Patents by Inventor Akira Kuwano

Akira Kuwano has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10992167
    Abstract: To extend the transmission distance with the voltage supply source and improve the communication performance of PLCs Solution. The power supply circuit includes a step-down DC/DC converter to which a voltage supplied from the power line is input and to which an input voltage is stepped down and output, a step-up/down DC/DC converter to which a voltage output from the step-down DC/DC converter or a voltage supplied from the power line is input and to which the input voltage is stepped up or stepped down and output to the power line communication circuit, a switch circuit for connecting an input of the step-up/down DC/DC converter to an output of the step-down DC/DC converter or power line, a voltage monitoring circuit for monitoring a voltage supplied from the power line, and a control circuit for controlling connection of the switch circuit based on the voltage value of the voltage supplied from the power line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2021
    Assignee: RENESAS ELECTRONICS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Noriyuki Shinohara, Akira Kuwano
  • Publication number: 20200153268
    Abstract: To extend the transmission distance with the voltage supply source and improve the communication performance of PLCs Solution. The power supply circuit includes a step-down DC/DC converter to which a voltage supplied from the power line is input and to which an input voltage is stepped down and output, a step-up/down DC/DC converter to which a voltage output from the step-down DC/DC converter or a voltage supplied from the power line is input and to which the input voltage is stepped up or stepped down and output to the power line communication circuit, a switch circuit for connecting an input of the step-up/down DC/DC converter to an output of the step-down DC/DC converter or power line, a voltage monitoring circuit for monitoring a voltage supplied from the power line, and a control circuit for controlling connection of the switch circuit based on the voltage value of the voltage supplied from the power line.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 9, 2019
    Publication date: May 14, 2020
    Inventors: Noriyuki SHINOHARA, Akira KUWANO
  • Patent number: 7911284
    Abstract: A voltage controlled oscillator circuit comprises a variable current generator to supply an operation current to a voltage controlled oscillator, the voltage controlled oscillator to include a resonance circuit having a variable capacitor and inductor, and to output an output signal having an amplitude based on a current generated by the variable current generator, and a first optimization circuit to which the output signal is inputted, the first optimization circuit generating and outputting a current setting signal based on an amplitude change of the output signal corresponding to a change of a current outputted by the variable current generator to the variable current generator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2011
    Assignee: Renesas Electronics Corporation
    Inventor: Akira Kuwano
  • Patent number: 7805214
    Abstract: A grasp state judging system capable of satisfactorily judging the grasp state in which an object to be grasped is held by grasping means. The grasp state judging system is characterized in comprising a plurality of RFID tags that are mounted on an object to be grasped and that transmit the corresponding position ID; a plurality of RFID antennas (14) that are mounted on a glove (10) and that receive the position IDs; a grabbing pattern storage unit (48) for storing a condition for the position IDs received by the RFID antennas (14) with respect to the grasp states in which the object to be grasped is held by the glove (10); and a grasp state judging unit (44) for judging the grasp state in which the object to be grasped is held by the grasping means on the basis of the position IDs received by the RFID antennas (14) and the conditions stored in the grabbing pattern storage unit (48).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2010
    Assignee: Benesse Corporation
    Inventors: Yuhei Yamauchi, Nobutaka Hida, Akira Kuwano, Mai Yoritaka
  • Publication number: 20090257522
    Abstract: An exemplary aspect of an embodiment of the present invention is a communication apparatus including an amplifier circuit which adjusts transmit power of a first signal and transmit power of a second signal if the transmit power of the first signal having a first frequency included in a first frequency band is different from the transmit power of the second signal having a second frequency included in a second frequency band, where the second frequency is different from the first frequency. The amplifier circuit includes a variable inductor which varies an inductance value for each of the first signal and the second signal to adjust the transmit power of the first signal and the transmit power of the second signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 8, 2009
    Publication date: October 15, 2009
    Applicant: NEC ELECTRONICS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Akira KUWANO
  • Publication number: 20090201065
    Abstract: A local signal generation circuit in accordance with one aspect of the present invention includes a phase comparator that detects a phase difference between a reference signal and a feedback signal and outputs a error signal, a charge-pump circuit that receives the error signal and generates a step-up voltage, a loop filter that generates a tuning voltage by changing the shape of the step-up voltage, a voltage control oscillator that generates a first output signal having a predefined frequency based on the tuning voltage, and a prescaler that outputs a second output signal generated by dividing the frequency of the first output signal to a predefined frequency and also outputs a frequency-division signal generated by dividing the frequency of the first output signal to the predefined frequency to a frequency divider that generates the feedback signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 13, 2009
    Publication date: August 13, 2009
    Applicant: NEC Electronics Corporation
    Inventors: Akira Kuwano, Toshiyuki Tanaka
  • Publication number: 20080238559
    Abstract: A voltage controlled oscillator circuit comprises a variable current generator to supply an operation current to a voltage controlled oscillator, the voltage controlled oscillator to include a resonance circuit having a variable capacitor and inductor, and to output an output signal having an amplitude based on a current generated by the variable current generator, and a first optimization circuit to which the output signal is inputted, the first optimization circuit generating and outputting a current setting signal based on an amplitude change of the output signal corresponding to a change of a current outputted by the variable current generator to the variable current generator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 21, 2008
    Publication date: October 2, 2008
    Applicant: NEC Electronics Corporation
    Inventor: Akira KUWANO
  • Publication number: 20070288104
    Abstract: A grasp state judging system capable of satisfactorily judging the grasp state in which an object to be grasped is held by grasping means. The grasp state judging system is characterized in comprising a plurality of RFID tags that are mounted on an object to be grasped and that transmit the corresponding position ID; a plurality of RFID antennas (14) that are mounted on a glove (10) and that receive the position IDs; a grabbing pattern storage unit (48) for storing a condition for the position IDs received by the RFID antennas (14) with respect to the grasp states in which the object to be grasped is held by the glove (10); and a grasp state judging unit (44) for judging the grasp state in which the object to be grasped is held by the grasping means on the basis of the position IDs received by the RFID antennas (14) and the conditions stored in the grabbing pattern storage unit (48).
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 22, 2005
    Publication date: December 13, 2007
    Applicants: THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO, BENESSE CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yuhei Yamauchi, Nobutaka Hida, Akira Kuwano, Mai Yoritaka
  • Patent number: 7023283
    Abstract: In a phase locked loop type frequency synthesizer including a phase/frequency comparator for receiving an input signal, a charge pump circuit, a loop filter for generating a control voltage, a voltage control oscillator block including a plurality of voltage controlled oscillators controlled by the control voltage, and a frequency divider formed by a fixed frequency divider and a programmable frequency divider, a selecting circuit selects and activates only one of the voltage controlled oscillators, and counts a number of output pulses of the first frequency divider within a predetermined number of output pulses of the input signal while applying a bias voltage to the loop filter. Thus, the one of the voltage controlled oscillators being selected so that the number of the output pulses of the first frequency divider is brought close to an optimum value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2006
    Assignee: NEC Compound Semiconductor Devices, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoko Kawasumi, Akira Kuwano, Yoshitaka Murata
  • Publication number: 20040164811
    Abstract: In a phase locked loop type frequency synthesizer including a phase/frequency comparator for receiving an input signal, a charge pump circuit, a loop filter for generating a control voltage, a voltage control oscillator block including a plurality of voltage controlled oscillators controlled by the control voltage, and a frequency divider formed by a fixed frequency divider and a programmable frequency divider, a selecting circuit selects and activates only one of the voltage controlled oscillators, and counts a number of output pulses of the first frequency divider within a predetermined number of output pulses of the input signal while applying a bias voltage to the loop filter. Thus, the one of the voltage controlled oscillators being selected so that the number of the output pulses of the first frequency divider is brought close to an optimum value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 25, 2004
    Publication date: August 26, 2004
    Inventors: Yoko Kawasumi, Akira Kuwano, Yoshitaka Murata
  • Patent number: 6359523
    Abstract: An orthogonal modulator capable of eliminating an offset component between an I signal and a Q signal. The orthogonal modulator includes a generation circuit for generating a plurality of base band signals such as voice signal, a mixing circuit for mixing the base band signals and a plurality of carrier waves, an extraction circuit for extracting each DC offset component generated by the generation circuit or the mixing circuit, a comparison circuit for comparing the DC offset components thus extracted with each other, an addition circuit for adding a plurality of comparison results with other comparison results, and an offset elimination circuit for eliminating the DC offset components included in a plurality of addition signals by subtracting the DC offset components from the base band signals before they are applied to the mixing circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2002
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventor: Akira Kuwano
  • Patent number: 6356131
    Abstract: There is disclosed a 90-degree phase shifter so configured that an input signal is supplied through a variable gain amplifying circuit and a phase adjusting circuit to a low pass filter and also supplied through another variable gain amplifying circuit and another phase adjusting circuit to a high pass filter, so that the low pass filter and the high pass filter generate output signals, respectively, which have a 90-degree phase difference therebetween. An amplitude error and a phase error between the output signals are detected, so that the variable gain amplifying circuits are gain-controlled by the detected amplitude error, and the phase shift amounts of the phase adjusting circuits are controlled by the detected phase error. Thus, the amplitude error and the phase error attributable to the variation in the device characteristics and the parasite component can be removed, so that it is possible to obtain the output signals having the 90-degree phase difference with no amplitude error and no phase error.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2002
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventor: Akira Kuwano
  • Patent number: 5110357
    Abstract: In a mold material for use in molding a titanium cast to be mounted into the mouth as a dental prosthesis, magnesia and phosphate are added as a binder to its main ingredient composed of alumina and zirconia.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 1990
    Date of Patent: May 5, 1992
    Assignee: Iwatani Sangyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Iwatani International Corp.)
    Inventors: Akira Kuwano, Yoshimasa Kidowaki