Patents by Inventor Kosta Kovacic

Kosta Kovacic 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: 20190036568
    Abstract: When communicating using active load modulation in a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system, a carrier signal having a carrier frequency is received from a reader device. In response, a modulated signal is generated and a burst of a sending signal is transmitted. The sending signal is decayed at the end of the burst.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 21, 2016
    Publication date: January 31, 2019
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics International N.V.
    Inventors: Kosta Kovacic, Albin Pevec
  • Publication number: 20180343152
    Abstract: A demodulator circuit receives an envelope signal for comparison against a switched reference signal that is generated as a function of the envelope signal and as a function of an output signal of the demodulator circuit. The switched reference signal is filtered by an RC filter prior to comparison. The output signal is dependent on a difference between the filtered switched reference signal and the envelope signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2016
    Publication date: November 29, 2018
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics International N.V.
    Inventors: Vinko Kunc, Albin Pevec, Kosta Kovacic
  • Publication number: 20180343037
    Abstract: A near field communication (NFC) method includes activating an NFC device second device in response to a first electromagnetic field generated by a nearby NFC device. The NFC device generates a second electromagnetic field after being activated. The first NFC device can detect the second electromagnetic field and initiate a near field communication process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 25, 2018
    Publication date: November 29, 2018
    Inventors: Alexandre Tramoni, Maksimiljan Stiglic, Kosta Kovacic
  • Patent number: 10128913
    Abstract: A circuit of an actively transmitting tag includes an antenna, a digitizer, a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), an output amplifier, a phase-displacement detector, and a regulator. The input of the digitizer connects to the antenna. The outputs of the digitizer and the output amplifier are connected to the input terminals of the phase-displacement detector. The output amplifier connects the output of the VCO to the antenna and the regulator connects the output of the phase-displacement detector to the VCO.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics International N.V.
    Inventors: Vinko Kunc, Maksimiljan Stiglic, Kosta Kovacic, Albin Pevec, Anton Stern
  • Publication number: 20180324012
    Abstract: A method of wireless communication includes transmitting frames from a transponder to a reader and synchronizing between a reader carrier frequency and an active load modulation (ALM) carrier frequency within each transmitted frame. Each transmitted frame includes ALM carrier bursts generated from subcarrier modulation by binary phase shift keying (BPSK) data encoding and producing signal oscillations at a transponder antenna after each ALM carrier burst generation, The synchronizing occurs at each phase change of the data encoding when no burst is generated during a half period of the subcarrier preceding the phase change and a half period of the subcarrier following this phase change. The transponder antenna has a moderate quality factor sufficient to naturally damp the signal oscillations so that the synchronizing is performed without performing any controlled signal oscillations damping.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2018
    Publication date: November 8, 2018
    Inventors: Maksimiljan Stiglic, Kosta Kovacic
  • Patent number: 10122557
    Abstract: A method of wireless communication includes transmitting frames from a transponder to a reader and synchronizing between a reader carrier frequency and an active load modulation (ALM) carrier frequency within each transmitted frame. Each transmitted frame includes ALM carrier bursts generated from subcarrier modulation by binary phase shift keying (BPSK) data encoding and producing signal oscillations at a transponder antenna after each ALM carrier burst generation, The synchronizing occurs at each phase change of the data encoding when no burst is generated during a half period of the subcarrier preceding the phase change and a half period of the subcarrier following this phase change. The transponder antenna has a moderate quality factor sufficient to naturally damp the signal oscillations so that the synchronizing is performed without performing any controlled signal oscillations damping.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2018
    Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS RAZVOJ POLPREVODNIKOV D.O.O.
    Inventors: Maksimiljan Stiglic, Kosta Kovacic
  • Patent number: 10049237
    Abstract: Embodiments provide a method for sending a message from an RFID transponder to a reader during a transmission frame using active load modulation, the method comprising. An encoded bit signal has a first logic level during first time segments within the transmission frame and a second logic level during second time segments within the transmission frame. The first time segments include an initial time segment of the transmission frame. A transmission signal is generated based on the encoded bit signal. The transmission signal is generated having a first phase depending on the first logic level during the first time segments, a second phase depending on the second logic level during the second time segments, and the second phase during a time interval preceding the transmission frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2018
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics International N.V.
    Inventors: Kosta Kovacic, Albin Pevec, Maksimiljan Stiglic
  • Publication number: 20180227019
    Abstract: An RFID transponder includes a coding and modulation unit that generates a transmission signal by modulating an oscillator signal with an encoded bit signal. During a first and a second time segment, the encoded bit signal assumes a first and a second logic level, respectively. The transmission signal includes a first signal pulse having a first phase within the first time segment and a second signal pulse having a second phase that is shifted with respect to the first phase by a predefined phase difference within the second time segment. The transmission signal is paused for a pause period between the first and the second signal pulse. The pause period is shorter than a mean value of a period of the first time segment and a period of the second time segment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 15, 2016
    Publication date: August 9, 2018
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics International N.V.
    Inventors: Kosta Kovacic, Albin Pevec, Maksimiljan Stiglic
  • Publication number: 20180197059
    Abstract: A circuit includes an antenna circuit including a number of capacitors and an inductor. The antenna circuit is configured to transmit an output signal upon receiving an input transmit signal. A first control block is configured to transmit an enabling signal upon detecting a presence of a supply voltage at a feeding terminal of the actively transmitting tag in response to the actively transmitting tag being inserted into a host device. A VCO is configured to generate the input transmit signal with the frequency of the interrogator carrier signal upon receiving the enabling signal from the first control block and upon receiving the control voltage from the memory. A second control block is configured to enable a subset of the plurality of capacitors of the antenna circuit upon receiving the enabling signal from the first control block.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 6, 2018
    Publication date: July 12, 2018
    Inventors: Vinko Kunc, Maksimiljan Stiglic, Kosta Kovacic
  • Publication number: 20180165569
    Abstract: An RFID transponder device has antenna terminals for coupling an antenna system to the device. A transmitter and a receiver are coupled to the antenna terminals. The device has at least one damping resistance connected to at least one of the antenna terminals. The at least one damping resistance is connected, depending on a voltage swing at the antenna terminals during a transmission burst period, either together with a serially connected switch in parallel to the antenna terminals that are coupled to the receiver, or together with a parallel connected switch between one of the antenna terminals and a terminal of the transmitter. A damping control is configured to activate the at least one damping resistance during a damping period after the transmission burst period by controlling the respective switch.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 12, 2018
    Publication date: June 14, 2018
    Inventors: Vinko Kunc, Anton Stern, Kosta Kovacic, Albin Pevec, Maksimiljan Stiglic
  • Patent number: 9946966
    Abstract: Tuning an antenna circuit of an actively transmitting tag to a frequency of an interrogator carrier signal after the tag was inserted into a host device is accomplished by detecting presence of the interrogator carrier signal at a location of the actively transmitting tag and hereafter setting capacitances of capacitors and/or inductances of coils comprised in said antenna circuit in a way that resonance of said antenna circuit is established while the antenna circuit is excited by a magnetic field of said interrogator carrier signal. This allows automatic tuning of an antenna circuit of an actively transmitting tag after it was inserted together with a miniature card into a host device, such as a mobile telephone, personal digital assistant, tablet PC and similar devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics International N.V.
    Inventors: Vinko Kunc, Maksimilijan Stiglic, Kosta Kovacic
  • Patent number: 9928458
    Abstract: An RFID transponder device has antenna terminals for coupling an antenna system to the device. A transmitter and a receiver are coupled to the antenna terminals. The device has at least one damping resistance connected to at least one of the antenna terminals. The at least one damping resistance is connected, depending on a voltage swing at the antenna terminals during a transmission burst period, either together with a serially connected switch in parallel to the antenna terminals that are coupled to the receiver, or together with a parallel connected switch between one of the antenna terminals and a terminal of the transmitter. A damping control is configured to activate the at least one damping resistance during a damping period after the transmission burst period by controlling the respective switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2018
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics International N.V.
    Inventors: Vinko Kunc, Anton Stern, Kosta Kovacic, Albin Pevec, Maksimiljan Stiglic
  • Publication number: 20180025267
    Abstract: In an embodiment, a carrier signal generation circuit can be used for a Radio-frequency identification (RFID) transponder device. A frequency divider circuit has a first input to receive a first frequency signal, a second input to receive a division ratio signal, and an output to provide a carrier signal as a function of the first frequency signal and the division ratio signal. A phase difference circuit has a first input to receive an analog reader device carrier signal, a second input to receive a signal based on the first frequency signal and an output to provide a digital phase difference signal as a function of the reader device carrier signal and the signal based on the first frequency signal. A signal processor has an input coupled to the output of the phase difference circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2017
    Publication date: January 25, 2018
    Inventors: Vinko Kunc, Iztok Bratuz, Albin Pevec, Kosta Kovacic, Maksimiljan Stiglic
  • Publication number: 20170338862
    Abstract: A circuit of an actively transmitting tag includes an antenna, a digitizer, a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), an output amplifier, a phase-displacement detector, and a regulator. The input of the digitizer connects to the antenna. The outputs of the digitizer and the output amplifier are connected to the input terminals of the phase-displacement detector. The output amplifier connects the output of the VCO to the antenna and the regulator connects the output of the phase-displacement detector to the VCO.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 4, 2017
    Publication date: November 23, 2017
    Inventors: Vinko Kunc, Maksimiljan Stiglic, Kosta Kovacic, Albin Pevec, Anton Stern
  • Publication number: 20170300723
    Abstract: Embodiments provide a method for sending a message from an RFID transponder to a reader during a transmission frame using active load modulation, the method comprising. An encoded bit signal has a first logic level during first time segments within the transmission frame and a second logic level during second time segments within the transmission frame. The first time segments include an initial time segment of the transmission frame. A transmission signal is generated based on the encoded bit signal. The transmission signal is generated having a first phase depending on the first logic level during the first time segments, a second phase depending on the second logic level during the second time segments, and the second phase during a time interval preceding the transmission frame.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2017
    Publication date: October 19, 2017
    Inventors: Kosta Kovacic, Albin Pevec, Maksimiljan Stiglic
  • Patent number: 9760822
    Abstract: An actively transmitting tag detects a shift of a phase of an antenna signal (as) with regard to a phase of a transmitted signal (ts) in time intervals with a length of one half-period of a subcarrier, in which time intervals it transmits high-frequency wave packets with their phase being inverted according to a communication protocol at the ends of said half-periods. Generation of said wave packets is controlled by said phase shift in a way that said phase shift retains its absolute value at transitions into subsequent half-periods. Synchronizing the tag's transmission to a received interrogator signal carried out even during tag's transmitting enables the tag to transmit according to protocol ISO 14443 B by inverting a phase at transitions between said half-periods. Said synchronizing is carried out although no time window without a tag transmitting exists within the transmitted data frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2017
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics International N.V.
    Inventors: Vinko Kunc, Maksimiljan Stiglic, Kosta Kovacic, Albin Pevec, Anton Stern
  • Publication number: 20170116509
    Abstract: An RFID transponder device has antenna terminals for coupling an antenna system to the device. A transmitter and a receiver are coupled to the antenna terminals. The device has at least one damping resistance connected to at least one of the antenna terminals. The at least one damping resistance is connected, depending on a voltage swing at the antenna terminals during a transmission burst period, either together with a serially connected switch in parallel to the antenna terminals that are coupled to the receiver, or together with a parallel connected switch between one of the antenna terminals and a terminal of the transmitter. A damping control is configured to activate the at least one damping resistance during a damping period after the transmission burst period by controlling the respective switch.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 3, 2017
    Publication date: April 27, 2017
    Inventors: Vinko Kunc, Anton Stern, Kosta Kovacic, Albin Pevec, Maksimiljan Stiglic
  • Patent number: 9576237
    Abstract: An RFID transponder device has antenna terminals for coupling an antenna system to the device. A transmitter and a receiver are coupled to the antenna terminals. The device has at least one damping resistance connected to at least one of the antenna terminals. The at least one damping resistance is connected, depending on a voltage swing at the antenna terminals during a transmission burst period, either together with a serially connected switch in parallel to the antenna terminals that are coupled to the receiver, or together with a parallel connected switch between one of the antenna terminals and a terminal of the transmitter. A damping control is configured to activate the at least one damping resistance during a damping period after the transmission burst period by controlling the respective switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2017
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics International N.V.
    Inventors: Vinko Kunc, Anton Stern, Kosta Kovacic, Albin Pevec, Maksimiljan Stiglic
  • Patent number: 9558382
    Abstract: A microprogram for performing communication between an RFID smart tag and external digital sensors (EDS1, EDSK) is loaded in a buffer (Bu). A hard-wired dedicated processing unit (DPU) of the tag reads, decodes and executes said microprogram through the digital communication interface (DCI). The sensor data is stored at beginning locations of said buffer (Bu), wherefrom they are read by an RFID interrogator. The tag functionality in an application is settable with the RFID interrogator to an automatic data logger or RFID wireless sensor. The tag is adjustable to various types of digital sensors from various manufacturers. A hardwired dedicated processing unit makes it possible that the tag saves more energy, has smaller dimensions and is faster.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignee: AMS R&D ANALOGNI POLPREVODNIKI, D.O.O.
    Inventors: Kosta Kovacic, Vinko Kunc, Anton Pletersek
  • Publication number: 20160371580
    Abstract: An RFID transponder device has antenna terminals for coupling an antenna system to the device. A transmitter and a receiver are coupled to the antenna terminals. The device has at least one damping resistance connected to at least one of the antenna terminals. The at least one damping resistance is connected, depending on a voltage swing at the antenna terminals during a transmission burst period, either together with a serially connected switch in parallel to the antenna terminals that are coupled to the receiver, or together with a parallel connected switch between one of the antenna terminals and a terminal of the transmitter. A damping control is configured to activate the at least one damping resistance during a damping period after the transmission burst period by controlling the respective switch.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 12, 2014
    Publication date: December 22, 2016
    Inventors: Vinko KUNC, Anton STERN, Kosta KOVACIC, Albin PEVEC, Maksimiljan STIGLIC