Patents Examined by Paul Dinh
  • Patent number: 12086528
    Abstract: The embodiments herein describe authenticating a photomask used to fabricate an IC or a wafer. Because the IC may have been fabricated at a third-party IC manufacturer, the customer may want to ensure the manufacturer did not mistakenly use an incorrect mask, or that the mask was not altered or replaced with a rogue mask by a nefarious actor. That is, the embodiments herein can be used to identify when an IC manufacture (whether trusted or not) mistakenly used the wrong photomask, or to verify that a third-party IC manufacturer did not tamper with or replace the authentic photomask with a rogue mask. Advantageously, the embodiments herein can create a secure IC fabrication process to catch mistakes as well as ensure that non-trusted third-parties did not introduce defects into the IC.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2024
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Scott David Halle, Gauri Karve, Effendi Leobandung, Gangadhara Raja Muthinti, Ravi K. Bonam
  • Patent number: 12083918
    Abstract: A vehicle includes an electric-device temperature acquisition unit, a charging controller, and a predicted charging time deriving unit. The electric-device temperature acquisition unit acquires a temperature of an electric device disposed in a current path for external charging for supplying electric power from a power supply external to the vehicle to a battery mounted in the vehicle. The charging controller pauses a supply of electric power to the battery in response to the temperature of the electric device becoming greater than or equal to a first threshold during the external charging, and resumes the supply of electric power to the battery in response to the temperature of the electric device becoming less than a second threshold lower than the first threshold. The predicted charging time deriving unit derives a predicted charging time predicted to be taken for the external charging in accordance with an instruction for the external charging.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2023
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2024
    Assignee: SUBARU CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kohei Nanbu, Kazuki Furuta, Kenta Uwai
  • Patent number: 12073164
    Abstract: A stencil step design method and system, a computer readable storage medium and a device. The method comprises: acquiring data of stencil apertures for electronic components in a circuit board, and identifying the stencil apertures for electronic components one by one to determine whether the stencil apertures need to be stepped; and if yes, performing step design for the stencil apertures that need to be stepped according to preset step rules corresponding to the stencil apertures for electronic components one by one so as to generate a stencil step design file with the step design, and outputting the stencil step design file. According to the present disclosure, 90% or more steps can be automatically designed and the stencil step design is in conformity with processing requirements. A manual intervention process is omitted, and the design can be accomplished by several simple steps.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2024
    Inventors: Jishuo Liu, Jiuxuan Liu, Yongqiang Song, Yongjian Qu, Shengjie Qian
  • Patent number: 12065043
    Abstract: A vehicle includes: a battery pack including a secondary battery, a battery sensor configured to detect a state of the secondary battery, and a first control device; and a second control device provided separately from the battery pack, wherein: the first control device is configured to set a power upper limit value indicating an upper limit value of a battery power of the secondary battery by using a detection value of the battery sensor; and the second control device is configured to set a guard value of the upper limit value of the battery power by using a temperature of the secondary battery and set the power upper limit value such that the power upper limit value does not exceed the guard value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2023
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2024
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoshiaki Kikuchi, Junichi Matsumoto, Akio Uotani
  • Patent number: 12061858
    Abstract: A method determines an initial mesh for a conductor in an electronic circuit design to enable more efficient simulation of electro-magnetic properties of the conductor. The method includes parsing a three-dimensional representation of a conductor as multiple vertices of a closed polygon, each vertex joining corresponding edges of the polygon; obtaining a straight skeleton of the conductor by moving the edges inwardly toward a center of the polygon at a constant speed in a self-parallel manner; determining widths of the conductor at multiple points along the straight skeleton as a function of the edges moving inwardly at the constant speed; constructing a backbone of the conductor, including registering the widths of the conductor along the conductor backbone; providing mesh cells on the conductor backbone using predetermined scaling factors of the registered widths of the conductor backbone; and generating the initial mesh for the conductor based on the mesh cells.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2024
    Assignee: KEYSIGHT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Tom Gaston Anna De Muer, Marijana Krivić, Michiel Aline Daniël De Wilde, Timotheus Elisabeth René Boonen, Filip Jan Eduard Frans Demuynck
  • Patent number: 12057355
    Abstract: Controlling semiconductor device manufacture by acquiring training scatterometric signatures collected at training locations on training semiconductor wafers and corresponding to locations within a predefined design of a training semiconductor device, the training signatures collected after predefined processing steps during manufacture of the device on the training wafers, acquiring manufacturing outcome data associated with the training locations, training a prediction model using the training signatures and the manufacturing outcome data, and applying the prediction model to a candidate scatterometric signature to predict a manufacturing outcome, the candidate signature collected at a candidate location on a candidate semiconductor wafer, the candidate location corresponding to a location within the same predefined design of a candidate semiconductor device, the candidate signature collected after any of the processing steps during manufacture of the candidate device on the candidate wafer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2024
    Assignee: NOVA LTD
    Inventors: Michael Shifrin, Avron Ger
  • Patent number: 12054066
    Abstract: The disclosed embodiments provide a method performed at a computer system that is in communication with an electric vehicle charging station (EVCS). The EVCS includes a camera for obtaining images in a region proximal to the EVCS. The method includes capturing, using the camera, a plurality of images of electric vehicles, each image in the plurality of images being an image of a respective electric vehicle. The method further includes, for each respective image of the plurality of images of electric vehicles: determining, without user intervention, a characteristic of the respective electric vehicle; and tagging, without user intervention, the respective image with the characteristic of the respective electric vehicle. The method further includes training a first machine learning algorithm to identify the characteristic of other electric vehicles using the tagged plurality of images.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2023
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2024
    Assignee: Volta Charging, LLC
    Inventor: Ramsey Rolland Meyer
  • Patent number: 12047000
    Abstract: According to an embodiment, disclosed is a DC-DC converter in a solar-linked system, the DC-DC converter including: an initial charging circuit which connects an inverter with a first node and is used for charging an inverter-side capacitor; an intermediate capacitor; and a switching circuit connected in parallel to the intermediate capacitor and composed of a first switch and a second switch that are connected in series, wherein the initial charging circuit applies a voltage to a first node according to a received control signal, and performs charging of a battery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2024
    Assignee: LG INNOTEK CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Ju Young Jang, Soo Hong Kim, Jae Geun Lee
  • Patent number: 12036881
    Abstract: An apparatus, system and method for a multilevel electrical vehicle (EV) motor drive circuit with an integrated battery charger. The apparatus, system and method may include a direct current (DC) battery for the EV connected in parallel with a capacitance; and a three level inverter circuit in parallel with the DC battery and connected in neutral point bisection with the capacitance, comprising: a high frequency low voltage pulse width modulation circuit; and a low frequency fundamental switching circuit at least partially in parallel with the high frequency low voltage pulse width modulation circuit. Additionally included may be motor windings connected in neutral point bisection with the low frequency fundamental switching circuit; and a power factor correction boost charging circuit connected to the three level inverter circuit, and connected to an alternating current grid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2023
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2024
    Inventor: Jeffrey David Danner
  • Patent number: 12032895
    Abstract: An oscillation circuit design support method is provided for designing an oscillation circuit condition in a circuit board equipped with an integrated circuit (IC) chip for oscillation and an oscillator. The method includes receiving an input of IC chip information about an IC chip for oscillation, providing sample oscillator data and sample oscillation circuit condition data that are determined in accordance with the IC chip information, receiving an input of frequency measurement information measured based on the sample oscillation circuit condition data when an oscillator corresponding to the sample oscillator data is installed at a circuit board, and a providing information relating to matched oscillation circuit condition data determined based on at least the frequency measurement information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2024
    Assignee: MURATA MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shinsuke Takao, Masahiro Kurosaka, Hironobu Nishio, Tsuyoshi Nanatsuyaku
  • Patent number: 12027391
    Abstract: A system for evaluating a heat sensitive structure of an integrated circuit design including a memory for retrieving and storing integrated circuit design layout data, thermal data, process data, and one or more operational parameters, a processor capable of accessing the memory and identifying a target region having a nominal temperature Tnom, first and second heat generating structures within a first impact range of the target region, calculating the temperature increases ?Th1 and ?Th2 in the target region as a result of thermal coupling between the target region and the first and second heat generating structures, and conducting one or more parametric evaluations of the target region at an adjusted evaluation temperature TE=Tnom+?Th1+?Th1 after which a network interface transmits the result(s) of the parametric evaluation(s) for use in a design review.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2023
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2024
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Hsien Yu Tseng, Sheng-Feng Liu
  • Patent number: 12026588
    Abstract: Methods are disclosed for controlling charge stability in a device for quantum information processing. According to examples, a device for quantum information processing comprises a first plurality of confinement regions confining spinful charge carriers for use as qudits. The device further comprises a second plurality of confinement regions confining spinful charge carriers, each confinement region of the second plurality of confinement regions adjacent to a confinement region of the first plurality of confinement regions. The device further comprises one or more charge reservoirs, wherein each confinement region of the second plurality of confinement regions is attachable to a charge reservoir.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2024
    Assignees: QUANTUM MOTION TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED, OXFORD UNIVERSITY INNOVATION LIMITED
    Inventors: Simon Benjamin, Zhenyu Cai, John Morton, Michael Fogarty, Simon Schaal, Sofia Patomaki
  • Patent number: 12024046
    Abstract: Charging guidance systems and methods for charging electrified vehicles may be configured to influence a user's charging decisions in a manner that simplifies the vehicle charging experience. Exemplary charging guidance systems may be configured to coach the user to charge a traction battery pack of the vehicle at a lower level charging option as opposed to a higher level charging option. Charging at lower level charging options when certain conditions are met reduces the amount of times the vehicle is charged using more aggressive charging methodologies, thereby improving battery performance, reducing costs, and preserving the life/warranty and asset utilization of the traction battery pack over the entire usage life of electrified vehicles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2024
    Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Thomas Jeremy Kostrzewski, Stephen Thomas Powell, Ling Gong, Samuel Joseph Johnson
  • Patent number: 12027903
    Abstract: A method includes charging a battery through a first charger and a second charger connected in parallel, during a first transition from a constant current charging phase to a constant voltage charging phase, enabling the second charger at a first time instant and disabling the first charger at a second time instant, the second time instant being after the first time instant, and during the constant voltage charging phase, enabling the first charger at a third time instant upon detecting that a current flowing the battery is less than a predetermined current threshold and disabling the second charger at a fourth time instant, the fourth time instant being after the third time instant, wherein the first charger and the second charger are configured to charge the battery simultaneously between the first time instant and the second time instant, and between the third time instant and the fourth time instant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2024
    Assignee: HUAWEI DIGITAL POWER TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Songnan Yang
  • Patent number: 12020159
    Abstract: A method of generating training spectra for training of a neural network includes measuring a first plurality of training spectra from one or more sample substrates, measuring a characterizing value for each training spectra of the plurality of training spectra to generate a plurality of characterizing values with each training spectrum having an associated characterizing value, measuring a plurality of dummy spectra during processing of one or more dummy substrates, and generating a second plurality of training spectra by combining the first plurality of training spectra and the plurality of dummy spectra, there being a greater number of spectra in the second plurality of training spectra than in the first plurality of training spectra. Each training spectrum of the second plurality of training spectra having an associated characterizing value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2023
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2024
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Benjamin Cherian, Nicholas A. Wiswell, Jun Qian, Thomas H. Osterheld
  • Patent number: 12021394
    Abstract: A toy system comprising a plurality of toy construction elements, having detachably interconnecting coupling members for creating coherent spatial structures. The plurality of toy construction elements include: an energy source device comprising a housing and an energy transfer circuit therein; and energy distribution devices to provide respective external conductive loops extending outside the housing and defining a respective external energy transfer zone in a proximity of the respective external conductive loops. The energy source device is configured to be brought into operational connection with the energy distribution devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2024
    Assignee: LEGO A/S
    Inventors: Andrew James Knights, Isobel Jane Ashbey, Rosanna Elizabeth Parrish, Simon Mark Jordan, Robert George Milner, Martin Edward Brock, Thomas Alan Donaldson, Mark Ross Champkins, Radost Radoslavova Kerefeyna, Rasmus Bissenbakker Kærsgaard, Yufan Wei Wang, Troels Hermann, Arun Venkatasubramanian
  • Patent number: 12001920
    Abstract: Generating a global snapshot of a quantum computing device is provided herein. In particular, a quantum snapshot service receives a system snapshot configuration with a snapshot parameter associated with a snapshot condition of the quantum computing device. The quantum snapshot service determines a first occurrence of the snapshot condition in relation to operation of the quantum computing device executing at least two quantum services. The quantum snapshot service generates a first global snapshot of the quantum computing device that captures system level performance of the quantum computing device executing the at least two quantum services. The first global snapshot includes a global operating parameter and a global operating tag associated with the global operating condition. The quantum snapshot service sends the first global snapshot to a classical snapshot service.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2024
    Assignee: Red Hat, Inc.
    Inventors: Stephen Coady, Leigh Griffin
  • Patent number: 11993177
    Abstract: Aspects of the subject disclosure relate to predictive vehicle battery temperature regulation. A device implementing the subject technology may include a processor configured to obtain different types of data associated with a route projection of a vehicle. The processor can determine a thermal demand projection of the vehicle that maps to the route projection based on the different types of data. The processor also can adjust a temperature of a battery of the vehicle to within a predefined temperature range based on the thermal demand projection for the route projection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2023
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2024
    Assignee: Rivian IP Holdings, LLC
    Inventors: Matthew Trainham, Carl Stoye
  • Patent number: 11996709
    Abstract: The present invention includes an information acquirer (21) configured to acquire a property of a battery (22) installed in an electric vehicle (20) and transmit the property as battery property information and a battery identification device (100) configured to collect the battery property information transmitted by a plurality of electric vehicles, generate a battery model by modeling the property of the battery on the basis of the collected battery property information, create control information according to the property of the battery for controlling traveling of each electric vehicle on the basis of the generated battery model, and provide the control information suitable for each electric vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2024
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Yoshikazu Nishida
  • Patent number: 11987138
    Abstract: A management apparatus for an energy storage device, wherein after the start of counting an elapsed time since a current of the energy storage device became equal to or smaller than a first threshold, when a predetermined condition in which the voltage of the energy storage device is possibly not stable is satisfied at a time point where the count reaches a stabilization time (predetermined value), the count of the elapsed time is changed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2024
    Assignee: GS YUASA INTERNATIONAL LTD.
    Inventors: Takeyuki Shiraishi, Satoru Narimoto