Dynamic error quantizer tuning systems and methods
Granted: November 19, 2024
Patent Number:
12149280
Dynamic error-quantizer tuning systems and methods prevent misconvergence to local minima by using a dynamic quantizer circuit that controls reference voltages of three or more comparators that are independently adjusted to modify the transfer function of the dynamic quantizer circuit. A weighted sum of the comparator outputs is subtracted from the input to form an error signal in a control loop. The ratio of the reference voltages is chosen to reduce or eliminate local minima during a…
Systems and methods for improving transient response in slew-rate limited H-bridge buck-boost drivers
Granted: November 5, 2024
Patent Number:
12137503
Presented are average current mode control systems and methods for driving a load with a constant current. In embodiments, this is accomplished when, in response to a zero-current detection circuit detecting a zero current condition in the load current, a compensation circuit is disconnected from a first error amplifier to enable that error amplifier to provide a first voltage to a second error amplifier. The second error amplifier increases a charging current in a capacitor to reduce a…
Ultra-low power instant lock phase lock loop (PLL)
Granted: October 15, 2024
Patent Number:
12119831
Systems and methods reduce a locking time of a type-II all-digital phase-locked loop (ADPLL) circuit by performing steps that comprise receiving a reference signal having a reference frequency and setting a digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) to a target frequency greater than the reference frequency. The DCO generates an output signal that is used to generate a feedback signal. A time-to-digital converter is used to determine an initial phase difference between the reference signal…
Method and circuit arrangement for controlling a stepper motor
Granted: October 15, 2024
Patent Number:
12119776
Described is a method and a circuit arrangement for controlling a stepper motor in a voltage-controlled or voltage-regulated operating mode, having a bridge circuit provided for a motor coil (A) with semiconductor switches (HS1, HS2, LS1, LS2) for applying a first and a second PWM voltage (U(LA1), U(LA2)) having opposite polarity to the motor coil (A) and having a charge pump for switching at least the high-side semiconductor switch (HS1, HS2) of the bridge circuit. Because the charge…
Angle-of-arrival antenna system
Granted: October 15, 2024
Patent Number:
12119555
An angle-of-arrival antenna system uses two orthogonal arrays of patch antenna elements to measure the angle of arrival of a wireless signal irrespective of its polarization. Each antenna element has an antenna patch located over a corresponding ground patch. A shorting wall directly electrically connects one edge of the antenna patch to a corresponding edge of the underlying ground patch. The edge of the ground patch is also directly connected to a system ground plane. No other edges of…
Systems and methods to cable shield fault detection and protection
Granted: October 8, 2024
Patent Number:
12113353
Described are system and method embodiments for establishing a weak ground path, comprising: disabling a first ground path for a shield pin of a cable connection interface, the first ground path including a first switch; enabling a second ground path for the shield pin, the second ground path comprises a second switch, and the second ground path having a higher resistance than the first ground path; determining a connection of a device to the cable connection interface with the second…
Systems and methods for real-time fault detection
Granted: September 24, 2024
Patent Number:
12099084
Described herein are systems and methods for real-time fault detection in electrical circuits. Various embodiments provide a fault detection circuit that uses a resistor network that is controlled to detect an internal current leak in multiple directions, e.g., to ground or to a power supply. The magnitude of the leakage current may be estimated from voltage measurements at voltage pins. In addition, as part of circuit diagnostics, open and short circuit fault conditions may be…
Power control systems and methods for machine learning computing resources
Granted: September 3, 2024
Patent Number:
12079063
Described are context-aware low-power systems and methods that reduce power consumption in compute circuits such as commonly available machine learning hardware accelerators that carry out a large number of arithmetic operations when performing convolution operations and related computations. Various embodiments exploit the fact that power demand for a series of computation steps and many other functions a hardware accelerator performs is highly deterministic, thus, allowing for energy…
Method and circuit assembly for sensorless load detection in stepper motors
Granted: August 20, 2024
Patent Number:
12068714
A method and a circuit assembly are described with which, in a stepper motor, a mechanical load applied to the motor shaft of which can be detected without a sensor in a voltage-based operating mode in which a nominal coil current is generated by applying a predetermined coil voltage (Us) to the coil. The coil is connected in a bridge branch of a bridge circuit formed from a first to fourth semiconductor switch (S1, . . . S4), wherein the predetermined coil voltage (Us) is applied to the…
Switching power converters including injection stages, and associated methods
Granted: August 6, 2024
Patent Number:
12057767
A method for operating a switching power converter to reduce ripple current magnitude includes controlling duty cycle of a plurality power stages of the switching power converter to regulate at least one parameter of the switching power converter. Each power stage includes a respective power transfer winding that is magnetically coupled to the respective power transfer winding of each other power stage. The method further includes controlling an injection stage of the switching power…
Measurement system with controlled pressure ramp
Granted: July 23, 2024
Patent Number:
12042253
A measurement system and method of manufacture can include: a pressure resistant structure; a pressure inducer coupled to the pressure resistant structure, the pressure inducer having an engaged configuration, the engaged configuration of the pressure inducer increasing pressure exerted on a portion of a user in contact with the pressure resistant structure; a light source coupled to the pressure resistant structure; an optical sensor coupled to the pressure resistant structure and…
Time-domain link diagnostic tool
Granted: June 25, 2024
Patent Number:
12021570
A system and method for performing diagnostics of a link capable of measuring a signal pulse having a pulse width that is narrower than a sampling period of a clock signal used for data sampling. The system incorporates a phase interpolator that shifts a phase of the clock signal while preserving the sampling period of the clock signal. The method includes generating and transmitting a plurality of pulses to a link, where then each pulse is sampled according to the clock signal. After…
Transmitting clock reference over reverse channel in a bidirectional serial link
Granted: June 4, 2024
Patent Number:
12003612
A clock recovery circuit includes a clock detector configured to receive a serial data stream from a remote device over a reverse channel, wherein the serial data stream includes clock reference data, reverse channel data, or a combination of the clock reference data and the reverse channel data, and the clock detector configured to output a clock detect signal in response to detecting the clock reference data in the serial data stream; a phase lock loop including a first detector…
System and method for dual-port communication and power delivery
Granted: June 4, 2024
Patent Number:
12003346
Described herein are embodiments for dual-port communication and power delivery for one-wire applications. Embodiments of one-wire bridge devices are disclosed to provide a dual-port link for two one-wire masters to communicate with one another in a multi-voltage system while intermittently allowing charging voltage. The configuration may be used to set a bidirectional pass through mode that allows level shifted fast logic signals to pass through the two one-wire links. A timer may also…
Systems and methods for performing in-flight computations
Granted: June 4, 2024
Patent Number:
12001262
In-flight operations in an inbound data path from a source memory to a convolution hardware circuit increase computational throughput when performing convolution calculations, such as pooling and element-wise operations. Various operations may be performed in-line within an outbound data path to a target memory. Advantageously, this drastically reduces extraneous memory access and associated read-write operations, thereby, significantly reducing overall power consumption in a computing…
Systems and methods for analog electronic polarization control for coherent optical receivers
Granted: May 21, 2024
Patent Number:
11990941
Described herein are systems and methods that manage polarization in coherent optical receivers by using analog signal processing that eliminates the need for ultra-fast, power-hungry ADCs and DSPs and that would require digitization of the full-bandwidth signal path and result in bulky and expensive circuit designs. Various embodiments of the invention provide polarization correction by using an analog polarization correction circuit that implements the equivalent of two matrix…
Method and circuit assembly for the resonance damping of stepper motors
Granted: May 21, 2024
Patent Number:
11990858
A method and a circuit arrangement for damping stepper motor resonances during operation of a stepper motor (M), in particular in the medium und high speed range, is described, wherein the coils (A; B) of the stepper motor (M) are each connected into a bridge circuit (Br1; Br2) comprising semiconductor switches (Sw1, . . . Sw4), in order to impress into the coils (A; B) a predetermined target coil current (ISollA; ISollB). The resonance damping is essentially achieved by activating a…
Solenoid system with position and temperature detection
Granted: May 7, 2024
Patent Number:
11977119
A solenoid system and method can include: providing an energizing voltage to a coil of a solenoid; providing an AC signal superimposed onto the energizing voltage; detecting current through the coil including an AC current amplitude induced by the AC signal and including a DC offset current amplitude; determining the AC current amplitude is a low AC current amplitude based on an armature within the solenoid being in a retracted position or determining the AC current amplitude is a high…
High-voltage, bidirectional protection circuits and methods
Granted: April 16, 2024
Patent Number:
11962145
Systems and methods herein use a sensing circuit to detect an overvoltage at a voltage node as a drain current. A current-mode comparator converts the detected current into a control signal, which is provided to a control circuit. The control circuit uses the control signal cut of a bias current to turn off switches in a protection circuit to create a high-impedance electrical path between the voltage node and the to-be-protected voltage node.
MIPI translation in gigabit multimedia serial link
Granted: April 16, 2024
Patent Number:
11962674
Systems and methods provide secure, end-to-end high-speed data encoding and communication. In certain embodiments, this is accomplished by modifying a header portion of a data packet received from a first device and complying with a one Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) protocol to create a modified data packet that complies with a faster MIPI protocol. The header portion of the modified data packet is validated during a tunnel mode operation using an error detection process to…
