Parallel Controlled Paths Patents (Class 327/403)
  • Patent number: 8466736
    Abstract: A circuit includes an amplifier having an input and an output; and at least one transistor comprising at least one terminal and at least one isolated well. The input of the amplifier is electrically connected to the at least one terminal of the transistor; and the output of the amplifier is electrically connected to the at least one isolated well of the at least one transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2013
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Scott K. Reynolds
  • Patent number: 8466738
    Abstract: Embodiments of the invention may provide systems and methods for minimizing phase deviation and/or amplitude modulation (AM)-to-phase modulation (PM) conversion for dynamic range, radio frequency (RF) non-linear amplifiers. In order to provide high dynamic range with reduced phase error, embodiments of the invention may utilize two separate paths for processing a signal. In particular, an input signal may be sampled and divided into each path. The first signal path may be used to shape a signal, and in particular, a voltage waveform at the load. The second signal path may be used for generating negative capacitances corresponding to the voltage waveform at the load. By combining the two signals at the load, a high-dynamic range, high-frequency, non-linear amplifier can be achieved that reduces phase error resulting from amplitude fluctuations with a relatively low unity-gain frequency (fT) process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2013
    Assignee: Samsung Electro-Mechanics
    Inventors: Yunseo Park, Wangmyong Woo, Jaejoon Kim, Chang-Ho Lee
  • Patent number: 8432212
    Abstract: A switching element having an electromechanical switch (such as an electrically conductive membrane switch, for example a graphene membrane switch) is disclosed herein. Such a switching element can be made and used in a switching power converter to reduce power loss and to maximize efficiency of the switching power converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2013
    Assignee: Clean Energy Labs, LLC
    Inventors: David A. Badger, Joseph F. Pinkerton
  • Patent number: 8400208
    Abstract: Switch circuits are disclosed, for providing a single-ended and a differentially switched high-voltage output signals by switching a high supply voltage in response to at least one logic-level control signal. The switch that provides the single-ended switched high-voltage output signal includes a chain of at least three serially coupled field effect transistors (FETs). The chain receives the high supply voltage and switches it to output the high-voltage output signal. The switch that provides the differentially switched high-voltage output signal includes two differentially coupled chains, each having at least three serially coupled FETs. The chains receive the high supply voltage and switch it to output the differential high-voltage output signal. A control/bias circuit provides a control voltage to at least one of the FETs in the chains, responsive to the control signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2013
    Assignee: Synopsys, Inc.
    Inventors: Agustinus Sutandi, Yanyi L. Wong
  • Publication number: 20130038377
    Abstract: A chip includes a pool of blocks. Each block is adapted to implement a communication protocol. A cross-connect configurably connects between the blocks. A configured connection through the cross-connect between a sending block and a receiving block includes a lane with a toggle line and multiple data lines. The receiving block uses the toggle line to determine when valid data is on the data lines. The sending block and receiving block are on different clock domains.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 12, 2011
    Publication date: February 14, 2013
    Applicant: EXAR CORPORATION
    Inventors: MARK WIGHT, MOHAMAD SAMI MOHAMAD, ILIAN SVENDALINOV TZVETANOV
  • Patent number: 8373491
    Abstract: A current mirror circuit exhibits improved current matching by applying a switching signal to ground path switches in series with transistors in both a reference path and an output path of the current mirror. The switching signal may comprise a high-frequency signal, which may be phase modulated. A plurality of matched, parallel-connected output transistors may be selectively enabled by qualifying the switching signal applied to each corresponding series-connected ground path switches by decoded digital modulation data. In one embodiment, the modulation data is decoded to thermometer-coded representation. In one embodiment, the switching signal path is identical to the reference and output circuits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2013
    Assignee: ST-Ericsson SA
    Inventors: Norbert Van Den Bos, Roeland Heijna, Hendrik Visser
  • Publication number: 20130002334
    Abstract: An integrated circuit comprising at least one signal path for a timing sensitive signal. At least one section of the signal path comprises a first section path comprising a first propagation timing factor, at least one further section path comprising a second propagation timing factor different to the first propagation timing factor, and a path selection component arranged to enable the selection of one of the first and at least one further section paths via which the timing sensitive signal is to propagate through the at least one section of the signal path based on at least one from a group consisting of: the first propagation timing factor, second propagation timing factor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 22, 2010
    Publication date: January 3, 2013
    Applicant: Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Priel, Leonid Fleshel, Anton Rozen
  • Publication number: 20120326764
    Abstract: An MIPI interface is connected to two sensor sources that each may be transferring both high and low speed information, typically video information in the high speed state. The clock signals are monitored and when one of the clock signals exceed a threshold, an analog switch between the MIPI interface and the sensors, may connect the other source to the MIPI interface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 21, 2012
    Publication date: December 27, 2012
    Applicant: Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventors: James B. Boomer, Oscar W. Freitas
  • Patent number: 8319542
    Abstract: An integrated circuit includes a bypass signal path exchanging, between transceivers which are included in the integrated circuit, a signal transmitted/received between a transceiver of the transceivers and an internal logic circuit which processes data being input/output by transceiver with bypassing the internal logic circuit, a switch switching a pathway of the bypass signal path, and a switch changeover controller transferring a switch control signal that performs a changeover of the switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2006
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2012
    Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
    Inventors: Hirotaka Tamura, Masaya Kibune
  • Publication number: 20120286846
    Abstract: A switching circuit employs switches operating at low on resistance and high off capacitance. In connection with various example embodiments, a switching circuit selectively couples a communication port to one of two or more internal circuits based upon a type of input at the communication port. A sensor circuit senses the type of the input and, based upon the sensed input type, actuates one or more switches in the switching circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 11, 2011
    Publication date: November 15, 2012
    Inventors: Olaf Wunnicke, Willem Frederik Adrianus Besling, Gerrit Willem den Besten, Michael Joehren, Klaus Reimann, James Raymond Spehar, Peter Gerard Steeneken
  • Patent number: 8305122
    Abstract: There is provided a current switching circuit that adds additional current in accordance with an intensity of output current to input current of a current mirror at a rising edge of the output current of the current mirror. The current switching circuit includes a MOS transistor outputting the additional current upon receiving ON potential at a gate terminal, and a slope of a leading edge waveform of a pulse signal providing the ON potential is controlled in accordance with the intensity of the output current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2006
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2012
    Assignee: Renesas Electronics Corporation
    Inventor: Makoto Sakaguchi
  • Publication number: 20120249213
    Abstract: Structures and methods for implementing alternating power gating in integrated circuits. A semiconductor structure includes a power gated circuit including a group of power gate switches and an alternating enable generator that generates enabling signals. Each respective one of the power gate switches is enabled by a respective one of the enabling signals. The alternating generator generates the enabling signals such that a first enabled power gate switch is alternated amongst the group of power gate switches.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2011
    Publication date: October 4, 2012
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Albert M. CHU, Daryl M. Seitzer, Rohit Shetty, Douglas W. Stout
  • Patent number: 8228112
    Abstract: A circuit includes an amplifier having an input and an output; and at least one transistor comprising at least one terminal and at least one isolated well. The input of the amplifier is electrically connected to the at least one terminal of the transistor; and the output of the amplifier is electrically connected to the at least one isolated well of the at least one transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventor: Scott Kevin Reynolds
  • Publication number: 20120170383
    Abstract: A system includes integrated circuit chip including a first buffer configured to receive signals and a second buffer configured to receive signals, wherein the first buffer receives signals of a higher frequency than the second buffer, a controller chip configured to control the integrated circuit chip, an I/O channel formed between the controller chip and the integrated circuit chip to transfer a first signal and a second speed signal, wherein the first signal has a higher frequency than the second signal, and a status channel formed between the controller chip and the integrated circuit chip to transfer at least one status signal, wherein the integrated circuit chip is configured to select one of the first buffer and the second buffer and actives the selected buffer in response to the at least one status signal and receive a signal transferred through the I/O channel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2011
    Publication date: July 5, 2012
    Inventor: Seung-Min OH
  • Patent number: 8207779
    Abstract: A control circuit for controlling a switching device having a first terminal, a second terminal, and a control terminal is disclosed. The control circuit includes a first diode for coupling to the first terminal of the switching device, a second diode for coupling to the second terminal of the switching device, a first transistor for coupling to the control terminal of the switching device, and a second transistor coupled to the second diode. The first transistor is coupled to the first diode. The control circuit is configured to allow current flow in only one direction between the first and second terminals of the switching device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2012
    Assignee: Astec International Limited
    Inventors: Zong Bo Hu, Ying Qu, Kevin Donald Wildash, Wai Kin Chan, Wing Ling Cheng
  • Publication number: 20120130654
    Abstract: Electrical networks are formed to produce an approximation of at least one desired performance characteristic, based on the recognition that fabrication variations introduce slight differences in electronic sub-networks which were intended to be identical. These fabrication differences are turned to an advantage by providing a pool of sub-networks, and then selectively connecting particular combinations of these sub-networks to implement networks that approximate the desired performance characteristics. The sub-networks are of like kind (e.g., resistors) and have a like measure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 16, 2011
    Publication date: May 24, 2012
    Applicant: ANALOG DEVICES, INC.
    Inventors: Arthur J. Kalb, Evaldo M. Miranda
  • Patent number: 8138818
    Abstract: A gate drive apparatus including a constant-current-pulse gate drive circuit which creates a gate signal for a switching device as a constant-current output, a constant-voltage-pulse gate drive circuit which creates the gate signal as a constant-voltage output, and a decision/switch circuit which switches the operation of the constant-current-pulse gate drive circuit and the operation of the constant-voltage-pulse gate drive circuit. The variance of switching speeds attributed to the variances of threshold voltages and mirror voltages in a plurality of switching devices which are driven by the gate drive apparatus can be suppressed, and the variance of losses can be minimized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2012
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Yoshikazu Tsunoda, Tatsuya Okuda, Masaru Fuku
  • Publication number: 20120057387
    Abstract: A hybrid switch comprising two semiconductor switches connected in parallel but having different voltage drop characteristics as a function of current facilitates attainment of zero voltage switching and reduces conduction losses to complement reduction of switching losses achieved through zero voltage switching in power converters such as high-current inverters.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 10, 2011
    Publication date: March 8, 2012
    Inventors: Jih-Sheng Lai, Wensong Yu
  • Publication number: 20120008431
    Abstract: An integrated circuit includes a reference voltage level setting circuit and a reference voltage generation circuit. The reference voltage level setting circuit is configured to set a level of an input reference voltage to a preset level in a power-up period or a self-refresh mode. The reference voltage generation circuit is configured to select one of a plurality of reference voltages and output the selected reference voltage as the input reference voltage when the power-up period is ended and an operation mode is not in the self-refresh mode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 24, 2011
    Publication date: January 12, 2012
    Applicant: HYNIX SEMICONDUCTOR INC.
    Inventor: Jeong Hun LEE
  • Patent number: 8044703
    Abstract: Each of APRM units equipped for each of the diversity channels has printed circuit boards having circuit patterns thereon and a circuit description elements installed on the printed circuit board. The circuit description elements are FPGA elements manufactured by mutually different providers for example and implemented an electric circuit described in a hardware description language by a configuration tool. The circuit description elements can be implemented mutually different descriptions of the electric circuit, or can be implemented the electric circuit by mutually different configuration tools. Also, the printed circuit boards for the diversity channels can be different from each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2011
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Hiroaki Kenjyo, Tadashi Miyazaki, Yasushi Goto, Naotaka Oda, Toshifumi Sato
  • Patent number: 8013659
    Abstract: A distributed signal multiplexer circuit programmably routes electronic signals. The circuit includes at least two distributor subcircuits. Each distributor subcircuit is configured to connect an input port to an output port through a switch, with a state of each switch being controlled by information received at a control port. The first and second distributor subcircuits are part of a first and second power domain, respectively. The distributed multiplexer circuit also includes an aggregator subcircuit. The aggregator subcircuit is configured to have a first input port connected with the output port of the first distributor subcircuit, a second input port connected to the output port of the second distributor subcircuit, and the output port signal being a signal selected from among the signals received at the input ports of the distributor subcircuits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2011
    Assignee: Silicon Labs Spectra, Inc.
    Inventors: Aysel Yildiz Okyay, Tugba Demirci, Gregory Jon Richmond
  • Patent number: 7999598
    Abstract: A voltage scale down circuit includes an input node configured to receive a voltage input within an input voltage range. At least two voltage followers are coupled to the input node. The voltage scale down circuit also includes at least two scalers. Each scaler is coupled to a respective voltage follower. An output node is coupled to the at least two scalers. Each voltage follower is configured to receive the voltage input. Each voltage follower is configured to supply a respective voltage for the voltage input within a narrower portion of the input voltage range. The output node is configured to supply a voltage output linearly related to the voltage input. An output voltage range of the voltage output is narrower than the input voltage range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2011
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Tsung-Hsin Yu
  • Publication number: 20110193526
    Abstract: An analog switch and a battery pack using the same are provided. The analog switch can compensate for temperature dependence of voltages measured from a battery cell before applying the measured voltages to an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter. In an embodiment of the analog switch, a first diode is coupled in a backward direction from a flying capacitor, which is coupled to the A/D converter, to correspond to a second diode packaged therewith as a single set. The first diode is positioned in a battery cell voltage input path to store battery cell voltage values in the flying capacitor, while the second diode suppresses a temperature-related difference caused by the first diode to voltages measured from the battery cell.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 8, 2011
    Publication date: August 11, 2011
    Inventors: Jongwoon Yang, Susumu Segawa, Euijeong Hwang, Beomgyu Kim, Jinwan Kim, Hanseok Yun
  • Publication number: 20110181640
    Abstract: A driver circuit is used for driving a plurality of groups of switch elements connected between a power supply terminal and a common terminal. Each switch element includes anode connected to the power supply terminal, a cathode, and a gate. The anode is connected to the power supply and the cathode connected to a common terminal. The gate controls electrical conduction between the anode and the cathode. The driver circuit includes a switch circuit connected between the power supply terminal and the common terminal, and a driver circuit into which a drive current flows. The switch circuit is in parallel with the switch elements, and the switch circuit electrically connects or disconnects between the power supply terminal and the common terminal in response to a control signal supplied thereto. A transmission line having a specific characteristic impedance, connected between the common terminal and the driver circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 20, 2011
    Publication date: July 28, 2011
    Applicant: OKI DATA CORPORATION
    Inventor: Akira Nagumo
  • Publication number: 20110182446
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a driver circuit wherein upper and lower legs of a first driver comprise first and second sets of parellelly coupled semiconductor switches, respectively. A control circuit is configured to generate respective control signals for the first and second sets of parellelly coupled semiconductor switches to create a current path through the upper and lower legs during an overlap time period between state transitions of a driver output.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 14, 2009
    Publication date: July 28, 2011
    Applicant: AUDIOASICS A/S
    Inventors: Mohammad Shajaan, Henrik Thomsen
  • Publication number: 20110175668
    Abstract: A switch circuit is disclosed. The switch circuit may include one or more arrangements of transistors coupled in a cascode configuration. The transistors used to implement the switch circuit may be configured for operation within a first range of voltages. The application in which the switch circuit may be implemented may require conveying signals within a second range of voltages that is greater than the first range of voltages. Thus, the switch circuit may include one or more additional transistors to ensure that a voltage drop between any two terminals of the transistors used in the switch circuit is within the first range of voltages.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 1, 2011
    Publication date: July 21, 2011
    Inventor: Vincent R. von Kaenel
  • Publication number: 20110163792
    Abstract: Provided is a high frequency switch wherein first switch circuits, each of which includes a first PIN diode, are connected in parallel to one or more first ?/4 signal transmitting paths which transmit transmitting signals, and second switch circuits, each of which includes a second PIN diode, are connected in parallel to one or more second ?/4 signal transmitting paths which transmit receiving signals to a receiving terminal. A first control voltage is applied to the cathode of the first PIN diode, and a second control voltage is applied to the cathode of the second PIN diode. Furthermore, a biasing circuit which applies a constant bias voltage is connected to each anode of the first PIN diode and the second PIN diode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 28, 2009
    Publication date: July 7, 2011
    Applicant: Soshin Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Akira Ando
  • Patent number: 7940110
    Abstract: A switch circuit is disclosed. The switch circuit may include one or more arrangements of transistors coupled in a cascode configuration. The transistors used to implement the switch circuit may be configured for operation within a first range of voltages. The application in which the switch circuit may be implemented may require conveying signals within a second range of voltages that is greater than the first range of voltages. Thus, the switch circuit may include one or more additional transistors to ensure that a voltage drop between any two terminals of the transistors used in the switch circuit is within the first range of voltages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2011
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Vincent R. von Kaenel
  • Patent number: 7940111
    Abstract: Techniques for designing a high performance analog switch for use in electronic circuit applications. In one aspect, a variable bulk voltage generation module is provided to vary the bulk voltage of a transistor in the switch, such that the threshold voltage of the transistor is reduced during the on state. In another aspect, a pulling transistor is provided to pull a middle node of the switch to a DC voltage during the off state to further increase the isolation provided by the switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2011
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Babak Soltanian, Hong Sun Kim
  • Patent number: 7808297
    Abstract: A device for controlling a voltage of a semiconductor integrated circuit includes a voltage selecting unit that generates a voltage selecting signal for selecting a voltage to be controlled among a plurality of voltages by using a first control signal, a control step selecting unit that generates a control step selection signal for selecting a control step of the voltage to be controlled by using a second control signal, and a voltage controlling unit that controls a level of the voltage to be controlled among the plurality of voltages in response to the control step selection signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2010
    Assignee: Hynix Semiconductor Inc.
    Inventor: Tae-Yong Lee
  • Patent number: 7800418
    Abstract: A first switched capacitor circuit is connected to the source of one MOS transistor of a current mirror pair configured by a pair of MOS transistors and a second switched capacitor circuit is connected to the source of the other MOS transistor. Each of the first and second switched capacitor circuits includes a capacitor and a switch connected in parallel with the capacitor and the switch is on/off-controlled based on a clock signal of a preset cycle. Each of the first and second switched capacitor circuits equivalently functions as a resistor with large resistance and a variation in the output current of the current mirror circuit based on a variation in the threshold voltages of the pair of MOS transistors can be reduced even if the power source voltage is reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2010
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventor: Shigeo Imai
  • Publication number: 20100231285
    Abstract: An MIPI interface is connected to two sensor sources that each may be transferring both high and low speed information, typically video information in the high speed state. The clock signals are monitored and when one of the clock signals exceed a threshold, an analog switch between the MIPI interface and the sensors, may connect the other source to the MIPI interface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 12, 2009
    Publication date: September 16, 2010
    Inventors: James B. Boomer, Oscar W. Freitas
  • Patent number: 7750715
    Abstract: A clock generation circuit has two output ends to provide a first clock signal and a second clock signal, in response to first and second input signals, respectively. A charge storage component is used to transfer some charge from the first output end to the charge storage component when the first clock signal is high for a period of time, and to transfer the charge from the charge storage component to the second output end when the second clock signal is low. At a different period of time in the clock cycle, the charge storage component is used to transfer some charge from the second output end to the charge storage component when the second clock signal is high for a period of time, and to transfer the charge from the charge storage component to the first output end when the first clock signal is low.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 6, 2010
    Assignee: AU Optronics Corporation
    Inventors: Chao-Ching Hsu, Mu-Lin Tung, Chung-Shen Cheng
  • Patent number: 7747020
    Abstract: Performing a hash algorithm in a processor architecture to alleviate performance bottlenecks and improve overall algorithm performance. In one embodiment of the invention, the hash algorithm is pipelined within the processor architecture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2010
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventor: Wajdi K. Feghali
  • Publication number: 20100066401
    Abstract: Disclosed is a semiconductor device in which a circuit in the semiconductor chip is divided into a plurality of sub-circuits. The semiconductor device includes switches between the respective sub-circuits and a power supply, and a circuit that variably controls on-resistances of the switches 111 to 11N.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 22, 2007
    Publication date: March 18, 2010
    Inventor: Masayuki Mizuno
  • Publication number: 20100033230
    Abstract: An output stage, especially a switching output stage for switching inductive loads, having a plurality of individual output stages that are connected in parallel, which include degenerative transistors, in the degenerative path of which one respective Zener diode is present. The electric power during a switching-off process can be distributed in a particularly uniform manner to the individual output stages or transistors by disposing the Zener diodes near the associated transistors so that they are thermally coupled to the respectively associated transistor and their Zener voltage increases with increasing temperature.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 31, 2006
    Publication date: February 11, 2010
    Inventors: Uwe Lueders, Juergen Eckhardt, Bernd Mueller
  • Publication number: 20100019827
    Abstract: An integrated circuit includes a bypass signal path exchanging, between transceivers which are included in the integrated circuit, a signal transmitted/received between a transceiver of the transceivers and an internal logic circuit which processes data being input/output by transceiver with bypassing the internal logic circuit, a switch switching a pathway of the bypass signal path, and a switch changeover controller transferring a switch control signal that performs a changeover of the switch.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 29, 2006
    Publication date: January 28, 2010
    Applicant: FUJITSU LIMITED
    Inventors: Hirotaka Tamura, Masaya Kibune
  • Patent number: 7652518
    Abstract: A bus switch with level shifting may include a first terminal configured to receive and output a first power supply voltage higher than a reference voltage, a second terminal configured to receive and output a second power supply voltage higher than the first power supply voltage, an output control terminal to which a control signal for controlling a switching between an output permitted state and an output prohibited state is inputted, a first switching element provided between the first terminal and the second terminal and having a gate, a gate control circuit to which signals are inputted from the output control terminal and the second terminal, which supplies gate voltage to the gate of the first switching element, and which controls the first switching element to be conducting or to be non-conducting, and a second switching device provided between a power source of the second power supply voltage and the second terminal, and configured to switch between conducting and non-conducting in accordance with th
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2010
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Akira Takiba, Masaru Mizuta
  • Publication number: 20090256620
    Abstract: A distributed signal multiplexer circuit programmably routes electronic signals. The circuit includes at least two distributor subcircuits. Each distributor subcircuit is configured to connect an input port to an output port through a switch, with a state of each switch being controlled by information received at a control port. The first and second distributor subcircuits are part of a first and second power domain, respectively. The distributed multiplexer circuit also includes an aggregator subcircuit. The aggregator subcircuit is configured to have a first input port connected with the output port of the first distributor subcircuit, a second input port connected to the output port of the second distributor subcircuit, and the output port signal being a signal selected from among the signals received at the input ports of the distributor subcircuits.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 10, 2009
    Publication date: October 15, 2009
    Applicant: SpectraLinear, Inc.
    Inventors: Aysel Yildiz Okyay, Tugba Demirci, Gregory Jon Richmond
  • Publication number: 20090206908
    Abstract: An RF switch includes first, second and third transmission lines for forming ports, respectively, and first, second and third slot line pattern portions connected to one another, for transferring signals to the first, second and third transmission lines, respectively. The first slot line pattern portion has a slot line pattern for transferring a signal received from the first transmission line to a connection point with the other slot line pattern portions, and a switching circuit for shorting the gap of a corresponding slot line and thus blocking the signal transfer. The second slot line pattern portion includes a loop slot line formed by a first and a second half loop slot line, a second sub-slot line for transferring a signal received from the connection point to the second transmission line through the loop slot line, and a switching circuit for shorting the gap of a corresponding slot line.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 10, 2006
    Publication date: August 20, 2009
    Applicant: KMW INC.
    Inventors: Kang-hyun Lee, Gil-ho Lee
  • Publication number: 20090171874
    Abstract: A method of configuring a communication channel prior to the transmission of an input signal along the communication channel, the communication channel comprising a plurality of sub-channels, the method comprising determining the strength of the input signal and in accordance with the determined signal strength, selecting a set of the plurality of sub-channels and transmitting said in put signal along the set of sub-channels in parallel, wherein each of the sub-channels has a predetermined noise characteristic such that the set of selected sub-channels exhibits a combined noise characteristic in which the standard deviation of the noise is proportional to the signal strength.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 17, 2006
    Publication date: July 2, 2009
    Applicant: UNIVERSITY OF PLYMOUTH ENTERPRISE
    Inventor: Christopher Harris
  • Patent number: 7554355
    Abstract: Provided is a crossbar switch architecture appropriate to a multi-processor system-on-a-chip (SoC) platform including a plurality of masters and slaves, capable of high-speed data transfer, allowing the number of masters or slaves therein to be easily increased, and having a simple control structure. The crossbar switch architecture includes 2×1 multiplexers connected in a matrix form consisting of rows and columns. The 2×1 multiplexers each have one input line connected with an output line of a multiplexer at a front column of the same row, and the other input line connected with an input/output line of a column including the corresponding multiplexer, and an output line of a multiplexer at the last column of each row is connected with an input/output line of the row.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2009
    Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
    Inventors: June Young Chang, Han Jin Cho
  • Publication number: 20080273107
    Abstract: A data transfer circuit includes at least one transfer line transferring digital data, at least one data detecting circuit connecting to the transfer line, multiple holding circuits holding a digital value corresponding to the input level and transferring the digital value to the transfer line, and a scanning circuit selecting the multiple holding circuits, wherein the multiple holding circuits are laid out in parallel, and the transfer line is placed in the direction orthogonal to the direction of the parallel layout of the holding circuit and connects to the data detecting circuit placed in the orthogonal direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 4, 2008
    Publication date: November 6, 2008
    Inventor: Tadayuki TAURA
  • Publication number: 20080265977
    Abstract: A high isolation electronic multiple pole multiple throw (MPNT) switching device is formed as a ring circuit that includes plural poles, plural throws, plural series switches and plural means for shunting. Each series switch receives a control signal, and each means for shunting receives shunt control signals. In one aspect, the shunt control signals include control signals received by distant series switches. In another aspect, the shunt control signals include control signals received by adjacent series switches. In another aspect, the shunt control signals include signals complementary to signals received by adjacent series switches. In another aspect, the shunt control signals include pole DC potentials or throw DC potentials. In another aspect, a switching device may operate in multiple transmission mode or multiple input multiple output (MIMO) mode. The MPNT switching device provides low insertion loss and high isolation at a wide range of frequencies.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 28, 2008
    Publication date: October 30, 2008
    Inventor: Zeji Gu
  • Patent number: 7388417
    Abstract: An output circuit of a semiconductor memory device includes a first data path, a second data path and a third data path. The first data path transfers a sense output signal, and latches the sense output signal to output the sense output signal to a first node. The second data path transfers the sense output signal, and latches the sense output signal to output the sense output signal to the first node. The third data path latches a signal of the first node, and transfers the signal of the first node to generate output data. Accordingly, the semiconductor memory device including the output circuit can operate at a relatively higher frequency using a pseudo-pipeline structured circuit, which combines a wave pipeline structure with a full pipeline structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2008
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kyoung-Ho Kim, Seong-Jin Jang, Joung-Yeal Kim
  • Patent number: 7365578
    Abstract: In the present semiconductor device a positive, driving pump circuit is driven by an external power supply potential EXVDD (for example of 1.8V) to generate a positive voltage VPC (for example of 2.4V). A negative pump circuit for internal operation is driven by the positive voltage VPC to generate a negative voltage VNA (for example of ?9.2V) required in an erasure or similar internal operation for a word line. The negative pump circuit for internal operation can have a smaller number of stages of pump and hence consume a smaller area than when the circuit is driven by the external power supply voltage EXVDD (for example of 1.8V) as conventional.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2008
    Assignee: Renesas Technology Corp.
    Inventors: Minoru Senda, Kiyohiro Furutani, Taku Ogura, Shigehiro Kuge, Satoshi Kawasaki, Tadaaki Yamauchi
  • Patent number: 7336089
    Abstract: A power line control circuit of a semiconductor device in which a width of a power line can be selectively controlled. The power line control circuit of the semiconductor device according to the present invention can selectively control the width of the power line employing the dummy power line. It is therefore possible to easily change the width of the power lines and to reduce the manufacturing cost and the manufacturing time depending on the formation of the power lines. Furthermore, the power line control circuit of the semiconductor device according to the present invention can selectively control the width of the power lines, if appropriate. Accordingly, mesh of optimized power lines can be provided. Furthermore, more stabilized product characteristics can be secured and the yield of semiconductor memory devices can be enhanced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2008
    Assignee: Hynix Semiconductor Inc.
    Inventor: Jong Yeol Yang
  • Patent number: 7265601
    Abstract: A circuit and method for reducing losses in a DC/DC converter by optimizing gate drive voltage. The circuit and method detect a change in the output load, or more specifically the output current, and adjust the gate voltage accordingly; in other words, providing adaptive gate drive voltage. In response to a reduction of output current, the invention reduces the gate voltage so as to reduce both conduction and switching losses in the semiconductor switching devices in the output stage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2007
    Assignee: International Rectifier Corporation
    Inventor: Faisal Ahmad
  • Patent number: 7253540
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for statically balancing the loading of power semiconductor switches (S1, S2, S3) in a parallel circuit (1). To achieve this in prior art, switching instants of individual switches (S1, S2, S3) are adapted in the case of GTOs and current amplitudes of individual switches are adapted in the case of IGBTs. According to the invention, a primary pattern (4) of frame-switching pulses is predetermined for a total current (i) through the parallel circuit (1) and a secondary pattern (51, 52, 53) comprising more or fewer pulses than the primary pattern (4) is generated for at least one switch (S1, S2, S3). In contrast in conventional methods, the asynchronicity of the pulses enables a rapid redistribution of the loading between the parallel switches (S1, S2, S3), thus reducing or obviating the need for inductive suppressor circuits for limiting the current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2000
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2007
    Assignee: CT Concept Technologie AG
    Inventors: Jan Thalheim, Heinz Ruedl
  • Patent number: 7208993
    Abstract: A high-speed front-multiplexed multi-channel LVDS-compatible repeater circuit that limits input leakage current levels in the event one or more input voltages of the circuit exceeds the supply voltage. The LVDS repeater includes a multiplexor having a plurality of differential inputs and at least one differential output. The multiplexor includes a plurality of transmission gates to allow any one of the differential inputs to be routed to any differential output. Each transmission gate includes a first PMOS transistor and an NMOS transistor. The multiplexor further includes first Schottky diodes coupled between Vcc and the back-gate nodes of the first PMOS transistors, and second PMOS transistors coupled as shunts between the gate nodes of the first PMOS transistors and the source nodes of the NMOS transistors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2007
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Hector Torres, Mark W. Morgan, Julie Hwang