Abstract: A method includes: positioning a wafer on an electrostatic chuck of a physical vapor deposition apparatus, the wafer including an opening exposing a conductive feature; setting a temperature of the wafer to a room temperature; forming a tungsten thin film in the opening by the physical vapor deposition apparatus, the tungsten thin film including a bottom portion that is on an upper surface of the conductive feature exposed by the opening, a top portion that is on an upper surface of a dielectric layer through which the opening extends and a sidewall portion that is on a sidewall of the dielectric layer exposed by the opening; removing the top portion and the sidewall portion of the tungsten thin film from over the opening; and forming a tungsten plug in the opening on the bottom portion by selectively depositing tungsten by a chemical vapor deposition operation.

Abstract: A method of fabricating a semiconductor device is provided. Recesses are formed in a substrate. A first gate dielectric material is formed on the substrate and filled in the recesses. The first gate dielectric material on the substrate between the recesses is at least partially removed to form a trench. A second gate dielectric material is formed in the trench. A gate conductive layer is formed on the second gate dielectric material. Spacers are formed on sidewalls of the gate conductive layer. A portion of the first gate dielectric material is removed. The remaining first gate dielectric material and the second gate dielectric layer form a gate dielectric layer. The gate dielectric layer includes a body part and a first hump part at a first edge of the body part. The first hump part is thicker than the body part. Doped regions are formed in the substrate beside the spacers.

Abstract: The invention provides an antenna subsystem with improved radiation performances. The antenna subsystem may comprise an antenna-in-module (AiM), an auxiliary structure being conductive, and a support structure being nonconductive and disposed between the AiM and the auxiliary structure. The AiM may comprise a base, and one or more radiators being conductive. The antenna subsystem may provide a spherical coverage by a combination of a first component of gain and a second component of gain. The auxiliary structure may be insulated from the one or more radiators, and may be configured for orienting a radiation pattern of the first component of gain and a radiation pattern of the second component of gain to two different directions respectively; and/or, causing the spherical coverage provided by the antenna subsystem to be broader than a spherical coverage provided by the AiM alone.

Abstract: A semiconductor device with multiple silicide regions is provided. In embodiments a first silicide precursor and a second silicide precursor are deposited on a source/drain region. A first silicide with a first phase is formed, and the second silicide precursor is insoluble within the first phase of the first silicide. The first phase of the first silicide is modified to a second phase of the first silicide, and the second silicide precursor being soluble within the second phase of the first silicide. A second silicide is formed with the second silicide precursor and the second phase of the first silicide.

Abstract: One aspect of the present disclosure pertains to a method of forming a semiconductor structure. The method includes forming an active region over a substrate, forming a dummy gate layer over the active region, forming a hard mask layer over the dummy gate layer, forming a patterned photoresist over the hard mask layer, and performing an etching process to the hard mask layer and the dummy gate layer using the patterned photoresist, thereby forming patterned hard mask structures and patterned dummy gate structures. The patterned hard mask structures are formed with an uneven profile having a protruding portion. The protruding portion of each of the patterned hard mask structures has a first width, wherein each of the patterned dummy gate structures has a second width, and the first width is greater than the second width.

Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a substrate; a channel region disposed in the substrate; and a diffusion region disposed in the substrate on a side of the channel region. The diffusion region comprises a LDD region and a heavily doped region within the LDD region. A gate electrode is disposed over the channel region. The gate electrode partially overlaps with the LDD region. A spacer is disposed on a sidewall of the gate electrode. A gate oxide layer is disposed between the gate electrode and the channel region, between the gate electrode and the LDD region, and between the spacer and the LDD region. A silicide layer is disposed on the heavily doped region and is spaced apart from the edge of the spacer.

Abstract: A wireless communication device is provided. The wireless communication device includes a circuit board, an antenna module, a housing and a metal pattern unit. The antenna module is coupled to the circuit board, wherein the antenna module transmits a wireless signal, the antenna module defines a first FOV area and a second FOV area, and the first FOV area differs from the second FOV area. The housing covers the antenna module, wherein a lid portion of the housing corresponds to the first FOV area, and the lid portion has a first equivalent dielectric constant. The metal pattern unit corresponds to the second FOV area, the metal pattern unit causes a second equivalent dielectric constant, and the first equivalent dielectric constant differs from the second equivalent dielectric constant.

Abstract: The invention provides an antenna-in-module (AiM) and related method with improved performances. The AiM may comprise a plurality of radiators, port-one terminals and port-two terminals; the port-one and port-two terminals may be coupled to the radiators respectively. The AIM may implement a mode-one wireless communication by excitations of a plurality of phase-shifted versions of a mode-one signal respectively at the plurality of port-one terminals, may implement a mode-two wireless communication by excitations of a plurality of phase-shifted versions of a mode-two signal respectively at the plurality of port-two terminals, and may implement a mode-three wireless communication by simultaneous excitations of a first plurality and a second plurality of phase-shifted versions of a mode-three signal respectively at the plurality of port-one terminals and the plurality of port-two terminals. Polarizations of the mode-one, mode-two and the mode-three wireless communications may be different.

Abstract: The invention provides method and apparatus augmenting functionality of an antenna-in-module (AiM) of a user equipment (UE) to proximity detection (and more) besides wireless communication. The AiM may comprise a radiator set and a channel circuit set. The radiator set may comprise one or more radiators, and the channel circuit set may comprise one or more channel circuits. The method may comprise: causing a first subset of the channel circuit set to transmit outgoing electromagnetic (EM) waves by circular polarization of a first rotation sense, causing a second subset of the channel circuit set to receive incoming EM waves by circular polarization of a second rotation sense different from the first rotation sense, accordingly obtaining one or more received detection signals, and executing the proximity detection according to the one or more received detection signals.

Abstract: A wireless transceiver device includes a communication module and a processor. The communication module is used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals. The processor is coupled to the communication module and configured to perform the following operations in accordance with a predetermined condition: determining candidate transmission modes according to a current transmission mode of the communication module, in which a packet error rate of the communication module is less than an error rate threshold in each candidate transmission mode; and determining one of the candidate transmission modes with a least power consumption value as a subsequent transmission mode of the communication module.

Abstract: A wireless communication method for optimizing uplink transmission from a communication partner to a wireless communication device includes the following steps: after receiving an uplink performance estimation, determining uplink adjustment information including resource unit allocation and a target received signal strength indicator according to the uplink performance estimation; generating a target channel quality indicator (CQI) according to previous uplink sounding information and the uplink adjustment information, wherein the previous uplink sounding information indicates the characteristics of the uplink transmission; determining uplink transmission setting including a modulation and coding scheme and dual carrier modulation according to the target CQI and the type of an error correction technique and transmitting a control signal to a communication partner according to the uplink transmission setting; and updating the uplink performance estimation according to a reception signal from the communication

Abstract: A wireless communication device includes a wireless transceiver circuit, a baseband signal processing circuit, and an interference detection device. The wireless transceiver circuit receives a wireless signal from a wireless transmission channel, and converts the wireless signal into a baseband signal. The baseband signal processing circuit processes the baseband signal including a plurality of packets. The interference detection device is coupled to the baseband signal processing circuit, and performs a short-term interference detection and a long-term interference detection according to the plurality of packets, to determine whether interference exists in the wireless transmission channel and generate a detection result, wherein the short-term interference detection is an interference detection within a single packet, and the long-term interference detection is an interference detection across packets.

Abstract: A transistor with an embedded insulating structure set includes a substrate. A gate is disposed on the substrate. A first lightly doped region is disposed at one side of the gate. A second lightly doped region is disposed at another side of the gate. The first lightly doped region and the second lightly doped region have the same conductive type. The first lightly doped region is symmetrical to the second lightly doped region. A first source/drain doped region is disposed within the first lightly doped region. A second source/drain doped region is disposed within the second lightly doped region. A first insulating structure set is disposed within the first lightly doped region and the first source/drain doped region. The first insulating structure set includes an insulating block embedded within the substrate. A sidewall of the insulating block contacts the gate dielectric layer.

Abstract: The invention provides an antenna subsystem with improved radiation performances. The antenna subsystem may comprise an antenna-in-module (AiM), an auxiliary structure being conductive, and a support structure being nonconductive and disposed between the AiM and the auxiliary structure. The AiM may comprise a base, and one or more radiators being conductive. The antenna subsystem may provide a spherical coverage by a combination of a first component of gain and a second component of gain. The auxiliary structure may be insulated from the one or more radiators, and may be configured for orienting a radiation pattern of the first component of gain and a radiation pattern of the second component of gain to two different directions respectively; and/or, causing the spherical coverage provided by the antenna subsystem to be broader than a spherical coverage provided by the AiM alone.

Abstract: A high-voltage transistor includes a well region disposed in a semiconductor substrate, a gate structure disposed above the well region, a gate oxide layer disposed between the gate structure and the well region, a first drift region, and a second drift region. A first portion of the gate oxide layer is thicker than a second portion of the gate oxide layer. A thickness of the second portion is greater than or equal to one eighth of a thickness of the first portion. The first drift region and the second drift region are disposed in the well region, at least partially located at two opposite sides of the gate structure, respectively, and disposed adjacent to the first portion and the second portion, respectively. A conductivity type of the first drift region is identical to that of the second drift region. A level-up shifting circuit includes the high-voltage transistor described above.

Abstract: The invention provides method and apparatus augmenting functionality of an antenna-in-module (AiM) of a user equipment (UE) to proximity detection (and more) besides wireless communication. The AiM may comprise a radiator set and a channel circuit set. The radiator set may comprise one or more radiators, and the channel circuit set may comprise one or more channel circuits. The method may comprise: causing a first subset of the channel circuit set to transmit outgoing electromagnetic (EM) waves by circular polarization of a first rotation sense, causing a second subset of the channel circuit set to receive incoming EM waves by circular polarization of a second rotation sense different from the first rotation sense, accordingly obtaining one or more received detection signals, and executing the proximity detection according to the one or more received detection signals.

Abstract: An electronic device comprises: a radio frequency (RF) front end circuit for generating wireless signals; an antenna array for transmitting the wireless signals generated by the RF front end circuit and receiving the wireless signals transmitted by the antenna array; and a control unit coupled to the RF front end circuit. In the embodiments, a receiving power or a receiving power difference is estimated based on the wireless signals received by the RF front end circuit; and a distance information between an external object and the electronic device is determined based on the receiving power difference, or whether the external object is within a detection area of the electronic device is determined based on the receiving power.

Abstract: A computing device includes: a storage circuit, for storing an arbitration interframe space (AIFS) time, at least one expected value of at least one backoff time, a preamble time, a short interframe space (SIFS) time and an acknowledgement (ACK) time; a first computing circuit, for computing a payload time according to a packet length and a packet rate; a second computing circuit, coupled to the storage circuit and the first computing circuit, for computing at least one packet transmission time according to the AIFS time, the at least one expected value of the at least one backoff time, the preamble time, the SIFS time, the ACK time and the payload time; and a third computing circuit, coupled to the second computing circuit, for computing a total packet transmission time according to the at least one packet transmission time and an estimated packet error rate.

Abstract: A radio device includes a first antenna array and an actuator. The first antenna array is configured to transmit a radiation beam to a remote device. The actuator is configured to change an orientation of the first antenna array, whereby a beam direction of the radiation beam is changed according to a change of the orientation of the first antenna array. The beam direction of the radiation beam is adjusted according to a beam steering mechanism performed by the first antenna array.

Abstract: A semiconductor structure including a substrate and protection structures is provided. The substrate includes a die region. The die region includes corner regions. The protection structures are located in the corner region. Each of the protection structures has a square top-view pattern. The square top-view patterns located in the same corner region have various sizes.