Isolated current sensor
Granted: March 27, 2012
Patent Number:
8144446
The present disclosure includes a power measurement, circuit breaker or integrated protection system including isolated analog-to-digital modulators for measuring current using current sensors, such as, for example, current shunts, in a single or multiphase power system. In one embodiment, the modulators are divided into a line-side device with an analog-to-digital modulator and a host-side device including a decimation filter and a processor. In one embodiment, an isolation barrier,…
Robust narrowband symbol and frame synchronizer for power-line communication
Granted: March 20, 2012
Patent Number:
8139614
An embodiment is a method and apparatus to perform symbol synchronization. A correlation estimator computes a correlation of a sample vector representative of a narrowband signal. A synchronization detector detects symbol synchronization. Another embodiment is a method and apparatus to perform frame synchronization. A Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) processing unit computes a current FFT vector and an accumulated previous FFT vector. The current FFT vector and the accumulated previous FFT…
Method and apparatus for QP modulation based on perceptual models for picture encoding
Granted: March 13, 2012
Patent Number:
8135062
A method for encoding a picture is disclosed. The method generally includes the steps of (A) generating at least one respective macroblock statistic from each of a plurality of macroblocks in the picture, (B) generating at least one global statistic from the picture and (C) generating a respective macroblock quantization parameter for each of the macroblocks based on both (i) the at least one respective macroblock statistic and (ii) said at least one global statistic.
Method and/or architecture for motion estimation using integrated information from camera ISP
Granted: March 13, 2012
Patent Number:
8135068
A camera comprising a first circuit and a second circuit. The first circuit may be configured to perform image signal processing using encoding related information. The second circuit may be configured to encode image data using image signal processing related information. The first circuit may be further configured to pass the image signal processing related information to the second circuit. The second circuit may be further configured to pass the encoding related information to the…
Thermal processing of silicon wafers
Granted: February 28, 2012
Patent Number:
8124916
Apparatus and methods that minimize surface defect development in silicon wafers during thermal processing at relatively high temperatures at which silicon wafers are annealed and at less extreme temperature, or for other purposes. The apparatus and methods have utility to horizontally-disposed furnaces for silicon wafers and to vertically-oriented furnaces in which larger wafers can be thermally processed. A selectively-sealable process tube encloses silicon wafers during heating of the…
System and method for automatic power-up and power-down of an output video circuit
Granted: February 28, 2012
Patent Number:
8125572
A system and method for configuring a video circuit into a low power consumption mode and a high power consumption mode. The system comprises an input signal detection circuit adapted to generate a first signal indicative of whether an input video signal is present at the input of the video circuit; an output load detection circuit adapted to generate a second signal indicative of whether a load is connected to the output of the video circuit; and a control device adapted to generate a…
Video encoding statistics extraction using non-exclusive content categories
Granted: February 28, 2012
Patent Number:
8126283
In some embodiments, content-category-level encoding statistical indicators (statistics) are assigned to weighted linear combinations of corresponding macroblock-level statistics. Content categories may identify potentially overlapping content types such as sky, water, grass, skin, and red content. The combination weights may be similarity measures describing macroblock similarities to content categories. A given macroblock may be associated with multiple content categories, with…
Ripple reduction loop for chopper amplifiers and chopper-stabilized amplifiers
Granted: February 21, 2012
Patent Number:
8120422
Ripple reduction loop for chopper amplifiers and chopper-stabilized amplifiers. The ripple reduction loop includes a first chopper, a first amplifier having an input coupled to an output of the first chopper, a second chopper having an input coupled to an output of the first amplifier, a second amplifier having an input coupled to an output of the second chopper, a third chopper, an output of the second amplifier having its output capacitively coupled to an input of the third chopper as…
Shared operational transconductance amplifier pipelined ADC incorporating a sample/hold amplifier and multiple MDAC stages
Granted: February 21, 2012
Patent Number:
8120519
A single operational transconductance pipelined ADC incorporating a sample/hold amplifier and multiple MDAC stages. An input signal is sampled on input signal sampling capacitors, and then coupled around an operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) so that the output of the OTA is equal to the sampled voltage. There is no net charge transfer in this operation, so the noise and power dissipation normally associated with an input sample and hold circuitry (SHA) in a pipelined ADC is…
Method and apparatus for transmitting data and power across a transformer
Granted: February 7, 2012
Patent Number:
8111761
Encoding of a dual mode digital signal for transfer using a dual mode super source follower circuit to drive the signal across a pulse transformer is presented. The dual mode signal includes data in one mode and power/control in the other mode. In the power/control mode the magnitude of the signal pulses are greater than the magnitude of the data pulses. Thus, the current sinking deficiencies of the super source follower may introduce waveform irregularities when transitioning from the…
Electrically conductive matrix for z-axis interconnect
Granted: January 17, 2012
Patent Number:
8097963
An IC package including one or more z-axis interconnects for performing at least in part the fan-in/fan out interconnection for electrically coupling contacts of semiconductor die to external contacts of the package. The z-axis interconnect comprises a matrix of electrically conducting elements extending from the top to the bottom surface of the interconnect. Each conductive element is internally insulated from other conductive elements of the matrix. The semiconductor contacts may be…
System and method for automatic leakage control circuit for clock/data recovery and charge-pump phase locked loops
Granted: January 17, 2012
Patent Number:
8098788
An apparatus that includes a module for controlling the frequency of a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) as part of a phase locked loop (PLL), or clock and data recovery (CDR) when an input reference signal to the PLL or serial data to the CDR has ceased from being received. In particular, the apparatus comprises a VCO adapted to generate a VCO clock signal, a first control module adapted to control the frequency of the VCO clock signal based on the input reference signal, and a second…
System and method for transferring data over full-duplex differential serial link
Granted: January 17, 2012
Patent Number:
8098602
A data transmission technique where high speed data is transmitted differentially in a forward channel by way of a serial link, and relatively low speed data is differentially modulated onto the forward channel signal for transmission in a reverse channel via the link. By utilizing differential modulation in both forward and reverse channels, the resulting signal has a common mode voltage that is substantially constant, resulting in low EMI. The spectral content of the signal associated…
Method and apparatus of adaptive lambda estimation in Lagrangian rate-distortion optimization for video coding
Granted: January 10, 2012
Patent Number:
8094716
A method for hybrid video coding is disclosed. The method generally includes the steps of (A) calculating a bit rate based on a percentage of quantized zero coefficients resulting from encoding a plurality of components of a video signal, (B) calculating a distortion based on the percentage of quantized zero coefficients, (C) calculating a plurality of variances of a plurality of prediction error pictures and (D) calculating an adaptive Lagrangian multiplier in a Lagrangian…
Check valve package for PB-free, single piece electronic modules
Granted: January 3, 2012
Patent Number:
8088646
Check valve package for pb-free, single piece electronic modules, the package having an exterior and an interior, and at least one electronic device mounted within the interior of the package electrically connected to a lead-free solder ball grid array on a surface of the package, the package having a check valve between the interior and exterior of the package configured to allow flow from the interior to the exterior and to prevent flow form the exterior to the interior. The package…
Redistribution layer enhancement to improve reliability of wafer level packaging
Granted: December 27, 2011
Patent Number:
8084871
An enhanced redistribution layer is provided that geometrically expands redistribution layer (RDL) pads associated with a ball grid array of a wafer level package (WLP) to provide tensile stress relief during temperature cycle and/or drop testing of the WLP.
Secure keypad scanning
Granted: December 20, 2011
Patent Number:
8081091
A secure key scanning functionality drives the row lines and column lines of a key switch array with randomized pulses of different polarities, and drives signals in one direction from a row line through a pressed key and to a column line as well as in an opposite direction from the column line through the pressed key and to the row line. To make unauthorized detecting of key presses more difficult, row lines and column lines are driven with pulses that appear as actual key press…
Video encoding mode decisions according to content categories
Granted: December 20, 2011
Patent Number:
8081682
In some embodiments, encoding modes for a video image block are enabled according to similarity measures of the block with respect to multiple content categories. Content categories may identify potentially overlapping content types such as sky, water, grass, skin, and red content. In a priority mode, the encoding modes specified by a priority content category (e.g. a red category) are selectively enabled for the block, regardless of the block's similarity to other (non-priority) content…
Limit-cycle oscillation (LCO) generation by altering a digital transfer function of a feedback loop element
Granted: December 13, 2011
Patent Number:
8077490
Limit-cycle oscillation (LCO) generation by altering a digital transfer function of a feedback loop element provides a controllable method and apparatus for generating LCOs within a switch-mode power supply (SMPS). Measurements of the LCO characteristics can then be used to determine characteristics of the SMPS and/or determine proper compensation schemes. At least a zero error code of the feedback loop element is removed, causing the control value to oscillate between at least two…
Input-voltage-rate-of-change-dependent current-limit set point for hot-swap controllers
Granted: November 22, 2011
Patent Number:
8064180
Certain example embodiments disclosed herein include an adaptive current limiter comprising a variable reference voltage generator which is coupled to a power source via two input nodes and which develops a voltage step with exponential decay in response to, for example, a transient over-voltage condition, with the output of the variable reference voltage generator supplying a reference voltage to a comparator which compares the reference voltage to a voltage derived from a sensing…
