Patents by Inventor Richard P. Fournel

Richard P. Fournel 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).

  • Voltage threshold detection circuit with very low consumption
    Patent number: 5619165
    Abstract: A supply-voltage-monitoring circuit, for low-power integrated circuits, in which charge-sharing through a switched-capacitor chain is used to couple the supply voltage to a dynamic sensing node. The dynamic sensing node drives a half-latch, which is stable in a no-alarm condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 1995
    Date of Patent: April 8, 1997
    Assignee: SGS-Thomson Microelectronics, S.A.
    Inventors: Richard P. Fournel, Laurent Sourgen
  • Circuit for the detection of voltage thresholds
    Patent number: 5602500
    Abstract: A circuit to detect the crossing of at least one voltage threshold by an input voltage of an integrated circuit has two arms mounted in negative feedback configuration, each comprising a forward biased diode in series with a current generator. The current generator of an arm is controlled in voltage by the other arm. An inverter calibrated to detect a crossing of a given threshold is connected at input to the connection point between the diode and the generator of one of the arms.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 1993
    Date of Patent: February 11, 1997
    Assignee: SGS-Thomson Microelectronics, S. A.
    Inventor: Richard P. Fournel
  • Voltage threshold detection circuit with very low power consumption
    Patent number: 5440263
    Abstract: A supply-voltage-monitoring circuit, for low-power integrated circuits, in which charge-sharing through a switched-capacitor chain is used to couple the supply voltage to a dynamic sensing node. The dynamic sensing node drives a half-latch, which is stable in a no-alarm condition. In this circuit, the state of the output gets switched over in the first phase if the voltage at the terminals of the capacitor at the start of this stage (this voltage being equal to a fraction of the input voltage) crosses a determined threshold. This threshold is determined as a function of technical parameters for the construction of the circuit. These technical parameters are chiefly the threshold voltage of the transistor and the characteristics of the transistors that form the locking circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 1993
    Date of Patent: August 8, 1995
    Assignee: SGS-Thomson Microelectronics, S.A.
    Inventors: Richard P. Fournel, Laurent Sourgen
  • Resistor-capacitor-transistor type integrated circuit, method for the manufacture of such a circuit and application to an oscillator
    Patent number: 5430319
    Abstract: A resistor-capacitor-transistor type of integrated circuit comprises mainly a non-self-aligned N diffusion bar 1 covered with a polysilicon plate, and a drain type N diffusion, self-aligned by the polysilicon plate. The resulting structure is a distributed resistor-capacitor-transistor quadripole whose main characteristics are that it is very compact and that the time taken by the capacitor to get discharged through the transistor is independent of the dimensions of the structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 1994
    Date of Patent: July 4, 1995
    Assignee: SGS-Thomson Microelectronics, S.A.
    Inventors: Richard P. Fournel, Francois Tailliet