Patents by Inventor Lionel Cimaz

Lionel Cimaz 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: 9414176
    Abstract: The presence and/or state of an accessory having a connector of a first type (e.g. male connector) adapted to be plug into a connector of a second type (e.g. female connector) of an electronic device is detected based on an analysis of an electrical line coupled to the female connector of the device, wherein the electrical line analysis is started only when it is determined that the connector of the accessory is completely inserted into the connector of the device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2016
    Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS INTERNATIONAL N.V.
    Inventors: Lionel Cimaz, Stephane Le Coq
  • Patent number: 9392361
    Abstract: Described herein is a microphone assembly for an electronic device incorporating a microphone. The microphone assembly includes a microphone interface that enables direct coupling of inputs from the microphone to a preamplifier. For the purpose, the microphone interface includes a DC servo loop. The DC servo loop provides a DC path for supplying a DC bias current to the microphone and an AC path to receive the AC output obtained from the microphone. The AC path and the DC path allow separation of the AC output of the microphone from the DC bias current. The microphone interface is implemented using reduced number of IC pin interfaces and external components to achieve compactness of the device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Assignee: ST-Ericsson SA
    Inventors: Rishi C. Agarwal, Shyam S. Somayajula, Lionel Cimaz
  • Patent number: 9385593
    Abstract: A device may be associated with a power source. The device may include a charge pump configured to output a pulse-width modulated voltage based upon an input voltage from the power source, with the pulse-width modulated voltage varying between a first voltage and a second voltage. The device may also include a low-pass filter comprising an output capacitor, with the output capacitor being configured to average the pulsed-width modulated voltage and to output a filtered voltage having a value different than that of the input voltage. The device may further include a controller configured to selectively decouple the charge pump from the power source when a load imposed on the low-pass filter is below a threshold load.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2016
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics International N.V.
    Inventors: Shyam Somayajula, Sri Ram Gupta, Lionel Cimaz
  • Patent number: 9277315
    Abstract: Systems and methods for suppressing pop-up noise in an audio signal are disclosed. The system includes a driver circuit shared by a pin interface and a complementary pin interface. A control unit is coupled to the pin interface and the complementary pin interface. To activate the pin interface, the control unit is configured to first activate the driver output at the complementary pin interface. Once the complementary pin interface achieves a preset voltage, the driver output is switched to the pin interface by the control unit. In addition, the driver circuit can be calibrated for a DC offset on the complementary pin interface by re-using calibration data calculated at the pin interface. Further, DC correction signals can be provided from a pre-biasing circuit based on the calibration data of the driver circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2016
    Assignee: ST-Ericsson SA
    Inventors: Sanjeev Ranganathan, Shyam Somayajula, Srinath Sridharan, Lionel Cimaz
  • Publication number: 20150078577
    Abstract: The presence and/or state of an accessory having a connector of a first type (e.g. male connector) adapted to be plug into a connector of a second type (e.g. female connector) of an electronic device is detected based on an analysis of an electrical line coupled to the female connector of the device, wherein the electrical line analysis is started only when it is determined that the connector of the accessory is completely inserted into the connector of the device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2014
    Publication date: March 19, 2015
    Applicant: STMICROELECTRONICS INTERNATIONAL N.V.
    Inventors: Lionel Cimaz, Stephane Le Coq
  • Publication number: 20150070090
    Abstract: A device may be associated with a power source. The device may include a charge pump configured to output a pulse-width modulated voltage based upon an input voltage from the power source, with the pulse-width modulated voltage varying between a first voltage and a second voltage. The device may also include a low-pass filter comprising an output capacitor, with the output capacitor being configured to average the pulsed-width modulated voltage and to output a filtered voltage having a value different than that of the input voltage. The device may further include a controller configured to selectively decouple the charge pump from the power source when a load imposed on the low-pass filter is below a threshold load.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 10, 2014
    Publication date: March 12, 2015
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics International N.V.
    Inventors: Shyam Somayajula, Sri Ram Gupta, Lionel Cimaz
  • Patent number: 8917864
    Abstract: A full duplex audio communication terminal (100) comprises a noise attenuation module (4) arranged on a transmission path of the terminal. The noise attenuation module comprises two activation thresholds, which are respectively intended to be adjusted above a noise level and above an echo level of transmission signals (TC) produced by the terminal. The first or the second activation threshold is selected as a function of the detection of signals (R) received by said terminal. An improvement to the suppression in the transmission signals of echoes from received signals is thus obtained which is compatible with the principle of full duplex communication. Preferably, the noise attenuation module processes transmission signals which are produced by an echo compensator (2). Residual echo still present in the transmission signals already processed by the echo compensator is thus further reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 23, 2014
    Assignees: St-Ericsson SA, St-Ericsson (France) SAS
    Inventor: Lionel Cimaz
  • Patent number: 8904202
    Abstract: A component of an electronic circuit, the component comprising: a node (REG_ENB; DO) selectively configurable as an output node for providing an output signal to an external component or as an input node for providing an input signal to an internal component; a capacitor (C) selectively coupled to the node (REG_ENB; DO) to influence the time for the node (REG_ENB; DO) to transition between a low state and a high state; and a timer for measuring the time for the node to transition between a low state and a high state to provide a first information input signal, the state of the first information signal depending on the time for the node to transition between the low state and the high state and being indicative of a first information. A method of node management is also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignees: ST-Ericsson SA, ST-Ericsson (France) SAS
    Inventor: Lionel Cimaz
  • Publication number: 20140341386
    Abstract: An apparatus comprising a controller, a first acoustic sensor and a second acoustic sensor, wherein said first acoustic sensor is arranged remote from said second acoustic sensor, and wherein said controller is configured to receive a main signal from said first acoustic sensor, receive a probe signal from said second acoustic sensor, generate a noise signal by subtracting with a first filter filtered said main signal from said probe signal, and generate a noise reduced voice signal by subtracting with a second filter filtered noise signal from said main signal, wherein said first filter is adapted based on a voice component of the main signal and the probe signal in the absence or near absence of noise and said second filter is adapted based on the noise components of said main signal and said probe signal when no voice input is present.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 20, 2014
    Publication date: November 20, 2014
    Inventor: LIONEL CIMAZ
  • Publication number: 20140334632
    Abstract: Systems and methods for suppressing pop-up noise in an audio signal are disclosed. The system includes a driver circuit shared by a pin interface and a complementary pin interface. A control unit is coupled to the pin interface and the complementary pin interface. To activate the pin interface, the control unit is configured to first activate the driver output at the complementary pin interface. Once the complementary pin interface achieves a preset voltage, the driver output is switched to the pin interface by the control unit. In addition, the driver circuit can be calibrated for a DC offset on the complementary pin interface by re-using calibration data calculated at the pin interface. Further, DC correction signals can be provided from a pre-biasing circuit based on the calibration data of the driver circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 10, 2014
    Publication date: November 13, 2014
    Inventors: SANJEEV RANGANATHAN, SHYAM SOMAYAJULA, SRINATH SRIDHARAN, LIONEL CIMAZ
  • Patent number: 8787588
    Abstract: Systems and methods for a low pin architecture to couple speakers with integrated circuits are disclosed herein. In an implementation, the low pin architecture facilitates in reducing the required pin interfaces to couple a low power speaker, a high power speaker, and earphone speakers with integrated circuits (ICs). For this, the high power speaker can be cross-coupled between the pin interfaces that are coupled to the low power speaker and the earphone speakers. These pin interfaces are driven by corresponding driver circuits. In said implementation, some of the driver circuits can be shared to drive multiple pin interfaces. These shared driver circuits include a combined cascode circuit having a first cascode circuit integrated with a second cascode circuit to reliably and selectively drive one or more of the pin interfaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignees: ST-Ericsson SA, ST-Ericsson PVT. Ltd.
    Inventors: Sanjeev Ranganathan, Shyam Somayajula, Srinath Sridharan, Arnold D'Souza, Ramkishore Ganti, Lionel Cimaz
  • Patent number: 8787597
    Abstract: Systems and methods for suppressing pop-up noise in an audio signal are disclosed. The system includes a driver circuit shared by a pin interface and a complementary pin interface. A control unit is coupled to the pin interface and the complementary pin interface. To activate the pin interface, the control unit is configured to first activate the driver output at the complementary pin interface. Once the complementary pin interface achieves a preset voltage, the driver output is switched to the pin interface by the control unit. In addition, the driver circuit can be calibrated for a DC offset on the complementary pin interface by re-using calibration data calculated at the pin interface. Further, DC correction signals can be provided from a pre-biasing circuit based on the calibration data of the driver circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignees: St-Ericsson India Pvt. Ltd., St-Ericsson SA
    Inventors: Sanjeev Ranganathan, Shyam Somayajula, Srinath Sridharan, Lionel Cimaz
  • Patent number: 8682268
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of suppressing noise in a communication device. The idea consists in forwarding to a noise suppression module some information regarding the radio transmission in terms of radio activity and/or in terms of radio transmission power. The module then advantageously uses this information to suppress radio path noise.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2014
    Assignee: Ericsson Modems SA
    Inventor: Lionel Cimaz
  • Publication number: 20120308052
    Abstract: Described herein is a microphone assembly for an electronic device incorporating a microphone. The microphone assembly includes a microphone interface that enables direct coupling of inputs from the microphone to a preamplifier. For the purpose, the microphone interface includes a DC servo loop. The DC servo loop provides a DC path for supplying a DC bias current to the microphone and an AC path to receive the AC output obtained from the microphone. The AC path and the DC path allow separation of the AC output of the microphone from the DC bias current. The microphone interface is implemented using reduced number of IC pin interfaces and external components to achieve compactness of the device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 20, 2010
    Publication date: December 6, 2012
    Inventors: Rishi C. Agarwal, Shyam S. Somayajula, Lionel Cimaz
  • Publication number: 20120171974
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of suppressing noise in a communication device. The idea consists in forwarding to a noise suppression module some information regarding the radio transmission in terms of radio activity and/or in terms of radio transmission power. The module then advantageously uses this information to suppress radio path noise.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 14, 2010
    Publication date: July 5, 2012
    Applicants: ST-ERICSSON (FRANCE) SAS, ST-ERICSSON SA
    Inventor: Lionel Cimaz
  • Publication number: 20120159213
    Abstract: A component of an electronic circuit, the component comprising: a node (REG_ENB; DO) selectively configurable as an output node for providing an output signal to an external component or as an input node for providing an input signal to an internal component; a capacitor (C) selectively coupled to the node (REG_ENB; DO) to influence the time for the node (REG_ENB; DO) to transition between a low state and a high state; and a timer for measuring the time for the node to transition between a low state and a high state to provide a first information input signal, the state of the first information signal depending on the time for the node to transition between the low state and the high state and being indicative of a first information. A method of node management is also described.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 19, 2010
    Publication date: June 21, 2012
    Applicants: ST-ERICSSON SA, ST-ERICSSON (FRANCE) SAS
    Inventor: Lionel Cimaz
  • Publication number: 20120114115
    Abstract: A full duplex audio communication terminal (100) comprises a noise attenuation module (4) arranged on a transmission path of the terminal. The noise attenuation module comprises two activation thresholds, which are respectively intended to be adjusted above a noise level and above an echo level of transmission signals (TC) produced by the terminal. The first or the second activation threshold is selected as a function of the detection of signals (R) received by said terminal. An improvement to the suppression in the transmission signals of echoes from received signals is thus obtained which is compatible with the principle of full duplex communication. Preferably, the noise attenuation module processes transmission signals which are produced by an echo compensator (2). Residual echo still present in the transmission signals already processed by the echo compensator is thus further reduced.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 11, 2010
    Publication date: May 10, 2012
    Inventor: Lionel Cimaz
  • Publication number: 20100220875
    Abstract: Systems and methods for suppressing pop-up noise in an audio signal are disclosed. The system includes a driver circuit shared by a pin interface and a complementary pin interface. A control unit is coupled to the pin interface and the complementary pin interface. To activate the pin interface, the control unit is configured to first activate the driver output at the complementary pin interface. Once the complementary pin interface achieves a preset voltage, the driver output is switched to the pin interface by the control unit. In addition, the driver circuit can be calibrated for a DC offset on the complementary pin interface by re-using calibration data calculated at the pin interface. Further, DC correction signals can be provided from a pre-biasing circuit based on the calibration data of the driver circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 25, 2010
    Publication date: September 2, 2010
    Applicants: ST-Ericsson India Pvt. Ltd., ST-Ericsson SA
    Inventors: Sanjeev Ranganathan, Shyam Somayajula, Srinath Sridharan, Lionel Cimaz
  • Publication number: 20100220868
    Abstract: Systems and methods for a low pin architecture to couple speakers with integrated circuits are disclosed herein. In an implementation, the low pin architecture facilitates in reducing the required pin interfaces to couple a low power speaker, a high power speaker, and earphone speakers with integrated circuits (ICs). For this, the high power speaker can be cross-coupled between the pin interfaces that are coupled to the low power speaker and the earphone speakers. These pin interfaces are driven by corresponding driver circuits. In said implementation, some of the driver circuits can be shared to drive multiple pin interfaces. These shared driver circuits include a combined cascode circuit having a first cascode circuit integrated with a second cascode circuit to reliably and selectively drive one or more of the pin interfaces.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 25, 2010
    Publication date: September 2, 2010
    Applicants: ST-Ericsson India Pvt. Ltd, ST-Ericsson SA
    Inventors: Sanjeev Ranganathan, Shyam Somayajula, Srinath Sridharan, Arnold D'Souza, Ramkishore Ganti, Lionel Cimaz
  • Patent number: 7671560
    Abstract: In one embodiment, the present invention includes a method for performing a test on a rechargeable battery to indirectly determine a state of protection circuitry associated with the battery. The method may discharge the battery by controlling a pull-down current into a system, determine if the battery voltage falls below a first threshold level within a predetermined amount of time, and if so provide a pre-charge current to the battery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 2, 2010
    Assignee: ST-Ericsson SA
    Inventors: Russell Croman, G. Diwakar Vishakhadatta, Lionel Cimaz