Patents by Inventor Giorgio Betti

Giorgio Betti 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: 5263186
    Abstract: In a dynamic automatic loop for control of the overall gain of an input circuit of a superheterodyne receiver, the response time of the HF-AGC circuit of the TUNER, in response to the action of the TUNER DELAY circuit activated by the IF-AGC in the case of autonomously uncontrollable abrupt increases in the level of the antenna signal from the same HF-AGC of the TUNER, is markedly reduced using an additional TUNER DELAY PLUS circuit able to absorb for a determined interval of time, a discharge current from the storage capacitor the control voltage of the HF-AGC in addition to the discharge current absorbed by the existing TUNER DELAY circuit. The relevant intensity of this additional discharge current and its duration are optimized by way of suitable circuital arrangements in the design of said TUNER DELAY PLUS circuit. The response time is reduced without modifying the time constant of the HF-AGC, which cannot be freely reduced because of inter- and cross-modulation problems.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 1991
    Date of Patent: November 16, 1993
    Assignee: SGS-Thomson Microelectronics s.r.l.
    Inventors: Silvano Gornati, Giorgio Betti, Fabrizio Sacchi, Gianfranco Vai, Maurizio Zuffada
  • Patent number: 5231362
    Abstract: A circuit device for phasing an oscillator, which comprises a multivibrator having a transistor pair with the emitters coupled through a capacitor, comprises a normally open electronic switch controlled by a drive signal to close and inhibit the oscillator. This switch connects a voltage divider to the base of a transistor connected to one of the emitters to interrupt the loop positive feedback of the oscillator upon the voltage across the capacitor reaching a predetermined value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 1991
    Date of Patent: July 27, 1993
    Assignee: SGS-Thomson Microelectronics S.r.L.
    Inventors: Gianfranco Vai, Maurizio Zuffada, Fabrizio Sacchi, David Moloney, Giorgio Betti
  • Patent number: 5200653
    Abstract: The tristate output gate structure particularly for CMOS integrated circuits, comprises an enable terminal receiving an enable signal and an input terminal receiving an input signal, which connects, through signal switching means, an output terminal to a positive power supply terminal or to a negative power supply terminal. The enable terminal can be electrically connected to the gate terminal of a first P-channel transistor through signal inverting means and to the gate terminal of a second N-channel transistor. The output terminal is electrically connected to the drain terminals of the first and second transistors. The first and second transistors electrically insulate the output terminal from the input terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 1991
    Date of Patent: April 6, 1993
    Assignee: SGS-Thomson Microelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: David Moloney, Gianfranco Vai, Maurizio Zuffada, Giorgio Betti
  • Patent number: 5187452
    Abstract: A control circuit for an oscillator comprising a multivibrator with transistors having their emitters connected in common and being supplied corresponding currents on respective legs, comprises a circuit structure adapted to produce on output terminals, on the one side, a current which is proportional to a reference current according to a predetermined parameter, and on the other side, a second current in turn correlated to the reference current as a function of said parameter, thereby to modify the oscillator duty cycle for a given operating frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 1991
    Date of Patent: February 16, 1993
    Assignee: SGS-Thomson Microelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: Gianfranco Vai, Maurizio Zuffada, Fabrizio Sacchi, David Moloney, Giorgio Betti
  • Patent number: 5134481
    Abstract: A method of automatically measuring the horizontal scan frequency of a composite synchronism signal, comprising horizontal synchronization impulses at line frequency, consists of first performing a count of a number of impulses having a repeat frequency higher than said line frequency, as intervening between two successive impulses at line frequency.The count value, corresponding to said number of impulses, is stored to obtain the line frequency of the signal, and thereafter, a series of down counts is effected, as initiated at predetermined times, until a change of frequency of the signal is detected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 1990
    Date of Patent: July 28, 1992
    Assignee: SGS-Thomson Microelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: Silvano Gornati, Giorgio Betti, Fabrizio Sacchi, Gianfranco Vai, Maurizio Zuffada
  • Patent number: 5126591
    Abstract: An electronic comparator device with hysteresis, being of a type which comprises a differential cell having a signal input, an output, and a threshold input, further comprises a second differential cell having one input connected to said output and the other input connected to a controlling circuit portion which has an output connected to the threshold input to reduce the threshold voltage value stepwise on the first change-over of the output of the comparator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 1990
    Date of Patent: June 30, 1992
    Assignee: SGS-Thomson Microelectronics S.r.L.
    Inventors: Fabrizio Sacchi, Gianfranco Vai, Loic Lietar, Giorgio Betti
  • Patent number: 5095363
    Abstract: A method of demodulating multi-standard TV signals consists of providing a plurality of signals at a frequency which is a multiple of a reference frequency whose value is a common submultiple of the frequencies of the multi-standard signals. Thereafter, the signal to be demodulated is multiplied by one of said plural signals having a frequency which differs therefrom by a value equal to the reference frequency; by filtering the result of the multiplication, a signal is obtained at the reference frequency but corresponding in amplitude to the one to be demodulated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 1990
    Date of Patent: March 10, 1992
    Assignee: SGS-Thomson Microelectronics S.r.L.
    Inventors: Maurizio Zuffada, Fabrizio Sacchi, Gianfranco Vai, Giorgio Betti, Silvano Gornati
  • Patent number: 5081708
    Abstract: A temperature independent, dynamically compressed, DC control voltage is obtained by converting by means of a converter circuit employing a current mirror, a linear variation of the voltage across a control potentiometer, external to the integrated circuit, in a logarithmic differential voltage between two output voltage terminals, respectively on a first and a second branch of the converter circuit, the voltage signal taken from the first branch of the converter circuit being fed to the input of a unitary gain stage biased by a current generator with a temperature coefficient corresponding to the reciprocal of the temperature coefficient of integrated resistances and the corresponding output signal of the unitary gain stage being fed to a first input of a differential stage, to the second input of which is fed the signal taken from the second branch of the converter circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 1990
    Date of Patent: January 14, 1992
    Assignee: SGS-Thomson Microelectronics, s.r.l.
    Inventors: Fabrizio Sacchi, Maurizio Zuffada, Giorgio Betti, Silvano Gornati
  • Patent number: 5034706
    Abstract: A voltage-controlled variable oscillator, in particular for phase-lock loops, comprising a differential stage formed by a pair of transistors and collectors whereof define the output terminals between which an external resonating circuit is connected, a voltage generator which is connected between the two output terminals and is suitable for generating a voltage which is proportional to the terminal voltage which exists across the resonating circuit, and a pair of capacitors connected between a respective output terminal and the voltage source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 1990
    Date of Patent: July 23, 1991
    Assignee: SGS Thomson Microelectronics s.r.l.
    Inventors: Giorgio Betti, Maurizio Zuffada
  • Patent number: 4967139
    Abstract: This variable-current source comprises a differential stage and a pair of voltage buffers which respectively receive, at the input, a variable input voltage and a reference voltage and are connected at the output to the differential stage. Both buffers comprise a resistor flown by a current which varies only as a function of the respective input voltage and of its resistance and therefore depends thermally exclusively on this resistance, and provide output voltages which depend upon these currents, so that the output current generated by the differential stage is temperature-independent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 1990
    Date of Patent: October 30, 1990
    Assignee: SGS-Thomson Microelectronics S.r.l.
    Inventors: Giorgio Betti, Maurizio Zuffada, Fabrizio Sacchi, Silvano Gornati