Patents by Inventor Kimihiko Imura

Kimihiko Imura 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: 20180323135
    Abstract: Methods and systems for improved matching of on-chip capacitors may comprise a semiconductor die with an on-chip capacitor comprising one or more metal layers. The on-chip capacitor may comprise interdigitated electrically coupled metal fingers. The electrically coupled metal fingers may be arranged symmetrically in the semiconductor die to compensate for non-uniformities in the one or more metal layers. The metal fingers may be arranged with radial symmetry. Metal fingers in a first metal layer may be electrically coupled to metal fingers in a second metal layer. An orientation of metal fingers may be alternated when coupling metal fingers in a plurality of metal layers. The metal fingers may be coupled at the center or the outer edge of the on-chip capacitor. The on-chip capacitor may be configured in a plurality of symmetric sections wherein a boundary between each of the plurality of sections is configured in a zig-zag pattern.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 9, 2018
    Publication date: November 8, 2018
    Inventors: Weizhong Cai, Kimihiko Imura, Wei Gu
  • Patent number: 10020247
    Abstract: Methods and systems for improved matching for on-chip capacitors may comprise in a semiconductor die comprising an on-chip capacitor with one or more metal layers: electrically coupling a first set of metal fingers, electrically coupling a second set of metal fingers that are interdigitated with the first set of metal fingers, wherein the first set of metal fingers and the second set of metal fingers are arranged symmetrically in the semiconductor die, and configuring the on-chip capacitor in a plurality of symmetric sections, wherein a boundary between each of the plurality of sections is configured in a zig-zag pattern. The first set of metal fingers and the second set of metal fingers may be arranged with radial symmetry. A first set of metal fingers in a first metal layer may be electrically coupled to a set of metal fingers in a second metal layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: Maxlinear, Inc.
    Inventors: Weizhong Cai, Kimihiko Imura, Wei Gu
  • Publication number: 20170148712
    Abstract: Methods and systems for improved matching of on-chip capacitors may comprise a semiconductor die with an on-chip capacitor comprising one or more metal layers. The on-chip capacitor may comprise interdigitated electrically coupled metal fingers. The electrically coupled metal fingers may be arranged symmetrically in the semiconductor die to compensate for non-uniformities in the one or more metal layers. The metal fingers may be arranged with radial symmetry. Metal fingers in a first metal layer may be electrically coupled to metal fingers in a second metal layer. An orientation of metal fingers may be alternated when coupling metal fingers in a plurality of metal layers. The metal fingers may be coupled at the center or the outer edge of the on-chip capacitor. The on-chip capacitor may be configured in a plurality of symmetric sections wherein a boundary between each of the plurality of sections is configured in a zig-zag pattern.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 24, 2015
    Publication date: May 25, 2017
    Inventors: Weizhong Cai, Kimihiko Imura, Wei Gu
  • Patent number: 9209238
    Abstract: Methods and systems for improved matching of on-chip capacitors may comprise a semiconductor die with an on-chip capacitor comprising one or more metal layers. The on-chip capacitor may comprise interdigitated electrically coupled metal fingers. The electrically coupled metal fingers may be arranged symmetrically in the semiconductor die to compensate for non-uniformities in the one or more metal layers. The metal fingers may be arranged with radial symmetry. Metal fingers in a first metal layer may be electrically coupled to metal fingers in a second metal layer. An orientation of metal fingers may be alternated when coupling metal fingers in a plurality of metal layers. The metal fingers may be coupled at the center or the outer edge of the on-chip capacitor. The on-chip capacitor may be configured in a plurality of symmetric sections wherein a boundary between each of the plurality of sections is configured in a zig-zag pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2015
    Assignee: Maxlinear, Inc.
    Inventors: Weizhong Cai, Kimihiko Imura, Wei Gu
  • Publication number: 20140301133
    Abstract: Methods and systems for a high-density, low-cost, CMOS compatible memory may comprise a memory cell on a chip, the memory cell comprising: a plurality of capacitor/switch pairs, where for each pair comprising a switch and a capacitor, a source terminal of the switch is coupled to a gate terminal of the capacitor. The memory cell may also comprise a reset transistor, a biasing circuit, and a source follower. A drain terminal of each switch may be coupled to a floating node that couples a source terminal of the reset transistor and a gate terminal of the source follower. Drain and source terminals of each of the switches of the plurality of capacitor/switch pairs may be coupled to ground. A number of the plurality of capacitor/switch pairs may indicate a number of bits in the memory. The biasing circuit may comprise a current mirror. A bit-line for the memory cell may be coupled to a source terminal of the source follower. The bit-line may comprise a metal trace.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 3, 2014
    Publication date: October 9, 2014
    Applicant: MaxLinear, Inc.
    Inventors: Kimihiko Imura, Jianping Yang
  • Publication number: 20140001553
    Abstract: Methods and systems for improved analog performance of core CMOS transistors may comprise a semiconductor die comprising both input/output (I/O) complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) transistors and core CMOS transistors. A doping profile of a subset of the core CMOS transistors may comprise lightly-doped drain and pocket implant layers between source and drain layers below a gate insulator, and a doping profile of another subset of the core CMOS transistors may be constant between source and drain layer. The core CMOS devices may comprise sub-100 nanometer gate lengths. An output resistance of the second subset of the core CMOS transistors may be increased by the constant doping profile between the source and drain layers. The second subset of the core CMOS transistors may be operable to amplify analog signals. The first subset of the core CMOS transistors may be operable to process digital signals.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 25, 2013
    Publication date: January 2, 2014
    Inventor: Kimihiko Imura
  • Publication number: 20130334658
    Abstract: Methods and systems for improved matching of on-chip capacitors may comprise a semiconductor die with an on-chip capacitor comprising one or more metal layers. The on-chip capacitor may comprise interdigitated electrically coupled metal fingers. The electrically coupled metal fingers may be arranged symmetrically in the semiconductor die to compensate for non-uniformities in the one or more metal layers. The metal fingers may be arranged with radial symmetry. Metal fingers in a first metal layer may be electrically coupled to metal fingers in a second metal layer. An orientation of metal fingers may be alternated when coupling metal fingers in a plurality of metal layers. The metal fingers may be coupled at the center or the outer edge of the on-chip capacitor. The on-chip capacitor may be configured in a plurality of symmetric sections wherein a boundary between each of the plurality of sections is configured in a zig-zag pattern.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 13, 2013
    Publication date: December 19, 2013
    Inventors: Weizhong Cai, Kimihiko Imura, Wei Gu