Stacked-Die Electronics Package with Planar and Three-Dimensional Inductor Elements
Granted: August 11, 2011
Application Number:
20110193192
An apparatus and a method for producing three-dimensional integrated circuit packages. In one embodiment, an electronics package with at least two dice are stacked one atop another is disclosed. A top die is of smaller size compared with a bottom die such that after a die attach operation, wire-bond pads of the bottom die will be exposed for a subsequent wire bonding operation. The bottom die contains contact pads on the front side that couple with one or more passive components…
Method and System to Access Memory
Granted: July 14, 2011
Application Number:
20110170354
This document discusses among other things, a system comprising a host controller, an Input/Output buffer, and a memory device. The memory device is coupled to the host controller and is configured to receive a read command from the host controller. The non-volatile includes an interface control logic, which is in communication with a non-volatile memory. The interface control logic includes a latency programming circuit coupled to the non-volatile memory and the Input/Output buffer. The…
Method and Apparatus for Data Communication Between a Base Station and a Transponder
Granted: July 14, 2011
Application Number:
20110170487
A method and system for data communication between a base station and at least one transponder via a high-frequency electromagnetic carrier signal onto which information packets are modulated. Each information packet has a header section, a middle section, and a trailer section. The header section can be provided in a forward link of a data communication between the base station and the transponders for controlling data communication. The header section is used in a return link of a data…
INTEGRATED CIRCUIT DEVICE CONFIGURATION
Granted: July 14, 2011
Application Number:
20110173424
Various embodiments include an integrated circuit (IC) device having a conductive contact, and a circuit to determine a resistance value of a circuit path between the conductive contact and a circuit node during an initialization mode of the device. The IC device includes a controller to select at least one value of at least one operating parameter of the device based at least in part on the resistance value.
Method for Locating a Backscatter-Based Transponder
Granted: July 7, 2011
Application Number:
20110163851
A method and apparatus for locating a transponder is provided. A carrier signal is transmitted by a base station and a transponder transmits a locating signal that is generated through phase modulation and backscattering of the carrier signal sent by the base station when the transponder is within a transmission range of the base station, whereby the transponder is located on the basis of the locating signal.
Method for Selecting One or More Transponders
Granted: July 7, 2011
Application Number:
20110163853
A method and device for selecting one or more transponders, in particular backscatter-based transponders, from a plurality of transponders by a base station, which method is based on a slotted ALOHA method, in which the base station defines numbered time slots and a random number generated in a given transponder determines a time slot when the transponder transmits its transponder-specific identification to the base station. The random number is generated in a given transponder with the…
Method and Device for Recognizing Functional States in RFID or Remote Sensor Systems
Granted: June 30, 2011
Application Number:
20110156876
A method for recognizing time-variable functional states, e.g., in the course of a programming process, in RFID systems is disclosed, which includes at least one transponder or remote sensor and at least one base station, which transmits data and/or power to the transponder or sensor by a carrier signal. According to the invention, after a specified process state is attained at least one confirmation symbol is transmitted by the transponder or sensor to the base station. As a result, no…
Capacitive Keyboard with Position-Dependent Reduced Keying Ambiguity
Granted: June 30, 2011
Application Number:
20110157085
In one embodiment, a method includes receiving two or more output signals responsive to two or more capacitive couplings. Each of the capacitive couplings has occurred between a pointing object and one of two or more sensing areas within a sensing region, and each of the sensing areas has a position within the sensing region. The method includes, if two or more of the output signals each have an output-signal level that exceeds a predefined activation level, then selecting a particular…
Method for Wireless Data Transmission
Granted: June 30, 2011
Application Number:
20110158176
A method for wireless data transmission between a base station and a transponder is provided, in which data are transmitted between the base station and the transponder in the form of data packets that include a header section with at least one symbol for setting one or more transmission parameters and include at least one additional section. The transponder monitors, during the data transmission, to determine whether a time period between two successive symbol delimiters transmitted by…
ACCESSING SEQUENTIAL DATA IN A MICROCONTROLLER
Granted: June 16, 2011
Application Number:
20110145665
System and methods transfer data over a microcontroller system test interface. The system can read data from and write data to microcontroller system memory using the described method. The method provides for the efficient transfer of data, minimizing redundancies and overhead present in conventional microcontroller test system protocols.
MICROPROCESSOR FOR EXECUTING BYTE COMPILED JAVA CODE
Granted: June 16, 2011
Application Number:
20110145548
A microprocessor architecture for executing byte compiled Java programs directly in hardware. The microprocessor targets the lower end of the embedded systems domain and features two orthogonal programming models, a Java model and a RISC model. The entities share a common data path and operate independently, although not in parallel. The microprocessor includes a combined register file in which the Java module sees the elements in the register file as a circular operand stack and the…
EXECUTE ONLY ACCESS RIGHTS ON A VON NEUMAN ARCHITECTURES
Granted: June 9, 2011
Application Number:
20110138141
A microcontroller system, such as a system-on-a-chip integrated circuit, including a processor (e.g., a Von Neumann processor), memory, and a memory protection unit (MPU), where the MPU provides execute-only access rights for one or more protected areas of the memory. The MPU can allow instructions fetched from within a protected area to access data in the protected area while preventing instructions fetched from outside the protected area from accessing data in the protected area.
CALIBRATION OF TEMPERATURE SENSITIVE CIRCUITS WITH HEATER ELEMENTS
Granted: May 26, 2011
Application Number:
20110121292
One or more heating elements are disposed on a semiconductor substrate proximate a temperature sensitive circuit disposed on the substrate (e.g., bandgap circuit, oscillator). The heater element(s) can be controlled to heat the substrate and elevate the temperature of the circuit to one or more temperature points. One or more temperature measurements can be made at each of the one or more temperature points for calibrating one or more reference values of the circuit (e.g., bandgap…
DIFFERENTIAL PAIR WITH CONSTANT OFFSET
Granted: May 19, 2011
Application Number:
20110115560
A bias current is generated for an unbalanced differential pair that is proportional to the transconductance gain of the differential pair. When the transconductance gain varies (e.g., due to temperature variations), the bias current varies in proportion thereby maintaining a constant offset voltage. In some implementations, a voltage to current converter circuit generates the bias current from a constant reference voltage that is independent of temperature and voltage supply variations…
SELF-CALIBRATING, WIDE-RANGE TEMPERATURE SENSOR
Granted: May 19, 2011
Application Number:
20110116527
A self-calibrating, wide-range temperature sensor includes a current reference, impervious to process and voltage, with the current reference mirrored into two oppositely-sized bipolar transistors or diodes. Duplicate current sources are used with a ratio of geometries between them, such that the larger current biases the smaller bipolar transistor (less cross-sectional area) and the smaller current source biases the larger bipolar transistor (higher cross-sectional area). The current…
INTEGRATED OSCILLATOR CIRCUIT HAVING AT LEAST TWO RESONANT CIRCUITS
Granted: May 5, 2011
Application Number:
20110102093
An integrated oscillator circuit (16) with an amplifier circuit (22) and a frequency-selective feedback network comprising a first resonant circuit (18) and a second resonant circuit (20) is proposed. The oscillator circuit is characterized in that the first resonant circuit (18) is connected to the amplifier circuit (22) solely on the output side and is formed as a parallel resonant circuit comprising a first capacitor (24) and a first inductor (26), and the second resonant circuit (20)…
TOUCHSCREEN ELECTRODE CONFIGURATION
Granted: May 5, 2011
Application Number:
20110102361
A touchscreen includes touchscreen electrode elements distributed across an active area of a substrate, and the touchscreen overlays a display. The touchscreen electrode elements are configured to avoid creating moiré patterns between the display and the touchscreen, such as angled, wavy, zig-zag, or randomized lines. In a further example, the electrodes form a mesh pattern configured to avoid moiré patterns.
Multi-Layer Connection Cell
Granted: April 21, 2011
Application Number:
20110089570
A semiconductor multi-layer connection cell is disclosed that includes configuration layers and “via” layers disposed between the configuration layers to allow configuration of signals at any layer in the connection cell. The layers include column structures extending through the layers. Each column structure includes a hole in a layer that can be filled to form an electrical connection between layers.
INTEGRATED CIRCUIT STRUCTURES CONTAINING A STRAIN-COMPENSATED COMPOUND SEMICONDUCTOR LAYER AND METHODS AND SYSTEMS RELATED THERETO
Granted: March 31, 2011
Application Number:
20110073907
A method for pseudomorphic growth and integration of an in-situ doped, strain-compensated metastable compound base into an electronic device, such as, for example, a SiGe NPN HBT, by substitutional placement of strain-compensating atomic species. The invention also applies to strained layers in other electronic devices such as strained SiGe, Si in MOS applications, vertical thin film transistors (VTFT), and a variety of other electronic device types. Devices formed from compound…
STACKED-DIE PACKAGE INCLUDING SUBSTRATE-GROUND COUPLING
Granted: March 17, 2011
Application Number:
20110062598
Method and apparatus are provided for semiconductor device packages. In an example, an apparatus can include a first semiconductor device, a ground pad situated on an uppermost portion of the first semiconductor device and configured to electrically couple portions of the first semiconductor device to aground potential, and a second semiconductor device having at least a portion in electrical communication with an uppermost face of the first semiconductor device through a first…
