Patents by Inventor Francesco Giuffré

Francesco Giuffré 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: 8169178
    Abstract: A method of detecting an angular position of a rotor of a motor includes detecting switching ripple peaks and armature current disturbance peaks using a peak detector configured to generate a square wave having edges coinciding with detected peaks. The method further includes filtering the square wave in a time domain by generating an integration ramp, toward a set value, of an estimated ripple frequency for an interval of time based on the estimated ripple frequency. An enablement range is established to reset the integration ramp by setting a threshold below and above the set value and a time window centered on an end time of each period of the estimated ripple frequency. The method further includes resetting the integration ramp, and updating the estimated ripple frequency based upon a period determined by a time of the resetting, if an edge of the square wave is within the time window.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2012
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.R.L.
    Inventors: Romeo Letor, Francesco Giuffré
  • Publication number: 20100171457
    Abstract: A method of detecting an angular position of a rotor of a motor includes detecting switching ripple peaks and armature current disturbance peaks using a peak detector configured to generate a square wave having edges coinciding with detected peaks. The method further includes filtering the square wave in a time domain by generating an integration ramp, toward a set value, of an estimated ripple frequency for an interval of time based on the estimated ripple frequency. An enablement range is established to reset the integration ramp by setting a threshold below and above the set value and a time window centered on an end time of each period of the estimated ripple frequency. The method further includes resetting the integration ramp, and updating the estimated ripple frequency based upon a period determined by a time of the resetting, if an edge of the square wave is within the time window.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 29, 2009
    Publication date: July 8, 2010
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics S.r.I
    Inventors: Romeo Letor, Francesco Giuffre
  • Patent number: 7459890
    Abstract: A control circuit is for an electric power plant including an asynchronous generator of an AC voltage, a motor to rotate a rotor of the asynchronous generator as a function of a first control signal of a developed motor torque, and a bank of capacitors coupled to the asynchronous generator and having a total capacitance varying as function of a second control signal. The control circuit may include a monitor circuit to monitor at least one parameter of the AC voltage, and a control signal generator circuit cooperating with the monitor circuit to generate the first and second control signals by soft-computing techniques both as a function of the frequency and of a representative value of an amplitude of the AC voltage to make the AC voltage have a desired amplitude and frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2005
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2008
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.R.L.
    Inventors: Stefano Baratto, Francesco Giuffré, Umberto Macri, Mario Lavorgna, Giuseppe D'Angelo, Giovanni Moselli
  • Publication number: 20060132103
    Abstract: A control circuit is for an electric power plant including an asynchronous generator of an AC voltage, a motor to rotate a rotor of the asynchronous generator as a function of a first control signal of a developed motor torque, and a bank of capacitors coupled to the asynchronous generator and having a total capacitance varying as function of a second control signal. The control circuit may include a monitor circuit to monitor at least one parameter of the AC voltage, and a control signal generator circuit cooperating with the monitor circuit to generate the first and second control signals by soft-computing techniques both as a function of the frequency and of a representative value of an amplitude of the AC voltage to make the AC voltage have a desired amplitude and frequency.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 23, 2005
    Publication date: June 22, 2006
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics S.r.I.
    Inventors: Stefano Baratto, Francesco Giuffre, Umberto Macri, Mario Lavorgna, Giuseppe D'Angelo, Giovanni Moselli
  • Publication number: 20040107011
    Abstract: An arrangement for controlling a system according to the deviation between the value measured on the system and the value estimated by means of a model of the controlled system of at least one control parameter is disclosed. The arrangement comprises a neural network, which generates the estimation of the control parameter according to a set of characteristic parameters of the controlled system and of respective configuration parameters. The neural network has associated thereto a training module, which can train said neural network by modifying said configuration parameters according to a set of updating data. An acquisition module acquires the actual value, as measured on the controlled system, of a set of sensing parameters comprising at least one from among said control parameter and said characteristic parameters of the controlled system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 23, 2003
    Publication date: June 3, 2004
    Inventors: Giovanni Moselli, Silvia Maione, Mario Lavorgna, Francesco Giuffre