Patents by Inventor Carlo Pinna

Carlo Pinna 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: 7864493
    Abstract: An electric circuit includes a supply terminal to receive an outer supply voltage and a voltage regulator coupled to the supply terminal and to provide supply and resting voltages. A lock-out circuit is switchable between active and inactive states and receives the supply voltage at a supply node to generate, in the active state, an output voltage on a output terminal thereof. A protection circuit protects against electrostatic discharge, having at least one first diode coupled between the supply node and the output terminal. A cut-off electronic lock couples, in the inactive state, the supply node to the supply terminal by reverse biasing the at least one first diode to make a voltage of the output terminal float.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2011
    Assignee: St-Ericsson SA
    Inventors: Carlo Pinna, Germano Nicollini
  • Publication number: 20100100210
    Abstract: An arithmetic-logic unit for a digital signal processor, processing audio signals, having a multiplier circuit able to receive in input a first and a second signal and to supply in output a third signal which represents the result of the multiplication of said first and second signal, a generator circuit of a dither signal, a summation circuit downline of the multiplier circuit, said summation circuit being able to perform an addition operation between said third signal and the dither signal so as to supply a fourth signal in output, and a truncation or rounding circuit downline of the summation circuit, able to truncate or round said fourth signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 22, 2009
    Publication date: April 22, 2010
    Applicant: ST ERICSSON SA
    Inventors: Alessandro Mecchia, Carlo Pinna
  • Publication number: 20080130181
    Abstract: An electric circuit includes a supply terminal to receive an outer supply voltage and a voltage regulator coupled to the supply terminal and to provide supply and resting voltages. A lock-out circuit is switchable between active and inactive states and receives the supply voltage at a supply node to generate, in the active state, an output voltage on a output terminal thereof. A protection circuit protects against electrostatic discharge, having at least one first diode coupled between the supply node and the output terminal. A cut-off electronic lock couples, in the inactive state, the supply node to the supply terminal by reverse biasing the at least one first diode to make a voltage of the output terminal float.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 20, 2007
    Publication date: June 5, 2008
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: Carlo Pinna, Germano Nicollini
  • Patent number: 7304592
    Abstract: A single-ended or differential single-stage, or multi-stage sigma-delta analog-to-digital converter includes at least one switched-capacitor integrator comprising a switched-capacitor network receiving as input a signal to be sampled, and an amplifier coupled in cascade to the switched-capacitor network. A circuit is coupled to the amplifier for feeding an analog dither signal to a virtual ground of the amplifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2007
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: Carlo Pinna, Sergio Pernici, Angelo Nagari
  • Publication number: 20060267823
    Abstract: A single-ended or differential single-stage, or multi-stage sigma-delta analog-to-digital converter includes at least one switched-capacitor integrator comprising a switched-capacitor network receiving as input a signal to be sampled, and an amplifier coupled in cascade to the switched-capacitor network. A circuit is coupled to the amplifier for feeding an analog dither signal to a virtual ground of the amplifier.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 26, 2006
    Publication date: November 30, 2006
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics S.r.I.
    Inventors: Carlo Pinna, Sergio Pernici, Angelo Nagari
  • Patent number: 6977544
    Abstract: A boosted sampling circuit that is relatively straightforward to form is provided, as well as a corresponding method for driving the same. The input voltage applied to the boosted sampling circuit may be equal to a supply voltage or may be greater than a maximum voltage level allowed by the prior art circuits. This result is attained by connecting the control nodes of a plurality of switches to the input node while a first control phase is active, and by connecting a current terminal of another switch to a biasing voltage for protecting it from breakdowns.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2004
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2005
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: Germano Nicollini, Carlo Pinna
  • Publication number: 20050017793
    Abstract: A boosted sampling circuit that is relatively straightforward to form is provided, as well as a corresponding method for driving the same. The input voltage applied to the boosted sampling circuit may be equal to a supply voltage or may be greater than a maximum voltage level allowed by the prior art circuits. This result is attained by connecting the control nodes of a plurality of switches to the input node while a first control phase is active, and by connecting a current terminal of another switch to a biasing voltage for protecting it from breakdowns.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 29, 2004
    Publication date: January 27, 2005
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: Germano Nicollini, Carlo Pinna
  • Patent number: 6518901
    Abstract: The boosted switch device comprises an input terminal and an output terminal; a supply line set to a supply potential; a ground line set to a ground potential; a transistor connected between the input and output terminals; a capacitor; and a switch device connecting the capacitor between the supply line and the ground line, when the transistor is off, and between the input terminal and the control terminal of the transistor, when the transistor is on.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2003
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: Carlo Pinna, Germano Nicollini
  • Patent number: 6501406
    Abstract: A digital decimation filter includes a set of cascaded integrator stages for generating a first signal comprised of bit words including a first number of bits as well as a set of cascaded derivative stages for receiving said first signal and generating therefrom an output comprised of bit words including a second number of bits. The second number of bits is smaller than said first number of bits and a bit discarding unit is located downstream of the integrator stages and upstream of the derivative stages for discarding a given number of least significant bits from the bit words of the first signal before this is received by the derivative stages. Said given number is defined as the difference between said first and said second number of bits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2002
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: Alessandro Mecchia, Germano Nicollini, Carlo Pinna
  • Patent number: 6380878
    Abstract: The present invention refers to a digital to analog conversion circuit able to transform an input digital signal having n bit in a signal having a thermometric code and to convert it in an analog output signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2002
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics, s.k.l
    Inventor: Carlo Pinna
  • Publication number: 20020027518
    Abstract: The present invention refers to a digital to analog conversion circuit able to transform an input digital signal having n bit in a signal having a thermometric code and to convert it in an analog output signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 1, 2001
    Publication date: March 7, 2002
    Inventor: Carlo Pinna
  • Publication number: 20020021162
    Abstract: The boosted switch device comprises an input terminal and an output terminal; a supply line set to a supply potential; a ground line set to a ground potential; a transistor connected between the input and output terminals; a capacitor; and a switch device connecting the capacitor between the supply line and the ground line, when the transistor is off, and between the input terminal and the control terminal of the transistor, when the transistor is on.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 18, 2001
    Publication date: February 21, 2002
    Inventors: Carlo Pinna, Germano Nicollini