Secured communication from within non-volatile memory device
Granted: February 22, 2022
Patent Number:
11258772
An apparatus includes a non-volatile memory (NVM) device coupled to a host, the NVM device including a processing device to: receive a communication packet from a server via the host computing system that is coupled to the NVM device and communicatively coupled to the server, the communication packet comprising clear text data that requests to initiate secure communications; perform a secure handshake with the server, via communication through the host computing system, using a secure…
Tilted implant for poly resistors
Granted: February 22, 2022
Patent Number:
11257675
A semiconductor device having a substrate, a dielectric layer, a polycrystalline silicon (“poly”) resistor, a drain, and a source is disclosed. After implantation, the poly resistor may have a lateral doping profile with two peaks, one near each edge of the poly resistor, and a trough near the middle of the poly resistor. Such a doping profile can allow the poly resistor to have a resistance that is insensitive to small variations in critical dimension of the poly resistor. The…
Systems, methods, and devices for user configurable wear leveling of non-volatile memory
Granted: February 22, 2022
Patent Number:
11256426
In an example embodiment, a device comprises a non-volatile memory and wear leveling control circuitry. The non-volatile memory comprises logical memory sectors mapped to physical memory sectors, and a supervisory memory sector configured to store a mapping of the logical memory sectors to memory partitions with user-defined boundaries. The wear leveling control circuitry is configured to: receive and store, in the mapping, wear leveling parameters based on user input, where each memory…
Input/output multiplexer bus
Granted: February 22, 2022
Patent Number:
11255890
One embodiment includes and I/O bus including a signal line coupled to a signal source and multiple line switches, each line switch to couple a corresponding I/O port to the signal line. Switch logic coupled to the I/O bus may programmatically switch the multiple line switches to couple at least one of the signal source and measurement circuitry to the respective I/O port.
Method for fast detection and automatic gain adjustment in ADC based signal
Granted: February 15, 2022
Patent Number:
11251805
A method can include modulating an amplified analog signal into a digital data stream, filtering the digital data stream with a first filter, generating gain control values associated with amplified analog signal based on the filtered data stream with the first filter and filtering the digital data stream with a second filter, and generating output digital values associated with the amplified analog signal based on the filtered data stream with the second filter. Corresponding systems…
Memory device resilient to cyber-attacks and malfunction
Granted: February 15, 2022
Patent Number:
11249689
A non-volatile memory (NVM) integrated circuit device includes an NVM array of memory cells partitioned into a first physical region to store a first firmware stack and a second physical region to store a second firmware stack. The NVM integrated circuit device also includes a processing device that enables a host microcontroller to execute in place the first firmware stack stored within a first set of logical addresses that is mapped to the first physical region. The processing device…
Apparatus, systems, and methods for battery life based wireless communication scheduling
Granted: February 1, 2022
Patent Number:
11240755
Systems and methods compare a first battery life value associated with a first wireless device with a second battery life value associated with a second wireless device. Based on the comparison, systems and methods adjust a communication schedule by allocating timeslots of the communication schedule to the first wireless device and transmit the adjusted communication schedule to the first wireless device.
Low-emissions touch controller
Granted: January 18, 2022
Patent Number:
11226706
Technology directed to low-emissions touch controller in in-cell touch display systems is described. One in-cell touch controller includes a signal generator circuit that is configured to generate a sense signal according to a sensing function, the sense signal including a windowed sinusoidal waveform. The controller generates a transition signal to transition the in-cell touch display between a display function and the sensing function. The controller drives the sense signal and the…
Power-efficient sync-rectifier gate driver architecture
Granted: January 11, 2022
Patent Number:
11223270
A synchronous switching scheme with adaptive slew control in order to adiabatically charge and discharge a capacitor to recycle charge and generate a boosted voltage on the gate of the synchronous rectifier field effect transistor (FET) is described. In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a synchronous rectifier FET coupled to a transformer, and a secondary-side controller coupled to the synchronous rectifier FET. The secondary-side controller includes a synchronous rectifier gate…
Securing data logs in memory devices
Granted: December 28, 2021
Patent Number:
11210238
An apparatus including non-volatile memory to store a forensic key and data, the data received from a host computing system. A processing device is coupled to the non-volatile memory and is to: allow writing the data, by the host computing system, to a region of the non-volatile memory; in response to a lock signal received from the host computing system, assert a lock on the region of the non-volatile memory, the lock to cause a restriction on access to the region of the non-volatile…
Programmable shunt regulator
Granted: December 28, 2021
Patent Number:
11209847
Example apparatus, systems, and methods receive, by a current digital-to-analog converter (DAC) of a shunt regulator, a first digital code indicative of a first programmable power supply command specifying a first programmable output voltage (Vbus) to be delivered to a voltage bus of a USB-compatible device. The programmable power supply command is compatible with a universal serial bus—power delivery (USB-PD) standard. Responsive to receipt of the first digital code, adjust, by the…
Pseudo-digital light emitting diode (LED) dimming with secondary-side controller
Granted: December 21, 2021
Patent Number:
11206727
Pseudo-digital light-emitting diode (LED) with secondary-side flyback control is described. In one embodiment, a Digital Addressable Lighting Interface (DALI) compatible driver includes a secondary-side controller coupled to a secondary winding of a transformer and coupled to a light-emitting element. The secondary-side controller includes a DALI-compatible interface to receive information. The secondary-side controller communicates a control signal with a primary-side controller via a…
Local interconnect network (LIN) driver circuit
Granted: December 14, 2021
Patent Number:
11201617
A driver circuit and corresponding methods and systems are disclosed, the driver circuit comprises a signal generation circuit to generate a linearly varying signal at a first node based on a clock signal and an output transistor to receive the linearly varying signal and output a drive signal to a bus. A buffer amplifier is coupled between the first node and a gate of the output transistor to disable the gate capacitance of the output transistor. The driver circuit further comprises a…
Accurate peak detection architecture for secondary controlled AC-DC converter
Granted: December 14, 2021
Patent Number:
11201556
An AC-DC converter with synchronous rectifier (SR) architecture and method for operating the same are described. Generally, a secondary side integrated circuit (IC controller of the AC-DC converter includes a peak-detector block coupled to detect peak voltages sensed on a SR-SNS pin. The peak-detector block comprises a peak comparator, a sample-and-hold (S/H) circuit, and a DC offset circuit. The peak comparator is coupled to receive a sinusoidal input from the SR-SNS pin. The S/H…
Combined inductive sensing and capacitive sensing
Granted: November 30, 2021
Patent Number:
11188183
A sense unit for inductive sensing or capacitive sensing is described. The sense unit may include a first terminal coupled to a first node, a first electrode coupled to the first node, and a second terminal. The sense unit may include a second electrode coupled to the second terminal. In a first mode, a first signal is received at the first terminal and a second signal is output on the second terminal, where the second signal may be representative of a capacitance of the sense unit. The…
Non-volatile memory with silicided bit line contacts
Granted: November 23, 2021
Patent Number:
11183509
An approach to use silicided bit line contacts that do not short to the underlying substrate in memory devices. The approach provides for silicide formation in the bit line contact area, using a process that benefits from being self-aligned to the oxide-nitride-oxide (ONO) nitride edges. A further benefit of the approach is that the bit line contact implant and rapid temperature anneal process can be eliminated. This approach is applicable to embedded flash, integrating high density…
Auto-switching communication interface
Granted: November 23, 2021
Patent Number:
11182323
A touch detection system in accordance with one embodiment of the invention can include a circuit for converting a capacitance to a digital value. The touch detection system can include first and second communication interface circuits for enabling a first and second communication protocols, respectively. Furthermore, the touch detection system can include a detector circuit coupled to the first communication interface circuit and the second communication interface circuit. The detector…
USB signal switch circuitry using standard USB hub and method of operation the same
Granted: November 16, 2021
Patent Number:
11176071
A universal serial bus (USB) apparatus that has a USB hub, a first switching unit including first end coupled to a USB peripheral port of a first device, a second switching unit including a second end coupled to the USB hub and the first switching unit and a first end configured to be coupled to a first USB device, and control circuitry operable to provide control signals to the first and second switching units, in which the first control signals cause the first and second switching…
Capacitance sensing and inductance sensing in different modes
Granted: November 16, 2021
Patent Number:
11175787
An apparatus for inductive sensing or capacitive sensing is described. The apparatus may include a signal generator to output on a first terminal a first signal in a first mode and a second signal in a second mode. The apparatus may include a charge measuring circuit to receive on a second terminal a third signal in the first mode and a fourth signal in the second mode. The third signal is representative of an inductance of a sense unit coupled between the first terminal and the second…
Accurate valley detection for secondary controlled flyback converter
Granted: November 2, 2021
Patent Number:
11165362
An AC-DC converter with synchronous rectifier (SR) architecture and method for operating the same are described. Generally, a secondary side IC controller of the AC-DC converter includes a SR-SNS pin coupled to a peak-detector block, a zero-crossing block, and a calibration block. The calibration block is configured to: measure a loop turn-around delay (Tloop), a time (Tpkpk) between two successive peak voltages detected on the SR-SNS pin, and a time (Tzpk) from when the voltage sensed…
