Primary side PFC driver with dimming capability
Granted: August 6, 2013
Patent Number:
8502474
A primary side PFC driver circuit is disclosed that includes a switch control circuit for commanding a switch to allow an inductor coupled to an output load (e.g., LEDs) to transfer energy provided by an input voltage source. The switch control circuit provides two signals for commanding the switch. A first signal having a first frequency, with a duty cycle in proportion to the input voltage amplitude, commands the switch to allow the average input current to be proportional to the input…
High accuracy RC oscillator
Granted: July 30, 2013
Patent Number:
8497741
A device includes an RC oscillator circuit and incorporates various features that individually and in combination can help improve the stability or accuracy of the oscillator output frequency. The oscillator circuit is operable to provide a tunable output frequency and includes a bias circuit switchable between first and second modes of operation. One of the modes has less drift in oscillator bias current relative to the other mode. The device also includes drift compensation circuitry…
Architecture and technique for inter-chip communication
Granted: July 23, 2013
Patent Number:
8493300
The present invention involves an electrical system in which an analog signal channel passes through various integrated circuit chips (ICs). The channel can carry one or more analog signals. Each IC can modify the signal(s) passing through it and pass it on to another IC or system component. The channel can be programmable. Each IC can include a comparator or a multiplexor to receive the channel signal from another IC or system component and to modify the received signal before…
Voltage regulator configuration
Granted: July 23, 2013
Patent Number:
8493045
A voltage regulator is configurable to operate in a linear regulator mode or a buck regulator mode. To operate in the buck regulator mode, the voltage regulator is coupled to an inductor. To determine whether an inductor is coupled to voltage regulator, and thus whether the voltage regulator can be configured in the buck regulator mode, a detection circuit determines whether a regulator output of the voltage regulator resists a change in current driven to the regulator output.
Method and apparatus for single touch zoom using spiral rotation
Granted: July 16, 2013
Patent Number:
8490013
A touchscreen display device implements a single touch operation using a spiral rotation gesture on a touchscreen display device to magnify the display of an image. Continued spiral rotations result in continued magnification. A zoom-in or zoom-out operation is implemented by a single touch spiral rotation. In one example, a spiral rotation defining an increasing area has a corresponding action to reduce a display portion of the display screen. Similarly, a spiral rotation defining a…
Routable array metal integrated circuit package fabricated using partial etching process
Granted: July 16, 2013
Patent Number:
8487424
An integrated circuit assembly is fabricated on a metal substrate strip in an array format that has raised circuitry pattern formed by photolithographic and metal etching processes. The circuitry pattern is formed on one side of the metal substrate only. The raised circuitry's etch depth extends partially through the metal substrate. Die attachment can be performed using a non-conductive material applied directly onto and around the raised circuitry features directly under the die. After…
Processor independent loop entry cache
Granted: July 9, 2013
Patent Number:
8484436
A memory controller is configured to receive read requests from a processor and return memory words from memory. The memory controller comprises an address comparator and a loop entry cache. The address comparator is configured to determine a difference between a previous read request address and a current read request address. The address comparator is also configured to determine whether the difference is positive and less than a certain address difference and, if so, indicate a…
Method and circuit for an operating area limiter
Granted: July 2, 2013
Patent Number:
8476965
The present invention relates to circuits and methods for limiting the operating area of a transistor in a constant current source. The circuits and methods use a detector and a driver to limit the operating area of a transistor. The detector and driver have parameters selected so that, when the voltage at the drain of the transistor satisfies a reference condition, the driver causes drain current of the transistor to decrease. The reference condition is determined relative to the…
Differential detection a communication system
Granted: July 2, 2013
Patent Number:
8477829
In one embodiment, a detection unit includes a sequence providing unit to provide a third group of derived sequences. The third group for each first pseudo noise (PN) sequence has a derived sequence assigned to the first PN sequence. The detection unit includes a correlation unit, which is connected to the sequence providing unit and formed to calculate correlation results by correlating the differentially demodulated signal with each derived sequence of the third group. The detection…
Method, system, and integrated circuit for communication in RFID or remote sensor systems
Granted: July 2, 2013
Patent Number:
8477017
In certain embodiments, a method may include receiving, at one of a plurality of remote units, a command from a control unit. The method may also include determining a random number specifying a time slot of a first series of time slots for transmitting a second data sequence to the control unit, and, in response to a determination that the random number specifies the first time slot in the first series of time slots, determining a new random number. The method may further include…
Differential pair with constant offset
Granted: June 25, 2013
Patent Number:
8471636
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…
Method and system for providing a metal oxide semiconductor device having a drift enhanced channel
Granted: June 25, 2013
Patent Number:
8471244
A method and system for providing a metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) device are described. The method and system include providing a source, a drain, and a channel residing between the source and the drain. At least a portion of the channel includes an alloy layer including an impurity having a graded concentration. The method and system also include providing a gate dielectric and a gate electrode. At least a portion of the gate dielectric resides above the alloy layer. The gate…
Apparatus to improve bandwidth for circuits having multiple memory controllers
Granted: June 18, 2013
Patent Number:
8468281
An apparatus for improving bandwidth for circuits having a plurality of memory controllers employing a first memory controller, a second memory controller, a first busy read output signal circuit, a first busy write output signal circuit, a second busy read output signal circuit, and a second busy write output signal circuit. The first busy read output signal indicates when the first memory controller releases the address bus for a next external access subsequent to a read access to the…
Switched-capacitor, curvature-compensated bandgap voltage reference
Granted: June 11, 2013
Patent Number:
8461912
In a novel aspect, producing a reference bandgap voltage includes generating a proportional to absolute temperature (PTAT) voltage difference based on respective voltages across a first pair of diodes. The PTAT voltage difference is sampled and scaled using a switched-capacitor amplifier. The switched-capacitor amplifier also is used to sample and scale a difference in voltages across a second pair of diodes, one of which is biased with a PTAT current and the other of which is biased…
Routable array metal integrated circuit package fabricated using partial etching process
Granted: June 4, 2013
Patent Number:
8455304
An integrated circuit assembly is fabricated on a metal substrate strip in an array format that has raised circuitry pattern formed by photolithographic and metal etching processes. The circuitry pattern is formed on one side of the metal substrate only. The raised circuitry's etch depth extends partially through the metal substrate. Die attachment can be performed using a non-conductive material applied directly onto and around the raised circuitry features directly under the die. After…
Highly parallel pipelined hardware architecture for integer and sub-pixel motion estimation
Granted: May 28, 2013
Patent Number:
8451897
Disclosed is a pipelined motion estimation system and method. The pipelined motion estimation system includes a current frame input storage means for storing contents of a current frame and a previous frame input storage means for storing contents of one or more previous frames. A sum-of-absolute differences calculation module concurrently determines a best fit motion vector from a plurality of potential motion vectors where each of the plurality of potential motion vectors is based upon…
Sensitivity control as a function of touch shape
Granted: May 28, 2013
Patent Number:
8451237
A method and device receives signals from a plurality of nodes about a first touch of an array of touch screen sensor nodes. It is determined whether the received signals are representative of a finger touch or a stylus touch. A detect mode may be entered as a function of the type of touch determined.
Amplification of an incoming signal received via an antenna
Granted: May 28, 2013
Patent Number:
8451061
In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a radio frequency (RF) at an antenna; generating negative feedback to linearize an amplifier by resistively or transformer coupling an output signal of a transistor of the amplifier to the input of the transistor; generating a rectified voltage by rectification of the output signal of the transistor; generating a constant reference voltage; and outputting a control voltage or a control current to the transistor based on the sum of the…
Method and apparatus for an intelligent light emitting diode driver having power factor correction capability
Granted: May 14, 2013
Patent Number:
8441199
The present invention relates to circuits and methods for controlling one or more LED strings. The circuit comprises a programmable controller coupled to one or more detectors, wherein the one or more detectors are configured to detect one or more measurable parameters of one or more LEDs or LED drivers. The controller is configured to receive information from the one or more detectors related to the one or more measurable parameters and use that information to determine the desired…
Secure information processing
Granted: May 14, 2013
Patent Number:
8443423
Apparatus, systems, and methods may operate to receive from a requesting device, at a memory device, a request to access a memory domain associated with the memory device, and to deny, by the memory device, the request if the memory domain comprises any part of a secure domain, and the requesting device has not asserted a secure transfer indication. Additional operations may include granting the request if the memory domain comprises some part of the secure domain and the requesting…
