Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080204409 | CURSOR CONTROL DEVICE AND METHOD - We describe an apparatus including a plurality of sensing elements, a conductive layer, and a compressive layer interposed between the plurality of sensing elements and the conductive layer. The conductive layer can include a plurality of segments. A user applies a force to an actuator positioned over the conductive layer. The actuator changes a capacitance of at least one capacitor formed by at least one of the plurality of sensing elements, the conductive layer (at least one segment), and the compressive layer by reducing the distance between the at least one of the plurality of sensing elements and the conductive layer responsive to the applied force. The device measures and calculates a magnitude and direction of the force by measuring the change in the capacitance. | 08-28-2008 |
20080258740 | SELF-CALIBRATING DRIVER - A self-calibration system includes a variable current source to generate a default source current for charging a capacitive load, and a load charge calibrator to detect a voltage associated with the capacitive load when charged by the default source current, and to generate a current control feedback according to the detected voltage and a desired charged voltage of the capacitive load, the current control feedback to indicate to the variable current source a charge current capable of charging the capacitive load to the desired charged voltage. | 10-23-2008 |
20080258797 | NON-RESISTIVE LOAD DRIVER - Embodiments of the invention relate to a method and apparatus to drive non-resistive loads. The non-resistive load driver may include two or more drivers, such as a high-drive circuit and a low-drive circuit, to drive rail-to-rail output voltages and to stabilize the output voltages at a substantially constant level. The high-drive circuit may drive the output voltage of the non-resistive load driver to a threshold level, whereas the low-drive circuit may modify the output voltage of the non-resistive load driver to approximate an input voltage of the non-resistive load driver, and compensate any leakage associated with the non-resistive loads to provide a substantially constant output voltage. The low-drive circuit consumes less current than the high-drive circuit. The non-resistive load driver consumes less power and use less chip space. Alternatively, the non-resistive load driver may be implemented using a single driver with multiple modes, such as a low-drive mode and a high-drive mode, by changing a bias current of the non-resistive load driver between a high current mode and a low current mode. | 10-23-2008 |
20080259017 | REDUCING POWER CONSUMPTION IN A LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY - Embodiments of the invention relate to a method and apparatus to reduce power consumption in a passive matrix LCD driver circuit by using a plurality of drive buffers and active power management of sub-blocks in the passive matrix LCD drive circuit. Each drive buffer may operate in a first phase, which may include a high-drive mode to drive an LCD voltage to a threshold voltage level and a low-drive mode to modify the LCD voltage to approximate an input voltage of the drive buffer, and to maintain a constant LCD voltage level. The low-drive buffer consumes less current than the high-drive buffer, thus reducing power consumption. The drive buffer may also operate in a second phase, also a no-drive mode, in which the drive buffer and the bias voltage generator may be completely turned off, to further reduce power consumption. The drive buffer may be used to drive capacitive loads, as well as partially-resistive loads and inductive loads. | 10-23-2008 |
20080259065 | CONFIGURABLE LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY DRIVER SYSTEM - Embodiments of the invention relate to a configurable LCD driver system having a plurality of configurable LCD drivers. Each LCD driver may be configured as a common or segment driver by selecting a drive voltage from an appropriate set of drive voltages associated with a common or segment driver in accordance with certain parameters, such as whether a user may configure the LCD driver as a common driver or segment driver, a multiplex ratio, and/or bias ratio of an LCD panel. The drive time and drive strength associated with the LCD driver may also be configurable. The selected drive voltage may be provided to a drive buffer to output an LCD drive voltage waveform for driving one or more segments or pixels in an LCD panel. A memory may store appropriate display data for both the segment and common drivers to control the output drive capability of the LCD driver. | 10-23-2008 |
20080259070 | ACTIVE LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY DRIVERS AND DUTY CYCLE OPERATION - A liquid crystal display (LCD) driving system includes a reference voltage generator to generate a plurality of reference voltages. The LCD driving system also includes a plurality of drive buffers to generate drive voltages according to at least one of the reference voltages, and to drive at least a portion of a liquid crystal display to present data according to the drive voltages. | 10-23-2008 |
20080263243 | SPECIALIZED UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS CONTROLLER - A universal serial bus controller pre-generates and stores a subset of USB commands in a memory, the pre-generated commands available for transmission to at least one USB peripheral device over universal serial bus, and transfers at least one command from the subset of pre-generated commands stored in the memory to the USB peripheral device over the universal serial bus. The universal serial bus controller may receive a response to the transferred command from the USB peripheral device over the universal serial bus, and send an acknowledgment packet to the USB peripheral device over the universal serial bus responsive to receiving the response from the USB peripheral device. | 10-23-2008 |
20100067551 | Method for Providing Packet Framing in a DSSS Radio System - An improved method of framing data packets in a direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) system that uses one pseudo-noise code (PN-Code) to frame the packet with a start-of-packet (SOP) and end-of-packet (EOP) indicator, and a different PN-Code to encode the data payload. Furthermore, the SOP is represented by the framing PN-Code, and the EOP is represented by the inverse of the framing PN-Code. This method creates a robust framing system that enables a DSSS system to operate with a low threshold of detection, thus maximizing transmission range even in noisy environments. Additionally, the PN-Code used for the SOP and EOP indicators can be used to indicate an acknowledgement response. | 03-18-2010 |
20110234264 | Load Driver - A method for driving a load includes driving a load to an initial voltage within a voltage window, the voltage window based on an input voltage and an offset voltage, and driving the load to approximately the input voltage. | 09-29-2011 |
20120046104 | Method and Apparatus For Sensing the Force With Which a Button is Pressed - An example method includes measuring a capacitance of an actuator and a conductive element when, responsive to a force applied to the actuator, the actuator is coupled to a reference voltage and deformed such that surface area of the actuator proximate to the conductive element increases. The example method includes determining the force applied to the actuator based on the measured capacitance. | 02-23-2012 |
20120166700 | SPECIALIZED UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS CONTROLLER - An apparatus comprises a memory device to store a pre-generated Universal Serial Bus (USB) command before a USB peripheral device is coupled to a USB. The apparatus also includes a processing device to retrieve the pre-generated USB command from the memory device and transmit the pre-generated USB command to the USB peripheral device over the USB. A method comprises identifying a Universal Serial Bus (USB) peripheral device is coupled to a USB. The USB peripheral device is coupled to the universal serial bus after a pre-generated USB command is stored in a memory device. The method further includes transmitting the pre-generated USB command to the USB peripheral device over the USB in response to identifying the USB peripheral device is coupled to the USB. | 06-28-2012 |
20120217982 | Capacitive Sensing Button On Chip - An embodiment of an integrated circuit device may comprise an integrated circuit package, a sensor element attached within the integrated circuit package, a capacitance sensor coupled with the sensor element and situated within the integrated circuit package, wherein the capacitance sensor is configured to measure a capacitance of the sensor element, and an output pin positioned at the exterior of the integrated circuit package, wherein the output pin is configured to carry a signal based on the measured capacitance of the sensor element. | 08-30-2012 |
20130170312 | CAPACITOR POWER SOURCE TAMPER PROTECTION AND RELIABILITY TEST - A verification circuit for a capacitor power supply measures at least two voltages across the terminals of the capacitor at two points in time, the two points in time defining a time interval dT. A change in voltage dV over the time interval dT is determined. An operation powered by the capacitor is initiated, or not, by deriving from the time interval dT and/or the voltage change dV, a total required time or a total required voltage for completing the operation, and comparing the total required time or total required voltage to a pre-determined necessary total time or predetermined necessary total voltage, respectively (a “time interval test”). | 07-04-2013 |
20130207926 | STYLUS TO HOST SYNCHRONIZATION - A system and method for synchronizing a stylus to a capacitive sense array. The system including a capacitive sense array which includes a plurality of electrodes. A synchronization signal is transmitted to the stylus using the plurality of electrodes. The synchronization signal is transmitted to the stylus by capacitively coupling the stylus to the capacitive sense array. | 08-15-2013 |