Patents by Inventor Charles E. Berndt

Charles E. Berndt 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: 8212610
    Abstract: A digital loop filter includes a fine control circuit and a coarse control circuit. The fine control circuit adjusts a phase of a feedback clock signal by a first phase adjustment in response to a first phase error signal that indicates a sign of a phase error between a reference clock signal and the feedback clock signal. The coarse control circuit adjusts the phase of the feedback clock signal by a second phase adjustment in response to a second phase error signal. The second phase adjustment is larger than the first phase adjustment. The second phase error signal indicates a magnitude of a phase error between the reference clock signal and the feedback clock signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2012
    Assignee: Altera Corporation
    Inventors: William W. Bereza, Mohsen Moussavi, Charles E. Berndt
  • Patent number: 8098588
    Abstract: A blind adaptive decision feedback equalizer technique relies on two thresholds. The first threshold is applied to the incoming sampled analog data. According to this aspect of the invention, if the signal magnitude exceeds the threshold, then it is considered valid, while if it is below the threshold, it is considered erroneous. This reduces processing, because not every sample generates an error signal. The second threshold is a block threshold that determines when the filter coefficients are updated to account for the incoming data. In accordance with this aspect of the invention, only when a certain number of errors has been accumulated are the coefficients updated. This results in a further reduction in processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2012
    Assignee: Altera Corporation
    Inventors: Charles E. Berndt, Tad Kwasniewski
  • Publication number: 20100073054
    Abstract: A digital loop filter includes a fine control circuit and a coarse control circuit. The fine control circuit adjusts a phase of a feedback clock signal by a first phase adjustment in response to a first phase error signal that indicates a sign of a phase error between a reference clock signal and the feedback clock signal. The coarse control circuit adjusts the phase of the feedback clock signal by a second phase adjustment in response to a second phase error signal. The second phase adjustment is larger than the first phase adjustment. The second phase error signal indicates a magnitude of a phase error between the reference clock signal and the feedback clock signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2008
    Publication date: March 25, 2010
    Applicant: Altera Corporation
    Inventors: William W. Bereza, Mohsen Moussavi, Charles E. Berndt