SINGLE PIN COMMUNICATION MECHANISM
Granted: September 2, 2010
Application Number:
20100223476
A method and device include a power pin, a ground pin, and a communications pin. A communications module receives power from the power pin and utilizes an edge counting communication protocol over the communication pin.
ANTI-CROSS-TALK CIRCUITRY FOR ROM ARRAYS
Granted: August 19, 2010
Application Number:
20100208505
A circuit and method precharge a selected bit-line in a read only memory (ROM) array during a precharge period of a read cycle. At least one bit-line adjacent to the selected bit-line is discharged during the precharge period. After the precharge period, the selected bit-line is read such that parasitic capacitance effects on the selected bit-line are reduced.
VOLTAGE REGULATOR FOR MEMORY
Granted: August 19, 2010
Application Number:
20100208539
A circuit includes a first negative feed back loop coupled to a virtual Vvdd power rail and a true Vdd power rail. A second negative feed back loop is coupled to the virtual Vvss power rail and a true Vss power rail. The virtual rail to virtual rail voltage difference is regulated at the highest threshold voltage between pull-up and pull-down transistors of a memory cell.
MOS Resistor with Second or Higher Order Compensation
Granted: August 12, 2010
Application Number:
20100201430
A circuit arrangement (e.g., an integrated circuit) generates a second or higher order compensation voltage to compensate for variations in operation parameters (e.g., temperature and process variations). In one aspect, the compensation voltage is applied to a MOS resistor to compensate for mobility variations of the MOS resistor by maintaining a stable equivalent resistance. The compensated MOS resistor can provide a relatively stable resistance for a variety of analog circuit…
MICROCONTROLLER WITH COMPATIBILITY MODE
Granted: August 5, 2010
Application Number:
20100199118
A microcontroller is operable to enable a compatibility mode where a clock source of the microcontroller is adjusted to support timing requirements of applications written for legacy microcontrollers. In some implementations, one or more scaling factors and/or wait state factors are applied to the clock source of the microcontroller to ensure timing compatibility.
CURRENT TO FREQUENCY CONVERSION, APPARATUS AND METHODS
Granted: July 29, 2010
Application Number:
20100188049
Electronic apparatus, methods of forming the electronic apparatus, and methods of operating the electronic apparatus include features of current to frequency conversion that may be implemented in a variety of applications. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed.
METHODS FOR FORMING PACKAGED PRODUCTS
Granted: July 8, 2010
Application Number:
20100172113
An apparatus and methods for packaging semiconductor devices are disclosed. The apparatus is applicable to many types of contemporary packaging schemes that utilize a sacrificial metal base strip. Tunnels formed through an encapsulation area surrounding the device and associated bond wires are filled with a metallic conductor by, for example, electroplating, and extend bottom contact pads to an uppermost portion of the encapsulated area. The sacrificial metal base strip serves as a…
SNAP-BACK TOLERANT INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
Granted: June 17, 2010
Application Number:
20100149710
A method and a circuit for preventing snap-back current in NMOS transistors of MOS integrated circuits are provided. Example embodiments may include preventing snap-back current in a circuit including a first NMOS transistor having an associated parasitic bipolar transistor. A second NMOS transistor may be connected in series with the first NMOS transistor. A gate node of the second NMOS transistor may be coupled to a bias node, such that the second NMOS transistor in conductive (ON)…
SENSE AMPLIFIER
Granted: June 17, 2010
Application Number:
20100149896
A sense amplifier comprises a first cascode transistor, a second cascode transistor, a first feedback circuit, a second feedback circuit, and a comparator. The drain of the first cascode transistor is connected directly to a first voltage source. The gate of the first cascode transistor is connected to the first feedback circuit and a first input of the comparator, and the source of the first cascode transistor is connected to the first feedback circuit and a first column decoder. The…
LEVEL SHIFTER WITH LOW VOLTAGE DEVICES
Granted: May 27, 2010
Application Number:
20100127752
A voltage level shifter is disclosed that includes low voltage devices. In some implementations, a voltage level shifter having a differential structure includes low voltage, complementary N-channel metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS) input transistors and low voltage, complementary cross-coupled P-channel metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS) output transistors. One or more complementary NMOS/PMOS series intermediate transistor pairs are interposed between respective drains of the NMOS…
Touch Screen Sensor
Granted: May 20, 2010
Application Number:
20100123670
A two-dimensional touch sensor comprising a plurality of electrodes arranged in a mesh pattern on a substrate. Each electrode is formed by interconnected metal traces, the metal being intrinsically opaque, but the metal traces being sufficiently narrow to be practically invisible. The metal traces have a width less than or equal to 10 ?m and occupy less than or equal to 5% of the area of each electrode. The electrodes can be deposited additively via a printing process, for example using…
SOFTWARE ADAPTED WEAR LEVELING
Granted: May 13, 2010
Application Number:
20100122015
A subset of software objects stored in a first segment of non-volatile memory are identified as requiring frequent write operations or otherwise associated with a high endurance requirement. The subset of software objects are move to a second segment of non-volatile memory with a high endurance capacity, due to the application of wear leveling techniques to the second segment of non-volatile memory. The first and second segments of memory can be located in the same memory device or…
LOW COST IMPLEMENTATION FOR SMALL CONTENT-ADDRESSABLE MEMORIES
Granted: May 13, 2010
Application Number:
20100122025
A content-addressable memory (CAM) for managing the reallocation of erasable objects within a non-volatile memory is conceptually separated into two tables: a first table provides verification of whether or not a logical address has been reallocated and, if so, a second table provides the physical address of the reallocated erasable object.
COMMAND DECODER FOR MICROCONTROLLER BASED FLASH MEMORY DIGITAL CONTROLLER SYSTEM
Granted: May 13, 2010
Application Number:
20100122097
A command decoder used for a microcontroller based Flash memory digital controller system includes multiple subsystems, including the command decoder, which serves as the main user interface for interpreting commands from a user and managing the priority of commands and command modes. The command decoder also stores crucial information including address, data, opcodes, and various flags registers that are used by other subsystems including the program buffer, burst read module, register…
Contactless Interface
Granted: April 29, 2010
Application Number:
20100103707
Power extracted from an antenna inductively coupled to an alternating magnetic field is regulated to provide voltage supplies. In some implementations, a first voltage supply (e.g., 3.8 volts) provides regulated voltage to analog circuits and a second, lower, voltage supply (e.g., 1.4 volts) provides regulated voltage to digital circuits. The first voltage supply is regulated, using shunt regulation, by a first voltage regulator circuit. The second voltage supply is regulated, using a…
CAPACITIVE TOUCH BUTTONS COMBINED WITH ELECTROLUMINESCENT LIGHTING
Granted: April 22, 2010
Application Number:
20100097346
A capacitive touch sensor includes a layer of electro-luminescent (EL) material arranged between a first electrode and a second electrode, A controller includes a capacitance sensing circuit coupled to first and/or second electrode and arranged to measure a capacitive coupling associated with the first and/or second electrode. The controller is further operable to apply an EL drive signal across the first and second electrodes to cause the layer of EL material between the electrodes to…
Auto Trimming Oscillator
Granted: April 8, 2010
Application Number:
20100085121
An auto trimming oscillator includes a Successive Approximation Register (SAR), a frequency detector and an n-bit comparator. The SAR is used to iteratively trim the oscillator output clock frequency based on a difference between a reference clock frequency and the oscillator output clock frequency. The oscillator is trimmed to deliver a clock frequency which is a closest match to the reference clock frequency.
ADAPTIVE REGULATOR FOR IDLE STATE IN A CHARGE PUMP CIRCUIT OF A MEMORY DEVICE
Granted: March 25, 2010
Application Number:
20100074030
An apparatus and method for improving the performance of an electronic device is disclosed. An idle voltage state is introduced by an adaptive voltage generator when providing or removing a high voltage signal from a line or a node in a circuit. The idle state reduces the undesirable effects of switching disturbances caused by sudden voltage changes in a line or node.
SIMULATION MODEL FOR TRANSISTORS
Granted: March 25, 2010
Application Number:
20100076742
Various embodiments include methods and apparatus for simulating a transistor using a simulation model that includes a transistor simulation model coupled to diode simulation model.
SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING
Granted: March 11, 2010
Application Number:
20100059508
This document discloses semiconductor processing systems, methods, and devices. The systems, methods and devices activate dopants in a processing chamber having a temperature that is less than, for example, 300 degrees. A microwave energy source provides a microwave transmission to a waveguide system that uniformly distributes the microwave transmission. The waveguide system can include a rectangular waveguide coupled to a cylindrical waveguide. The rectangular waveguide guides the…
