| STMicroelectronics, Inc. Patent applications |
| Patent application number | Title | Published |
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| 20120135776 | Method and apparatus for reducing power comsumption in a wireless communication device - A method and apparatus for conserving power in a wireless communication device. The method includes receiving at least a portion of a PHY protocol data unit (PPDU) frame, where the PPDU frame includes an aggregate MAC protocol data unit (A-MPDU) field. The method also includes comparing a receiver address (RA) within the A-MPDU field to a stored address of the wireless communication device and, if the received RA does not match the stored address, causing power to be removed from one or more circuits of the wireless communication device for a calculated period of time. | 05-31-2012 |
| 20120134324 | 80MHZ/160MHZ TRANSMISSION OPPORTUNITY (TXOP) PROTECTION IN 802.11ac TRANSMISSIONS - A method and apparatus for negotiating an idle subchannel set for a wireless data transmission. The method includes transmitting an indication of a first set of idle subchannels to a wireless station. The method also includes receiving an indication of a second set of idle subchannels from the wireless station. The method further includes determining a final set of idle subchannels based on the indication of the first set of idle subchannels and the indication of the second set of idle subchannels. | 05-31-2012 |
| 20120122373 | PRECISE REAL TIME AND POSITION LOW PRESSURE CONTROL OF CHEMICAL MECHANICAL POLISH (CMP) HEAD - A method and system for detecting and controller wafer surface pressure distribution. Detecting and controlling wafer surface pressure distribution comprises measuring in situ wafer uniformity of a wafer at a plurality of locations of the wafer; and in response to the measured wafer uniformity controlling through a feedback loop in situ CMP head pressure applied at the plurality of locations of the wafer in real time to polish the wafer. | 05-17-2012 |
| 20120120796 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING A PRIORITY-BASED, LOW-COLLISION DISTRIBUTED COORDINATION FUNCTION USING A SUPER-FRAME STRUCTURE - A method for providing a priority-based, low-collision distributed coordination function (DCF) in a wireless network is provided. The network includes an access point and a plurality of stations. The method includes receiving at a first station a super-frame from the access point. The super-frame is operable to define a service period for each of the stations. A priority for the first station is determined based on the super-frame. A back-off time is selected for the first station based on the priority. | 05-17-2012 |
| 20120120205 | ACCELERATED BLACK FRAME INSERTION FOR DISPLAYING 3D CONTENT - An accelerated black frame is inserted into an output vertical blanking period, keeping the output VBI at the same length or shorter than the input VBI. The output VBI is not extended. Input video data is received at a frame memory at a first transmission rate during an input active frame period. The video data is transmitted from the frame memory to a display at a second transmission rate during an output active frame period. The second transmission rate is faster than the first rate, which would normally lead to an extended output VBI. The transmitting (pouring in of data into the frame buffer) ends at the same time as all the data has been received at the monitor (drained). A black data frame which consists of meaningless data is inserted into the output VBI such that the output VBI is not longer than the input VBI. | 05-17-2012 |
| 20120114080 | DETERMINING RESPONSES OF RAPIDLY VARYING MIMO-OFDM COMMUNICATION CHANNELS USING OBSERVATION SCALARS - In an embodiment, a channel estimator includes first, second, and third stages. The first stage is configurable to generate a first observation scalar for a first communication path of a first communication channel, and the second stage is configurable to generate a second observation scalar for a first communication path of a second communication channel. And the third stage is configurable to generate channel-estimation coefficients in response to the first and second observation scalars. For example, such a channel estimator may use a recursive algorithm, such as a Vector State Scalar Observation (VSSO) Kalman algorithm, to estimate the responses of channels over which propagate simultaneous orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplexed (OFDM) signals (e.g., MIMO-OFDM signals) that suffer from inter-carrier interference (ICI) due to Doppler spread. Such a channel estimator may estimate the channel responses more accurately, more efficiently, with a less-complex algorithm, and with less-complex software or circuitry, than conventional channel estimators. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120114069 | PILOT PATTERN FOR OBSERVATION SCALAR MIMO-OFDM - In an embodiment, a transmitter includes first and second transmission paths. The first transmission path is configurable to generate first pilot clusters each including a respective first pilot subsymbol in a first cluster position, and the second transmission path is configurable to generate second pilot clusters each including a respective second pilot subsymbol in a second cluster position such that a vector formed by the first pilot subsymbols is orthogonal to a vector formed by the second pilot subsymbols. For example, where such a transmitter transmits simultaneous orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplexed (OFDM) signals (e.g., MIMO-OFDM signals) over respective channels that may impart inter-carrier interference (ICI) to the signals due to Doppler spread, the pattern of the pilot symbols that compose the pilot clusters may allow a receiver of these signals to use a recursive algorithm, such as a Vector State Scalar Observation (VSSO) Kalman algorithm, to estimate the responses of these channels. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120114053 | DETERMINING A RESPONSE OF A RAPIDLY VARYING OFDM COMMUNICATION CHANNEL USING AN OBSERVATION SCALAR - In an embodiment, a channel estimator includes first and second stages. The first stage is configurable to generate an observation scalar for a communication path of a communication channel, and the second stage is configurable to generate channel-estimation coefficients in response to the first observation scalar. For example, such a channel estimator may use a recursive algorithm, such as a VSSO Kalman algorithm, to estimate the response of a channel over which propagates an OFDM signal that suffers from ICI due to Doppler spread. Such a channel estimator may estimate the channel response more accurately, more efficiently, with a less-complex algorithm, and with less-complex software or circuitry, than conventional channel estimators. Furthermore, such a channel estimator may be able to dynamically account for changes in the number of communication paths that compose the channel, changes in the delays of these paths, and changes in the signal-energy levels of these paths. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120113326 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTING MOTION VECTORS IN A RECURSIVE HIERARCHICAL MOTION ESTIMATION SYSTEM USING A NON-RASTERIZED SCAN - The present disclosure provides a system and method for detecting motion vectors in an image frame using a recursive hierarchical process with a non-rasterized vector-scanning motion to reduce erroneous motion vectors in an image frame of a digital video sequence. In general, a resolution hierarchy is generated for an image frame, wherein the resolution hierarchy comprises the original image frame and one or more copy image frames each having a different, lower resolution than the original image frame. Each image frame in the hierarchy is partitioned into image patches disposed in columns and rows, and the image patches are scanned in a non-rasterized motion to detect motion vectors in each image patch. The disclosed system and method provides faster convergence and improved accuracy by converging motion vectors in multiple directions and minimizing erroneous motion vectors in the image sequence. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120112814 | PWM TIMER FOR POWER SUPPLY - A forward converter circuit includes a transformer having a primary winding and a secondary winding. A first transistor is coupled in series with the primary winding and a second transistor is coupled in series with the secondary winding. A control circuit generating control signals for controlling operation of the first and second transistors. The control signals are generated responsive to the values in certain triggered counting circuits satisfying programmable thresholds. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120112357 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RELIEVING STRESS AND IMPROVING HEAT MANAGEMENT IN A 3D CHIP STACK HAVING AN ARRAY OF INTER-STACK CONNECTIONS - The present disclosure provides a system and method for relieving stress and providing improved heat management in a 3D chip stack of a multichip package. A stress relief apparatus is provided to allow the chip stack to adjust in response to pressure, thereby relieving stress applied to the chip stack. Additionally, improved heat management is provided such that the chip stack adjusts in response to thermal energy generated within the chip stack to remove heat from between chips of the stack, thereby allowing the chips to operate as desired without compromising the performance of the chip stack. The chip stack also includes an array of flexible conductors disposed between two chips, thereby providing an electrical connection between the two chips. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120112356 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RELIEVING STRESS AND IMPROVING HEAT MANAGEMENT IN A 3D CHIP STACK - The present disclosure provides a system and method for relieving stress and providing improved heat management in a | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120104873 | SYSTEM AND METHOD TO DETECT CHILD PRESENCE - Systems and methods are disclosed that include reading passive engine status, detecting vibration, caused by the transfer of kinetic energy from at least one machine into the engine, and inhibiting active operation of the engine. | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120098463 | PRIMARY-SIDE REGULATION OF OUTPUT CURRENT IN A LINE-POWERED LED DRIVER - A line-powered LED driver is operable to provide primary-side regulation of output current supplied to LED circuitry. The circuit includes a feedback loop coupled to a power converter, wherein the feedback loop adds scaled input current to scaled input voltage to produce a control signal. The power converter is responsive to the control signal to adjust input current drawn by the power converter in response to changes in line voltage to provide constant input power. The power converter produces output power for supplying constant output current at the LEDs. The feedback loop may use a reference voltage derived from the LED circuitry so that the output power may be regulated to provide constant LED current for varying LED voltages. When compared to secondary-side current feedback schemes, the LED driver provides increased efficiency and reliability at a reduced cost by implementing primary-side regulation of the output current. | 04-26-2012 |
| 20120093700 | SILICON SUBSTRATE OPTIMIZATION FOR MICROARRAY TECHNOLOGY - A micro device includes a substrate and a structure configured to bind to an object or a material, or not to bind to an object or material. The structure has a roughness based on a roughness of the object or material. For example, a microarray includes a substrate and a well positioned in the substrate and configured to bind to a type of bead. The well has a roughness based on a roughness of the type of bead to which the well is configured to bind. The roughness of the well is controlled by controlling a position and number of striations in the side of the well. In another example, a moveable component of a micro device may have a roughness different from a roughness of an adjacent component, to reduce the likelihood of the moveable component sticking to the adjacent component. | 04-19-2012 |
| 20120092751 | Switchable display system - A display system for a portable device is switchable by electrical addressing. The display system can absorb ambient light and reflect at least a portion of the absorbed light to render an image on a surface of the display. The display includes a plurality of pixel electrodes. Each of the plurality of pixel electrodes includes linkers with acceptor molecules and donor molecules that form groups having respective color properties. In an off-state, a respective pixel is configured to reflect white light. In an on-state, a respective pixel is configured to reflect light according to the molecular grouping of the acceptor-donor group. | 04-19-2012 |
| 20120085748 | CLOSED LOOP TEMPERATURE CONTROLLED CIRCUIT TO IMPROVE DEVICE STABILITY - An integrated circuit is provided having an active circuit. A heating element is adjacent to the active circuit and configured to heat the active circuit. A temperature sensor is also adjacent to the active circuit and configured to measure a temperature of the active circuit. A temperature controller is coupled to the active circuit and configured to receive a temperature signal from the temperature sensor. The temperature controller operates the heating element to heat the active circuit to maintain the temperature of the active circuit in a selected temperature range. | 04-12-2012 |
| 20120080758 | METHOD FOR FABRICATING AT LEAST THREE METAL-OXIDE SEMICONDUCTOR TRANSISTORS HAVING DIFFERENT THRESHOLD VOLTAGES - At least three metal-oxide semiconductor transistors with different threshold voltages are formed in and above corresponding first, second and third parts of a semiconductor substrate. The second transistor has a lower threshold voltage than the second transistor, and the third transistor has a lower threshold voltage than the second transistor. The gate oxide layers for the three transistors are formed as follows: a first oxide layer having a first thickness is formed above the first, second and third parts. The first oxide layer above the second part is etched and a second oxide layer having a second thickness smaller than the first thickness is formed. The first oxide layer above the third part is etched and a third oxide layer having a third thickness smaller than the second thickness is formed. The second and the third oxide layers are then nitrided to form first and second oxy-nitride layers. | 04-05-2012 |
| 20120075739 | HIGH-RATE TRANSITION CONTROL CODE FOR MAGNETIC RECORDING CHANNELS - A method and apparatus for reducing noise in a communication signal is provided. The method includes converting raw channel data from the communication signal to a sequence of transition code symbols, each symbol having a plurality of bits, each bit having a position within the symbol. The method also includes sending the bits of each symbol to a plurality of bins, each bin corresponding to the position of each bit within the symbol. For each bin having a number of transitions greater than a number of non-transitions, the method also includes flipping every bit in the bin and setting a corresponding bit in a flip control word to a first value. The method still further includes binary adding the flip control word to each transition code symbol. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120063446 | MECHANISM TO UPDATE A NAV TIMER - In a 60 Hz WGA wireless network, not all frames with the duration field are received by a STA in a WGA network because of directional antennas. Therefore, a NAV Timer cannot account for the reserved duration of the channel by only updating with the longest duration field received. A STA can receive two frames each with a source and destination addresses and update the NAV Timer by comparing the received addresses to overcome such problem. Further, a STA can receive one frame with a source and destination addresses and update the NAV Timer by comparing the received addresses with the NAVSRC and NAVDST values. | 03-15-2012 |
| 20120056281 | HIGH ASPECT RATIO CAPACITIVELY COUPLED MEMS DEVICES - A method that includes forming an opening between at least one first electrode and a second electrode by forming a recess in a first electrode layer, the recess having sidewalls that correspond to a surface of the at least one first electrode, forming a first sacrificial layer on the sidewalls of the recess, the first sacrificial layer having a first width that corresponds to a second width of the opening, forming a second electrode layer in the recess that corresponds to the second electrode, and removing the first sacrificial layer to form the opening between the second electrode and the at least one first electrode. | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120047396 | IDENTIFYING A DEFECT IN A DATA-STORAGE MEDIUM - An embodiment of a data-read path includes a defect detector and a data-recovery circuit. The defect detector is operable to identify a defective region of a data-storage medium, and the data-recovery circuit is operable to recover data from the data-storage medium in response to the defect detector. For example, such an embodiment may allow identifying a defective region of a data-storage disk caused, e.g., by a scratch or contamination, and may allow recovering data that was written to the defective region. | 02-23-2012 |
| 20120045008 | PILOT PATTERN FOR MIMO OFDM - In an embodiment, a transmitter includes a transmission path that is configurable to generate first pilot clusters each including a respective first pilot subsymbol in a first cluster position and a respective second pilot subsymbol in a second cluster position such that a vector formed by the first pilot subsymbols is orthogonal to a vector formed by the second pilot subsymbols. For example, where such a transmitter transmits simultaneous orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplexed (OFDM) signals (e.g., MIMO-OFDM signals) over respective channels that may impart inter-carrier interference (ICI) to the signals due to Doppler spread, the pattern of the pilot symbols that compose the pilot clusters may allow a receiver of these signals to estimate the responses of these channels more accurately than conventional receivers. | 02-23-2012 |
| 20120037990 | Method and system for pre-migration of metal ions in a semiconductor package - According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of pre-migrating metal ions is disclosed. A metal in a semiconductor configuration is exposed to water and oxygen to yield metal ions. The metal couples a conductor to another material. The metal and the conductor are exposed to an electrical field in such a manner that one or both of the metal and the conductor becomes an anode to a corresponding cathode. The metal ions are then allowed to migrate from the anode to the cathode to form a migrated metal. Finally, a migration inhibitor is applied on top of the migrated metal to prevent further migration. | 02-16-2012 |
| 20120036414 | RENDERING DATA WRITE ERRORS DETECTABLE - An embodiment of a data write path includes encoder and write circuits. The encoder circuit is operable to code data so as to render detectable a write error that occurs during a writing of the coded data to a storage medium, and the write circuit is operable to write the coded data to the storage medium. For example, such an embodiment may allow rendering detectable a write error that occurs while writing data to a bit-patterned storage medium. | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120036395 | DETECTING DATA-WRITE ERRORS - An embodiment of a data read path includes recovery and decoder circuits. The recovery circuit is operable to recover coded data from a storage medium, and the decoder circuit is operable to detect, in the recovered data, a write error that occurred during a writing of the coded data to the storage medium. For example, such an embodiment may allow detection of a write error that occurred while writing data to a bit-patterned storage medium. | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120028573 | DIRECTIONAL COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE FOR SYSTEMS WITH STATIONS HAVING MULTIPLE ANTENNAS OR MULTIPLE ANTENNA SUBASSEMBLIES - A system includes a plurality of stations capable of communicating with each other. A station of the system may comprise multiple antenna subassemblies and a receiver coupled to the subassemblies. The station is operable to activate one or more of the subassemblies to determine a direction of a first incoming signal, and to then activate another one or more of the subassemblies to receive a second incoming signal from substantially the same direction. Alternatively, the station may comprise multiple antenna subassemblies and a receiver coupled to the subassemblies and operable to activate each of the subassemblies for a respective interval to service at least one respective transmitting station covered by the activated subassembly during the interval. | 02-02-2012 |
| 20120026883 | FAIR CHANNEL USE IN A WIRELESS AREA NETWORK - Fair usage of working channels in a wireless network is disclosed. A base station associated with a cell within a wireless community monitors the congestion of the working channel of neighboring communities. Upon determining that the congestion of the working channel of a neighboring community is less than that of its existing working channel, the base station initiates a switch to the neighboring community's working channel. Upon joining the new community, the frame structure and other networking parameters and attributes are adjusted. | 02-02-2012 |
| 20120010504 | WEIGHT SCALE WITH ULTRASOUND IMAGING FOR ANKLE DISPLACEMENT MEASUREMENT - A device for correlating trend data with respect to a patient's weight ankle displacement can identify conditions indicative of congestive heart failure. A weight scale or similar device coupled with imaging mechanism operable to measure ankle displacement collects a plurality of measurements over a period of time. Over time trend analysis of both the patient's weight and the ankle displacement measurements can be obtained and compared to identify whether over a particular sample period an increase in a patient's ankle displacement is or is not correlated with an increase in the patient's weight. When an increase in ankle displacement is identified as not correlating to a corresponding change in the patient's weight an alert can be issued of conditions indicative of congestive heart failure. | 01-12-2012 |
| 20120009693 | System and method for cleaning a charging wafer surface - A system and method for processing a wafer includes a charge neutralization system. The wafer processing system includes a wafer measuring device that can measure characteristics of a surface of the semiconductor wafer. One or more wafer processing stations perform a chemical mechanical polish (CMP) process on the wafer surface. A desica cleaning station can clean and dry the semiconductor wafer. The wafer processing system further includes a charge neutralizing device that can alter a surface charge of the wafer surface. | 01-12-2012 |
| 20120008603 | CONTENTION BASED PERIOD BEAMFORMING - Contention based period beamforming includes the establishment of synchronized communications between a beamforming initiator and a beamforming responder to precisely define a start time for beamforming training. Synchronization between the beamforming initiator and beamforming responder begins with the sending of control information to the responder so that the start of the beamforming process will be synchronized. With beamforming training synchronized, beamforming is initiated using the sector sweep process. | 01-12-2012 |
| 20120007871 | ELECTRONIC SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SELECTIVELY ALLOWING ACCESS TO A SHARED MEMORY - An electronic system, an integrated circuit and a method for display are disclosed. The electronic system contains a first device, a memory and a video/audio compression/decompression device such as a decoder/encoder. The electronic system is configured to allow the first device and the video/audio compression/decompression device to share the memory. The electronic system may be included in a computer in which case the memory is a main memory. Memory access is accomplished by one or more memory interfaces, direct coupling of the memory to a bus, or direct coupling of the first device and decoder/encoder to a bus. An arbiter selectively provides access for the first device and/or the decoder/encoder to the memory based on priority. The arbiter may be monolithically integrated into a memory interface. The decoder may be a video decoder configured to comply with the MPEG-2 standard. The memory may store predicted images obtained from a preceding image. | 01-12-2012 |
| 20120006894 | PRINTED MEDIA PRODUCTS INCLUDING DATA FILES PROVIDED IN MULTIPLE LAYERS OF ENCODED, COLORED DOTS - A printed media product, such as a trading card, that has a substrate and an encoded data element applied to a surface of the substrate containing information. The encoded data element includes first, second, and third data layers with first, second, and third patterns of encoded, colored dots defined by a binary encoding scheme. The dots of the first, second, and third layers are different colors separately resolvable by a scanner with decoding software. The colors of the dots are cyan, yellow, and magenta, and the layers are printed so that the dots overlap. The binary encoding scheme includes a two dimensional run length limited code. The printed media product includes a graphics element that can be interpreted by a human user, and typically, the information encoded in the encoded data element layers is related to the information in the graphics element. | 01-12-2012 |
| 20110320210 | MULTIBAND DYNAMICS COMPRESSOR WITH SPECTRAL BALANCE COMPENSATION - A multiband dynamics compressor implements a solution for minimizing unwanted changes to the long-term frequency response. The solution essentially proposes undoing the multiband compression in a controlled manner using much slower smoothing times. In this regard, the compensation provided acts more like an equalizer than a compressor. What is applied is a very slowly time-varying, frequency-dependent post-gain (make-up gain) that attempts to restore the smoothed long-term level of each compressor band. | 12-29-2011 |
| 20110320209 | FREQUENCY DOMAIN MULTIBAND DYNAMICS COMPRESSOR WITH AUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTING FREQUENCY BAND BOUNDARY LOCATIONS - A multiband dynamics compressor implements a frequency-domain solution for addressing unwanted magnitude peaks which may occur at the crossover frequency (boundary) between two adjacent frequency bands. The solution proposes making slight adjustments to the frequency band boundary locations, for example on a frame-by-frame basis, in order to prevent a spectral peak in the input signal from being located midway between two frequency bands. The adjustment to the boundary location pushes the energy of the spectral peak substantially into one frequency band for compression. | 12-29-2011 |
| 20110314324 | Variable latency interface for read/write channels - A variable latency interface and method for managing variable latency. An apparatus includes a storage device controller and a read/write channel coupled to the storage device controller by a variable latency interface. The variable latency interface includes a media control component configured for read and write operations. The variable latency interface also includes a data transfer component configured for read and write operations. A read or write operation in the media control component is offset from a respective read or write operation in the data transfer component by a latency period. | 12-22-2011 |
| 20110310767 | METHODS OF RF SENSING CONTROL AND DYNAMIC FREQUENCY SELECTION CONTROL FOR COGNITIVE RADIO BASED DYNAMIC SPECTRUM ACCESS NETWORK SYSTEMS-COGNITIVE DYNAMIC FREQUENCY HOPPING - This invention relates to cognitive radio based wireless communications of dynamic spectrum access networks, and more particularly to a method of addressing radio frequency sensing control and dynamic frequency selection control. A method called Cognitive Dynamic Frequency Hopping that is based on the selective Simultaneous Sensing and Data Transmissions is described. The Cognitive Dynamic Frequency Hopping method is further facilitated by a collision avoidance technique. The described method satisfies both reliable and timely RF sensing for guaranteeing licensed user protection, and QoS satisfaction for services of the dynamic spectrum access systems. | 12-22-2011 |
| 20110298982 | DE-ROTATION ADAPTOR AND METHOD FOR ENABLING INTERFACE OF HANDHELD MULTI-MEDIA DEVICE WITH EXTERNAL DISPLAY - Methods, systems and circuit elements that enable improved interface between a source electronic devices that generate rotatable image frames and an external sink device. In particular, aspects of the invention enable image de-rotation and/or improved speed in horizontal and V-scaling of image data supplied to an external sink device. | 12-08-2011 |
| 20110298514 | PWM SIGNAL GENERATOR FOR DIGITAL CONTROLLED POWER SUPPLY - A forward converter circuit includes a transformer having a primary winding and a secondary winding. A first transistor is coupled in series with the primary winding and a second transistor is coupled in series with the secondary winding. A control circuit generates PWM control signals for controlling operation of the first and second transistors. The control signals are generated responsive to source PWM signals processed through programmable delay timers to generate set/reset control signals which set an output PWM control signal duty cycle. | 12-08-2011 |
| 20110294447 | DISCOVERY OF SAFETY AND NON-SAFETY CAPABLE SINGLE-RADIO DEVICES IN WIRELESS ENVIRONMENTS - Discovery of safety and non-safety capable single-radio devices in vehicular wireless environments is made possible through the use a two-bit indicator. A first indicator is associated with a type C device. A second indicator is associated with a non-type C device within one hop of a type C device. A third indicator is associated with a non-type C device within two hops of a type C device. A fourth indicator is associated with a non-type C device within three hops or more (out of range) of a type C device. Discovery of safety and non-safety capable single-radio vehicular devices within a protection range in multiple-channel based wireless vehicular environments is thus made possible. | 12-01-2011 |
| 20110294434 | CHANNEL SWITCHING FOR INTEROPERABLE SAFETY AND NON-SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS IN WIRELESS ENVIRONMENTS - For enhanced interoperability of safety and non-safety communications, a synchronous interval is divided into a safety channel interval and an open interval instead of a CCH (control channel) interval and SCH (service channel) interval. For a single-radio device, a control interval, in place of an open interval should be scheduled at least once every maximum service scheduling period. Such a control interval is dedicated for CCH (and SCH) operation. For a multi-radio device, a control interval is scheduled at least once every maximum control interval on one of the radios support non-safety services (e.g. tolling). | 12-01-2011 |
| 20110294424 | OPERATION PROCEDURES FOR INTEROPERABLE SAFETY AND NON-SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS IN WIRELESS ENVIRONMENTS - For enhanced interoperability of safety and non-safety communications, a dual-radio type T RSU for improving services includes a first radio dedicated to the control channel and a second radio dedicated to the safety channel. The control channel is divided into a number of synchronous intervals, each about 100 milliseconds in duration. The safety channel is also divided into a number of synchronous intervals, each about 100 milliseconds in duration. | 12-01-2011 |
| 20110293035 | LEVEL SHIFTING CABLE ADAPTOR AND CHIP SYSTEM FOR USE WITH DUAL-MODE MULTI-MEDIA DEVICE - Methods and systems are described for enabling improved interface between a dual-mode multimedia source that supports a pair of data formats and a sink device operable using inputs in a third data format. An adaptor device enabling improved connectivity as well as backward compatibility with legacy devices is disclosed. The system enables the transmission of sideband channel configured in an I | 12-01-2011 |
| 20110292059 | VIDEO FRAME SELF-REFRESH IN A SINK DEVICE - A sink device having a display panel capable of performing a video frame self-refresh as directed by a source device is described. A source determines that a video frame will persist (i.e., remain the same). In this situation, the frame data does not need to be repeatedly transmitted over a main link between the source and sink devices. The main link can be turned off and transmission can cease for a certain time thereby reducing power usage by the devices or system as a whole. The source ensures that the last frame transmitted to the sink is correct by performing CRC checks and then instructs the sink, via certain bit settings in a video status indication symbol, to store the last transmitted frame in the sink's local buffer and use that frame to refresh the panel. The source can then disable the self-refresh when the frame changes. | 12-01-2011 |
| 20110291752 | Dendrite resistant input bias network for metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) devices - A circuit includes a high impedance direct current (DC) gate having a DC impedance higher than a maximum impedance DC above which dendrite growth occurs in the circuit, and a low impedance radio frequency (RF) gate having an RF impedance lower than a minimum impedance RF needed to ensure RF stability for the circuit for an application. | 12-01-2011 |
| 20110286421 | SCHEDULING METHODS FOR CONNECTION-BASED, OVER-THE-AIR, INTER-SYSTEM COMMUNICATIONS FOR WIRELESS NETWORKS - A method for communications between neighboring wireless cells such as wireless regional area networks operating according to IEEE 802.22 specifications. The method involves scheduling inter-base station communications for over-the-air connections to allow neighboring base stations to communicate in environments where a single available channel is shared between the neighboring cells or where two or more channels used by two or more neighboring cells. In some embodiments, a bridge system, such as a bridge consumer premise equipment (CPE), positioned in an area of coverage overlap between two cells is used for inter-base station communications, and allocation and scheduling of bandwidth on the utilized channels is performed to provide interference free communications between the base stations. Existence announcements are provided in coexistence time slots and requests for bandwidth such as reserved and additional time slots are transmitted between the base stations using the coexistence time slots. | 11-24-2011 |
| 20110286375 | WGA STA POWER SAVING - This invention relates to switching power saving modes and rescheduling communication frames for various periods of a beacon interval (BI) defined under WGA Draft Specification 0.8 for the personal basic service set (PBSS) and infrastructure BSS to achieve further power savings and other advantages. Stations can be awake during a contention-based period (CBP) if it is in active state and can schedule frames during a service period (SP) to allow the assigned receiver to transmit to the assigned initiator. Stations in a group can schedule a group address frame to be sent during the CBP and group SP of a specific periodic BI. Stations in peer-to-peer connection may directly notify its peer stations of its power saving mode and wakeup schedule. Stations of an infrastructure basic service set (BSS) can also use the same power saving mechanism as stations of a PBSS noting a difference where each BI will be an access point's (AP's) awake BI. | 11-24-2011 |
| 20110279482 | System and Method for Controlling a Display Backlight - In one embodiment, a backlight controller for a zoned backlight display includes a processor having a brightness value output. The processor is configured to provide a brightness value for at least one brightness zone of the display based on a target brightness value for the at least one zone, a past brightness value of the at least one zone, and a brightness time response. | 11-17-2011 |
| 20110274084 | PCP/STA CAPABILITY HANDOVER IN A WIRELESS NETWORK - Handover of the role of a personal basic service set coordination point (PCP) in a personal wireless area network occurs with the issuance of a PCP handover request by the existing PCP station. A response from a PCP handover capable station within the BSS includes attributes of the responding station pertinent to its ability to carry out the role of a PCP. Once a new PCP station has been identified, handover steps are undertaken to modify beacon filtering and beam-forming in other non-PCP stations within the BSS to facilitate interruption free transition from the old PCP to the new PCP. | 11-10-2011 |
| 20110255520 | COMMUNICATION BETWEEN OVERLAPPING WRAN CELLS WORKING IN DIFFERENT CHANNELS - A common control channel for base station (“BS”)/consumer premise equipment (“CPE”) communication in areas of overlapping coverage by wireless regional area network (“WRAN”) cells operating on different working channels is disclosed. A common control channel is selected from among the various working channels sensed in each of a plurality of overlapping WRAN cells so as to enable BS/CPE and BS/BS communication. Once chosen, each CPE within the overlapping area communicates with the controlling BS via an enhanced coexistence beacon protocol messages. These messages include timing and other synchronization information. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110255474 | PRIORITIZED COMMON SUBFRAME TO PROVIDE BETTER SERVICE TO THE OVERLAPPING AREAS IN A COMMUNITY - A subframe structure for wireless communication uses a master common subframe and second master common subframe method to give BSs different priorities to serve overlapping areas in common subframes. The subframe structure and corresponding method can increase overlapping cells' capacity and reduce interference. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110242048 | CAPACITIVE SENSING ANALOG FRONT END - A capacitive sensing analog front end for a touchscreen system having an improved signal-to-noise ratio includes a capacitance-to-voltage converter having an input for coupling to an external sampling capacitor, a summer having a first input coupled to an output of the capacitance-to-voltage converter, a low pass filter having an input coupled to an output of the summer and an output for providing an output signal; and a sample-and-hold circuit having an input coupled to the output of the low pass filter and an output coupled to a second input of the summer. The signal-to-noise ratio of the touchscreen system is improved by extracting the DC shift of a touch signal during a monitoring period and then subtracting the DC shift before integrating the touch signal. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110227940 | METHOD OF MODELING THE LIGHT FIELD CREATED BY A LOCAL-DIMMING LED BACKLIGHT FOR AN LCD DISPLAY - A controller for an LCD display is described. The controller can control an LED backlight that includes an array of LED lighting elements and an LCD panel that includes a number of pixels. The controller can modulate an individual or groups of the lighting elements in the LED backlight, such as dimming lighting elements, to control a light-field emitted from the LED backlight. The modulation of the lighting elements, such as dimming, can improve image contrast ratios that are generated using the LCD display. Methods and apparatus are described that can simplify calculations used to determine 1) the light-field generated by the LED backlight and 2) a correction factor for adjusting pixel data. The correction factor can be used to adjust an amount of light transmitted by each pixel in the LCD panel to compensate for the backlight producing a light-field that is brighter in some areas and dimmer in other areas. | 09-22-2011 |
| 20110211128 | OCCLUSION ADAPTIVE MOTION COMPENSATED INTERPOLATOR - In one embodiment of the present invention, motion compensated interpolation is performed by locating full frame conceal and reveal areas, determining intermediate frame occlusion areas of an interpolated frame of the displayable output by locating intermediate frame conceal areas based on projected locations of pixels within the full frame conceal areas using forward motion vectors and information about a time slot for the interpolated frame, and by locating intermediate frame reveal areas based on projected locations of pixels within the full frame reveal areas using backward motion vectors and information about the time slot for the interpolated frame; for any pixels in the interpolated frame to which there is neither a forward vector nor a backward vector projecting: including the pixel in an intermediate frame conceal area if it is not located within the full frame reveal area; including the pixel in an intermediate frame reveal area if it is not located within the full frame conceal area; and using the intermediate frame conceal and reveal areas to interpolate values for pixels within an area of the interpolated frame. | 09-01-2011 |
| 20110211125 | MOTION COMPENSATED INTERPOLATION SYSTEM USING COMBINATION OF FULL AND INTERMEDIATE FRAME OCCLUSION - In one embodiment of the present invention, motion compensated interpolation is performed by locating full frame conceal and reveal areas, determining intermediate frame occlusion areas of an interpolated frame of the displayable output by locating intermediate frame conceal areas based on projected locations of pixels within the full frame conceal areas using primary forward motion vectors and information about a time slot for the interpolated frame, and by locating intermediate frame reveal areas based on projected locations of pixels within the full frame reveal areas using primary backward motion vectors and information about the time slot for the interpolated frame. The intermediate frame conceal areas are then modified by projecting locations of pixels using secondary forward motion vectors and the intermediate frame reveal areas are modified by projecting locations of pixels using secondary backward motion vectors. | 09-01-2011 |
| 20110211124 | OBJECT SPEED WEIGHTED MOTION COMPENSATED INTERPOLATION - In one embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided for performing motion compensated interpolation using a previous frame and a current frame of a displayable output, the method comprising: detecting the speed of an object in the displayable output relative to the speed of a background in the displayable output; and blending results from a halo reducing interpolator and a median interpolator, wherein the results of each of the interpolators are weighted based on the speed of the object, to arrive at an interpolated frame using the previous frame and the current frame. | 09-01-2011 |
| 20110211119 | INTERMEDIATE FRAME OCCLUSION ESTIMATION SYSTEM USING PROJECTED VECTORS - In one embodiment, a method is provided for performing motion compensated interpolation wherein, for any pixels in the interpolated frame to which there is neither a forward vector nor a backward vector projecting: including the pixel in an intermediate frame conceal area if it is not located within the full frame reveal area; including the pixel in an intermediate frame reveal area if it is not located within the full frame conceal area; and using the intermediate frame conceal and reveal areas to interpolate values for pixels within an area of the interpolated frame. | 09-01-2011 |
| 20110211083 | BORDER HANDLING FOR MOTION COMPENSATED TEMPORAL INTERPOLATOR USING CAMERA MODEL - In one embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided for providing border handling in motion compensated interpolation, wherein a camera model is used to detect areas of predominant movements in a displayable output, and for each reveal or conceal area: it is determined whether the reveal or conceal areas is due to a camera movement or an object movement. if the reveal or conceal areas is due to a camera movement. The camera model is used to arrive at interpolated pixel values for pixels within the corresponding area. If the reveal or conceal areas is not due to a camera movement, arriving at interpolated pixel values for pixels within the corresponding area without using the camera model. | 09-01-2011 |
| 20110199066 | WIDE INPUT VOLTAGE RANGE POWER FACTOR CORRECTION CIRCUIT - A boost circuit is used for power factor correction (PFC). In a low power application, transition mode control is utilized. However, switching frequency varies with different input voltages, and over a wide input voltage range, the switching frequency can become too high to be practical. To address this issue, a boost circuit is provided whose effective inductance changes as a function of input voltage. By changing the inductance, control is exercised over switching frequency. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110197264 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REMOTE MEDIA ACCESS - Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a system and method for remotely accessing media content. The method includes receiving authentication information originating from a communication device associated with a user. Media content that is stored on a media storage device associated with the user is also received. Digital rights management software is applied to the media content, and the received media content is communicated to the communication device. | 08-11-2011 |
| 20110197112 | Max-log-map equivalence log likelihood ratio generation soft Viterbi architecture system and method - A modified soft output Viterbi algorithm (SOVA) detector receives a sequence of soft information values and determines a best path and an alternate path for each soft information value and further determines, when the best and alternate paths lead to the same value for a given soft information value, whether there is a third path departing from the alternate path that leads to an opposite decision with respect to the best path for a given soft information value. The SOVA detector then considers this third path when updating the reliability of the best path. The modified SOVA detector achieves max-log-map equivalence effectively through the Fossorier approach and includes modified reliability metric units for the first N stages of the SOVA detector, where N is the memory depth of a given path, and includes conventional reliability metric units for the remaining stages of the detector. | 08-11-2011 |
| 20110191814 | PACKET-BASED DIGITAL DISPLAY INTERFACE SIGNAL MAPPING TO BI-DIRECTIONAL SERIAL INTERFACE SIGNALS - A passive cable adaptor for connecting a data source device with a display device is described. The adaptor has a packet-based interface connector at one end, the connector having a positive main link pin, a negative main link pin, a positive auxiliary channel pin, and a negative auxiliary channel pin. Also at the same end is a serial interface connector, such as a serial interface connector. At the other end is an upgraded serial interface connector (e.g., enhanced serial interface) connector having high-speed transmission pins, high-speed receiving pins, and a ground pin, wherein multimedia content is transmitted over the cable adaptor and electrical power is supplied over the cable adaptor simultaneously. | 08-04-2011 |
| 20110191480 | PACKET-BASED DIGITAL DISPLAY INTERFACE SIGNAL MAPPING TO MICRO SERIAL INTERFACE - A passive cable adaptor for connecting a data source device with a display device is described. The adaptor has a packet-based interface connector at one end, the connector having a positive main link pin, a negative main link pin, a positive auxiliary channel pin, and a negative auxiliary channel pin. At the other end is a micro serial interface connector, wherein multimedia content is transmitted over the cable adaptor and electrical power is supplied over the cable adaptor simultaneously. The cable adaptor has an auxiliary and hot plug detect (HPD) controller utilized to map the auxiliary channel and HPD signals of the packet-based digital display to the micro serial interface ID signal. | 08-04-2011 |
| 20110179864 | DUAL ACCELEROMETER DETECTOR FOR CLAMSHELL DEVICES - A clamshell device having a dual accelerometer detector includes a first keyboard portion including a first accelerometer, a second display portion including a second accelerometer, a hinge for coupling the first portion to the second portion, and circuitry coupled to the first and second accelerometers for providing an output signal in response to the position of the first and second portions of the clamshell device. The output signal is provided to indicate a shutdown or standby mode, tablet operation mode, a partially shut or power savings mode, a normal operating mode, or an unsafe operating mode. | 07-28-2011 |
| 20110167322 | Methods to improve ACS performance - In one embodiment, systems and methods of operating a SOVA system is disclosed that comprises determining the start and stop values for a trellis tree and using the start and stop values to determine the initial states of a plurality of branches within the trellis tree. | 07-07-2011 |
| 20110157324 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR VIEWING 3D VIDEO USING A STEREOSCOPIC VIEWING DEVICE - Methods and systems are described for enabling the operation of a stereoscopic viewing device such that the viewing device provides a movable viewing window that enables the 3D rendering of 3D image data displayed by a backlit LCD device. In a particular implementation, the systems and methods disclosed herein are operable to control the operation of a pair of LCD shutter glasses. | 06-30-2011 |
| 20110156284 | DEVICE AND METHOD FOR ALIGNMENT OF VERTICALLY STACKED WAFERS AND DIE - A device is provided that includes a first die having a first alignment structure that includes a plurality of first transmission columns arranged in a pattern and a second die positioned on the first die, the second die having a second alignment structure that includes a plurality of second transmission columns arranged in the same pattern as the first transmission columns. The first and second transmission columns are each coplanar with a first surface and a second surface of the first and second die, respectively. | 06-30-2011 |
| 20110156175 | METHOD OF FORMING A DIE HAVING AN IC REGION ADJACENT A MEMS REGION - A method that includes forming a first layer having a first dopant concentration, the first layer having an integrated circuit region and a micro-electromechanical region and doping the micro-electromechanical region of the first layer to have a second dopant concentration is presented. The method includes forming a second layer having a third dopant concentration overlying the first layer, doping the second layer that overlies the micro-electromechanical region to have a fourth dopant concentration, forming a micro-electromechanical structure in the micro-electromechanical region using the first and second layers, and forming active components in the integrated circuit region using the second layer. | 06-30-2011 |
| 20110156152 | CMP TECHNIQUES FOR OVERLAPPING LAYER REMOVAL - Chemical-Mechanical Polishing can be used to planarize a semiconductor wafer having a patterned overlapping layer. Isotropic etching can remove a portion of the patterned overlapping layer to produce tapered sidewalls of reduced height. A portion of the overlapping layer can be removed using CMP. The overlapping layer can have a higher polishing rate than the underlying layer so that the underlying layer remains substantially intact after removing the overlying layer. | 06-30-2011 |
| 20110156032 | METHOD OF REPAIRING PROBE PADS - A method that includes forming a first level of active circuitry on a substrate, forming a first probe pad electrically connected to the first level of active circuitry where the first probe pad having a first surface, contacting the first probe pad with a probe tip that displaces a portion of the first probe pad above the first surface, and performing a chemical mechanical polish on the first probe pad to planarize the portion of the first probe pad above the first surface. The method also includes forming a second level of active circuitry overlying the first probe pad, forming a second probe pad electrically connected to the second level of active circuitry, contacting the second probe pad with a probe tip that displaces a portion of the probe pad, and chemically mechanically polishing the second probe pad to remove the portion displaced. | 06-30-2011 |
| 20110148620 | TEST MODE CIRCUITRY FOR A PROGRAMMABLE TAMPER DETECTION CIRCUIT - An integrated circuit includes an output pad, an alarm output pad, and a test mode output pad. A first multi-bit register is programmable to store programmable data such as data that identifies a customer for whom the integrated circuit has been manufactured. A second multi-bit register is programmable to store customer specified threshold data. A first circuit selectively couples the first and second multi-bit registers to the output pad. The first circuit is operable responsive to the integrated circuit being placed into a test mode to perform parallel-to-serial conversion of either the customer identification data stored in the first multi-bit register or the customer specified threshold data stored in the second multi-bit register and drive the converted data for output through the output pad. The integrated circuit further includes a tamper detection circuit operable responsive to the customer specified threshold data to generate a tamper alarm signal. A second circuit selectively couples the tamper alarm signal to the alarm output pad and test mode output pad depending on whether the integrated circuit is in a test mode. More specifically, the second circuit operates to drive the alarm output pad with the tamper alarm signal when the integrated circuit is not in test mode and drive the test mode output pad with the tamper alarm signal when the integrated circuit is in test mode (with the alarm output pad driven to a known state). | 06-23-2011 |
| 20110145877 | DATA RATE THROTTLING IN AN INTERNAL PACKET-BASED INTERFACE - Methods and systems for transmitting video pixel data from a transmitter component, such as a controller, to a receiver within a monitor are described. Video data is received at a transmitter at an incoming pixel rate based on a pixel clock. The data is transmitted to the receiver at a link symbol clock rate and is drained from the receiver at the pixel clock rate, which is regenerated by the receiver using the link symbol clock frequency, an M video value, and an N video value. The M video value (Mvid) is determined by the transmitter based on the incoming pixel rate and the N video value (Nvid) may be constant. An accumulator is used within the transmitter to ensure that the transmitter and receiver create a balanced system. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110140760 | Local Oscillator With Injection Pulling Suppression and Spurious Products Filtering - A single sideband mixer circuit includes a voltage controlled oscillator operable a tunable frequency f1. The mixer circuit outputs a frequency signal at a frequency f1±f2. A tracking filter operates to filter the frequency signal and generate a first output signal at the frequency f1±f2. A resonance frequency fr of the tracking filter is tunable to substantially match the frequency f1±f2 of the frequency signal. The output signal of the tracking filter may be processed by a phase lock loop circuit to generate a control signal for controlling the setting of the tunable frequency f1 and resonance frequency fr. Alternatively, the output signal of the tracking filter may be divided and the divided signal processed by a phase lock loop circuit to generate the control signal for controlling setting of the tunable frequency f1 and resonance frequency fr. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110140170 | STRUCTURE AND METHOD FOR MAKING A STRAINED SILICON TRANSISTOR - A graded SiGe sacrificial layer is epitaxially grown overlying a silicon substrate. A single crystal silicon layer is then grown by an epitaxial process overlying the graded SiGe layer. A SiGe layer is next grown by an epitaxial process as a single crystal layer overlying the silicon layer. A subsequent silicon layer, which becomes the active silicon layer for the transistors, is epitaxially grown overlying the second silicon germanium layer. Together the epitaxially grown Si, SiGe and Si layers form a laminate semiconductor structure. A MOS transistor is then formed on the active area of the single crystal silicon. The graded SiGe sacrificial layer is removed by an etch process to electrically isolate the laminate semiconductor structure from the substrate. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110138194 | Method for increasing I/O performance in systems having an encryption co-processor - A system and method for improving performance while transferring encrypted data in an input/output (I/O) operation are provided. The method includes receiving a block of data. The method also includes dividing the block of data into a plurality of sub-blocks of data. The method further includes performing a first operation on a first sub-block. The method also includes performing a second operation on a second sub-block at substantially the same time as performing the first operation on the first sub-block. The method still further includes reassembling the plurality of sub-blocks into the block of data. | 06-09-2011 |
| 20110131467 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ENCODING LBA INFORMATION INTO THE PARITY OF A LDPC SYSTEM - Systems and methods for encoding and decoding at least one logical block address in a low density parity check (LDPC) are disclosed. These systems and methods can include selecting a LDPC Code matrix and a parity check matrix wherein the LDPC Code matrix and the parity check matrix have an orthogonal relationship. These systems and methods may further include encoding a data element using at least some of the LBA bits in the parity bits in a LDPC codeword creating a parity vector using the at least some of the LBA bits in the LDPC codeword. | 06-02-2011 |
| 20110129024 | ACCOUNTING FOR INTER-CARRIER INTERFERENCE IN DETERMINING A RESPONSE OF AN OFDM COMMUNICATION CHANNEL - In an embodiment, a channel estimator includes first and second stages. The first stage is operable to generate a respective one-dimensional array of first channel-estimation coefficients for each communication path of a communication channel, and the second stage is operable to generate a multi-dimensional array of second channel-estimation coefficients in response to the first channel-estimation coefficients. For example, such a channel estimator may estimate the response of a channel over which propagates an orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplexed (OFDM) signal that suffers from inter-carrier interference (ICI) due to Doppler spread. Such a channel estimator may estimate the channel response more efficiently, and with a simpler algorithm, than conventional channel estimators. Furthermore, such a channel estimator may be able to dynamically account for changes in the number of communication paths that compose the channel, for changes in the delays of these paths, or the portions of the transmitted symbol energy carried by these paths. | 06-02-2011 |
| 20110129005 | NEAR-END CROSSTALK NOISE MINIMIZATION AND POWER REDUCTION FOR DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER LOOPS - To optimize the performance of DSL modems in the same cable bundle, the size and position of the group of subcarriers used for transmission is intelligently selected when the bit rate necessary for making the transmission is less than the total available bandwidth provided by all subcarriers. By intelligently selecting a minimum number of subcarriers for Digital Multi-tone (DMT) signal transmission, a reduction in line driver power consumption is effectuated. Additionally, by intelligently selecting the position of the groups of subcarriers within the total available subcarriers, near-end crosstalk (NEXT) noise within the cable bundle may be minimized. | 06-02-2011 |
| 20110127939 | PAIR POLE ASYMMETRY COMPENSATION IN BACK ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE ZERO CROSS DETECTION - Disk drive spindle jitter is comprised of electrical noise, error due to pair pole asymmetry, and random disk speed variances. Error caused by pair pole asymmetry can be identified and compensated for by detecting over a single rotation of a rotor a plurality of zero cross signals. These signals can be statistically analyzed over a period of a plurality of revolutions of the rotor so as to identify the systematic error caused by pair poles. Once identified, this pair pole error can be used to modify zero cross signals and/or modify commutation signal driving the disk so as to arrive at a more accurate determination of disk speed and to precisely control the speed of the disk. | 06-02-2011 |
| 20110122946 | ELECTRONIC SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SELECTIVELY ALLOWING ACCESS TO A SHARED MEMORY - An electronic system, an integrated circuit and a method for display are disclosed. The electronic system contains a first device, a memory and a video/audio compression/decompression device such as a decoder/encoder. The electronic system is configured to allow the first device and the video/audio compression/decompression device to share the memory. The electronic system may be included in a computer in which case the memory is a main memory. Memory access is accomplished by one or more memory interfaces, direct coupling of the memory to a bus, or direct coupling of the first device and decoder/encoder to a bus. An arbiter selectively provides access for the first device and/or the decoder/encoder to the memory based on priority. The arbiter may be monolithically integrated into a memory interface. The decoder may be a video decoder configured to comply with the MPEG-2 standard. The memory may store predicted images obtained from a preceding image. | 05-26-2011 |
| 20110109255 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING THE START POSITION OF A MOTOR - A system and method for determining the start position of a motor. According to an embodiment, a voltage pulse signal may be generated across a pair of windings in a motor. A current response signal will be generated and based upon the position of the motor, the response signal will be greater in one pulse signal polarity as opposed to an opposite pulse signal polarity. The response signal may be compared for s specific duration of time or until a specific integration threshold has been reached. Further, the response signal may be converted into a digital signal such that a sigma-delta circuit may smooth out glitches more easily. In this manner, the position of the motor may be determined to within 60 electrical degrees during a startup. | 05-12-2011 |
| 20110090847 | ENABLING INTEROPERABILITY OF DUAL-RADIO AND SINGLE-RADIO DEVICES FOR VEHICULAR MULTI-CHANNEL OPERATIONS - A method for interoperations between single-radio (channel switching) devices and single-radio (always-on) devices includes single-radio (always-on) devices keep announcing safety messages on the safety channel at any time and keep monitoring packet transmissions on the safety channel at all times when it not transmitting in a normal mode; single-radio (channel switching) devices announce safety messages on the safety channel and keep monitoring packet transmissions on the safety channel during a safety channel interval; and once a single-radio (always-on) device detects the existence of a single-radio (channel-switching) device after successfully receiving at least one safety message transmitted by the single-radio (channel-switching) device during the safety channel interval, it enters to an interoperation mode, in which the single-radio (always-on) device shall transmit safety messages at least during the safety channel interval of the single-radio (channel-switching) device. Methods for interoperations between single-radio devices and dual-radio devices, with and without a safety channel are also disclosed. | 04-21-2011 |
| 20110088278 | DRYNESS DETECTION METHOD FOR CLOTHES DRYER BASED ON PULSE WIDTH - A device and method are provided for detecting a root moisture content of clothing in a clothes dryer. The dryer has two conducting bars situated in the dryer bin. A pulse generator circuit is coupled to the conducting bars. A microcontroller is coupled to an output of the pulse generator circuit. The pulse generator circuit generates a pulse when wet clothing contacts the conducting bars in the dryer bin. The microcontroller receives the pulses and counts the pulses that are longer than a threshold length. The microcontroller issues a termination signal based on the number of counted pulses. | 04-21-2011 |
| 20110087356 | MODULAR LOW STRESS PACKAGE TECHNOLOGY - A method of designing a desired modular package assembly: determining the configuration and dimensions of the assembly from received user input design data, the assembly having a protective modular package cover with first and second fastening sections, subassembly receiving sections disposed between the fastening sections and having a cross member formed along the underside of the protective modular package cover and configured to receive a subassembly, and one or more subassemblies to be received by the subassembly receiving sections; determining an adhesive deposition strategy for deposition of an adhesive layer to the cross members of the subassembly receiving sections sufficient to affix the top side of the subassemblies to the cross members on the underside of the subassembly receiving sections; and incorporating the configuration and dimensions of the modular package assembly and the adhesive deposition strategy into a manufacturing assembly process configured to manufacture the modular package assembly. | 04-14-2011 |
| 20110087353 | MODULAR LOW STRESS PACKAGE TECHNOLOGY - A method of designing a modular package: determining a package outline of a modular package assembly from package outline design data; determining seating plane and overall package length characteristics of the assembly from seating plane and package length design data; the design tool calculating minimum package height of the modular package assembly from the seating plane and package length design data; designing the dimensions and configuration of one or more subassemblies from subassembly design data; defining dimensions and configuration of a plurality of mechanical layers of a protective modular package cover given the defined package outline, the seating plane, overall package length, the minimum package height, and the subassemblies; defining an adhesive deposition strategy to join mechanical layers of the cover; designing the cover in accordance with the dimensions and configuration of the mechanical layers; and incorporating the assembly and the adhesive deposition strategy into a manufacturing assembly process. | 04-14-2011 |
| 20110086469 | MODULAR LOW STRESS PACKAGE TECHNOLOGY - A method of manufacturing a protected package assembly: providing a protective modular package cover in accordance with a modular design; selectively applying an adhesive to the cross member of each subassembly receiving section of the protective modular package cover that will receive a subassembly to form an adhesive layer of the protective modular package cover; encapsulating the one or more subassemblies in the subassembly receiving sections on the selectively applied adhesive layer to generate a protected package assembly; and controlling application of a distributed downward clamping force applied to the top surfaces of the subassemblies received by the protective modular package cover and useful for mounting the protected package assembly to a core through activation of fastener elements and cross members of the subassembly receiving sections. | 04-14-2011 |
| 20110085628 | ADAPTIVE DATA DEPENDENT NOISE PREDICTION (ADDNP) - A method is provided. The method comprises calibrating noise prediction parameters by adapting one or more biases, adapting one or more filter coefficients using the adapted one or more biases, and adapting one or more prediction error variances using the adapted one or more biases and the adapted one or more filter coefficients. | 04-14-2011 |
| 20110084376 | MODULAR LOW STRESS PACKAGE TECHNOLOGY - A protective modular package assembly with one or more subassemblies, each having a base element, a sidewall element coupled to the base element, and a semiconductor device disposed within and coupled to the sidewall element and the base element; a protective modular package cover having fastening sections located at opposing ends of the cover, torque elements disposed on the opposing ends and configured to fasten the cover to a core, and subassembly receiving sections disposed between the fastening sections with each subassembly receiving section operable to receive a subassembly and having a cross member along the underside of the cover; and an adhesive layer configured to affix subassemblies to respective subassembly receiving sections. The torque elements are configured to transfer a downward clamping force generated at the fastening elements to a top surface of the subassemblies via the cross member of each of the one or more subassembly receiving sections. | 04-14-2011 |
| 20110084371 | MODULAR LOW STRESS PACKAGE TECHNOLOGY - A protective modular package cover has first and second fastening sections located at opposing first and second ends with one or more subassembly receiving sections disposed thereto and is configured to fasten the protective modular package cover to a core. Each fastening section has a foot surface located on a bottom surface of a fastening section and configured to make contact with the core, a mounting hole configured to receive a fastener, and a torque element. Each subassembly receiving section is configured to receive a subassembly and has a cross member formed along the underside of the protective modular package cover. Activation of the first torque element transfers a downward clamping force generated at the fastening element to a top surface of one or more subassemblies disposed in the one or more subassembly receiving sections via the cross member of each of the one or more subassembly receiving sections. | 04-14-2011 |
| 20110083058 | TRAPPING SET BASED LDPC CODE DESIGN AND RELATED CIRCUITS, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS - A method of generating a Tanner graph includes generating a pseudo-random parameter and selecting a subgraph within the Tanner graph to be designed, and assigning new edges to the subgraph as a function of the value of the pseudo-random parameter and as a function of prior edges, if any, that have been assigned to the subgraph. The method detects whether the subgraph contains a common feature indicative of a trapping set or sets to be avoided during generation of the Tanner graph until either the common feature is not detected or all possible combination of edges have been assigned to the subgraph. The subgraph containing no occurrences of the common feature is included as part of the Tanner graph or one of combinations is selected as the subgraph and is included as part of the Tanner graph. These operations are repeated until the entire Tanner graph is generated. | 04-07-2011 |
| 20110083054 | HIGH-RATE REVERSE-ORDER RUN-LENGTH-LIMITED CODE - A system and method for encoding a stream of bits with a run-length limited high-rate reverse order encoding schema. According to one embodiment, an RLL encoding block includes a receiver having a precoder operable to receive a stream of N-bits having symbols of M-bits in length, a histogram operable to identify an index symbol of M-bits that does not occur within the received stream of N-bits. It is this index symbol that may be used as the key to encoding a block of symbols so as to ensure unique decodability when RLL decoding. Finally, an encoder operable to perform an exclusive-or operation on each symbol with the next symbol stored in the stream. Such an encoding system only adds one symbol of M bits in length to a block of N bits and still results in a stream of bits sufficient to support high-rate requirements and strict timing loop control. | 04-07-2011 |
| 20110081138 | HEATING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MICROFLUIDIC AND MICROMECHANICAL APPLICATIONS - An integrated semiconductor heating assembly includes a semiconductor substrate, a chamber formed therein, and an exit port in fluid communication with the chamber, allowing fluid to exit the chamber in response to heating the chamber. The integrated heating assembly includes a first heating element adjacent the chamber, which can generate heat above a selected threshold and bias fluid in the chamber toward the exit port. A second heating element is positioned adjacent the exit port to generate heat above a selected threshold, facilitating movement of the fluid through the exit port away from the chamber. Addition of the second heating element reduces the amount of heat emitted per heating element and minimizes thickness of a heat absorption material toward an open end of the exit port. Since such material is expensive, this reduces the manufacturing cost and retail price of the assembly while improving efficiency and longevity thereof. | 04-07-2011 |
| 20110080669 | CONSTRAINED ON-THE-FLY INTERLEAVER ADDRESS GENERATOR CIRCUITS, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS - An interleave address generation circuit includes a plurality of linear feedback shift registers operable to generate addresses for permuting a data block in a first domain to a data block in a second domain on a subword basis. The interleave address generation circuit is operable to generate the lane addresses for each subword and the linear feedback registers configured to generate circulant addresses and sub-circulant address to map bits in each subword in the data block in the first domain to a corresponding subword in the second domain. | 04-07-2011 |
| 20110080668 | CLOSELY COUPLED VECTOR SEQUENCERS FOR A READ CHANNEL PIPELINE - A system and method involving a read channel pipeline having a plurality of vector sequencers that may be used to control the processing blocks. In one embodiment, a read channel pipeline may include processing blocks that may be controlled a command word provided by vector sequencers. Incoming data may be delineated by identifying an early period, a steady-state period, and a trailing period. Instead of controlling these blocks with a static state machine controller, a plurality of vector sequencers are coupled to the plurality of processing blocks. Thus, a first vector sequencer may control the processing blocks during the early period and the steady state period, but then hand off control to a second vector sequencer for the trailing period. Using vector sequencers for implementing command words allows for greater programming flexibility once the device has been manufactured and deployed for use. | 04-07-2011 |
| 20110078540 | INTERLACED ITERATIVE SYSTEM DESIGN FOR 1K-BYTE BLOCK WITH 512-BYTE LDPC CODEWORDS - To allow a single LDPC decoder to operate on both 512 B blocks and 4 KB blocks with comparable error correction performance, 512 KB blocks are interlaced to form a 1 KB data sequence, and four sequential 1 KB data sequences are concatenated to form a 4 KB sector. A de-interlacer between the detector and decoder forms multiple data sequence from a single data sequence output by the detector. The multiple data sequences are separately processed by a de-interleaver between the de-interlacer and the LDPC decoder, by the LDPC decoder, and by an interleaver at the output of the LDPD decoder. An interlacer recombines the multiple data sequences into a single output. Diversity may be improved by feeding interleaver seeds for respective codewords into the de-interleaver and interleaver during processing. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110075586 | Method of Inter-System Coexistence and Spectrum Sharing for Dynamic Spectrum Access Networks-On-Demand Spectrum Contention - This invention relates to cognitive radio based wireless communications of dynamic spectrum access networks, and more particularly to a method of addressing inter-systems (cells) coexistence and spectrum sharing. The described method of spectrum sharing called On-Demand Spectrum Contention, integrates Dynamic Frequency Selection and Transmission Power Control with iterative on-demand spectrum contentions and provides fairness, adaptability, and efficiency of spectrum access for dynamic spectrum access systems using active inter-system coordination. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110075289 | HIGH-RATE TRANSITION CONTROL CODE FOR MAGNETIC RECORDING CHANNELS - A method and apparatus for reducing noise in a communication signal is provided. The method includes converting raw channel data from the communication signal to a sequence of transition code symbols, each symbol having a plurality of bits, each bit having a position within the symbol. The method also includes sending the bits of each symbol to a plurality of bins, each bin corresponding to the position of each bit within the symbol. For each bin having a number of transitions greater than a number of non-transitions, the method also includes flipping every bit in the bin and setting a corresponding bit in a flip control word to a first value. The method still further includes binary adding the flip control word to each transition code symbol. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110075287 | System and method for map detector for symbol based error correction codes - A system for decoding data includes a symbol based error correction code device. The error correction code device includes a channel detector configured to generate probability mass function (PMF) information. The error correction code device further includes a decoder coupled to the channel detector. The decoder is configured to use the PMF information from the channel detector to perform an error correction code operation. The decoder also is configured to generate PMF information. The channel detector is configured to receive extrinsic PMF information in a turbo equalization scheme. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110042801 | MEMS PACKAGING SCHEME USING DIELECTRIC FENCE - A packaging scheme for MEMS device is provided. A method of packaging MEMS device in a semiconductor structure includes forming an insulation fence that surrounds the MEMS device on the semiconductor structure. The method further includes attaching a wafer of dielectric material to the insulation fence. The lid wafer, the insulation fence, and the semiconductor structure enclose the MEMS device. | 02-24-2011 |
| 20110032036 | PERFORMANCE TUNING USING ENCODED PERFORMANCE PARAMETER INFORMATION - A multi-chip system in which at least one of the chips includes a performance parameter encoded thereon. After system assembly, the performance parameter can be obtained by a companion chip and used to automatically or semi-automatically fine tune the companion chip to the specific parameters of the at least one chip. | 02-10-2011 |
| 20110022877 | PWM TIMER FOR POWER SUPPLY - A forward converter circuit includes a transformer having a primary winding and a secondary winding. A first transistor is coupled in series with the primary winding and a second transistor is coupled in series with the secondary winding. A control circuit generating control signals for controlling operation of the first and second transistors. The control signals are generated responsive to the values in certain triggered counting circuits satisfying programmable thresholds. | 01-27-2011 |
| 20110002061 | CIRCUIT AND METHOD FOR DETECTING THE PHASE OF A SERVO SIGNAL - A detector recovers servo data from a servo signal generated by a read-write head, and determines the head-connection polarity from the recovered servo data. Such a detector allows a servo circuit to compensate for a reversed-connected read-write head, and thus allows a manufacturer to forego time-consuming and costly testing to determine whether the head is correctly connected to the servo circuit. | 01-06-2011 |
| 20100317388 | Personal Independent Basic Service Set Cluster Resource Sharing - In a PBSS cluster environment, the beacon interval is allocated such that each PBSS in a PBSS cluster possesses its own master sub-beacon interval. Moreover, each member of the PBSS cluster can share unoccupied sub-beacon intervals. When a master PBSS fails to use its own master sub-beacon interval or the beacon intervals which are unoccupied, the available idle time within the beacon interval can be utilized by other member PBSSs in the PBSS cluster. As available or idle beacon interval time is allocated, each master PBSS retains the highest priority to its own master sub-beacon interval thus providing immediate access to a beacon interval when necessary. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20100316032 | Service Period Recovery wIth Source/Destination help - SP recovery between communications of a source and destination apart from the PCP can occur by performing, prior to the initial frame response between a source and a destination, a back-off procedure using back-off parameters for SP recovery when the initiator of a SP cannot receive a responding frame from the destination and detects the communication medium being idle. In alternative embodiments the source and/or destination can send a notification frame to the PCP informing the PCP of transmission failure. When the PCP determines the communication medium to be idle, the PCP truncates and reallocates the remaining portion of the SP. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20100315980 | UNIFIED CONTENTION BASED PERIOD - A unified contention based protocol is implemented in which a source station within a basic service set selects the protection methodology for data transmission on the communication medium. Utilizing EDCA as a medium access method and maintaining that each transmission opportunity has multiple slots, the source station is provided with the opportunity to select a protection methodology based on the protection environment, which enables transmission opportunity protection without direct PCP involvement. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20100313083 | CHANNEL CONSTRAINED CODE AWARE INTERLEAVER - An interleaver is constructed based on the joint constraints imposed in the channel and the code domains. A sequentially optimal algorithm is used for mapping bits in the inter-symbol interference (ISI) domain to the code domain by taking into account the ISI memory depth and the connectivity of the nodes within the parity check matrix. Primary design constraints are considered such as the parallelism factor so that the proposed system is hardware compliant in meeting high throughput requirements. | 12-09-2010 |
| 20100309211 | ELECTRONIC SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SELECTIVELY ALLOWING ACCESS TO A SHARED MEMORY - An electronic system, an integrated circuit and a method for display are disclosed. The electronic system contains a first device, a memory and a video/audio compression/decompression device such as a decoder/encoder. The electronic system is configured to allow the first device and the video/audio compression/decompression device to share the memory. The electronic system may be included in a computer in which case the memory is a main memory. Memory access is accomplished by one or more memory interfaces, direct coupling of the memory to a bus, or direct coupling of the first device and decoder/encoder to a bus. An arbiter selectively provides access for the first device and/or the decoder/encoder to the memory based on priority. The arbiter may be monolithically integrated into a memory interface. The decoder may be a video decoder configured to comply with the MPEG-2 standard. The memory may store predicted images obtained from a preceding image. | 12-09-2010 |
| 20100308758 | BACK EMF SENSING INTERFACE CIRCUIT - A back EMF signal from PWM driven motor is passed through an attenuation circuit. The attenuation circuit has a first mode of operation and a second mode of operation. The first mode of operation, used to sample a higher voltage back EMF signal during PWM on-time, applies the back EMF signal to a resistive divider formed of a first resistor and second resistor connected in series. The second mode of operation, used to sample a lower voltage back EMF signal during PWM off-time, applies the back EMF signal to a circuit comprised of a transistor conduction path in series with the second resistor. A control signal, responsive PWM on-time and off-time state, controls switching between the first and second modes. | 12-09-2010 |
| 20100308733 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONSTANT POWER OFFLINE LED DRIVER - A single-stage integrated circuit drives LED sources in a constant power mode to eliminate the need for LED current sensing, while reshaping the waveform of the inductor current near line zero crossing to achieve high power factor. The integrated circuit achieves substantially constant input power my maintaining a constant voltage at a power factor corrector controller through an input voltage feedforward system. Accordingly, the disclosed circuit provides a high power factor, high efficiency, simple, and cost-effective solution with substantially consistent input power for both isolated and non-isolated offline LED applications. | 12-09-2010 |
| 20100303245 | DIFFUSING ACOUSTICAL CROSSTALK - When two loudspeakers play the same signal, a “phantom center” image is produced between the speakers. However, this image differs from one produced by a real center speaker. In particular, acoustical crosstalk produces a comb-filtering effect, with cancellations that may be in the frequency range needed for the intelligibility of speech. Methods for using phase decorrelation to fill in these gaps and produce a flatter magnitude response are described, reducing coloration and potentially enhancing dialogue clarity. These methods also improve headphone compatibility and reduce the tendency of the phantom image to move toward the nearest speaker. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100303187 | AUTOMATICALLY SYNCHRONIZING RING OSCILLATOR FREQUENCY OF A RECEIVER - A ring oscillator in a receiver in a multimedia network is adjusted to compensate for factors that may decrease its accuracy over time using a link training signal from a transmitter device in the network. An incoming signal having a known frequency is received at a receiver or sink device from a transmitter, the signal may be a link training signal used for configuring a link between the two devices. In the receiver, an internally generated clock signal is created, the signal having an internal frequency. The incoming signal and the internally generated clock signal are input into a frequency detector which outputs frequency comparison-based data. The internal frequency is based on the comparison-based data such that it is adjusted to be closer to the known frequency of the incoming signal. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100302439 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COLOR GAMUT MAPPING - Methods and systems are described for conducting gamut mapping of color video signals from a first color gamut associated with video source to a second color gamut associated with a receiving display device. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100297883 | TRAILER TOW PRESERVING BATTERY CHARGE CIRCUIT - A method and integrated circuit for preserving a battery's charge and protecting electrical devices is disclosed. A maximum and a minimum battery voltage value at the output port are stored in a memory. A steady state battery voltage at the output port is measured and stored in the memory. A processor compares the measured steady battery voltage value to the maximum and the minimum battery voltage values. If the measured steady state battery voltage value is greater than the maximum battery voltage value, an over voltage state is reported by the processor. If the measured steady state battery voltage value is less than the minimum battery voltage value, a low battery voltage state is reported by the processor. | 11-25-2010 |
| 20100296672 | TWO-TO-THREE CHANNEL UPMIX FOR CENTER CHANNEL DERIVATION - A frequency-domain upmix process uses vector-based signal decomposition and methods for improving the selectivity of center channel extraction. The upmix processes described do not perform an explicit primary/ambient decomposition. This reduces the complexity and improves the quality of the center channel derivation. A method of upmixing a two-channel stereo signal to a three-channel signal is described. A left input vector and a right input vector are added to arrive at a sum magnitude. Similarly, the difference between the left input vector and the right input vector is determined to arrive at a difference magnitude. The difference between the sum magnitude and the difference magnitude is scaled to compute a center channel magnitude estimate, and this estimate is used to calculate a center output vector. A left output vector and a right output vector are computed. The method is completed by outputting the left output vector, the center output vector, and the right output vector. | 11-25-2010 |
| 20100296562 | DATA SIGNAL IMPROVEMENT USING SIGNAL PEAK DETECTORS IN A RECEIVER - Methods and systems are described for improving a data at a receiver using one or more signal peak detectors. A signal is received having an initial signal level from the transmitter, the signal having a long bit and a short bit. The initial signal voltage of the signal is measured using a signal peak detector. A pre-emphasis value is determined using the signal voltage and is communicated to the transmitter, causing the transmitter to transmit the signal using an adjusted signal level. A second signal voltage of the initial signal is measured using a second signal peak detector, the second signal voltage being used to determine the pre-emphasis value. In another embodiment, a state machine having data relating to appropriate pre-emphasis is used in determining the pre-emphasis value. In another embodiment, one peak detector is used to measure the long bit and another peak detector is used to measure the short bit. In another embodiment, the signal does not have associated link training data. | 11-25-2010 |
| 20100295514 | TRAILER TOW METHOD FOR CONTROLLING CHARGING - A method and integrated circuit for preserving a battery's charge and protecting electrical devices is disclosed. A maximum and a minimum battery voltage value at the output port are stored in a memory. A steady state battery voltage at the output port is measured and stored in the memory. A processor compares the measured steady battery voltage value to the maximum and the minimum battery voltage values. If the measured steady state battery voltage value is greater than the maximum battery voltage value, an over voltage state is reported by the processor. If the measured steady state battery voltage value is less than the minimum battery voltage value, a low battery voltage state is reported by the processor. | 11-25-2010 |
| 20100295384 | PC DOCKING STATION SIMPLIFICATION - A simplified docking station arranged to couple together a media source device and a media sink device is disclosed. The docking station is configured to accept power from the media source device for powering the docking station itself and for providing power to the media sink device. | 11-25-2010 |
| 20100293366 | FREQUENCY AND SYMBOL LOCKING USING SIGNAL GENERATED CLOCK FREQUENCY AND SYMBOL IDENTIFICATION - Methods and systems are described for displaying video data after a hot plug event during a start-up dead period. In particular, approaches for receiving data, determining whether link training can be performed and, if not, self-configuring a receiver to display the information in a proper format even during the dead period. | 11-18-2010 |
| 20100293287 | WIRELESS MULTIMEDIA TRANSPORT METHOD AND APPARATUS - Apparatus and methods for wireless data transmission in a multimedia network are disclosed. Disclosed is a network having a source coupled to a sink using a virtual channel that includes a wireless communication channel. A source end of the system provides a packetizing data stream having a stream of payloads such that each payload is associated with its respective originating source stream. The system configured to encode the packetized data stream for wireless transport. A non-wireless source end of the system receives quality of service information from downstream. Thereby enabling adjustments to the source content and packetized data streams. | 11-18-2010 |
| 20100289966 | FLAT PANEL DISPLAY DRIVER METHOD AND SYSTEM - Methods and systems are described for enabling display system data transmission during use. An integrated circuit package includes input interface circuitry configured to receive an audio-video data stream having a video signal and timing information and timing extraction circuitry that can identify blanking patterns for the video signal. The package includes input processing circuitry for receiving audio-video signal and converting the audio-video data stream input into a low voltage differential signal (LVDS). The package includes a timing controller having timing extraction circuitry, a set of symbol buffers, a scheduler, and timing control circuitry. All configured to implement LVDS data transfer and in some implementation enable point to point data transfer from data buffers to associated column drivers. | 11-18-2010 |
| 20100289950 | OPERATION OF VIDEO SOURCE AND SINK WITH HOT PLUG DETECTION NOT ASSERTED - Methods and systems are described for displaying enabling the transmission, formatting, and display of multimedia data after a hot plug event during a start-up dead period. In particular, approaches for transmission, formatting, and display of multimedia data in the absence or non-operation of a hot plug detect system or signal, so that multimedia information can be displayed in a proper format even during the dead period when no hot plug detect signal is received. | 11-18-2010 |
| 20100289949 | OPERATION OF VIDEO SOURCE AND SINK WITH TOGGLED HOT PLUG DETECTION - Methods and systems are described for transmitting and displaying video data after a hot plug event during a start-up dead period. In particular, hot plug events occurring when a toggleable hot plug detection mechanism is use. | 11-18-2010 |
| 20100289945 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR POWER SAVING DURING VIDEO BLANKING PERIODS - Methods and systems are described for enabling display system power saving during the operation of display devices. An integrated circuit package includes input interface circuitry configured to receive an audio-video data stream having a video signal and timing information and timing extraction circuitry that can identify blanking patterns for the video signal. The package includes timing control circuitry configured to implement a power saving process during the blanking periods of the video signal. The invention further includes methods that support the operation of power saving processes. | 11-18-2010 |
| 20100289812 | DEVICE, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR WIDE GAMUT COLOR SPACE SUPPORT - Methods, chips, systems, computer program products and data structures are described for conducting modification of color video signals from a first color format associated with an originating format to a second format compatible with a display media of a display device. | 11-18-2010 |
| 20100272102 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PACKET MESSAGING AND SYNCHRONIZATION - System and method for packet messaging and synchronization through a packet based display interface includes using a multiple packet transport protocols, translating packet messages between protocols and achieving time code synchronization with a packet protocol between multiple devices in a multimedia network. A packet based display interface includes a dual data transport module to communicate packet messages using first and second packet transport protocols across a bidirectional link and a media transport module to communicate video packets across a unidirectional link. A method for communicating packet messages between source and slave devices in a multimedia network includes translating messages between different packet transport protocols. An apparatus for synchronizing a sink device to a source device includes a counter module configured to be adjusted based on a received source global time code value and a transport module to transmit a sink global time code value to the source device. | 10-28-2010 |
| 20100246051 | STOPPING METHOD FOR A SPINDLE MOTOR AND RELATED DEVICE - A method and circuit to stop a spindle motor in the absence of the external supply voltage in which the spindle motor is structured to move a hard disk provided with at least one reading or writing head moved by a voice coil motor, the spindle motor provided with a plurality of coils. The method includes rectifying the backelectromotive force of the spindle motor to produce a braking current, driving the voice coil motor with at least a portion of the braking current until the speed of the spindle motor becomes lower than a predetermined stop speed, and, after the parking of the at least one reading or writing head of the voice coil motor, stopping the spindle motor by short-circuiting the coils of the spindle motor. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100238193 | PROGRAMMABLE DITHERING FOR VIDEO DISPLAYS - In a liquid crystal display (LCD) driver circuit, harmonizing a pixel inversion pattern and a dither pattern is disclosed. The pixel inversion pattern and the cooperating dither pattern interact with each other in such a way that there is substantially no discernable video artifacts generated. The cooperating dither pattern can be selected from a plurality of dither patterns using a programmable dither block. | 09-23-2010 |
| 20100232381 | FRAME-BASED, ON-DEMAND SPECTRUM CONTENTION PROTOCOL SPECIFICATIONS - A frame-based, on-demand spectrum contention protocol provides a fine grain allocation of a shared spectrum resource in a cognitive radio network. Each frame of a plurality of synchronized superframes is allocated independently based on contention criteria. As demands for increased spectrum resources are realized, targeted requests are issued to base stations currently occupying targeted data frames. A contention resolution occurs at the base station currently occupying the targeted spectrum resource. The winner of the base station is announced and after a predetermined period of time, the contention winner occupies the contended spectrum resource. | 09-16-2010 |
| 20100232361 | FRAME BASED, ON-DEMAND SPECTRUM CONTENTION DESTINATION RESOLUTION - A frame-based, on-demand spectrum contention protocol provides a fine grain allocation of a shared spectrum resource in a cognitive radio network. Each frame of a plurality of synchronized superframes is allocated independently based on contention criteria. As demands for increased spectrum resources are realized targeted requests are issued to base stations currently occupying targeted data frames. A contention resolution occurs at the base station currently occupying the targeted spectrum resource. The winner of the base station is announced and after a predetermined period of time the contention winner occupies the contended spectrum resource. | 09-16-2010 |
| 20100232360 | FRAME-BASED, ON-DEMAND SPECTRUM CONTENTION SOURCE RESOLUTION - A frame-based, on-demand spectrum contention protocol provides a fine grain allocation of a shared spectrum resource in a cognitive radio network. Each frame of a plurality of synchronized superframes is allocated independently based on contention criteria. As demands for increased spectrum resources are realized targeted requests are issued to base stations currently occupying targeted data frames. A contention resolution occurs at the base station currently occupying the targeted spectrum resource. The winner of the base station is announced and after a predetermined period of time the contention winner occupies the contended spectrum resource. | 09-16-2010 |
| 20100232359 | FRAME BASED, ON-DEMAND SPECTRUM CONTENTION DATA FRAME ACQUISITION - A frame-based, on-demand spectrum contention protocol provides a fine grain allocation of a shared spectrum resource in a cognitive radio network. Each frame of a plurality of synchronized superframes is allocated independently based on contention criteria. As demands for increased spectrum resources are realized, targeted requests are issued to base stations currently occupying targeted data frames. A contention resolution occurs at the base station currently occupying the targeted spectrum resource. The winner of the base station is announced and after a predetermined period of time, the contention winner occupies the contended spectrum resource. | 09-16-2010 |
| 20100232310 | FRAME BASED, ON-DEMAND SPECTRUM CONTENTION METHODOLOGY - A frame-based, on-demand spectrum contention protocol provides a fine grain allocation of a shared spectrum resource in a cognitive radio network. Each frame of a plurality of synchronized superframes is allocated independently based on contention criteria. As demands for increased spectrum resources are realized, targeted protocol is followed resulting in targeted requests issued to base stations currently occupying certain data frames. A contention resolution process occurs at the base station currently occupying the targeted spectrum resource in which spectrum contention numbers generated by each base station vying for access to a shared spectrum are compared. The base station winning the contention is announced and after a predetermined period of time, the contention winner occupies the contended spectrum resource. | 09-16-2010 |
| 20100202556 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR TRANSMITTING AND RECOVERING ENCODED DATA STREAMS ACROSS PHYSICAL MEDIUM ATTACHMENTS - An apparatus and method for transmitting and recovering encoded data streams across Physical Medium Attachments (PMA) are provided. The data stream includes a plurality of data blocks. The method of transmitting includes tagging at least some of the plurality of data blocks in the data stream. The method also includes splitting the data stream into first and second lanes of data blocks. The method further includes transmitting the first lane of data blocks to a first PMA and the second lane of data blocks to a second PMA. | 08-12-2010 |
| 20100183004 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DUAL MODE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN DEVICES IN A NETWORK - A packet based display interface configured to operate in a multimedia device in a network and methods to train the packet based display interface is disclosed. The packet based display interface includes a media transport block to communicate video packets across a first unidirectional link, a dual data transport block to communicate packet messages to and from client service blocks across a bidirectional link using multiple transport protocols, and a detection block to determine the addition or deletion of a network device using a second unidirectional link. Each transport protocol uses a different message format on the bidirectional link. The training methods include exchanging messages to determine transport protocol capabilities, training the bidirectional link and setting the transport protocols used. The first and second unidirectional links run in opposite directions, and both the unidirectional links and the bidirectional link use separate physical communication lines bundled together in a common cable. | 07-22-2010 |
| 20100182078 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR REDUCING COUPLING IN A MOS DEVICE - Mutual capacitances between regions of a MOS device become substantial factors that limit the speed and performance of the device as the device dimensions are reduced in size. A MOS transistor with a shielding structure formed above the gate is described. The shielding structure is connected to ground and is configured to reduce at least some of these mutual capacitances. | 07-22-2010 |
| 20100177755 | HIGH THROUGHPUT FEATURES IN 11S MESH NETWORKS - The addition of high throughput capability elements to beacon frames and peer link action frames in wireless mesh networks enable the utilization of desirable features without further modifications to the network. Rules can be established for high throughput mesh point protection in a mesh network, Space-time Block Code (STBC) operations and 20/40 MHz operation selections. However, features such as PSMP (power save multi-poll) and PCO (phased coexistence operations) are barred from implementation to prevent collisions. | 07-15-2010 |
| 20100174969 | ERROR-LOCATOR-POLYNOMIAL GENERATION WITH ERASURE SUPPORT - A system and method for correcting errors in an ECC block using erasure-identification data when generating an error-locator polynomial. In an embodiment, a ECC decoding method, uses “erasure” data indicative of bits of data that are unable to be deciphered by a decoder. Such a method may use an Berlekamp-Massey algorithm that receives two polynomials as inputs; a first polynomial indicative of erasure location in the stream of bits and a syndrome polynomial indicative of all bits as initially determined. The Berlekamp-Massey algorithm may use the erasure identification information to more easily decipher the overall codeword when faced with a error-filled codeword. | 07-08-2010 |
| 20100174954 | NON-POLYNOMIAL PROCESSING UNIT FOR SOFT-DECISION ERROR CORRECTION CODING - A system and method for correcting errors in an ECC block using soft-decision data. In an embodiment, a soft-decision ECC decoding method, uses “soft” data indicative of how reliable bits of data are when read out. Such a method may use an update module for receiving and manipulating the soft-decision data and iteratively change bits or groups of bits based upon an ordering of the reliability factors. Then a calculator module may determine the total number of errors still remaining after each iteration. Determining just the total number of errors instead of the actual locations is far less computationally intensive, and therefore, many combination of potential flip-bit combination may be analyzed quickly to determine if any combination might reduce the total number of errors enough to be handled by the conventional hard-decision ECC decoding method. | 07-08-2010 |
| 20100171219 | EXTENDED LINER FOR LOCALIZED THICK COPPER INTERCONNECT - A dielectric layer overlies a semiconductor substrate. The substrate has components and appropriate contacts formed therein. The dielectric layer electrically insulates the substrate and components from overlying conductive interconnect layers. A barrier layer is arranged over the dielectric layer to isolate the interconnect layers from other structures. A copper layer is then deposited over the barrier layer and thick interconnect lines having a first width and a first height are realized. Then, the barrier layer is etched using one of many alternative techniques. The barrier layer has a second width and a second height wherein the second width of the barrier liner is selected to be greater than the first width of the thick copper interconnect. | 07-08-2010 |
| 20100169746 | LOW-COMPLEXITY SOFT-DECISION DECODING OF ERROR-CORRECTION CODES - A system and method for correcting errors in an ECC block using soft-decision data. In an embodiment, a soft-decision ECC decoding method, uses “soft” data indicative of how reliable bits of data are when read out. Such reliability information may be used to identify particular symbols with a higher likelihood of error such that these symbols may be changed in an attempt to reduce the total number of errors in the data. In an embodiment, a soft-decision ECC decoding path may include a reliability checker operable to receive bits of data read from a data store and operable to associate a reliability factor with each bit of data. Then, an update module may iteratively change bits or groups of bits based upon an ordering of the reliability factors. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100169736 | Encoding apparatus, system, and method using Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes - A system and method is capable of performing a Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) coding operation on-the-fly without using a generator matrix. The system and method includes an input configured to receive data and an output configured to output a plurality of codewords. The system and method also includes a processor coupled between the input and the output. The processor is configured to encode the received data and produce the plurality of codewords using a plurality of parity bits. The processor creates the plurality of parity bits on-the-fly using a portion of an LDPC matrix and a protograph matrix. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100169247 | System and method for statistical measurment validation - An apparatus and method are disclosed for a measurement system that reports as a measurement result a confidence interval associated with a histogram bin into which a measurement value falls. The confidence interval is calculated from a subset of training values that also fall within the histogram bin. A training process may be performed in which a plurality of training values is obtained and a mean and standard deviation of the values determined. A plurality of histogram bins are defined from the mean and standard deviation and, for the subsets of training values that fall into each bin, confidence intervals calculated. A need to perform the training process may be determined from a plurality of measured values. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100167629 | METHOD OF DETERMINING PRESSURE TO APPLY TO WAFERS DURING A CMP - A method for uniformly planarizing a wafer that includes determining a first wafer warped value at a first zone on the wafer, determining a second wafer warped value at a second zone on the wafer, and calculating a pressure difference based on the first and second wafer warped values at the first and second zones is provided. The method also includes performing a chemical mechanical polishing of the wafer, applying a first pressure based on the first wafer warped value to the wafer at the first zone during the chemical mechanical polishing, and applying a second pressure based on the second wafer warped value to the wafer at the second zone during the chemical mechanical polishing, a difference between the first pressure and the second pressure based on the pressure difference. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100167544 | DOOR ASSEMBLY FOR SUBSTRATE PROCESSING CHAMBER - A substrate processing apparatus includes an enclosure defining a reaction chamber, a substrate holder in the reaction chamber, and a door assembly. The door assembly has a substrate entrance with a tunnel extending to the reaction chamber, a door movable with respect to the substrate entrance, and a pattern of features. The features are located along a portion of the substrate entrance defining the tunnel. The features promote sticking of processing byproducts, produced in the reaction chamber, to the substrate entrance. A door mates with the entrance to form a seal that reduces flow through the tunnel to control the amount of byproducts that enter the tunnel. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100167497 | USE OF FIELD OXIDATION TO SIMPLIFY CHAMBER FABRICATION IN MICROFLUIDIC DEVICES - A method includes growing a first oxide region concurrently with a second oxide region in a substrate and forming an inlet path to the first oxide region, the inlet path exposing a first surface of the first oxide region. The method also includes removing the first oxide region to form a chamber, forming a first MOS transistor adjacent the second oxide region, and forming a second MOS transistor separated from the first MOS transistor by the second oxide region. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100166036 | System and method for remote temperature sensing - An apparatus and method are disclosed for temperature measurement that includes performing a first ΔVbe measurement of a first temperature of a diode circuit comprising a transistor and, subsequently, performing a first Vbe measurement of a second temperature of the diode circuit. A temperature difference is calculated between the second temperature and the first temperature. If the temperature difference is not greater than a predetermined amount, a second Vbe measurement of a third temperature of the diode circuit is subsequently performed. If the temperature difference is greater than the predetermined amount, a second ΔVbe measurement of the second temperature of the diode circuit is performed. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100165963 | ROBUST UNICAST/BROADCAST/MULTICAST COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL - Methods and apparatus for implementing a robust unicast/broadcast/multicast protocol are provided. In one aspect, a method of avoiding collision of intra-basic service set unicast, broadcast or multicast transmissions notifies stations in the basic service set of a reserved transmit opportunity for a unicast, broadcast or multicast transmission. Transmissions from at least one station in the basic service set are deferred until after the reserved unicast, broadcast or multicast transmit opportunity. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100165907 | RELIABLE AND DETERMINISTIC COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL - A reliable and deterministic video communication protocol is provided. In one aspect, a method of transmitting data, audio or video frames in a basic service set having a plurality of stations in a wireless local area network transmits a transmit opportunity information element to reserve a transmit opportunity time interval. The method further transmits the data, audio or video frames to a number of the stations in the basic service set during the reserved transmit opportunity time interval. In another aspect, a method of transmitting data, audio or video frames in a basic service set having a plurality of stations in a wireless local area network first transmits protection frames to reserve a time interval, then transmits frames during the reserved time interval or during a non-reserved time interval. In yet another aspect, a method of transmitting data, audio or video frames in a basic service set having a plurality of stations in a wireless local area network utilizes acknowledgement frames from the plurality of stations to acknowledge the transmission. A wireless communication device is also provided. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100165906 | VTS FRAME FORMAT - Methods and apparatus for transmitting a video frame in wireless local area network communications are proposed. In one aspect, a method generates and transmits an IEEE 802.11 media access control (MAC) frame containing a video transport stream (VTS) frame. The VTS frame includes a video frame and a VTS control header that includes control information with respect to the video frame. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100165709 | ROBUST SRAM MEMORY CELL CAPACITOR PLATE VOLTAGE GENERATOR - An SRAM having two capacitors connected in series between respective bit storage nodes of each memory cell. The two inverters of the memory cell are powered by a positive voltage and a low voltage. The two capacitors are connected to each other at a common node. A leakage current generator is coupled to the common node. The leakage current generator supplies to the common node a leakage current to maintain a voltage which is approximately halfway between the voltages of the high and low SRAM supplies. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100165527 | PROTECTION FOR BI-DIRECTIONAL SWITCH - A bi-directional protection circuit employs a single comparator for detecting fault conditions. Diodes are coupled between a detection node and voltage dividers setting references for inverting and non-inverting comparator inputs, each diode forward biased during one of the positive and negative halves of the alternating current input signal cycle and coupling the detection node to a respective one of the inverting and non-inverting comparator inputs, and reverse biased during the other of the positive and negative halves and decoupling the detection node from the other of the inverting and non-inverting comparator inputs. Upon an overcurrent condition during the positive half, a voltage at the inverting comparator input is drawn above the reference voltage at the non-inverting input. Upon an overcurrent condition during the negative half, a voltage at the non-inverting comparator input is drawn below the reference voltage at the inverting input. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100164757 | System and method for providing a single and dual key press keypad - A system and method for receiving character entries in mobile computer devices uses an improved keypad. The keypad uses a dual key press method in which each key of the keypad includes a unique key definition when it alone is pressed. Each of two adjacent keys of the keypad also include a unique key definition when the two adjacent keys are pressed at substantially the same time. A keypad controller receives inputs from the keys and decodes the single key entries and the dual key entries. The keypad occupies a relatively small keypad area while providing full size keys for the user. The keypad also has a mode key that enables a user to change the alphabet mode of the keypad to a numerical mode. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100164705 | SELF-POWERED SENSOR SYSTEM FOR MONITORING TIRE PRESSURE - A self-powered tire pressure sensor device. The sensor device includes a power circuit, an air pressure measurement sensor, a signal circuit and a wireless transmission circuit. The power circuit converts mechanical acceleration experienced by the device into electrical potential using an electromechanical transducer. Mechanical acceleration due to collisions between the mobile sensor device and the wall of the tire while the tire is in motion cause the transducer to emit a small electrical charge. An electrical potential storage element in the power circuit accumulates and stores the charge as electrical potential. Alternatively the power circuit receives and converts electromagnetic energy into electrical potential. The electrical potential powers an air pressure measurement sensor within the tire. A signal circuit and wireless transmission circuit transmit the measurement to a chassis-mounted receiver, which makes the tire pressure measurement available to systems remote from the tire. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100164638 | METHOD AND CIRCUIT FOR CANCELLING OUT COMPARATOR-DELAY IN THE RELAXATION OSCILLATOR - A relaxation oscillator includes a capacitor connected to a comparator input, current sources switched to supply power to the capacitor based on an output of the comparator, and a duplicate integrator shifting a voltage on the capacitor to offset a propagation delay through the comparator. The duplicate integrator includes current sources and a capacitor matching and switched in tandem with those within the relaxation oscillator, plus an additional current source, and is selectively switched into connection with the comparator input. By canceling the comparator propagation delay, the oscillator output frequency can be stably controlled through selection of resistive and capacitive values, using cheaper technology and tolerating large temperature, voltage and process variations. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100164585 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE WITH INTEGRATED DELAY CHAIN - A semiconductor device wherein a delay chain is integrated; the semiconductor device having a semiconductor layer. The delay chain includes a plurality of delay cells placed in the semiconductor layer and electrically connected to each other so as to form the delay chain. The semiconductor device includes a first and second metal lines respectively connected to a supply voltage and a reference voltage and placed in a longitudinal direction on a surface of the semiconductor layer; each delay cell of the plurality of cells is electrically connected with the first and second metal lines. Any delay cell and its successive or preceding delay cells of the delay chain are placed in a transversal direction with respect to the first or the second metal line. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100164404 | System and method for a constant current source LED driver - A system and method for providing a constant current source driver for a light emitting diode string. The converter includes a current sensor that derives feedback signal corresponding to a peak current through the light emitting diode string. The feedback signal is used by a controller to vary a duty cycle of the controller to regulate the average current. The controller is operable to regulate the average current as the number of light emitting diodes is increased and/or decreased. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100164024 | HIGH ASPECT RATIO ALL SIGE CAPACITIVELY COUPLED MEMS DEVICES - A method that includes forming an opening between at least one first electrode and a second electrode by forming a recess in a first electrode layer, the recess having sidewalls that correspond to a surface of the at least one first electrode, forming a first sacrificial layer on the sidewalls of the recess, the first sacrificial layer having a first width that corresponds to a second width of the opening, forming a second electrode layer in the recess that corresponds to the second electrode, and removing the first sacrificial layer to form the opening between the second electrode and the at least one first electrode. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100164000 | STRAINED TRANSISTOR AND METHOD FOR FORMING THE SAME - According to one embodiment, a semiconductor substrate is provided having at least two transistor regions formed therein. Overlying the channel regions is a gate dielectric and transistor gate electrodes overly the gate dielectric and are positioned overlying the channel regions. Source and drain regions are formed on either side of the channel regions to create a transistor structure. In order to provide isolation between transistors in the semiconductor substrate, a trench is formed in the substrate. A strain-inducting layer is then deposited over the transistor structures and into the trench in the semiconductor substrate. A high-stress nitride layer is one type of material which is suitable for forming the strain-inducing layer. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100163517 | METHOD TO FORM A RECESS FOR A MICROFLUIDIC DEVICE - A method includes forming a recess in a first surface of a substrate, the recess having a width, depth, and height selected to correspond to a width, depth, and height of a fluid chamber, forming a sacrificial material in the recess, forming a first heater element, forming a metal layer overlying the first heater element, and forming a nozzle opening in the metal layer to expose the sacrificial material. The method also includes forming a path from a second surface of the substrate to expose the sacrificial material and removing the sacrificial material from the recess to expose the chamber with the selected width, depth, and height, the chamber in fluid communication with the path, the nozzle opening, and a surrounding environment. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100163116 | MICROFLUIDIC NOZZLE FORMATION AND PROCESS FLOW - A method that includes forming a chamber in a substrate, forming a silicon layer overlying the chamber, etching the silicon layer to remove selected regions and retain a selected portion overlying the chamber, the selected portion being at a location and having dimensions that correspond to a location and to dimensions of a nozzle, and forming a first metal layer adjacent to the selected portion. The method also includes forming a path in the substrate to expose the chamber concurrently with removing the selected portion of the silicon layer to expose the nozzle, the nozzle being in fluid communication with the path, the chamber, and a surrounding environment. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100163089 | THERMOELECTRIC DEVICE - A thermoelectric device includes a plurality of thin-film thermoelectric elements. Each thin-film thermoelectric element is a Seebeck-Peltier device. The thin-film thermoelectric elements are electrically coupled in parallel with each other. The thermoelectric device may be fabricated using conventional semiconductor processing technologies and may be a thin-film type device. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100158272 | ASYMMETRIC POLYNOMIAL PSYCHOACOUSTIC BASS ENHANCEMENT - Psychoacoustic bass audio signal enhancement can be accomplished using a monotonic, asymmetric polynomial distortion. A non-linear process applies a monotonic, asymmetric polynomial distortion function that has continuous first and second derivatives to generate even and odd harmonics of missing fundamental frequencies. This polynomial distortion produces the desired psychoacoustic effect with a fairly rapid roll-off so as to avoid unpleasant aliasing. Moreover, the lack of first-order discontinuities prevents clicks or glitches. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100157493 | ELECTROSTATIC DISCHARGE PROTECTION CIRCUIT - An integrated circuit includes an electrostatic discharge (ESD) detection circuit which detects an ESD event and generates an event signal. In response to that event signal, a control circuit controls the operation of a buffer circuit to function in an additional mode wherein the normal differential operation of the buffer circuit is disabled and the buffer circuit is instead configured to form a conduction path between supply rails to discharge the ESD event. Preferably, a plurality of buffer circuits are driven in parallel by the control circuit to function in the additional mode to form parallel discharge paths for the ESD event. Multiple ESD detection circuits may be provided, and any one of those detection circuits can trigger the control circuitry to place all of the buffer circuits in the additional mode. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100148363 | STEP CAVITY FOR ENHANCED DROP TEST PERFORMANCE IN BALL GRID ARRAY PACKAGE - A ball grid array (BGA) package includes a substrate layer having first and second sides. A semiconductor chip is attached to the first side of the substrate layer by a dielectric adhesive layer. A plurality of solder balls are attached to the second side of the substrate layer. The solder balls may be set out by rows and columns. A plurality of wires electrically connect the semiconductor chip to the solder balls. A layer of encapsulating compound is deposited over the semiconductor chip. A step cavity of a selected depth and shape is formed in the layer of encapsulating compound at or near the edge or periphery of the layer of encapsulating compound. The step cavity is separated from the solder balls by the substrate layer but spans over a plurality of selected solder balls. | 06-17-2010 |
| 20100148347 | CHIP SCALE PACKAGE STRUCTURE WITH CAN ATTACHMENT - A chip scale package (CSP) device includes a CSP having a semiconductor die electrically coupled to a plurality of solder balls. A can having an inside top surface and one or more side walls defines a chamber. The CSP is housed in the chamber and is attached to the inside top surface of the can. A printed circuit board is attached to the solder balls and to the one or more side walls to provide support to the CSP and to the can. The CSP may be a Wafer-Level CSP. The can may be built from a metallic substance or from a non-metallic substance. The can provides stress relief to the CSP during a drop test and during a thermal cycle test. | 06-17-2010 |
| 20100142559 | SUPER-FRAME STRUCTURE FOR DYNAMIC SPECTRUM SHARING IN WIRELESS NETWORKS - A coexistence communications method for use between wireless networks includes adopting a super-frame structure for use in a wireless network having a plurality of frames, wherein a first frame includes a super-frame preamble, a super-frame control header, a data portion, and a regular self-coexistence window, an intermediate frame includes an OFDM symbol, a data portion, and a regular self-coexistence window, and a last frame includes an OFDM symbol, a data portion, and a joining self-coexistence window, using the self-coexistence windows to exchange inter-wireless network co-existence messages, and using a last reserved self-coexistence window to announce intra-wireless network negotiation decisions. | 06-10-2010 |
| 20100142463 | FRAME-BASED ON-DEMAND SPECTRUM CONTENTION PROTOCOL-MESSAGING METHOD - The message flows of a distributed, cooperative, and real-time protocol for frame-based spectrum sharing called Frame-based On-Demand Spectrum Contention (FODSC) employs interactive MAC messaging on an inter-network communication channel to provide efficient, scalable, and fair inter-network spectrum sharing among the coexisting cognitive radio cells. | 06-10-2010 |
| 20100140724 | EMBEDDED MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS (MEMS) SEMICONDUCTOR SUBSTRATE AND RELATED METHOD OF FORMING - An embedded MEMS semiconductor substrate is set forth and can be a starting material for subsequent semiconductor device processing. A MEMS device is formed in a semiconductor substrate, including at least one MEMS electrode and a buried silicon dioxide sacrificial layer has been applied for releasing the MEMS. A planarizing layer is applied over the substrate, MEMS device and MEMS electrode. A polysilicon protection layer is applied over the planarizing layer. A polysilicon nitride capping layer is applied over the polysilicon protection layer. A polysilicon seed layer is applied over the polysilicon nitride capping layer. The MEMS device is released by removing at least a portion of the buried silicon dioxide sacrificial layer and an epitaxial layer is grown over the polysilicon seed layer to be used for subsequent semiconductor wafer processing. | 06-10-2010 |
| 20100140062 | PROTECTIVE CIRCUIT FOR AN APPARATUS - The invention is directed towards a protective circuit for an apparatus including an accelerometer having an output and a microcontroller coupled to the output of the accelerometer. The protective circuit also includes a switch for controlling the apparatus coupled to an output of the microcontroller and a load coupled to the switch. A power source is coupled to the load and the switch. In operation the microcontroller is cable of sending a signal to the switch to turn of power to the load when a dangerous condition has occurred. Also, the invention is directed toward a method of controller an apparatus with the protective circuit. | 06-10-2010 |
| 20100130006 | METHOD AND STRUCTURE OF A THICK METAL LAYER USING MULTIPLE DEPOSITION CHAMBERS - A thick metal layer is formed on a semiconductor integrated circuit in multiple different deposition chambers. A first portion of the metal layer is formed in a first deposition chamber, the first thickness being approximately half the target thickness. The substrate is then removed from the first chamber and transported to a second chamber. The deposition of the same metal layer continues in a second chamber, having the same grain structure and orientation. The second portion of the metal layer is grown to achieve the final thickness. By using two different deposition chambers to form the single metal layer, layers in excess of 25,000 angstroms in thickness can be obtained. | 05-27-2010 |
| 20100123419 | ASYMMETRICAL DRIVER - A drive circuit having asymmetrical drivers. In an embodiment, a brushless DC motor may be driven by a drive circuit having three high-side MOSFETs and three low-side MOSFETs. A driver controller turns the MOSFETs on and off according to a drive algorithm such that phase currents are injected into motor coils to be driven. The high-side MOSFETs may be sized differently than the low-side MOSFETs. As such, when a MacDonald waveform (or similar drive algorithm) is used to drive the phases of the motor, less power may be required during disk spin-up because the MOSFETs that are on more (e.g., the low-side MOSFETs with a MacDonald waveform) may be sized larger than the MOSFETs that are on less (e.g., the high-side MOSFETs). In this manner, less power is dissipated in the larger size MOSFETs that are on more than the others. | 05-20-2010 |
| 20100109122 | METHOD TO REDUCE METAL FUSE THICKNESS WITHOUT EXTRA MASK - Methods of fabricating a multi-layer semiconductor structure are provided. In one embodiment, a method includes depositing a first dielectric layer over a semiconductor structure, depositing a first metal layer over the first dielectric layer, patterning the first metal layer to form a plurality of first metal lines, and depositing a second dielectric layer over the first metal lines and the first dielectric layer. The method also includes removing a portion of the second dielectric layer over selected first metal lines to expose a respective top surface of each of the selected first metal lines. The method further includes reducing a thickness of the selected first metal lines to be less than a thickness of the unselected first metal lines. A multi-layer semiconductor structure is also provided. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100109100 | MICRO-FLUIDIC STRUCTURE - A microfabricated structure that includes a first layer of material on a substrate, and a second layer of material over the first layer that forms an encapsulated cavity, and a structural support layer added to the second layer. Openings can be formed in the cavity, and the cavities can be layered side by side, vertically stacked with interconnections via the openings, and a combination of both can be used to construct stacked arrays with interconnections throughout. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100098198 | RECOVERY OF DATA FROM A MULTI CARRIER SIGNAL - In an embodiment, a multi-carrier signal (e.g., an OFDM signal) is received over a channel. Indicators of interference and the channel response at a carrier frequency of the signal are determined, and compared. If the indicator of interference has a particular relationship to the indicator of the channel response, then a data value transmitted at the carrier frequency is recovered from a data value received at the carrier frequency according to a particular data-recovery algorithm. Because the particular data-recovery algorithm may be faster than a conventional data-recovery algorithm, recovering one or more data values with the particular algorithm may increase the speed at which data is recovered from a multicarrier signal as compared to using a conventional data-recovery algorithm. | 04-22-2010 |
| 20100097717 | REDUCING THE SPECTRAL ENERGY OF TORQUE RIPPLE - In BLDC motors driven via sensorless techniques, the BEMF signals in the motor coils may be used to detect the position of the motor such that speed of the motor may be accurately controlled. When detecting the BEMF signals, however, small perturbations occur which negatively impact the rotational torque of the motor. As a result, torque ripple may occur at regular intervals which may result in inefficiencies as well as audible noise. In various embodiments as described herein, the sampling of the BEMF signals may be done so at pseudo-random intervals such that the overall spectral energy that presents from the BEMF detections may be reduced at specific frequencies (such as fundamental sampling frequencies and harmonics thereof) and spread out over many more frequencies. Thus, despite the overall spectral energy being the same, the amplitude of any given frequency is lower as the sampling of the BEMF is less periodic. | 04-22-2010 |
| 20100097087 | EYE MAPPING BUILT-IN SELF TEST (BIST) METHOD AND APPARATUS - A built-in self test for receiver operation is provided through a testing method that evaluates characteristics of a received signal eye diagram. The receiver receives a serial data signal and applies compensation to that received serial data signal to generate a compensated serial data signal. The properties of an eye diagram associated with the compensated serial data signal are measured. In this context, certain desired eye diagram properties are characterized by parameters indicative of pass/fail criteria for receiver testing. The measured eye diagram properties are then compared against the parameters. A receiver testing conclusion signal is then output based on results of the comparison. | 04-22-2010 |
| 20100080175 | WEB BASED SMART SENSOR NETWORK TRACKING AND MONITORING SYSTEM - A wireless sensor network including a plurality of Smart Sensors coupled to a wide area network such as the Internet via a Wireless Sensor Coordinator. Each wireless sensor network comprises a plurality of Smart Sensors, each operable to measure one or more physical quantities. Each wireless sensor communicates the measured data to a Wireless Sensor Coordinator which then stores the collected data in memory. The Wireless Sensor Coordinator further includes a web server operable to post a web site on a network that is accessible by a common web browser. Upon receiving a request for sensed data via the web site, the Wireless Sensor Coordinator retrieves the appropriate measured and stored data and converts it into HTML format pages which are then posted on the web site for review by the requestor. | 04-01-2010 |
| 20100073122 | DUAL THIN FILM PRECISION RESISTANCE TRIMMING - A trimmable resistor for use in an integrated circuit is trimmed using a heater. The heater is selectively coupled to a voltage source. The application of voltage to the heater causes the heater temperature to increase and produce heat. The heat permeates through a thermal separator to the trimmable resistor. The resistance of the trimmable resistor is permanently increased or decreased when the temperature of the resistor is increased to a value within a particular range of temperatures. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100072558 | METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING HIGH-STABILITY RESISTORS, SUCH AS HIGH OHMIC POLY RESISTORS, INTEGRATED ON A SEMICONDUCTOR SUBSTRATE - A method for protecting a circuit component on a semiconductor substrate from a plasma etching or other removal process includes forming a screening layer over an auxiliary layer to conceal at least an area of the auxiliary layer that overlays at least a portion of the circuit component, such as for example a high-ohmic poly resistor. The method transfers a pattern defined by a mask onto the screening layer by selectively removing portions of the screening layer in accordance with the pattern. Portions of the auxiliary layer that are not protected by the screening layer are removed using a plasma gas selective to the auxiliary layer material, without removing the area of the auxiliary layer that overlays the portion of the circuit component, thereby protecting the circuit component from the plasma gas via the screening layer and auxiliary layer. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100052587 | DETERMINING A POSITION OF A MOTOR USING AN ON-CHIP COMPONENT - An embodiment of a motor controller includes first and second supply nodes, a motor-coil node, an isolator, a motor driver, and a motor position signal generator. The isolator is coupled between the first and second supply nodes, and the motor driver is coupled to the second supply node and to the motor-coil node. The motor position signal generator is coupled to the isolator and is operable to generate, in response to the isolator, a motor-position signal that is related to a position of a motor having at least one coil coupled to the motor-coil node. By generating the motor-position signal in response to the isolator, the motor controller or another circuit may determine the at-rest or low-speed position of a motor without using an external coil-current-sense circuit. | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100052585 | MOTOR CONTROLLER WITH DRIVE-SIGNAL CONDITIONING - An embodiment of a motor controller includes a motor driver and a signal conditioner. The motor driver is operable to generate a motor-coil drive signal having a first component at a first frequency, and the signal conditioner is coupled to the motor driver and is operable to alter the first component. For example, if the first component of the motor-coil drive signal causes the motor to audibly vibrate (e.g., “whine”), then the signal conditioner may alter the amplitude or phase of the first component to reduce the vibration noise to below a threshold level. | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100049065 | PATIENT WEIGHT AND ANKLE DISPLACEMENT CORRELATION DEVICE - A device for correlating trend data with respect to a patient's weight ankle displacement can identify conditions indicative of congestive heart failure. A weight scale or similar device coupled with imaging mechanism operable to measure ankle displacement collects a plurality of measurements over a period of time. Over time trend analysis of both the patient's weight and the ankle displacement measurements can be obtained and compared to identify whether over a particular sample period an increase in a patient's ankle displacement is or is not correlated with an increase in the patient's weight. When an increase in ankle displacement is identified as not correlating to a corresponding change in the patient's weight an alert can be issued of conditions indicative of congestive heart failure. | 02-25-2010 |
| 20100029097 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DRIVING A VEHICLE TRAILER TOW CONNECTOR - In a method for driving electronic devices connected to a vehicle trailer tow connector a trailer electronic device control signal is receiving from a vehicle data communication network. In response to the received control signal, a solid state power control device is switched to connect electrical power to a selected pin of the trailer tow connector. The trailer electronic device control signal may be received from a wiring harness connector connected to a vehicle data communication network. A vehicle trailer tow connector module includes a module housing. A vehicle wiring connector and a trailer wiring connector are coupled to the module housing. A power control circuit is connected to a selected pin in the trailer wiring connector. A controller circuit is coupled to the vehicle wiring connector for receiving communication data from a vehicle data bus, and coupled by control lines to the power control circuit. | 02-04-2010 |
| 20100019374 | BALL GRID ARRAY PACKAGE - A thermally conductive ball grid array (BGA) package for integrated circuits having improved ground path employs a printed circuit substrate. The substrate has an array of solder balls disposed on the bottom side. There is an opening in the substrate corresponding to the integrated circuit die. A grounding ring covers the vertical walls of the opening and includes an upper ground collar on the top side of the substrate and a lower ground collar on the bottom side of the substrate. A thermally and electrically conductive heat spreader is attached to the lower ground collar on the bottom side of the BGA package, covering the opening in the substrate. The integrated circuit die is mounted on the heat spreader, with the active side up, within the opening in the substrate. Ground pads on the active side of the die are attached to the upper ground collar by wire bonds, to provide a continuous ground path from the ground pads to the heat spreader. Molded plastic covers the semiconductor device and the top side of the substrate. | 01-28-2010 |
| 20090323799 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RENDERING A HIGH-PERFORMANCE VIRTUAL DESKTOP USING COMPRESSION TECHNOLOGY - An embodiment of a network of extendable computer resources creates a virtual computing environment for a remote client. The network allocates at least some of the extendable computer resources to the virtual computing environment and compressively represents video output information of the virtual computing environment as an encoded data stream. The encoded data stream is communicated to the remote client, and input information to control the resources allocated to the virtual computing environment is received from the remote client. An embodiment of a local computing client receives a multiframe motion picture stream of encoded signals that represent the video output of a virtual computing environment hosted by a remote computer source. The local computing client decodes the motion picture stream, accepts input information operable to control the virtual computing environment, and communicates the input information to the remote computer source. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20090313458 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR VECTOR EXECUTION ON A SCALAR MACHINE - A processor that can execute instructions in either scalar mode or vector mode. In scalar mode, instructions are executed once per fetch. In vector mode, instructions are executed multiple times per fetch. In vector mode, the processor recognizes scalar variables and vector variables. Scalar variables may be assigned a fixed memory location. Vector variables use different physical locations at different iterations of the same instruction. The processor includes circuitry to automatically index addresses of vector variables for each iteration of the same instruction. This circuitry partitions a register into a vector region and a scalar region. Accesses to the vector region are automatically indexed based on the number of iterations of the instruction that have been performed. | 12-17-2009 |
| 20090304054 | SERDES WITH JITTER-BASED BUILT-IN SELF TEST (BIST) FOR ADAPTING FIR FILTER COEFFICIENTS - A first device transmits data over a first branch of a communications link toward a second device. That second device loops the received data pattern back over a second branch of the communications link. A bit error rate of the looped back data pattern is determined and a pre-emphasis applied to the transmitted data pattern is adjusted in response thereto. The first device further perturbs the data pattern communications signal so as to increase the bit error rate. The pre-emphasis is adjusted so as to reduce the determined bit error rate in the looped back data pattern in the presence of the perturbation. The steps for perturbing the signal and adjusting the pre-emphasis are iteratively performed, with the perturbation of the signal increasing with each iteration and adjustment of the pre-emphasis being refined with each iteration. The signal is perturbing by injecting modulation jitter into the signal (increasing each iteration) and adjusting amplitude of the signal (decreasing each iteration). | 12-10-2009 |
| 20090289279 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BURIED-CHANNEL SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE - Methods and apparatus of integrating a buried-channel PMOS into a BiCMOS process. The apparatus comprises at least one bipolar transistor and at least one MOS device coupled to the at least one bipolar transistor, such that a gate of the at least one MOS device may be coupled to an emitter of the at least one bipolar transistor. The MOS device comprises a buried channel having mobility means, such as strained silicon for promoting hole mobility in the buried channel, and confinement means, such as a cap layer disposed proximate to the buried channel for limiting leakage of holes from the buried channel. The apparatus may be formed by exposing a substrate in a PMOS, forming a SiGe layer on the substrate, forming an oxide layer on the SiGe layer, masking the PMOS, and removing at least some of the oxide and at least some of the SiGe layer. | 11-26-2009 |
| 20090283860 | HIGH PRECISION SEMICONDUCTOR CHIP AND A METHOD TO CONSTRUCT THE SEMICONDUCTOR CHIP - An embodiment for manufacturing an electronic circuit forms at least one first structure on a semiconductor substrate, determines at least one electrically defined characteristic of the at least one first structure, selects a reticle corresponding to the measured characteristic, and forms at least one additional structure on the semiconductor substrate with the selected reticle. | 11-19-2009 |
| 20090282320 | ITERATIVE DECODER WITH STOPPING CRITERION GENERATED FROM ERROR LOCATION POLYNOMIAL - A decoder for error correction an encoded message, such as one encoded by a turbo encoder, with reduced iterations due to an improved stopping criterion. The decoder includes an error correction loop that iteratively processes a message that is encoded prior to transmittal over a communication channel. The error correction loop generates, such as with a Reed-Solomon decoder, an error location polynomial in each iterative process. A stopping mechanism in the decoder allows an additional iteration of the message decoding based on the error location polynomial, such as by obtaining the degree of the error location polynomial and comparing it to a threshold. In one example, the threshold is the maximum number of symbol errors correctable by the Reed-Solomon code embodied in the decoder. The stopping mechanism allows additional iterations when the stopping criterion (or polynomial degree) is greater than the maximum number of symbol errors correctable by the Reed-Solomon code. | 11-12-2009 |
| 20090278503 | THIN-FILM BATTERY EQUIPMENT - In one aspect, a method of making an apparatus includes forming a thin-film battery; affixing a device to the thin-film battery while the thin-film battery is in a substantially discharged state; and subjecting the thin-film battery to a high temperature that exceeds a temperature rating of the thin film battery before the thin-film battery is charged. | 11-12-2009 |
| 20090262667 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENABLING TOPOLOGY MAPPING AND COMMUNICATION BETWEEN DEVICES IN A NETWORK - Methods and systems are described for discovering network topology in a multimedia network. Further the invention describes methods and systems for establishing synchronization between multiple nodes in a multimedia network. Also, disclosed are message transmission systems and methodology using relative path addressing to guide and direct messages in a multimedia network. | 10-22-2009 |
| 20090253373 | Enhanced sensitivity radio frequency front end circuit - An enhanced sensitivity radio frequency (RF) front end circuit includes a transformer configured to convert a balanced transmit signal to an unbalanced transmit signal and to convert a second filtered receive signal to a balanced receive signal. A switch in a first state receives the unbalanced transmit signal from the transformer and transfers the unbalanced transmit signal to an amplifier circuit and receives an amplified transmit signal from the amplifier circuit and transfers the amplified transmit signal to a filter. In a second state, the switch receives a first filtered receive signal from the filter and transfers the first filtered receive signal to the amplifier circuit and receives a second filtered receive signal from the amplifier circuit and transfers the second filtered receive signal to the transformer. In a first state, the amplifier circuit receives the unbalanced transmit signal from the switch and amplifies the unbalanced transmit signal to generate the amplified transmit signal, and in a second state, the amplifier circuit receives the first filtered receive signal from the switch and attenuates selected first frequencies to generate the second filtered receive signal. | 10-08-2009 |
| 20090250523 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SENSING BIOMETRIC AND NON-BIOMETRIC SMART CARD DEVICES - A system of detecting biometric and non-biometric, standard smart card devices includes a smart card host and smart card device reader, which is operable for receiving an Answer to Reset signal and determining whether the smart card device comprises a biometric or non-biometric, standard smart card device. If a biometric smart card device is detected, the smart card reader is operable for applying power used for standard smart card device operation to a first contact and applying power used by a biometric circuit to a second contact, and if a non-biometric, standard smart card device is detected, applying power only to the first contact. | 10-08-2009 |
| 20090219932 | MULTI-STREAM DATA TRANSPORT AND METHODS OF USE - A method of data transmission in a multimedia network. The network having a source coupled to a sink by a linking unit capable of supporting at least one virtual channel. The method receiving a plurality of source data streams in accordance with a native stream rate and packetizing each stream in accordance with its native rate into a stream of payloads, each associated with its respective source stream. Payloads from each source stream are inserted into a transfer unit such that each transfer unit contains one payload from each stream. A stream of transfer units are transmitted through a virtual channel of the linking unit, thereby transmitting more than one source stream in the same virtual channel. | 09-03-2009 |
| 20090213776 | BROADCAST/MULTICAST COLLISION FREE FRAME TRANSMISSION - A protocol for collision avoidance in inter and intra basic service set broadcast/multicast communication in a wireless network is disclosed. An access point reserves a broadcast transmission time and conveys that reservation to each of its associated stations. Using a beacon or an action frame, the transmission reservation time is sent to all stations and other neighboring access points within range of the primary access point. Upon receiving the broadcast transmission time reservation, each station associated with the reserving access point and any neighboring access points set their network allocation vector thus preventing frame transmission or reception during the now reserved transmission time. | 08-27-2009 |
| 20090208802 | FUEL CELL DEVICE - A fuel cell device includes a housing containing a fuel processor that generates fuel gas and a fuel cell having electrodes forming an anode and cathode, and an ion exchange electrolyte positioned between the electrodes. The housing can be formed as first and second cylindrically configured outer shell sections that form a battery cell that is configured similar to a commercially available battery cell. A thermal-capillary pump can be operative with the electrodes and an ion exchange electrolyte, and operatively connected to the fuel processor. The electrodes are configured such that heat generated between the electrodes forces water to any cooler edges of the electrodes and is pumped by capillary action back to the fuel processor to supply water for producing hydrogen gas. The electrodes can be formed on a silicon substrate that includes a flow divider with at least one fuel gas input channel that can be controlled by a MEMS valve. | 08-20-2009 |
| 20090208794 | FUEL CELL DEVICE - A fuel cell device includes a housing containing a fuel processor that generates fuel gas and a fuel cell having electrodes forming an anode and cathode, and an ion exchange electrolyte positioned between the electrodes. The housing can be formed as first and second cylindrically configured outer shell sections that form a battery cell that is configured similar to a commercially available battery cell. A thermal-capillary pump can be operative with the electrodes and an ion exchange electrolyte, and operatively connected to the fuel processor. The electrodes are configured such that heat generated between the electrodes forces water to any cooler edges of the electrodes and is pumped by capillary action back to the fuel processor to supply water for producing hydrogen gas. The electrodes can be formed on a silicon substrate that includes a flow divider with at least one fuel gas input channel that can be controlled by a MEMS valve. | 08-20-2009 |
| 20090208792 | FUEL CELL DEVICE - A fuel cell device includes a housing containing a fuel processor that generates fuel gas and a fuel cell having electrodes forming an anode and cathode, and an ion exchange electrolyte positioned between the electrodes. The housing can be formed as first and second cylindrically configured outer shell sections that form a battery cell that is configured similar to a commercially available battery cell. A thermal-capillary pump can be operative with the electrodes and an ion exchange electrolyte, and operatively connected to the fuel processor. The electrodes are configured such that heat generated between the electrodes forces water to any cooler edges of the electrodes and is pumped by capillary action back to the fuel processor to supply water for producing hydrogen gas. The electrodes can be formed on a silicon substrate that includes a flow divider with at least one fuel gas input channel that can be controlled by a MEMS valve. | 08-20-2009 |
| 20090208791 | FUEL CELL DEVICE - A fuel cell device includes a housing containing a fuel processor that generates fuel gas and a fuel cell having electrodes forming an anode and cathode, and an ion exchange electrolyte positioned between the electrodes. The housing can be formed as first and second cylindrically configured outer shell sections that form a battery cell that is configured similar to a commercially available battery cell. A thermal-capillary pump can be operative with the electrodes and an ion exchange electrolyte, and operatively connected to the fuel processor. The electrodes are configured such that heat generated between the electrodes forces water to any cooler edges of the electrodes and is pumped by capillary action back to the fuel processor to supply water for producing hydrogen gas. The electrodes can be formed on a silicon substrate that includes a flow divider with at least one fuel gas input channel that can be controlled by a MEMS valve. | 08-20-2009 |
