Patents Examined by Patrick O'Neill
  • Patent number: 11323123
    Abstract: A circuit for correcting phase interpolator rollover integral non-linearity errors includes a rollover detector circuit for detecting when a rollover event of a phase interpolator has occurred, and a correction circuit that adds a signed predistortion correction to a VCO clock cycle phase fraction value when the rollover detector circuit has detected the interpolator rollover event.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: Microchip Technology Inc.
    Inventor: Mike Willingham
  • Patent number: 11323124
    Abstract: A clock stretcher includes a DLL that derives delayed versions of an input clock signal, and a combiner that cyclically selects the delayed versions to generate a modified clock signal. The DLL has a phase error because of its finite bandwidth. The clock stretcher measures the phase error and corrects for a glitch in the modified clock signal by using the phase error when phase selection wraparound occurs. The clock stretcher may operate from a power supply that has droops, without intervening voltage regulation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: SambaNova Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Fahim ur Rahman, Mahmood Khayatzadeh, Zuxu Qin, Jin-Uk Shin
  • Patent number: 11316507
    Abstract: Techniques are provided herein for generating PWM signals. Furthermore, a direct-drive method is disclosed in which a PWM signal is generated as a differential signal made up of OUTP and OUTN signals, where OUTP is a copy of OUTN but shifted in time by half a period. The PWM signal is generated by passing each of an input period and an input duty cycle through corresponding sigma-delta circuits to generate a refined period and a refined duty cycle, respectively. In some example cases, a threshold mapper uses a lookup table (LUT) or similar mechanism to select timing thresholds for rise times and fall times for each of the OUTP and OUTN signals, where the timing thresholds are selected based on the refined period and the refined duty cycle. In some example cases, a pulse generator generates the OUTP and OUTN signals based on the timing thresholds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2022
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: David Hernandez, David Patrick Magee, Mohit Chawla, James Kelly Griffin
  • Patent number: 11309884
    Abstract: A circuit includes an electronic component package that comprises a first lead, a second lead, and a third lead; and a III-N transistor encased in the electronic component package, the III-N transistor including a drain, a gate, and a source, where the source is coupled to the first lead, the gate is coupled to the second lead, and the drain is coupled to the third lead. The circuit includes a high voltage node and a resistor, the resistor having a first terminal coupled to the high voltage node and a second terminal coupled to the third lead. The circuit further includes a ferrite bead connected in parallel to the resistor and coupled between the third lead and the high voltage node. When switching, the deleterious effects of a parasitic inductance of the circuit's power loop are mitigated by the ferrite bead and the resistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2022
    Assignee: Transphorm Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Jason Cuadra, Yifeng Wu, Zhan Wang
  • Patent number: 11303267
    Abstract: A flip-flop is provided. The flip-flop includes: a first inverter including an input terminal to receive data signal and an output terminal coupled to an input terminal of the master latch, a second inverter, a master latch including an output terminal coupled to an input terminal of a slave latch, and the slave latch including an output terminal coupled to an input terminal of the second inverter. An output terminal of the second inverter is configured as an output terminal of the flip-flop. A duration of the first clock signal inputted to the master latch is greater than a duration of the first clock signal inputted to the slave latch. A duration of the second clock signal inputted to the master latch is greater than a duration of the second clock signal inputted to the slave latch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2022
    Assignees: Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Shanghai) Corporation, Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Beijing) Corporation
    Inventors: Yan Fei Cai, Kai Hua Hou, Yuan Chai, Jian Chen, Jun Wang
  • Patent number: 11287471
    Abstract: An electronic circuit for online monitoring a clock signal is provided. The electronic circuit includes a period-to-pulse converter, a pulse-shrinking block and an encoder. The period-to-pulse converter receives the clock signal outputted by a phase-locked loop, and converts each of a plurality of clock period samples of the clock signal to generate a pulse-train signal having a plurality of pulses. The pulse-shrinking block receives the plurality of pulses of the pulse-train signal, and generates a plurality of catch bits by shrinking the plurality of pulses of the pulse-train signal. The encoder outputs a minimum code denoting a minimum clock period of the clock signal and a maximum code denoting a maximum clock period of the clock signal according to the plurality of catch bits. The electronic circuit subtracts the maximum code and the minimum code to generate a peak-to-peak jitter amount code.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: National Tsing Hua University
    Inventors: Shi-Yu Huang, Wei-Hao Chen, Chu-Chun Hsu
  • Patent number: 11290089
    Abstract: A circuit includes a base pulse generator to generate a first pulse width modulated (PWM) pulse, a first clock generation circuit to generate M clocks of a first frequency and phase-shifted with respect to each other, and a second clock generation circuit to receive the M clocks and to generate N clocks each at a second lower frequency and the M clocks are phase-shifted with respect to each other. Each of a plurality of flip-flops includes a clock input to receive a different one of the N clocks, a data input coupled to receive the first PWM pulse, and a flip-flop output. A selection circuit includes a plurality of inputs and a selection circuit output. Each of the plurality of inputs is coupled to a corresponding flip-flop output. The selection circuit provides, responsive to a control signal, a selected one of the flip-flop outputs as the selection circuit output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Subrahmanya Bharathi Akondy, Nirav Ginwala
  • Patent number: 11264974
    Abstract: A processing circuit includes an input circuit and a follow-up circuit. The input circuit includes a first transistor, a second transistor, and a delay element. The first transistor has a control terminal, a first connection terminal, and a second connection terminal. The control terminal of the first transistor is arranged to receive a data signal. A first connection terminal of the second transistor is coupled to the second connection terminal of the first transistor, and a control terminal of the second transistor is arranged to receive a first non-data signal. The delay element is coupled between the control terminal and the second connection terminal of the first transistor. A data input is received at an input node of the follow-up circuit, and the input node of the follow-up circuit is coupled to the second connection terminal of the second transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: MEDIATEK INC.
    Inventor: Jen-Hang Yang
  • Patent number: 11258434
    Abstract: Disclosed is a latch architecture comprising an input circuit receiving input data and; a combinational network providing first intermediate data, first intermediate control signal and second intermediate control signal, based on latched input data from the input circuit; one or more first latches providing latched first intermediate data; a second latch providing a latched first intermediate control signal; a third latch providing a latched second intermediate control signal; and at least one fourth latch providing the output data; a decoder connected to the first latch and receiving the latched first intermediate data and providing second intermediate data. The at least one fourth latch receives input signals modified based on the latched first intermediate control signal, the latched second intermediate control signal and the second intermediate data. The first to third latches operate at an inverted clock signal and the at least one fourth latch operates at a non-inverted clock signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: SK hynix Inc.
    Inventors: Marino Laterza, Mauro Pagliato
  • Patent number: 11251780
    Abstract: An integrated circuit device includes a level shifter circuit with a supply voltage rail to provide a supply voltage, a first pull-up circuit coupled between the supply voltage rail and a first node, a second pull-up circuit coupled between the supply voltage rail and a second node, a first switch including a first terminal coupled to the supply voltage rail, a second terminal coupled to the first node, and a control terminal coupled to the second node, and an inverter including an input terminal coupled to the first node, a voltage supply terminal coupled to the supply voltage, and an output terminal to provide an output voltage from the level shifter circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Ricardo Pureza Coimbra, Vitor Moreira Gomes
  • Patent number: 11245404
    Abstract: An exemplary system includes a PLL circuit and a precision timing circuit connected to the PLL circuit. The PLL circuit has a PLL feedback period defined by a reference clock and includes a voltage controlled oscillator configured to lock to the reference clock and having a plurality of stages configured to output a plurality of fine phase signals each having a different phase, and a feedback divider configured to be clocked by a single fine phase signal included in the plurality of fine phase signals and have a plurality of feedback divider states during the PLL feedback period. The precision timing circuit is configured to generate a timing pulse and set, based on a first combination of one of the fine phase signals and one of the feedback divider states, a temporal position of the timing pulse within the PLL feedback period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: HI LLC
    Inventors: Jacob Dahle, Bruno Do Valle, Rong Jin, Ryan Field, Sebastian Sorgenfrei
  • Patent number: 11239830
    Abstract: A master-slave D flip-flop is disclosed having gates configured to supply two second intermediate signals as a function of first intermediate signals and a clock signal, and a slave circuit connected to a transfer circuit to form at least one output signal of the flip-flop from the second intermediate signals. The slave circuit is configured, when the second intermediate signals have, after a preceding pair of states, a predetermined pair of states, to maintain the at least one output signal as given by the preceding pair of states. The transfer circuit has a control input and is configured to generate the second intermediate signals to have the predetermined pair of states in response to a predetermined control signal state at the control input.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventors: Thomas Kuenemund, Anton Huber
  • Patent number: 11239833
    Abstract: A circuit includes a noise generator and a delay element. The output of the noise generator couples to the input of the delay element. The output of the delay element is coupled to a first input of a logic circuit, and the output of the noise generator is coupled to a second input of the logic circuit. The output of the logic circuit is coupled to a first control input of a waveform storage circuit. The waveform storage circuit is configured to produce a first digital waveform on its output responsive to a first logic state on the output of the logic circuit and to produce a second digital waveform on its output responsive to a second logic state on the output of the logic circuit. A sequencer has a sequencer output coupled to the second control input of the waveform storage circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Sriram Murali, Jaiganesh Balakrishnan, Ram Narayan Krishna Nama Mony, Pooja Sundar
  • Patent number: 11237195
    Abstract: A frequency estimator for estimating a frequency, including a counter configured to count an integer number of full clock cycles during a measurement time window; a Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC) configured to measure a fraction of a clock cycle during the measurement time window; and a processor configured to determine the estimated frequency based on the counted number of full clock cycles and the measured fraction of the clock cycle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Sarit Zur, Igal Kushnir, Gil Horovitz, Rotem Banin, Sergey Bershansky
  • Patent number: 11232917
    Abstract: Disclosed is a system for allowing a user to control electrical items. The system includes self-powered contactless one or more switches for controlling the electronic items, and a hub unit capacitively coupled to identify the user operating the one or more switches. The hub unit includes a frequency generator, a first impedance unit, a controller, a first electrode, a modulator, and an interface unit. The switch includes a second electrode, a rectifier, a buffer, a second impedance unit, a logic block, a shift register, and a second modulator. The user interacts with the second electrode to operate the connected electrical items. The interaction results in the change of a variable payload data. The controller identifies the interaction on decoding the change in the variable payload data and further the controller operates the connected electrical items.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2022
    Inventors: Wolfgang Richter, Faranak Zadeh
  • Patent number: 11233500
    Abstract: A clock distribution network includes a global driver configured to receive a pair of clock signals to generate a pair of global clock signals, a clock transmission driver configured to amplify the pair of global clock signals to generate a pair of transmission clock signals, a first boosting circuit configured to boost voltage levels of the pair of transmission clock signals to generate a pair of first boosted clock signals, a first local driver configured to shift voltage levels of the pair of first boosted clock signals to generate a pair of first local clock signals, a second boosting circuit configured to boost voltage levels of the pair of first boosted clock signals to generate a pair of second boosted clock signals, and a second local driver configured to shift voltage levels of the pair of second boosted clock signals to generate a pair of second local clock signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2022
    Assignee: SK hynix Inc.
    Inventor: Ji Hyo Kang
  • Patent number: 11216535
    Abstract: The present invention provides a probability mass redistributor device comprising an input port and an output port. The device comprises a mapping block configured to perform a selected mapping function from a plurality of mapping functions on a random bitstream to generate an output signal having a desired probability mass function, at least one difference block, wherein the input to the at least one difference block comprises the output from the mapping block, and the output of the at least one difference block produces a modulation term, and wherein the output of each difference block is the difference between a previous value of the input signal to the block and a current value of the input signal to the block, and a summing block for summing a signal received by the input port and the modulation term to form an output signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2022
    Assignee: University College Cork—National University of Ireland, Cork
    Inventors: Yann Donnelly, Michael Peter Kennedy
  • Patent number: 11201610
    Abstract: Provided is a selectable delay buffer for tuning a delay path in a circuit. The selectable delay buffer comprises a first delay segment configured to pass an input signal to an output terminal within a first range of time delays, a second delay segment configured to pass the input signal to the output terminal within a second range of time delays that is different from the first range, and a segment selection switch configured to selectively couple the delay segments to the output terminal based on received selection information that indicates which delay segment to couple to the output terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2021
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited
    Inventors: Jaskirat Bindra, Kumar Lalgudi
  • Patent number: 11177011
    Abstract: A bit data shifter receives an input signal and a plurality of clock signals. The bit data shifter includes a plurality of data shifter groups cascaded in sequence, and each of the plurality of data shifter groups cascaded in sequence includes a plurality of data latches cascaded in sequence and a master-slave flip-flop. The plurality of data latches cascaded in sequence is configured to delay the input signal in sequence based on the plurality of clock signals to generate a plurality of delayed signals. The master-slave flip-flop is configured to delay one of the plurality of delayed signals based on one of the plurality of clock signals to generate an input signal of a next data shifter group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: Winbond Electronics Corp.
    Inventor: Ying-Te Tu
  • Patent number: 11177815
    Abstract: Provided herein are gap detection and compensation schemes for timing alignment systems. In certain embodiments, a timing alignment system includes a detector that generates one or more loop control signals based on comparing a reference clock signal to a feedback clock signal, a loop filter having a loop voltage that is adjusted based on the one or more loop control signals, and a gap detection and compensation circuit that processes the one or more loop control signals to detect a gap in at least one of the reference clock signal or the feedback clock signal. In response to detecting the gap, the gap detection and compensation circuit modifies the one or more loop control signals to provide an adjustment to the loop voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: Analog Devices International Unlimited Company
    Inventors: Siwen Liang, Marlon Consuelo Maramba, Alberto Marinas