Power conservation in an intrusion detection system
Granted: January 7, 2014
Patent Number:
8627116
In a tamper detection system, a control system controls power consumption by sensors and power consumption of a state machine that controls operations of the sensors. A first state machine controls which sensor is activated. A second state machine controls the operations performed by the activated sensor and the operations are timed according to a clock signal. Prior to activating a sensor, the second state machine is in a wait state. The clock signal is gated so that the logic state of…
SAS expander with non-blocking virtual PHY architecture
Granted: January 7, 2014
Patent Number:
8626981
A SAS expander includes a switch core, a number of SAS expander phys coupled to the switch core, an SMP originator coupled to the switch core and an SMP receptor coupled to the switch core. In an embodiment, the SMP originator is configured to only send connection requests and the SMP receptor is configured to only receive connection requests. Program instructions stored in non-transient digital storage media include code segments detecting a new connection request, code segments…
Communication interface with reduced signal lines
Granted: January 7, 2014
Patent Number:
8626975
Communication interfaces having reduced signal lines. In one aspect, a physical layer circuit, set forth by way of example and not limitation, interfaces a link controller and a device communication bus, and includes a wrapper coupled to a first interface bus having only six or less communication lines and coupled to a second interface bus having a larger number of communication lines than the first interface bus. The wrapper can communicate first signals with the link controller over…
Failsafe galvanic isolation barrier
Granted: January 7, 2014
Patent Number:
8625242
A system includes a transmitter, a receiver, a isolation barrier, and a fuse. The isolation barrier is connected to the transmitter. The fuse is connected between the isolation barrier and the receiver. The isolation barrier prevents current flow from the transmitter to the receiver when a voltage across the isolation barrier is less than a first breakdown voltage. The isolation barrier short circuits when the voltage across the isolation barrier is greater than or equal to the first…
System for and method of transferring charge to convert capacitance to voltage for touchscreen controllers
Granted: January 7, 2014
Patent Number:
8624870
A touchscreen controller system determines the actual locations of multiple simultaneous touches by eliminating mutual capacitance between adjacent rows and columns during self-capacitance measurements and selectively enabling mutual capacitance during mutual capacitance measurements. During the self-capacitance measurements, the controller system generates a set of candidate touch locations, which includes the locations of real and ghost touches. During the mutual capacitance…
Frequency mixer having parallel mixer cores
Granted: January 7, 2014
Patent Number:
8624658
A frequency mixer having parallel mixer cores is described that is configured to heterodyne a signal. In an implementation, the frequency mixer includes a first mixer core and a second mixer core. A first balun is connected to the first mixer core and configured to furnish a LO signal occurring in a first range of frequencies to the first mixer core. The mixer includes a second balun coupled to the second mixer core, and the second balun is configured to furnish a LO signal occurring in…
Simultaneous isolation trench and handle wafer contact formation
Granted: January 7, 2014
Patent Number:
8624349
Techniques are described to simultaneously form an isolation trench and a handle wafer contact without additional mask steps. In one or more implementations, an isolation trench and a handle wafer contact trench are simultaneously formed in a substrate. The substrate includes an insulating layer that defines a trench bottom of the handle wafer contact trench. A handle wafer is bonded to a bottom surface of the substrate. An oxide insulating layer is deposited in the isolation trench and…
Light sensor having IR cut and color pass interference filter integrated on-chip
Granted: January 7, 2014
Patent Number:
8624341
A light sensor is described that includes an IR cut interference filter and at least one color interference filter integrated on-chip. The light sensor comprises a semiconductor device (e.g., a die) that includes a substrate. Photodetectors are formed in the substrate proximate to the surface of the substrate. An IR cut interference filter is disposed over the photodetectors. The IR cut interference filter is configured to filter infrared light from light received by the light sensor to…
Trusted display based on display device emulation
Granted: December 10, 2013
Patent Number:
8605044
An integrated circuit has a keypress entry interface and a pass-through data path. In a pass-through mode, the keypress entry interface is disabled and the pass-through data path is enabled such that untrusted information (for example, video) from an external untrusted source can be driven into the integrated circuit, through the pass-through data path, and out of the secure integrated circuit and to a display. In a trusted mode, the keypress entry interface is enabled and is usable to…
Adaptive frequency synthesis for a serial data interface
Granted: December 10, 2013
Patent Number:
8605846
Various embodiments of the present invention relate to systems, devices and methods of oversampling electronic components where high frequency oversampling clock signals are generated internally. The generated oversampling clock is automatically synchronous with the input clock and the input serial data in a serial data link, and is adaptive to predetermined parameters, such as bit depth and oversampling rate.
Charge pump with a wide input supply range
Granted: December 10, 2013
Patent Number:
8604869
Various embodiments of the present invention relate to a voltage generator, and more particularly, to systems, devices and methods of configuring a charge pump system by incorporating an auxiliary charge pump to generate an intermediate voltage that is used to boost up a primary charge pump according to a level of an input supply voltage. The intermediate voltage has a higher level than that of the input supply voltage, and is provided to boost up the primary charge pump when the input…
Proximity sensor device
Granted: December 10, 2013
Patent Number:
8604436
Proximity sensor devices are described that integrate a light emitting diode with a light sensor assembly in a single, compact package. The proximity sensor devices comprise a lead frame having a surface. The light emitting diode and light sensor assembly are mounted to the lead frame proximate to the surface. The light emitting diode is configured to emit electromagnetic radiation in a limited spectrum of wavelengths, while the light sensor assembly is configured to detect…
Method and apparatus for improving dynamic range of a touchscreen controller
Granted: December 3, 2013
Patent Number:
8599167
A touchscreen system for increasing the dynamic range of the system comprising a touchscreen coupled to an offset cancellation element and a capacitance measuring element. The offset cancellation element is configured to be dynamically changed in capacitance such that it offsets parasitic and sensor capacitances of the touchscreen sensors thereby leaving only touch event capacitance to be measured by the measuring element. The offset cancellation element is able to adjust to the initial…
Isolation monitoring system and method utilizing a variable emulated inductance
Granted: December 3, 2013
Patent Number:
8598897
A system for measuring leakage resistance between a high voltage (HV) system of a vehicle and a vehicle chassis includes an emulated inductance that is connected between the HV system and the vehicle chassis and that has an inductive reactance that substantially cancels a capacitive reactance between the HV system and the vehicle chassis. A signal source outputs one of an AC current signal and an AC voltage signal between the HV system and the vehicle chassis. A sensor measures one of an…
Light sensor having IR cut interference filter with color filter integrated on-chip
Granted: December 3, 2013
Patent Number:
8598672
Techniques are described to furnish a light sensor that includes a patterned IR cut interference filter integrated with a patterned color pass filter. In one or more implementations, the light sensor includes a substrate having a surface. An IR cut interference filter configured to block infrared light is formed over the surface of the substrate. The light sensor also includes one or more color pass filters placed above or below the IR cut interference filter. The color pass filters are…
Reverse current limit protection for active clamp converters
Granted: November 26, 2013
Patent Number:
8593830
DC-to-DC converters are protected from damage by, among other things, monitoring and controlling forward and reverse currents in their transformer primary windings. The currents are discontinued if their values fall outside a predetermined range or if they flow during a portion of the switching cycle in a manner that would result in cross-conduction. Power switches in these converters are also protected from damage by adjusting the maximum duty cycles of these converters to vary with…
Microelectromechanical inertial sensor with atmospheric damping
Granted: November 26, 2013
Patent Number:
8590376
The present invention relates to an inertial sensor, preferably an acceleration sensor or multi-axis acceleration sensor as a microelectromechanical construction element, said sensor comprising a housing with at least one first gas-filled cavity in which a first detection unit is disposed moveably relative to the housing for detection of an acceleration to be detected, wherein the inertial sensor comprises a damping structure.
Method and apparatus for controlling a continuous time linear equalizer
Granted: November 19, 2013
Patent Number:
8588288
An example method for controlling a continuous time linear equalizer includes: developing a voltage histogram of a signal present at an output of a continuous time linear equalizer; developing a quality factor for the voltage histogram; comparing the quality factor with a prior quality factor; decreasing an equalization of the continuous time linear equalizer if the quality factor is less than the prior quality factor and increasing the equalization of the continuous time linear…
Data acquisition system with analog-to-digital converter having integrated multiplexer control
Granted: November 19, 2013
Patent Number:
8587461
A data acquisition system includes an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) having a MUX control outputs, a controller coupled to the ADC, a multiplexer coupled to the MUX control outputs of the ADC, and an operational amplifier coupling an analog data output of the multiplexer to an input of the ADC. An ADC having integrated multiplexer control includes control logic circuitry, ADC circuitry, MUX logic and an oscillator coupled to the control logic circuitry, the ADC circuitry, and the MUX…
Device for protecting an electronic integrated circuit housing against physical or chemical ingression
Granted: November 12, 2013
Patent Number:
8581251
The invention relates to the creation of a housing for an integrated circuit which makes it possible to detect physical ingression into said housing. The invention applies in particular to the protection of secrets which may possibly be contained in said integrated circuit, in the event of physical attack, for example by destroying the secrets contained in an integrated circuit in the event of ingression into the housing thereof.
