interleaves in each row of the SDS: overwriting a number of columns with successfully decoded C2 codewords, erasing a number of C2 codewords, and maintaining remaining columns as uncorrected, performing C1 row decoding; for no more than a number of interleaves in each row of the SDS: overwriting a number of rows with successfully decoded C1 codewords, erasing a number of C1 codewords, and maintaining remaining rows as uncorrected; and outputting the SDS when all rows include only C1 codewords and all columns include only C2 codewords; otherwise, outputting indication that the SDS cannot be decoded properly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Roy D. Cideciyan, Robert A. Hutchins, Thomas Mittelholzer, Keisuke Tanaka
  • Patent number: 8869001
    Abstract: Techniques for optimizing data storage are disclosed herein. In particular, methods and systems for implementing redundancy encoding schemes with data storage systems are described. The redundancy encoding schemes may be scheduled according to system and data characteristics. The schemes may span multiple tiers or layers of a storage system. The schemes may be generated, for example, in accordance with a transaction rate requirement, a data durability requirement or in the context of the age of the stored data. The schemes may be designed to rectify entropy-related effects upon data storage. The schemes may include one or more erasure codes or erasure coding schemes. Additionally, methods and systems for improving and/or accounting for failure correlation of various components of the storage system, including that of storage devices such as hard disk drives, are described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Colin L. Lazier
  • Patent number: 8862953
    Abstract: A method includes directing an access of a memory location of a memory device to an error correction code (ECC) decoder in response to receiving a test activation request indicating the memory location. The method also includes writing a test pattern to the memory location and reading a value from the memory location. The method further includes determining whether a fault is detected at the memory location based on a comparison of the test pattern and the value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Marc A. Gollub, Girisankar Paulraj, Diyanesh B. Vidyapoornachary, Kenneth L. Wright
  • Patent number: 8856603
    Abstract: To produce a memory which resists ion or photon attack, a memory structure is chosen whose memory point behaves asymmetrically with regard to these attacks. It is shown that in this case, it is sufficient to have a reference cell for an identical and periodic storage structure in order to be able to correct all the memory cells assailed by an attack. An error correction efficiency of ½ is thus obtained, with a simple redundancy, whereas the conventional methods make provision, for the same result, to triple the storage, to obtain a less beneficial efficiency of ?.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 7, 2014
    Assignees: European Aeronautic Defence And Space Company EADS France, Astrium SAS
    Inventors: Florent Miller, Thierry Carriere, Antonin Bougerol
  • Patent number: 8843797
    Abstract: A method for detecting unstable signatures when testing a VLSI chip that includes adding to an LFSR one or more save and restore registers for storing an initial seed consisting of 0s and 1s; loading the initial seed into the LFSR and one or more save and restore registers; initializing a MISR and running test loops. Upon reaching a predetermined number of test loops, moving a signature of the MISR to a shadow register; then, performing a signature stability test by loading the initial seed to the LFSR; executing the predetermined number of BIST test loops, and comparing a resulting MISR signature for differences versus a previous signature stored in a MISR save and restore register, wherein unloading is performed by way of serial MISR unloads and single bit XORs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2014
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Franco Motika, Raymond J. Kurtulik, John D. Parker
  • Patent number: 8839079
    Abstract: The present disclosure describes methods and apparatuses for improved transport block decoding in devices capable of wireless communication, which may include user equipment and network entities. For example, the present disclosure presents methods and apparatuses for decoding a code block from a plurality of code blocks corresponding to a transport block, obtaining a reliability indicator that identifies a reliability of the decoding of the code block, comparing the reliability indicator to a reliability threshold, and determining whether to decode a subsequent code block from the plurality of code blocks based on the comparing. Furthermore, these methods and apparatuses may include determining not to decode at least one subsequent code block of the transport block where the comparing indicates that the reliability indicator is less than the reliability threshold. As such, device power is not unnecessarily consumed by decoding likely superfluous code blocks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Jinghu Chen, Wanlun Zhao, Michael Mingxi Fan, Fuyun Ling, Peter John Black, Krishna Kiran Mukkavilli, Weihong Jing, Jia Tang
  • Patent number: 8839073
    Abstract: An SSD controller maintains a zero count and a one count, and/or in some embodiments a zero/one disparity count, for each read unit read from an SLC NVM (or the lower pages of an MLC). In an event that the read unit is uncorrectable in part due to a shift in the threshold voltage distributions away from their nominal distributions, the maintained counts enable a determination of a direction and/or a magnitude to adjust a read threshold to track the threshold voltage shift and restore the read data zero/one balance. In various embodiments, the adjusted read threshold is determined in a variety of described ways (counts, percentages) that are based on a number of described factors (determined threshold voltage distributions, known stored values, past NVM operating events). Extensions of the forgoing techniques are described for MLC memories.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Assignee: LSI Corporation
    Inventor: Earl T Cohen
  • Patent number: 8832531
    Abstract: A method for data storage includes, in a memory that includes multiple memory blocks, specifying at a first time a first over-provisioning overhead, and storing data in the memory while retaining in the memory blocks memory areas, which do not hold valid data and whose aggregated size is at least commensurate with the specified first over-provisioning overhead. Portions of the data from one or more previously-programmed memory blocks containing one or more of the retained memory areas are compacted. At a second time subsequent to the first time, a second over-provisioning overhead, different from the first over-provisioning overhead, is specified, and data storage and data portion compaction is continued while complying with the second over-provisioning overhead.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Ofir Shalvi, Naftali Sommer, Yoav Kasorla
  • Patent number: 8826109
    Abstract: The present inventions are related to systems and methods for irregular decoding of regular codes in an LDPC decoder, and in particular to allocating decoding resources based in part on data quality.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: LSI Corporation
    Inventor: Fan Zhang
  • Patent number: 8826072
    Abstract: A method of organizing on-chip data memory in an embedded system-on-chip platform whereon a deterministic application needs to meet a guaranteed constraint on its functional system behavior is disclosed. In one aspect, the method includes: a) dividing the deterministic application into blocks one of which corresponds to a part of a subtask of the application, the block receiving input data and/or generating output data and including internal intermediate data for transforming the input data into the output data, b) splitting the internal intermediate data into state and non-state data, and c) putting the non-state data and a part of the state data in a protected buffering module being part of the data memory and being provided with an error detection and correction module, so that they are available for mitigating the effect of faults on the functional system behavior on-line while meeting the at least one guaranteed constraint.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: IMEC
    Inventors: Francky Catthoor, Mohamed Sabry, Zhe Ma, David Atienza Alonso
  • Patent number: 8819523
    Abstract: An adaptive controller for a configurable audio coding system comprising a fuzzy logic controller modified to use reinforcement learning to create an intelligent control system. With no knowledge of the external system into which it is placed the audio coding system, under the control of the adaptive controller, is capable of adapting its coding configuration to achieve user set performance goals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: Cambridge Silicon Radio Limited
    Inventor: Neil Smyth
  • Patent number: 8812919
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for evaluating and optimizing a signaling system is described. A pattern of test information is generated in a transmit circuit of the system and is transmitted to a receive circuit. A similar pattern of information is generated in the receive circuit and used as a reference. The receive circuit compares the patterns. Any differences between the patterns are observable. In one embodiment, a linear feedback shift register (LFSR) is implemented to produce patterns. An embodiment of the present disclosure may be practiced with various types of signaling systems, including those with single-ended signals and those with differential signals. An embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to systems communicating a single bit of information on a single conductor at a given time and to systems communicating multiple bits of information on a single conductor simultaneously.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: Rambus Inc.
    Inventors: Jared Zerbe, Pak Shing Chau, William Franklin Stonecypher
  • Patent number: 8812918
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for evaluating and optimizing a signaling system is described. A pattern of test information is generated in a transmit circuit of the system and is transmitted to a receive circuit. A similar pattern of information is generated in the receive circuit and used as a reference. The receive circuit compares the patterns. Any differences between the patterns are observable. In one embodiment, a linear feedback shift register (LFSR) is implemented to produce patterns. An embodiment of the present disclosure may be practiced with various types of signaling systems, including those with single-ended signals and those with differential signals. An embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to systems communicating a single bit of information on a single conductor at a given time and to systems communicating multiple bits of information on a single conductor simultaneously.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: Rambus Inc.
    Inventors: Jared Zerbe, Pak Shing Chau, William Franklin Stonecypher
  • Patent number: 8806308
    Abstract: A decoder for decoding a set of bits encoded using a Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem (BCH) error-correcting code (ECC) includes a syndrome generator, a key equation solver, and an error bit locator. The syndrome generator receives the set of encoded bits and generates a set of syndromes. The key equation solver generates an error location polynomial based on the set of syndromes. The error bit locator generates an error match bit using the error location polynomial, and the error match bit is used to identify and correct errors in the set of encoded bits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventor: Ankush Srivastava
  • Patent number: 8806296
    Abstract: Techniques for optimizing data storage are disclosed herein. In particular, methods and systems for implementing redundancy encoding schemes with data storage systems are described. The redundancy encoding schemes may be scheduled according to system and data characteristics. The schemes may span multiple tiers or layers of a storage system. The schemes may be generated, for example, in accordance with a transaction rate requirement, a data durability requirement or in the context of the age of the stored data. The schemes may be designed to rectify entropy-related effects upon data storage. The schemes may include one or more erasure codes or erasure coding schemes. Additionally, methods and systems for improving and/or accounting for failure correlation of various components of the storage system, including that of storage devices such as hard disk drives, are described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Colin L. Lazier
  • Patent number: 8793557
    Abstract: An adaptive controller for a configurable audio coding system including a fuzzy logic controller modified to use reinforcement learning to create an intelligent control system. With no knowledge of the external system into which it is placed the audio coding system, under the control of the adaptive controller, is capable of adapting its coding configuration to achieve user set performance goals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 29, 2014
    Assignee: Cambrige Silicon Radio Limited
    Inventor: Neil Smyth
  • Patent number: 8793547
    Abstract: Techniques and mechanisms are provided for an improved built in self-test (BIST) mechanism for 3D assembly defect detection. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the described mechanisms and techniques can function to detect defects in interconnects which vertically connect different layers of a 3D device, as well as to detect defects on a 2D layer of a 3D integrated circuit. Additionally, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, techniques and mechanisms are provided for determining not only the presence of a defect in a given set of interfaces of an integrated circuit, but the particular interface at which a defect may exist.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 2, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 29, 2014
    Assignee: Altera Corporation
    Inventors: Siang Poh Loh, Chooi Pei Lim
  • Patent number: 8793555
    Abstract: A method of controlling a nonvolatile semiconductor memory includes checking, at a first interval period, an error count of data stored in a first group, the first group including a plurality of blocks/units, and when a first block/unit in the first group satisfies a first condition, assigning the first block/unit to a second group. The method includes checking, at a second interval period, an error count of data stored in the second group, the second interval period being shorter than the first interval period, and when a second block/unit in the second group satisfies a second condition, moving data stored in the second block/unit to an erased block/unit in which stored data is erased among the plurality of blocks/units.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 29, 2014
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Toshikatsu Hida, Shinichi Kanno, Hirokuni Yano, Kazuya Kitsunai, Shigehiro Asano, Junji Yano
  • Patent number: 8788876
    Abstract: The present disclosure includes methods and devices for stripe-based memory operation. One method embodiment includes writing data in a first stripe across a storage volume of a plurality of memory devices. A portion of the first stripe is updated by writing updated data in a portion of a second stripe across the storage volume of the plurality of memory devices. The portion of the first stripe is invalidated. The invalid portion of the first stripe and a remainder of the first stripe are maintained until the first stripe is reclaimed. Other methods and devices are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Joseph M. Jeddeloh