Patents by Inventor Douglas Hall

Douglas Hall 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: 11776856
    Abstract: A semiconductor device and fabrication method are described for integrating stacked top and bottom nanosheet transistors by providing a nanosheet transistor stack having bottom and top Si/SiGe superlattice structures (11-14, 17-20) which are separated from one another by a barrier oxide layer (15) and which are separately processed to form bottom gate electrodes having a first gate structure (40A-B) in the bottom Si/SiGe superlattice structures and to form top gate electrodes having a second, different gate structure (46A-B) in the top Si/SiGe superlattice structures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Mark Douglas Hall, Tushar Praful Merchant, Anirban Roy
  • Patent number: 11769797
    Abstract: A nanosheet semiconductor device and fabrication method are described for integrating the fabrication of nanosheet transistors (71) and capacitors/sensors (72) in a single nanosheet process flow by forming separate transistor and capacitor/sensor stacks (12A-16A, 12B-16B) which are selectively processed to form gate electrode structures (68A-C) which replace remnant SiGe sandwich layers in the transistor stack, to form silicon fixed electrodes using silicon nanosheets (13C, 15C) on a first side of the capacitor/sensor stack, and to form SiGe fixed electrodes using SiGe nanosheets (12C, 14C, 16C) from the middle of remnant SiGe sandwich layers in the capacitor/sensor stack (e.g., 16-2) which are separated from the silicon fixed electrodes by selectively removing top and bottom SiGe nanosheets (e.g., 16-1, 16-3) from the remnant SiGe sandwich layers in the capacitor/sensor stack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2023
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Tushar Praful Merchant, Mark Douglas Hall, Anirban Roy
  • Publication number: 20230290862
    Abstract: A semiconductor device and fabrication method are described for forming a nanosheet transistor device by forming a nanosheet transistor stack (12-18, 25) of alternating Si and SiGe layers which are selectively processed to form metal-containing current terminal or source/drain regions (27, 28) and to form control terminal electrodes (36A-D) which replace the SiGe layers in the nanosheet transistor stack and are positioned between the Si layers which form transistor channel regions in the nanosheet transistor stack to connect the metal source/drain regions, thereby forming a nanosheet transistor device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 11, 2022
    Publication date: September 14, 2023
    Applicant: NXP USA, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark Douglas Hall, Craig Allan Cavins, Tushar Praful Merchant, Asanga H. Perera
  • Patent number: 11685647
    Abstract: A nanosheet MEMS sensor device and method are described for integrating the fabrication of nanosheet transistors (61) and MEMS sensors (62) in a single nanosheet process flow by forming separate nanosheet transistor and MEMS sensor stacks (12A-16A, 12B-16B) of alternating Si and SiGe layers which are selectively processed to form gate electrodes (49A-C) which replace the silicon germanium layers in the nanosheet transistor stack, to form silicon fixed electrodes using silicon layers (13B-2, 15B-2) on a first side of the MEMS sensor stack, and to form silicon cantilever electrodes using silicon layers (13B-1, 15B-1) on a second side of the MEMS sensor stack by forming a narrow trench opening (54) in the MEMS sensor stack to expose and remove remnant silicon germanium layers on the second side in the MEMS sensor stack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Mark Douglas Hall, Tushar Praful Merchant, Anirban Roy
  • Patent number: 11616506
    Abstract: A circuit includes a P-channel transistor formed in a P-well and an N-channel transistor formed in an N-well. The first P-channel transistor has a control electrode connected to the P-well. The N-channel transistor is coupled in series with the P-channel transistor and has a control electrode connected to the N-well. Connecting the control electrodes of the P-channel and N-channel transistors to respective P-well and N-well effectively reduces crowbar current in the circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2023
    Assignee: NXP USA, INC.
    Inventors: David Russell Tipple, Mark Douglas Hall
  • Patent number: 11605729
    Abstract: A semiconductor device and fabrication method are described for integrating a nanosheet transistor with a capacitor or nonvolatile memory cell in a single nanosheet process flow by forming a nanosheet transistor stack (11-18) of alternating Si and SiGe layers which are selectively processed to form epitaxial source/drain regions (25A, 25B) and to form gate electrodes (33A-D) which replace the silicon germanium layers in the nanosheet transistor stack, and then selectively forming one or more insulated conductive electrode layers (e.g., 37/39, 25/55, 64/69) adjacent to the nanosheet transistor to define a capacitor or nonvolatile memory cell that is integrated with the nanosheet transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2023
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Mark Douglas Hall, Tushar Praful Merchant, Anirban Roy
  • Publication number: 20220310786
    Abstract: A nanosheet semiconductor device and fabrication method are described for integrating the fabrication of nanosheet transistors (71) and capacitors/sensors (72) in a single nanosheet process flow by forming separate transistor and capacitor/sensor stacks (12A-16A, 12B-16B) which are selectively processed to form gate electrode structures (68A-C) which replace remnant SiGe sandwich layers in the transistor stack, to form silicon fixed electrodes using silicon nanosheets (13C, 15C) on a first side of the capacitor/sensor stack, and to form SiGe fixed electrodes using SiGe nanosheets (12C, 14C, 16C) from the middle of remnant SiGe sandwich layers in the capacitor/sensor stack (e.g., 16-2) which are separated from the silicon fixed electrodes by selectively removing top and bottom SiGe nanosheets (e.g., 16-1, 16-3) from the remnant SiGe sandwich layers in the capacitor/sensor stack.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 25, 2021
    Publication date: September 29, 2022
    Applicant: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Tushar Praful Merchant, Mark Douglas Hall, Anirban Roy
  • Publication number: 20220310456
    Abstract: A semiconductor device and fabrication method are described for integrating stacked top and bottom nanosheet transistors by providing a nanosheet transistor stack having bottom and top Si/SiGe superlattice structures (11-14, 17-20) which are separated from one another by a barrier oxide layer (15) and which are separately processed to form bottom gate electrodes having a first gate structure (40A-B) in the bottom Si/SiGe superlattice structures and to form top gate electrodes having a second, different gate structure (46A-B) in the top Si/SiGe superlattice structures.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 25, 2021
    Publication date: September 29, 2022
    Applicant: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Mark Douglas Hall, Tushar Praful Merchant, Anirban Roy
  • Publication number: 20220301936
    Abstract: A semiconductor device and fabrication method are described for integrating stacked top and bottom nanosheet transistors by providing a nanosheet transistor stack having bottom and top Si/SiGe superlattice structures (11-14, 17-20) which are separated from one another by a barrier oxide layer (15) and which are separately processed to form first remnant silicon germanium nanosheet layers (12, 14) in the bottom Si/SiGe superlattice structures having a first gate length dimension (DG1) and to form second remnant silicon germanium nanosheet layers (18, 20) in the top Si/SiGe superlattice structures having a second, smaller gate length dimension (DG2) so that the nanosheet transistor stack may then be processed to simultaneously form bottom and top gate electrodes which replace, respectively, the first and second remnant silicon germanium nanosheet layers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 16, 2021
    Publication date: September 22, 2022
    Applicant: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Tushar Praful Merchant, Mark Douglas Hall, Anirban Roy
  • Patent number: 11451608
    Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein may relate to systems and methods for managing work flow data collection for users across a wide area network comprising a diverse set of devices and processes and unifying the work process to be device agnostic. Embodiments disclosed herein may allow a single process having multiple steps to be retrieved and continued across multiple channels and devices with apparent continuity to the end-user. The status of each process step is tracked and the inputs are stored, providing the system with the requisite information when users continue processes on a different channel or device from the original channel or device. The system may host and execute processes that may be presented and manipulated across the various channels and devices, but without requiring engineers and developers to write or otherwise tailor software applications and network configurations to facilitate or allow multi-channel interactions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Assignee: United Services Automobile Association (USAA)
    Inventors: James T. Karras, Ryan James Fillinger, Neal Philip Balzer, Randal Lane Schnedler, Douglas A. Hall
  • Publication number: 20220278226
    Abstract: A semiconductor device and fabrication method are described for integrating a nanosheet transistor with a capacitor or nonvolatile memory cell in a single nanosheet process flow by forming a nanosheet transistor stack (11-18) of alternating Si and SiGe layers which are selectively processed to form epitaxial source/drain regions (25A, 25B) and to form gate electrodes (33A-D) which replace the silicon germanium layers in the nanosheet transistor stack, and then selectively forming one or more insulated conductive electrode layers (e.g., 37/39, 25/55, 64/69) adjacent to the nanosheet transistor to define a capacitor or nonvolatile memory cell that is integrated with the nanosheet transistor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 1, 2021
    Publication date: September 1, 2022
    Applicant: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Mark Douglas Hall, Tushar Praful Merchant, Anirban Roy
  • Publication number: 20220274828
    Abstract: A nanosheet MEMS sensor device and method are described for integrating the fabrication of nanosheet transistors (61) and MEMS sensors (62) in a single nanosheet process flow by forming separate nanosheet transistor and MEMS sensor stacks (12A-16A, 12B-16B) of alternating Si and SiGe layers which are selectively processed to form gate electrodes (49A-C) which replace the silicon germanium layers in the nanosheet transistor stack, to form silicon fixed electrodes using silicon layers (13B-2, 15B-2) on a first side of the MEMS sensor stack, and to form silicon cantilever electrodes using silicon layers (13B-1, 15B-1) on a second side of the MEMS sensor stack by forming a narrow trench opening (54) in the MEMS sensor stack to expose and remove remnant silicon germanium layers on the second side in the MEMS sensor stack.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 1, 2021
    Publication date: September 1, 2022
    Applicant: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Mark Douglas Hall, Tushar Praful Merchant, Anirban Roy
  • Patent number: 11305674
    Abstract: System and methods for nullifying one or more of lateral and longitudinal acceleration forces experienced by an occupant of a vehicle in a seated or standing position while the vehicle is traveling along a travel plane, including: a chassis structure; an occupant cell one of coupled to and defined by the chassis structure; and one or more of a seat assembly configured to receive the occupant in a seated position and a standing platform assembly configured to receive the occupant in a standing position disposed within the occupant cell; wherein the one or more of the seat assembly and the standing platform assembly is/are configured to pivot one or more of: laterally at a longitudinal pivot point with respect to the chassis and travel plane; and longitudinally at a transverse pivot point with respect to the chassis and travel plane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2022
    Assignee: Volvo Car Corporation
    Inventors: Douglas Hall Frasher, Lawrence E. Abele
  • Patent number: 11210818
    Abstract: Some embodiments include a server system including a computing device configured to be coupled to a communications network, a user device, a mapping database with mapping data, and an asset or infrastructure database including asset or infrastructure data. Program logic can receive a data communication including location information from the user device and display a map and asset or infrastructure information and a graphical user interface (GUI) on a display of the user device. Displayed information can be related to an emergency or safety alert, a condition related to asset or infrastructure data, or a response or status of assets or infrastructure to an environmental factor or human-made phenomenon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: John Shinn Taik Ngoi, Elizabeth Rose Baune, Stephen Douglas Hall, Mark Richard Seveska, Anthony Francis Morabe, Vinay Vasa, Potriadian Subramanian, George Raja Nadar, Alan Paul Gile, Andrew HunzekerHesed, Shelby Warner, Michael Robert Wolf
  • Patent number: 11009256
    Abstract: A low pressure duct configured to channel a gas within a structure includes a tubular body formed from a polymer foam material, and a first plurality of strands adhered to a surface of the tubular body along a plurality of paths. The plurality of paths includes a first set of paths oriented longitudinally along the tubular body. The first set of paths are spaced apart from each other around a circumference of the tubular body. The plurality of paths also includes a second set of paths oriented circumferentially around the tubular body. The second set of paths are spaced apart longitudinally along the tubular body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2021
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventors: John Steve Mills, Orlando Torres, Creed Ernest Blevins, Luisa F. Gutierrez, Charles Douglas Hall
  • Patent number: 10926600
    Abstract: System and method for nullifying one or more of lateral and longitudinal acceleration forces experienced by an occupant of a vehicle in a seated or standing position while the vehicle is traveling along a travel plane, including: a chassis structure; and an occupant cell one of coupled to and defined by the chassis structure; wherein one or more of the chassis and the occupant cell are configured to pivot one or more of: laterally at a longitudinal pivot point with respect to the travel plane; and longitudinally at a transverse pivot point with respect to the travel plane. Optionally, the chassis structure is configured to pivot one or more of laterally and longitudinally with respect to one or more wheel mechanisms operable for traveling over the travel plane. Optionally, the occupant cell is configured to pivot one or more of laterally and longitudinally with respect to the chassis structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2021
    Assignee: Volvo Car Corporation
    Inventors: Douglas Hall Frasher, Lawrence E. Abele
  • Patent number: 10744906
    Abstract: Example embodiments presented herein are directed toward a seat assembly, and corresponding method, for seat retraction in a vehicle during an autonomous driving mode. Seat refraction is provided by detecting a user initiated input for the retraction. Thereafter, a front seat is refracted such that an occupant of the front seat is out of reach of at least one driving control input device, for example, a steering wheel, pedals or a gear shift, during an autonomous driving mode. Such seat retraction prevents the occupant from providing inadvertent driving inputs to the driving control input devices during the autonomous driving mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2020
    Assignee: VOLVO CAR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ichiro Sugioka, John Downs, Andreas Zinn, Douglas Hall Frasher
  • Patent number: 10727224
    Abstract: A semiconductor apparatus includes a first device cell and a second device cell. The first device cell includes a first active region including a first set of device fins, an insulator layer disposed over the first set of device fins, a first gate fin over the first set of fins, and a first edge fin disposed over a first edge of the first active region. The second device cell is adjacent the first device cell and includes a second active region including a second set of device fins, the insulator layer disposed over the second set of device fins, a second gate fin over the second set of device fins, and a second edge fin disposed over a second edge of the second active region. The first edge fin and the second edge fin are connected to a power rail, a ground rail, or to each other to define a capacitor between the first device cell and the second device cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2020
    Assignee: NXP USA, Inc.
    Inventors: David Russell Tipple, Mark Douglas Hall, Anis Mahmoud Jarrar
  • Publication number: 20200200428
    Abstract: A low pressure duct configured to channel a gas within a structure includes a tubular body formed from a polymer foam material, and a first plurality of strands adhered to a surface of the tubular body along a plurality of paths. The plurality of paths includes a first set of paths oriented longitudinally along the tubular body. The first set of paths are spaced apart from each other around a circumference of the tubular body. The plurality of paths also includes a second set of paths oriented circumferentially around the tubular body. The second set of paths are spaced apart longitudinally along the tubular body.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2018
    Publication date: June 25, 2020
    Inventors: John Steve Mills, Orlando Torres, Creed Ernest Blevins, Luisa F. Gutierrez, Charles Douglas Hall
  • Patent number: 10681182
    Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein may relate to systems and methods for managing work flow data collection for users across a wide area network comprising a diverse set of devices and processes and unifying the work process to be device agnostic. Embodiments disclosed herein may allow a single process having multiple steps to be retrieved and continued across multiple channels and devices with apparent continuity to the end-user. The status of each process step is tracked and the inputs are stored, providing the system with the requisite information when users continue processes on a different channel or device from the original channel or device. The system may host and execute processes that may be presented and manipulated across the various channels and devices, but without requiring engineers and developers to write or otherwise tailor software applications and network configurations to facilitate or allow multi-channel interactions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2020
    Assignee: UIPCO, LLC
    Inventors: James T. Karras, Ryan James Fillinger, Neal Philip Balzer, Randal Lane Schnedler, Douglas A. Hall