Patents by Inventor Bertrand Vrignon

Bertrand Vrignon 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: 10310531
    Abstract: A current regulator circuit to improve electromagnetic compatibility performance operation of an IC device includes an input to receive a regulated voltage signal, an output to provide an output voltage at a desired voltage level, the output voltage exhibiting noise from a load, a first field effect transistor FET including a first source electrode coupled to the input, a first drain electrode coupled to the output, and a first gate electrode, a voltage clamp circuit coupled to the output, the voltage clamp circuit configured to conduct a varying current based upon the noise, a constant current source to provide a constant current, and a second FET including a second source electrode coupled to the output, a second drain electrode coupled to the constant current source and to the first gate electrode, and a second gate electrode coupled to the voltage clamp circuit to mirror the varying current in the second FET.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2019
    Assignee: NXP USA, Inc.
    Inventors: Pascal Kamel Abouda, Bertrand Vrignon
  • Publication number: 20190033903
    Abstract: A current regulator circuit to improve electromagnetic compatibility performance operation of an IC device includes an input to receive a regulated voltage signal, an output to provide an output voltage at a desired voltage level, the output voltage exhibiting noise from a load, a first field effect transistor FET including a first source electrode coupled to the input, a first drain electrode coupled to the output, and a first gate electrode, a voltage clamp circuit coupled to the output, the voltage clamp circuit configured to conduct a varying current based upon the noise, a constant current source to provide a constant current, and a second FET including a second source electrode coupled to the output, a second drain electrode coupled to the constant current source and to the first gate electrode, and a second gate electrode coupled to the voltage clamp circuit to mirror the varying current in the second FET.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 7, 2018
    Publication date: January 31, 2019
    Inventors: Pascal Kamel Abouda, Bertrand Vrignon
  • Patent number: 9400861
    Abstract: There is described a method of optimizing the design of an electronic device with respect to electromagnetic emissions based on frequency spreading. With the method, a designer can, for example, perform a transient simulation on the device only once, and then add frequency spreading with specific parameters by simulation. The resulting frequency spread signal can be observed. The designer can thus evaluate the reduction in electromagnetic emission level, and repeat this process by iteratively applying frequency spreading each time with specific parameters but without having to modify the schematic of the device and to perform another simulation of the device. The method according to this innovation is extremely rapid as the simulation of the design does not need to be repeated at each run of the frequency spreading simulation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2016
    Assignee: Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventors: John Avis Shepherd, Kamel Abouda, Bertrand Vrignon
  • Patent number: 9323878
    Abstract: There is described a method of optimizing the design of an electronic device with respect to electromagnetic emissions based on frequency spreading. With the method, a designer can, for example, perform a transient simulation on the device only once, and then process the obtained signal data to add frequency spreading with specific parameters by post-processing. The resulting data can be filtered by various methods and the resulting spectrum observed. The designer can thus evaluate the reduction in electromagnetic emission level, and repeat this process by iteratively applying frequency spreading each time with specific parameters but without having to modify the schematic of the device and to perform another simulation of the device. The post-processing according to this innovation is extremely rapid as it is not a simulation process such as SPICE™, ADS™, etc. Only data is manipulated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2016
    Assignee: FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR, INC.
    Inventors: John Avis Shepherd, Kamel Abouda, Bertrand Vrignon
  • Patent number: 9323879
    Abstract: There is described a method of optimizing the design of an electronic device with respect to electromagnetic emissions based on frequency spreading. With the method, a designer can add frequency spreading with specific parameters by hardware. The resulting frequency spread signal can be observed. The designer can thus evaluate the reduction in electromagnetic emission level, and repeat this process by iteratively applying frequency spreading each time with specific parameters but without having to modify the design of the device and to generate another prototype of the device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2016
    Assignee: FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR, INC.
    Inventors: John Avis Shepherd, Kamel Abouda, Bertrand Vrignon
  • Publication number: 20150227663
    Abstract: There is described a method of optimizing the design of an electronic device with respect to electromagnetic emissions based on frequency spreading. With the method, a designer can, for example, perform a transient simulation on the device only once, and then process the obtained signal data to add frequency spreading with specific parameters by post-processing. The resulting data can be filtered by various methods and the resulting spectrum observed. The designer can thus evaluate the reduction in electromagnetic emission level, and repeat this process by iteratively applying frequency spreading each time with specific parameters but without having to modify the schematic of the device and to perform another simulation of the device. The post-processing according to this innovation is extremely rapid as it is not a simulation process such as SPICE™, ADS™, etc. Only data is manipulated.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 7, 2014
    Publication date: August 13, 2015
    Applicant: FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR, INC.
    Inventors: JOHN AVIS SHEPHERD, KAMEL ABOUDA, BERTRAND VRIGNON
  • Publication number: 20150227664
    Abstract: There is described a method of optimizing the design of an electronic device with respect to electromagnetic emissions based on frequency spreading. With the method, a designer can, for example, perform a transient simulation on the device only once, and then add frequency spreading with specific parameters by simulation. The resulting frequency spread signal can be observed. The designer can thus evaluate the reduction in electromagnetic emission level, and repeat this process by iteratively applying frequency spreading each time with specific parameters but without having to modify the schematic of the device and to perform another simulation of the device. The method according to this innovation is extremely rapid as the simulation of the design does not need to be repeated at each run of the frequency spreading simulation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 7, 2014
    Publication date: August 13, 2015
    Applicant: FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR, INC.
    Inventors: JOHN AVIS SHEPHERD, KAMEL ABOUDA, BERTRAND VRIGNON
  • Publication number: 20150227665
    Abstract: There is described a method of optimizing the design of an electronic device with respect to electromagnetic emissions based on frequency spreading. With the method, a designer can add frequency spreading with specific parameters by hardware. The resulting frequency spread signal can be observed. The designer can thus evaluate the reduction in electromagnetic emission level, and repeat this process by iteratively applying frequency spreading each time with specific parameters but without having to modify the design of the device and to generate another prototype of the device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 7, 2014
    Publication date: August 13, 2015
    Applicant: FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR, INC.
    Inventors: JOHN AVIS SHEPHERD, KAMEL ABOUDA, BERTRAND VRIGNON
  • Publication number: 20140039864
    Abstract: There is disclosed a method of simulating Electromagnetic (EM) immunity of an electronic device, comprising applying a disturbing signal on at least one first entry point of a model of the device and monitoring a disturbed signal on at least one observation point of said model of the device; and, automatically varying the frequency and the level of the disturbing signal stepwise until a default is just detected in the disturbed signal, wherein at each frequency and level step, a simulation is run up to a dwell time and resulting simulation data is examined for a default condition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 21, 2011
    Publication date: February 6, 2014
    Applicant: Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventors: Bertrand Vrignon, Mikael Deobarro, John Shepherd