Patent application number | Description | Published |
20130082181 | NANO-TIP SPACERS FOR PRECISE GAP CONTROL AND THERMAL ISOLATION IN MEMS STRUCTURES - A THz radiation detector comprising a vertical antenna separated from a suspended platform by an isolating thermal air gap for concentrating THz radiation energy into a smaller suspended MEMS platform upon which a thermal sensor element is located. THz photon energy is converted into electrical energy via a thermally isolated air gap between plates of a coupling capacitor separated by a plurality of nano-tip spacers that determine the gap distance. The capacitor couples energy from the antenna to the thermal sensor. | 04-04-2013 |
20130082345 | Hybrid FPA for Thz imaging with an antenna array, coupled to CMOS-MEMS thermal sensors, implementing per-pixel ES actuation and enabling tuning, correlated double sampling and AM modulation - A THz radiation detector comprising a vertical antenna separated from a suspended platform by an isolating thermal air gap for concentrating THz radiation energy into a smaller suspended MEMS platform upon which a thermal sensor element is located. THz photon energy is converted into electrical energy via a thermally isolated air gap between plates of a coupling capacitor that couples energy from the antenna to the thermal sensor. The capacitor plates used for capacitive coupling of the received signal realize an electro-static actuator whereby the application of a DC bias varies the coupling capacitor gap. The DC bias causes the actuator to pull the suspended platform close to the antenna to reduce the capacitive gap, increasing the coupling capacitance, to touch the antenna array thus quickly discharging the heat induced in the sensor platform or to perform advanced readout operations, such as amplitude modulation and correlated double sampling. | 04-04-2013 |
20130082802 | STRUCTURE AND COMPACT MODELING OF VARIABLE TRANSMISSION LINES - A novel and useful fabricated variable transmission line that is tuned digitally is presented. Digital tuning of the variable transmission line enables the compensation of process variation in both the active and passive devices of the RF design. Along with several embodiments of the variable transmission line, the present invention also provides a method of compact modeling of the variable transmission line. The variable transmission line structure and compact modeling enables circuit level simulation using a parametric device that in one embodiment can be included as an integral part of a silicon foundry design kit. | 04-04-2013 |
20130187714 | HIGH CONVERSION GAIN HIGH SUPPRESSION BALANCED CASCODE FREQUENCY QUADRUPLER - A frequency quadrupler comprises a balanced topology which increases broadband odd harmonic suppression. The frequency quadrupler is constructed in a cascode configuration which is a two-stage amplifier composed of a transconductance amplifier followed by a current buffer. The cascode is constructed with common emitter (CE) and common base (CB) stages which further improves the multiplier frequency response. The cascode configuration enables a notch filter to be placed between the common emitter and common base stages to reduce 2 | 07-25-2013 |
20130194042 | Multi-Stage Amplifier Using Tunable Transmission Lines and Frequency Response Calibration of Same - A multi-stage amplifier is provided that uses tunable transmission lines, as well as a calibration method for the multi-stage amplifiers. A multi-stage amplifier, comprises a plurality of tunable amplification stages, wherein each of the tunable amplification stages comprises a tunable resonator based on a transmission line having a tunable element. The tunable elements may vary a capacitance or an inductance to tune a frequency of an applied signal. A calibration method is provided for a multi-stage amplifier having a plurality of transmission lines, an input stage and an output stage. The multi-stage amplifier is calibrated by generating a signal to determine a frequency for a substantially maximum power; generating an error signal by comparing the frequency for the substantially maximum power with a desired frequency; varying a digital control code applied to each of the tunable transmission lines, input stage and output stage until the error signal satisfies predefined criteria. | 08-01-2013 |
20140180604 | METHOD OF SIMULATING THE ABSORPTION OF PLANE WAVES USING FEM SOFTWARE TOOLS - A novel and useful method of visualization by detection of EM radiation being irradiated or reflected from objects in the imager's field of view using Finite Element Method (FEM) simulation software tools. The methodology provides a verification method of antenna operation from an electrical point of view since bolometer performance cannot be estimated using regular antenna parameters such as directivity, gain, impedance matching, etc. as the bolometer does not behave as an antenna but rather behaves as an absorber. An incident wave is triggered on the absorber and the absorption of the bolometer structure is estimated using commercially available Finite Element Method (FEM) software (e.g., ANSYS HFSS, CST Microwave Studio, etc.). How much of the energy is reflected is subsequently measured. The energy which is not reflected is considered to be absorbed by the absorber. | 06-26-2014 |
20140245431 | GUI-Based Authentication for a Computing System - Machines, systems and methods for providing an authentication challenge are provided. The method comprises analyzing data stored in a computing system equipped with a graphical user interface (GUI), wherein the data stored is related to identity and relationships among items that have a profile; and based on the analysis, issuing a challenge to authenticate access to one or more content or services available by way of the computing system, in response to a user interaction with the computing system, wherein the response to the challenge is known to a user who has personal knowledge of the identity and relationships among the items with a profile, and wherein the user successfully authenticates against the challenge by interacting with visual presentations of the items by placing the items in an order that indicates a correct relationship between at least two or more of the items. | 08-28-2014 |
20140284483 | HIGH RESPONSIVITY DEVICE FOR THERMAL SENSING IN A TERAHERTZ RADIATION DETECTOR - There is provided a high responsivity device for thermal sensing in a Terahertz (THz) radiation detector. A load impedance connected to an antenna heats up due to the incident THz radiation received by the antenna. The heat generated by the load impedance is sensed by a thermal sensor such as a transistor. To increase the responsivity of the sense device without increasing the thermal mass, the device is located underneath a straight portion of an antenna arm. The transistor runs substantially the entire length of the antenna arm alleviating the problem caused by placing large devices on the side of the antenna and the resulting large additional thermal mass that must be heated. This boosts the responsivity of the pixel while retaining an acceptable level of noise and demanding a dramatically smaller increase in the thermal time constant. | 09-25-2014 |