Patents by Inventor Hendricus De Ruijter

Hendricus De Ruijter 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).

  • Publication number: 20250247789
    Abstract: In one aspect, a method includes: enabling, via a controller of a network device, a receiver of the network device for a plurality of receive fragments during a receive duration; analyzing a signal fragment received during at least one of the plurality of receive fragments to identify possible presence of a wake-up frame sent by a coordinator device; and in response to the identification of the possible presence of the wake-up frame, enabling the receiver to receive and detect another wake-up frame.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 27, 2025
    Publication date: July 31, 2025
    Inventor: Hendricus de Ruijter
  • Patent number: 12368462
    Abstract: In one example, a receiver includes: a front end circuit to convert a radio frequency (RF) input signal into at least one frequency signal; a non-linear circuit coupled to the front end circuit, the non-linear circuit to generate at least one shaped frequency signal from the at least one frequency signal according to at least one non-linear transfer function; and a modulation signal detector coupled to the non-linear circuit to output a likelihood signal based on the at least one shaped frequency signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2022
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2025
    Assignee: Silicon Laboratories Inc.
    Inventor: Hendricus De Ruijter
  • Patent number: 12316363
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a radio-frequency (RF) receiver for receiving an RF signal using a plurality of antennas. The RF receiver includes a demodulator to provide a switch signal to cause the RF receiver to use an antenna in the plurality of antennas. The RF receiver further includes a carrier frequency offset (CFO) correction circuit that estimates and removes a carrier frequency offset.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2023
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2025
    Assignee: Silicon Laboratories Inc.
    Inventors: Antonio Torrini, Hendricus de Ruijter, Yan Zhou, David Trager
  • Patent number: 12267778
    Abstract: In one aspect, a method includes: enabling, via a controller of a network device, a receiver of the network device for a plurality of receive fragments during a receive duration; analyzing a signal fragment received during at least one of the plurality of receive fragments to identify possible presence of a wake-up frame sent by a coordinator device; and in response to the identification of the possible presence of the wake-up frame, enabling the receiver to receive and detect another wake-up frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2025
    Assignee: Silicon Laboratories Inc.
    Inventor: Hendricus de Ruijter
  • Patent number: 12255678
    Abstract: In one aspect, a method comprises: receiving, in a controller of a wireless device, at least one of a first interrupt or a second interrupt, where: the first interrupt is to indicate that a receive radio frequency (RF) signal received in a front end circuit of the wireless device is overloading at least a low noise amplifier (LNA) of the front end circuit; and the second interrupt is to indicate that the receive RF signal is overloading at least a passive network of a system on chip (SoC) of the wireless device; and in response to the at least one of the first interrupt or the second interrupt, reconfiguring the front end circuit from a first mode into a second mode, where a relative order of a receiver RF signal processing path is different in the first mode than in the second mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2025
    Assignee: Silicon Laboratories Inc.
    Inventors: Hendricus De Ruijter, Thomas Edward Voor, Jeffrey L. Sonntag
  • Publication number: 20250031094
    Abstract: A technique for adding a new information rate to a legacy physical interface of a communications system includes using a rate switch packet including a distinct rate select start-of-frame delimiter that indicates a newly defined physical interface packet. The rate switch packet uses the same modulation scheme as a base rate packet (e.g., a packet using an information rate defined by a standard communications protocol) and the same preamble pattern as the base rate packet. The preamble length of the rate switch packet can be the same as or different from the preamble length of the base rate packet. An embodiment uses antenna diversity by selecting the antenna in the rate switch packet and using the selected antenna to receive an adjusted rate packet. Additional rate switch start-of-frame delimiters can be used to indicate more than one adjusted rate packet, e.g., to support multiple adjusted information rates.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 21, 2023
    Publication date: January 23, 2025
    Inventors: Hendricus De Ruijter, Terry Dickey, Wentao Li, Bryan Murawski, Marius Munder
  • Publication number: 20250024380
    Abstract: In one aspect, a method includes: detecting, in a receiver of a wireless device, an energy of a first wireless channel; determining whether the detected energy is within a range between a first threshold and a second threshold; and in response to determining that the detected energy is within the range, transmitting, from a transmitter of the wireless device, a first radio frequency (RF) signal within the first wireless channel at a power level less than a maximum power level.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 24, 2023
    Publication date: January 16, 2025
    Inventor: Hendricus De Ruijter
  • Patent number: 12200761
    Abstract: A wireless network device configured to monitor multiple channels for clear channel assessment (CCA) is disclosed. The receiver circuit of the network device comprises at least one CCA block, which is used to indicated whether a particular channel is clear. In certain embodiments, the network device checks each channel sequentially, and if both channels are free, transmits at least one packet. The at least one packet may include a MODE SWITCH packet and a second packet sent using the new PHY mode. The network device may also have multiple CCA blocks. In this scenario, the channels may be checked concurrently, and if both channels are free, the network device transmits at least one packet. Alternatively, the network device monitors multiple channels concurrently and selected one of the channels on which to transmit a preferred PHY mode, thereby avoiding the need for a MODE SWITCH packet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2025
    Assignee: Silicon Laboratories Inc.
    Inventor: Hendricus de Ruijter
  • Patent number: 12040924
    Abstract: A cluster correlator may be configured with: a first stage comprising a set of first correlators to correlate samples of an input signal with a first predetermined pattern and output an output sample, the set of first correlators to output a sample cluster corresponding to the output sample of the set of first correlators during a switching cycle of the first stage; a filter coupled to an output of the first stage to receive the sample cluster and to produce a processed output sample based on the sample cluster; and a second stage comprising at least one second correlator to receive a processed output sample from the filter and correlate the processed output sample with a second predetermined pattern, and output one or more correlation outputs during a switching cycle of the second stage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2023
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2024
    Assignee: Silicon Laboratories Inc.
    Inventors: Hendricus De Ruijter, Robert Gorday
  • Publication number: 20240178870
    Abstract: In one example, a receiver includes: a front end circuit to convert a radio frequency (RF) input signal into at least one frequency signal; a non-linear circuit coupled to the front end circuit, the non-linear circuit to generate at least one shaped frequency signal from the at least one frequency signal according to at least one non-linear transfer function; and a modulation signal detector coupled to the non-linear circuit to output a likelihood signal based on the at least one shaped frequency signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2022
    Publication date: May 30, 2024
    Inventor: Hendricus De Ruijter
  • Patent number: 11962325
    Abstract: A system and method for detecting the preamble of a wireless packet is disclosed. The system utilizes one or more received fragments as inputs to a correlator, forming correlator content inside the correlator memory. After every sample from the received fragment is provided to the correlator, the correlator then compares the correlator content to a known pattern pre-programmed as a set of correlation coefficients. The correlation coefficients may not align with the correlator content because the symbol boundaries are not known a-priori. By cyclic rotation of the correlation coefficients relative to the correlator content, or cyclic rotation of the correlator content relative to the known correlation coefficients, a match with one or more preamble symbols may be found. This technique may be used to reduce power during the preamble detection process. Alternatively, this technique can also be used for antenna diversity, multi PHY and multichannel applications.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: Silicon Laboratories Inc.
    Inventor: Hendricus de Ruijter
  • Patent number: 11909430
    Abstract: In one aspect, a method comprises: initializing a front end circuit of a wireless device into a first mode in which a radio frequency (RF) signal processing path comprises a low noise amplifier (LNA) having an output coupled to an RF filter; and in response to an RF signal received in the front end circuit having a level greater than a first threshold, reconfiguring the front end circuit into a second mode in which the RF filter is coupled to an input of the LNA.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: Silicon Laboratories Inc.
    Inventors: Hendricus De Ruijter, Thomas Edward Voor, Jeffrey L. Sonntag
  • Patent number: 11901924
    Abstract: In one aspect, an apparatus comprises a transmit path including a power amplifier to receive, process and output a transmit radio frequency (RF) signal the transmit path comprising a power amplifier. A detection circuit coupled to the transmit path may be configured to: detect, during a first portion of a packet of the transmit RF signal, a level of the transmit RF signal at an input to the power amplifier; and detect, during a second portion of the packet of the transmit RF signal the level of the transmit RF signal at an output of the power amplifier. Based at least in part on the detected level at at least one of the power amplifier input or output, a level of at least one component of the transmit path upstream to the power amplifier is to be updated, to control a transmit power variation of the transmit RF signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: Silicon Laboratories Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas Edward Voor, Hendricus De Ruijter, Richard Hendricks
  • Publication number: 20240039557
    Abstract: A system and method for detecting the preamble of a wireless packet is disclosed. The system utilizes one or more received fragments as inputs to a correlator, forming correlator content inside the correlator memory. After every sample from the received fragment is provided to the correlator, the correlator then compares the correlator content to a known pattern pre-programmed as a set of correlation coefficients. The correlation coefficients may not align with the correlator content because the symbol boundaries are not known a-priori. By cyclic rotation of the correlation coefficients relative to the correlator content, or cyclic rotation of the correlator content relative to the known correlation coefficients, a match with one or more preamble symbols may be found. This technique may be used to reduce power during the preamble detection process. Alternatively, this technique can also be used for antenna diversity, multi PHY and multichannel applications.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 26, 2022
    Publication date: February 1, 2024
    Inventor: Hendricus de Ruijter
  • Patent number: 11888540
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a radio-frequency (RF) receiver, which includes an automatic gain-control (AGC) circuit to use a gain signal to set a gain of front-end circuitry of the RF receiver. The RF receiver further includes an interference-detection circuit to use a value of the gain signal to detect an interference signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: Silicon Laboratories Inc.
    Inventor: Hendricus de Ruijter
  • Publication number: 20230421192
    Abstract: In one aspect, a method comprises: initializing a front end circuit of a wireless device into a first mode in which a radio frequency (RF) signal processing path comprises a low noise amplifier (LNA) having an output coupled to an RF filter; and in response to an RF signal received in the front end circuit having a level greater than a first threshold, reconfiguring the front end circuit into a second mode in which the RF filter is coupled to an input of the LNA.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 29, 2022
    Publication date: December 28, 2023
    Inventors: Hendricus De Ruijter, Thomas Edward Voor, Jeffrey L. Sonntag
  • Publication number: 20230421191
    Abstract: In one aspect, a method comprises: comparing, in a comparator, a signal level of a receive radio frequency (RF) signal to a first threshold, the receive RF signal obtained from a controllable location in an RF front end circuit; and in response to the signal level of the receive RF signal exceeding the first threshold, causing the RF front end circuit to be reconfigured from a first mode in which an input to a low noise amplifier (LNA) is coupled an antenna to a second mode in which the input to the LNA is coupled to an RF filter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 29, 2022
    Publication date: December 28, 2023
    Inventors: Thomas Edward Voor, Jeffrey L. Sonntag, Richard Hendricks, Logan Lucas, Jeffrey Merrill, Hendricus De Ruijter, Luigi Panseri
  • Publication number: 20230421183
    Abstract: In one aspect, an apparatus comprises a transmit path including a power amplifier to receive, process and output a transmit radio frequency (RF) signal the transmit path comprising a power amplifier. A detection circuit coupled to the transmit path may be configured to: detect, during a first portion of a packet of the transmit RF signal, a level of the transmit RF signal at an input to the power amplifier; and detect, during a second portion of the packet of the transmit RF signal the level of the transmit RF signal at an output of the power amplifier. Based at least in part on the detected level at at least one of the power amplifier input or output, a level of at least one component of the transmit path upstream to the power amplifier is to be updated, to control a transmit power variation of the transmit RF signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 29, 2022
    Publication date: December 28, 2023
    Inventors: Thomas Edward Voor, Hendricus De Ruijter, Richard Hendricks
  • Publication number: 20230421194
    Abstract: In one aspect, an apparatus includes a receive path to receive, process and output a receive radio frequency (RF) signal, the receive path comprising at least one low noise amplifier (LNA) and a plurality of signal nodes. The receive path may be configurable to operate in a plurality of modes. The apparatus also may include at least one filter to filter the receive RF signal and at least one detector circuit to detect one or more levels present at one or more of the plurality of signal nodes. The apparatus may configure an order of the at least one LNA and the at least one filter, based at least in part on the one or more levels detected in the at least one detector circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 29, 2022
    Publication date: December 28, 2023
    Inventors: Thomas Edward Voor, Jeffrey L. Sonntag, Richard Hendricks, Logan Lucas, Hendricus De Ruijter, Luigi Panseri
  • Publication number: 20230421197
    Abstract: In one aspect, a method comprises: receiving, in a controller of a wireless device, at least one of a first interrupt or a second interrupt, where: the first interrupt is to indicate that a receive radio frequency (RF) signal received in a front end circuit of the wireless device is overloading at least a low noise amplifier (LNA) of the front end circuit; and the second interrupt is to indicate that the receive RF signal is overloading at least a passive network of a system on chip (SoC) of the wireless device; and in response to the at least one of the first interrupt or the second interrupt, reconfiguring the front end circuit from a first mode into a second mode, where a relative order of a receiver RF signal processing path is different in the first mode than in the second mode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 29, 2022
    Publication date: December 28, 2023
    Inventors: Hendricus De Ruijter, Thomas Edward Voor, Jeffrey L. Sonntag