Patents by Inventor Tony Coffey

Tony Coffey 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: 7932735
    Abstract: A method and implementation is described by which I/O input and output circuitry of a CMOS chip are measured without the need to probe the chip. Output driver transistors are used to provide marginal voltages to test input circuits, and the output driver transistors are segmented into portions where a first portion is used to provide a representative “on” current, which is coupled to a test bus that is further connected to a current comparator circuit contained within the chip. Both leakage and “on” current of the driver transistors is measured using segmented driver transistors. The output of the current comparator circuit is connected to a test scan register or to a test output from which test results are obtained digitally. The testing techniques are also applicable for other semiconductor devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2011
    Assignee: Dialog Semiconductor GmbH
    Inventors: Hans Martin Von Staudt, Tony Coffey
  • Publication number: 20100045329
    Abstract: A method and implementation is described by which I/O input and output circuitry of a CMOS chip are measured without the need to probe the chip. Output driver transistors are used to provide marginal voltages to test input circuits, and the output driver transistors are segmented into portions where a first portion is used to provide a representative “on” current, which is coupled to a test bus that is further connected to a current comparator circuit contained within the chip. Both leakage and “on” current of the driver transistors is measured using segmented driver transistors. The output of the current comparator circuit is connected to a test scan register or to a test output from which test results are obtained digitally. The testing techniques are also applicable for other semiconductor devices.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 23, 2009
    Publication date: February 25, 2010
    Inventors: Hans Martin Von Staudt, Tony Coffey
  • Patent number: 7609079
    Abstract: A method and implementation is described by which I/O input and output circuitry of a CMOS chip are measured without the need to probe the chip. Output driver transistors are used to provide marginal voltages to test input circuits, and the output driver transistors are segmented into portions where a first portion is used to provide a representative “on” current, which is coupled to a test bus that is further connected to a current comparator circuit contained within the chip. Both leakage and “on” current of the driver transistors is measured using segmented driver transistors. The output of the current comparator circuit is connected to a test scan register or to a test output from which test results are obtained digitally. The testing techniques are also applicable for other semiconductor devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2009
    Assignee: Dialog Semiconductor GmbH
    Inventors: Hans Martin Von Staudt, Tony Coffey
  • Patent number: 7474291
    Abstract: Circuits and methods to adjust the brightness of LCD displays have been achieved. The invention applies for LCD systems having a single or multiple display screens. The technique applied makes use of the property of LCDs where each pixel responds to the applied RMS voltage across it, and changing the timing of the COMMON signal reduces the applied voltage. This technique is applicable to both black and white and color displays as well as both standard scan and multi-addressing schemes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2009
    Assignee: Dialog Semiconductor GmbH
    Inventors: Julian Tyrrell, Tony Coffey
  • Publication number: 20070208526
    Abstract: A method and implementation is described by which I/O input and output circuitry of a CMOS chip are measured without the need to probe the chip. Output driver transistors are used to provide marginal voltages to test input circuits, and the output driver transistors are segmented into portions where a first portion is used to provide a representative “on” current, which is coupled to a test bus that is further connected to a current comparator circuit contained within the chip. Both leakage and “on” current of the driver transistors is measured using segmented driver transistors. The output of the current comparator circuit is connected to a test scan register or to a test output from which test results are obtained digitally. The testing techniques are also applicable for other semiconductor devices.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 2, 2006
    Publication date: September 6, 2007
    Inventors: Hans Staudt, Tony Coffey
  • Publication number: 20060109226
    Abstract: Circuits and methods to adjust the brightness of LCD displays have been achieved. The invention applies for LCD systems having a single or multiple display panels. The technique applied makes use of the property of LCDs where each pixel responds to the applied RMS voltage across it, and changing the timing of the COMMON signal reduces the applied voltage. This technique is applicable to both black and white and color displays as well as both standard scan and multi-adressing schemes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 1, 2004
    Publication date: May 25, 2006
    Inventors: Julian Tyrrell, Tony Coffey