Video and content controlled backlight
Granted: June 25, 2013
Patent Number:
8471791
A display device includes a display panel; and a backlight panel provided below the display panel and defining a plurality of regions. A first array of light emitting diodes (LEDs) is provided along a first direction, each LED of the first array being coupled to a first line. A driver is coupled to the first line to drive the LEDs coupled to the first line. A second array of LEDs is provided along a second direction, each LEDs of the second array being coupled to a second line. A…
Electrically isolated power semiconductor package with optimized layout
Granted: June 4, 2013
Patent Number:
8455987
A packaged power semiconductor device is provided with voltage isolation between a metal backside and terminals of the device. The packaged power semiconductor device is arranged in an encapsulant defining a hole for receiving a structure for physically coupling the device to an object. A direct-bonded copper (“DBC”) substrate is used to provide electrical isolation and improved thermal transfer from the device to a heatsink. At least one power semiconductor die is mounted to a first…
Method for manufacturing a PSFLC-based and/or PSAFLC-based electrooptic cell and corresponding electrooptic cell, device and helmet
Granted: February 5, 2013
Patent Number:
8368848
A method is provided for manufacturing an electrooptic cell, which includes two plates of optically transparent material and at least one thickness of a composite gel based on a smectic liquid crystal and on a polymer provided between the plates, wherein the gel is in a smectic phase at ambient temperature. The method includes injecting a mixture of a ferroelectric and/or anti-ferroelectric smectic liquid and a monomer between the plates, wherein the monomer content of the mixture is…
Mother and daughter board configuration to improve current and voltage capabilities of a power instrument
Granted: January 29, 2013
Patent Number:
8363412
An arrangement of a mother circuit board and daughter circuit boards in a power instrument improves current and voltage capabilities. A mother board is mounted to a base panel of an enclosure, and a number of daughter boards are attached to and extend from the mother board. Each daughter board has substantially identical circuitry and produces substantially the same amount of current. The daughter boards together provide a total output current equal to a sum of each individually…
Sample and hold time stamp for sensing zero crossing of back elecromotive force in 3-phase brushless DC motors
Granted: January 22, 2013
Patent Number:
8358093
A microcontroller determines the position of the rotor of a brushless, direct-current motor by determining the time of zero crossing of back electromotive force (EMF) emanating from the non-driven phase winding. The zero crossing point is determined by interpolating voltage differentials that are time stamped. Each voltage differential is the difference between the phase voltage of the phase winding and the motor neutral point voltage. The time of zero crossing is determined without…
Low-cost magnetic stripe reader using independent switching thresholds
Granted: January 22, 2013
Patent Number:
8356759
A F/2F waveform generator has a comparator and an analog multiplexer. In a low-cost magnetic card reader application, a magnetic track signal is amplified, filtered, and compared with a threshold signal to create a digital signal output. The analog multiplexer detects changes in state of the digital signal. When a change of state is detected, the analog multiplexer switches among dynamically tunable threshold signals. The selected threshold signal is used for comparison with the magnetic…
Insulated gate bipolar transistor
Granted: January 1, 2013
Patent Number:
8344480
A trench structure of an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is formed as a trench net in a P region and extends into an N? layer. The trench net separates the P region into P wells and floating P layers. The P wells contact an emitter electrode while the floating P layers are not in direct contact with the emitter electrode. A gate formed of conductive material and having a surrounding insulation oxide layer is formed in the trench net. An N+ layer may be formed above each floating…
System and method for conserving power applied to an electrical apparatus
Granted: January 1, 2013
Patent Number:
8347120
A usage pattern identifies time periods when an electrical apparatus is likely to be powered-up or not in use. Power provided to an electrical apparatus is increased during time periods that the electrical apparatus is likely to be powered-up. Similarly, the power provided to the electrical apparatus is reduced or removed during time periods that the electrical apparatus is likely to be out of use or idle. The usage pattern is continually updated and refined by collecting usage data…
Discrete and integrated photo voltaic solar cells
Granted: December 18, 2012
Patent Number:
8334451
A photovoltaic (PV) cell device comprises a first semiconductor substrate; a second semiconductor substrate bonded to the first semiconductor substrate; an insulating layer provided between the first and second substrates to electrically isolate the first substrate from the second substrate; a plurality of PV cells defined on the first substrate, each PV cell including a n-type region and a p-type region; a plurality of vertical trenches provided in the first substrate to separated the…
Open-loop transimpedance amplifier for infrared diodes
Granted: December 18, 2012
Patent Number:
8334724
A microcontroller integrated circuit includes an open-loop transimpedance amplifier (OLTA). An input lead of the OLTA is a terminal of the microcontroller. The cathode of a photodiode is connected to VDD and the anode is connected to the terminal. The OLTA maintains the photodiode in a strongly reverse-biased condition, thereby keeping diode capacitance low and facilitating rapid circuit response. The input of the OLTA involves a diode-connected field effect transistor that provides a…
Method of fabricating high-performance capacitors in integrated MOS technologies
Granted: December 4, 2012
Patent Number:
8324069
A method of fabricating a high-performance capacitor that may be incorporated into a standard CMOS fabrication process suitable for submicron devices is described. The parameters used in the standard CMOS process may be maintained, particularly for the definition and etch of the lower electrode layer. To reduce variation in critical dimension width, an Anti-Reflective Layer (ARL) is used, such as a Plasma Enhanced chemical vapor deposition Anti-Reflective Layer (PEARL) or other…
1-wire communication protocol and interface circuit
Granted: December 4, 2012
Patent Number:
8324824
A 1-wire communication protocol and interface circuitry for communication between a host controller and a LED driver is provided. The 1-wire communication protocol is configured such that both PWM signals and DC current setting commands for programming the LED driver may be transmitted from the host controller to the LED driver via the same 1-wire interface. The 1-wire communication protocol uses the length of the pulses (pulse width), rather than the number of pulses, to distinguish…
Spread spectrum clock generator with controlled delay elements
Granted: November 27, 2012
Patent Number:
8320428
A programmable spread spectrum clock generator (SSCG) reduces electromagnetic interference by spreading the frequency bandwidth of an output signal. The rate at which the frequency of the output signal changes, as well as other aspects of the output signal, are software programmable. The programmable SSCG receives a periodic signal whose cycles have substantially identical periods and outputs the output signal whose cycles have periods that vary smoothly over a plurality of cycles of the…
Open-loop transimpedance amplifier for infrared diodes
Granted: September 18, 2012
Patent Number:
8269562
A microcontroller integrated circuit includes an open-loop transimpedance amplifier (OLTA). An input lead of the OLTA is a terminal of the microcontroller. The cathode of a photodiode is connected to VDD and the anode is connected to the terminal. The OLTA maintains the photodiode in a strongly reverse-biased condition, thereby keeping diode capacitance low and facilitating rapid circuit response. The input of the OLTA involves a diode-connected field effect transistor that provides a…
In-situ LED junction temperature monitoring using LED as temperature sensor
Granted: September 11, 2012
Patent Number:
8264171
LED junction temperature is determined in real time using the LED itself as the temperature sensor for directly measuring the LED junction temperature. In addition, temperature measurements from a silicon diode placed in proximity to the LED are also used to complement the temperature measurements from the LED itself. Arbitration is performed among temperature measurements from the LED and temperature measurements from the silicon diode to determine a temperature of the LED junction. The…
Solar cell device having a charge pump
Granted: August 14, 2012
Patent Number:
8242832
A solar cell device includes a solar cell section configured to output a first voltage upon receiving light. A charge pump circuit includes a first charge pump. The first charge pump includes a first terminal and a second terminal. The first terminal is configured to receive the first voltage from the solar cell section, and the second terminal is configured to output a second voltage that is higher than the first voltage. An output section is configured to receive an output voltage…
Cooperating memory controllers that share data bus terminals for accessing wide external devices
Granted: August 14, 2012
Patent Number:
8244994
A memory controller mechanism is operable in a first mode and a second mode. In the first mode, a first memory controller portion of the mechanism can use a first set of data terminals to perform a first external bus access operation (EBAO) and a second memory controller portion of the mechanism can use a second set of data terminals to perform a second EBAO. The first and second EBAO operations may be narrow accesses that occur simultaneously. In the second mode, one of the controllers…
Low-cost magnetic stripe reader using independent switching thresholds
Granted: July 3, 2012
Patent Number:
8210440
A F/2F waveform generator has a comparator and an analog multiplexer. In a low-cost magnetic card reader application, a magnetic track signal is amplified, filtered, and compared with a threshold signal to create a digital signal output. The analog multiplexer detects changes in state of the digital signal. When a change of state is detected, the analog multiplexer switches among dynamically tunable threshold signals. The selected threshold signal is used for comparison with the magnetic…
General purpose ball grid array security cap
Granted: June 12, 2012
Patent Number:
8198142
A general purpose BGA security cap includes a substrate, an integrated circuit die, and an array of bond balls. The substrate includes an anti-tamper security mesh of conductors. The bond balls include outer bond balls and inner bond balls that are fixed to the underside of the substrate. The integrated circuit drives and monitors the anti-tamper security mesh and communicates data using a serial physical interface through a subset of the inner bond balls. In one example, a user has…
System and method for processing and forwarding transmitted information
Granted: May 29, 2012
Patent Number:
8188686
A system involves a plurality of RF-enabled occupancy detectors. Each occupancy detector communicates with and controls an associated plurality of RF-enabled fluorescent lamp starter units. A network master has an RF transceiver used to communicate with the occupancy detectors using a first protocol, thereby retrieving status information from the starter units. The network master also has a second RF transceiver for communicating directly with a cellular telephone using a second…
