40th week of 2012 patent applcation highlights part 24 |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20120249092 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPERATING CAPACITOR BANKS - A method of operating capacitor banks includes obtaining a reactive power shortage curve forecast for a time period. At least one capacitor bank power schedule curve is generated to supply reactive power to the power grid during the time period. The at least one capacitor bank power schedule curve is updated to generate an optimized capacitor bank power schedule curve to reduce the area between the reactive power shortage curve and the capacitor bank power schedule curve. The method also includes providing switching signal commands for operating capacitor banks based on the optimized capacitor bank power schedule curve. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249093 | POWER SUPPLY CONTROLLER - Exemplary embodiments are directed to a power controller. A method may include comparing a summation voltage comprising a sum of an amplified error voltage and a reference voltage with an estimated voltage to generate a comparator output signal. The method may also include generating a gate drive signal from the comparator output signal and filtering a signal coupled to a power stage to generate the estimated voltage. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249094 | DIFFERENTIAL SENSING FOR VOLTAGE CONTROL IN A POWER SUPPLY CIRCUIT - In one general aspect, an apparatus can include a controller, and a power stage coupled to the controller and configured to be coupled to a power source. The power stage is configured to deliver an output voltage to a load module in response to the controller. The apparatus also includes a reference voltage circuit coupled to the controller and configured to be grounded to a first ground voltage different from a second ground voltage associated with the load module. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249095 | APPARATUS AND METHODS OF SOFT-START IN A HYSTERETIC POWER CONVERTER - In one general aspect, a power supply circuit can include a power stage configured to be coupled to a power source and configured to deliver an output voltage to a load circuit, and can include a comparator coupled to the power stage and configured to receive a reference voltage. The power supply circuit can also include a hysteresis control circuit configured to receive at least one of a feedback voltage or a reference voltage and configured to change a hysteresis of the comparator in response to the at least one of the feedback voltage or the reference voltage during a soft-start of the power supply circuit. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249096 | Voltage converter and method for converting voltage - A voltage converter comprises a step-down converter circuit (DCDC) with an inductive accumulator (LSW) and a first capacitive accumulator (CDC) and a charge pump circuit (CP) with at least one second capacitive accumulator (CFLY, CFLY | 2012-10-04 |
20120249097 | ADAPTIVE INDUCTIVE POWER SUPPLY - A contactless power supply has a dynamically configurable tank circuit powered by an inverter. The contactless power supply is inductively coupled to one or more loads. The inverter is connected to a DC power source. When loads are added or removed from the system, the contactless power supply is capable of modifying the resonant frequency of the tank circuit, the inverter frequency, the inverter duty cycle or the rail voltage of the DC power source. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249098 | CIRCUITS AND METHODS FOR CURRENT SENSING - A circuit includes a first resistor, a second resistor, a voltage follower and a current mirror. The first resistor converts a current flowing through the first resistor to a voltage drop between positive and negative sides of the first resistor. The second resistor is coupled to the negative side of the first resistor. The voltage follower is coupled to the positive side of the first resistor via a non-inverting terminal, and coupled to the negative side of the first resistor through the second resistor via an inverting terminal to cause a voltage at the inverting terminal to follow a voltage at the non-inverting terminal. The current mirror is coupled to the voltage follower to provide a sensing current proportional to the current flowing through the first resistor. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249099 | BOOT-STRAP REGULATOR FOR GATE DRIVER - Techniques are disclosed relating to supplying a power supply voltage to a gate driver. In one embodiment, an apparatus is disclosed that includes a first transistor configured to raise a voltage at a node and a second transistor configured to lower the voltage at the node. The apparatus further includes a first driver configured to receive a first power supply voltage, and to use the first power supply voltage to control a gate voltage of the first transistor. The apparatus further includes a second driver configured to receive a second power supply voltage, and to use the second power supply voltage to control a gate voltage of the second transistor. In such an embodiment, the apparatus includes a first regulator coupled to the first driver and configured to generate the first power supply voltage based on the second power supply voltage. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249100 | HIGH BOOST RATIO DC CONVERTER - Disclosed is a high boost ratio DC converter, wherein the first and second switches are controlled by a control chip and the control chip controls the first and second switches in the following sequence: the first and second switches both conduct; the first switch conducts and the second switch is cut off; the first and second switches both conduct; the first switch is cut off and the second switch conducts thus making a first and second inductors and a first and second clamp capacitors charge to a first and second output capacitors. Then the first and second output capacitors discharge a load. Therefore, the load voltage output from the DC power supply will be boosted owing to the discharged load from the first and second output capacitors. The boost ratio is 4/(1−D). | 2012-10-04 |
20120249101 | CONSISTENTLY BALANCED THERMAL LOAD DC-DC CONVERTER - A consistently balanced thermal load switched mode converter alternates among all phases of the power switching circuit to provide a uniform temperature rise on all components of the circuit under all load conditions. During low load conditions typically phases are held idle and the load is concentrated on the active phase(s) only, with cooling requirements (air flow, etc.) based on the temperature of the active phase(s). By alternating the active phases in a balanced sequence the thermal load is distributed across all of the phases minimizing system cooling requirements under all load conditions. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249102 | Hybrid-switching Step-down Converter with a Hybrid Transformer - The present invention employs a resonant inductor, a resonant capacitor and a hybrid transformer using a Hybrid-switching method with three switches which results in two distinct switched-networks: one for ON-time interval and another for OFF-time interval. Resonant inductor is placed in series with the hybrid transformer primary to insure the continuity of primary and secondary currents at the switching transitions. The hybrid transformer converts both inductive and capacitive energy storage from the source to the load. The two-phase extension results in tenfold reduction of the output current ripple. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249103 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR INTEGRATED SWITCH-MODE DC-DC CONVERTERS FOR POWER SUPPLIES - A first control system for a power supply includes a switch-mode DC-DC converter module and an FET gate drive module. The switch-mode DC-DC converter module receives an input voltage and generates first and second voltages, the first voltage powering a DC-DC control module. The FET gate drive module selectively drives a plurality of FETs of the power supply using the second voltage thereby generating a desired output voltage from the input voltage. A second control system is directed to driving the second voltage to a desired gate voltage, wherein the desire gate voltage is determined based on at least one of a plurality of operating parameters. A third control system includes controlling first and second voltages generated by a SIDO voltage converter based on the first and second voltages and a damping factor, and generating the damping factor based on current flowing through the inductor of the SIDO voltage converter. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249104 | VOLTAGE REGULATOR - A voltage regulator permits reduced current consumption by promptly and timely stopping the operation of an inrush current protection circuit immediately after the voltage regulator is started up. The voltage regulator has an output voltage detection circuit, which issues a detection signal to actuate the inrush current protection circuit when a low voltage at an output terminal is detected at the time of starting up the voltage regulator. When it is detected that the voltage at the output terminal has reached a predetermined level, the operation of the inrush current protection circuit is stopped and a power path of the output voltage detection circuit is cut off. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249105 | POWER CONVERTER USING ORTHOGONAL SECONDARY WINDINGS - A power conversion device includes a magnetic core; and a plurality of windings surrounding portions of the magnetic core, including a first set of windings defining a first magnetic flux path, a second set of windings defining a second magnetic flux path magnetically orthogonal to the first magnetic flux path, and a third set of windings. Each winding of the third set of windings is configured to be excitable via both the first flux path and the second flux path. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249106 | STABILITY METHODS AND STRUCTURES FOR CURRENT-MODE DC-DC VOLTAGE CONVERTERS - DC-DC voltage converter structures and methods are provided that employ first and second transistors which are switched to control currents through an inductor and a capacitor to thereby provide an output voltage substantially equal to a predetermined reference voltage. Preferably included is a voltage feedback loop in which an error voltage is fed back to a loop comparator and further included is a current feedback loop that provides to the comparator a first voltage ramp whose amplitude is proportional to the amplitude of the converter's input current. The output signal of the comparator sets the duty cycles of the first and second transistors. In each converter period, the first and second transistors of the voltage converter respectively control, through the inductor, a first current with a rising slope and a second current with a falling slope. Finally, converter stability is enhanced by providing a second voltage ramp having a slope related to a fraction (e.g., ½) of the falling slope and then comparing the error voltage of the voltage feedback loop to the sum of the first and second voltage ramps. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249107 | COUPLED INDUCTOR TO FACILITATE INTEGRATED POWER DELIVERY - An embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus, comprising a surface mounted device (SMD) inductor, the SMD inductor including at least two counter wound aircoils formed on a same SMD former; wherein the at least two counter wound aircoils are connected to three terminals on the SMD former, wherein a single terminal is connected to a common node of both windings with two independent terminals accessing the other winding node. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249108 | CONSTANT FREQUENCY ON-TIME CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD AND VOLTAGE REGULATOR USING THE SAME - A constant frequency ON-time control system applied to a voltage regulator is disclosed. The voltage regulator determines a time length of an input voltage inputted thereto according to an ON-time and thereby regulates an output voltage. The constant frequency ON-time control system includes a constant frequency ON-time control circuit for computing the ON-time according to a system duty cycle of the voltage regulator and a frequency setting parameter and a frequency setting parameter adjusting circuit for generating a frequency setting parameter adjust value according to an OFF-time corresponding to the ON-time and taking a result of operation between the frequency setting parameter adjust value and a preset frequency setting parameter as the frequency setting parameter. The frequency setting parameter adjusting circuit uses the frequency setting parameter adjust value to change the result of operation for varying the frequency setting parameter when the OFF-time is shorter than a reference value. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249109 | Communication system with monitored input state of an input device as well as current-increasing device - The present invention concerns a communication system with monitored input state of an input device. The input device has an input connection, a ground connection and an input circuit connected between the input connection and the ground connection. The input circuit is designed to detect an input signal. A sensor device is also provided, which is connected to the input connection and optionally the ground connection. The communication system also has a current-increasing device connected to the input connection and the ground connection, which is designed to furnish an increased current for the input circuit for an adjustable time period as a function of the voltage lying on the input connection. A power supply is also provided to supply power to the sensor device. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249110 | POWER CONVERTER - A power converter ( | 2012-10-04 |
20120249111 | Cascade-Connected Boost Circuit - A cascade-connected boost circuit is disclosed. The cascade-connected boost circuit includes a first-stage boost circuit, a second-stage boost circuit, an output terminal and a regulation filtering capacitor. The first-stage boost circuit includes an input terminal, a PWM generator, a first inductor and a first switch. The second-stage boost circuit includes a second inductor and a second switch. The PWM generator controls the first switch and the second switch to turn on or turn off simultaneously. A power supply from the input terminal respectively charges the two inductors via two paths when the two switches are turned on. The two inductors release energy when the two switches are turned off. The two switches share the voltage of the output terminal. The cascade-connected boost circuit according to the present invention solves the issues that the withstand voltage limit of a single switch and the limit of a duty cycle. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249112 | CONTROLLER FOR SWITCH MODE POWER SUPPLY - A switched mode power supply (SMPS) controller is disclosed. The controller comprises a monitoring circuit adapted to monitor the rate of change of a voltage at an input ( | 2012-10-04 |
20120249113 | METHOD FOR OPERATING A DIRECT CONVERTER CIRCUIT AND DEVICE TO CARRY OUT THE METHOD - A method and device for operating a direct converter circuit are provided. A control signal controls power semiconductor switches of switching cells of the associated phase module. The control signal is formed, for each phase module, from the difference between a reference signal relating to the voltage over the phase module and a voltage signal over the inductor. The voltage signal over the inductor is formed from a reference signal relating to the current through the corresponding phase module. The reference signal relating to the current through the phase module is formed from a respective mean value or instantaneous value of a phase power of a phase of the first and second current or voltage systems connected to the phase module and from respective sums of the instantaneous values or the mean values of the phase powers of the phases of the first and second current or voltage systems, respectively. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249114 | CONSTANT CURRENT GENERATION CIRCUIT AND MICROPROCESSOR INCLUDING THE SAME - A constant current generation circuit of the invention includes: a temperature variable voltage generation unit that generates a first variation voltage whose voltage value fluctuates with temperature; a variation gradient adjustment unit that generates a second variation voltage based on a reference voltage smaller in the amount of variation with temperature than the first variation voltage and the first variation voltage; and a current generation unit that includes a current setting resistor whose resistance value fluctuates with temperature and generates an output current based on the second variation voltage and the current setting resistor. The variation gradient adjustment unit sets the coefficient of variation with temperature of the second variation voltage so that the difference between it and the coefficient of variation with temperature of the resistance value of the current setting resistor is within a preset first stipulated range. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249115 | BANDGAP REFERENCE CIRCUIT - A bandgap reference circuit includes a modulator, an amplifier, a demodulator, a closed feedback loop and an output circuit. The modulator is utilized for modulating an input signal to generate a modulated input signal. The amplifier is utilized for amplifying the modulated input signal to generate an amplified modulated input signal. The demodulator is utilized for demodulating the amplified modulated input signal to generate a demodulated signal. The closed feedback loop is coupled between an output terminal of the demodulator and an input terminal of the modulator. The output circuit is utilized for generating an output current according to the demodulated signal, where the output current is a constant current insensitive to fluctuations in temperature. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249116 | SELF-SUSTAINING, HIGH VOLTAGE TOLERANT POWER SUPPLY - A power supply system is provided that provides voltage clamping capabilities to provide over voltage protection to circuit elements and circuit systems. The power supply includes isolation mechanisms that generate a regulated power supply that is independent of an input power source. Voltage addition/multiplication techniques may be utilized to generate a reference voltage, from the regulated power supply, that is capable of setting a maximum voltage on a clamped power supply. The power supply system may operate without input from other circuits/systems associated with an integrated circuit. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249117 | VOLTAGE REGULATOR - A voltage regulator is capable of continuously and smoothly preventing an inrush current independently of a startup characteristic of a reference voltage circuit. The voltage regulator is provided with an inrush current protection circuit composed of a constant-current circuit, a first transistor having the source thereof connected to the constant-current circuit and the gate thereof controlled by an output voltage detection circuit, a capacitor connected between the first transistor and the gate of an output transistor, a second transistor having the gate thereof connected to the drain of the first transistor and the source thereof connected to a power supply terminal, and a third transistor, which is connected between the second transistor and the output transistor and the gate of which is controlled by the output voltage detection circuit. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249118 | CABLE IDENTIFICATION DEVICE - Presented is a device and method for identifying a cable in a group of cables, where a transmitting inductive coupler is placed on one end of the cable and a receiving inductive coupler is used to identify the cable from among several cables. The inductive couplers are of a novel construction using split rings and copper windings around each half of the split rings. A meter is used to measure how much signal is on each of the cables tested, and a comparison of the readings indicates which cable is the same cable to which the transmitting inductive coupler is attached. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249119 | INPUT-OUTPUT CIRCUIT - A power supply detecting circuit detects feeding of power to a power supply terminal from the outside. A control unit identifies an accessory device connected to the connector based on a detection result acquired by the identification terminal voltage detecting circuit and a detection result acquired by the power supply detecting circuit. The identification terminal voltage detecting circuit can narrow down accessory device candidates based on whether or not there is feeding of power detected by the power supply detecting circuit. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249120 | CURRENT LOOP DETECTION SYSTEM AND CURRENT LOOP DETECTION METHOD THEREOF - A current loop detection system and a current loop detection method thereof are provided. The current loop detection system includes a characteristic load, a current measuring apparatus and a user apparatus. The characteristic load connects to a current loop electrically, and generates a current characteristic waveform while operating. The current measuring apparatus connects to a current source electrically. The user apparatus connects to the current measuring apparatus via a first connection. The current measuring apparatus transmits an output current waveform of the current source to the user apparatus via the first connection. The user apparatus determines that the output current waveform corresponds to the current characteristic waveform and, according to a result of the determination, determines that the current source connects to the current loop electrically. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249121 | METHOD, SYSTEM AND DEVICE OF PHASE IDENTIFICATION USING A SMART METER - Described herein are embodiments of methods, devices and systems of phase identification for a meter. One aspect comprises a method of phase identification for a smart meter. One embodiment of the method comprises connecting a device to at least a first phase of a poly-phase electrical system; metering at least the first phase of the poly-phase electrical system that the device is connected to for electrical consumption information using a meter; storing a first phase identifier for the first phase of the poly-phase electrical system that the device is connected to in a memory associated with the meter; and transmitting at least the first phase identifier over a network operably connected with the meter. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249122 | MEASUREMENT AND APPARATUS FOR ELECTRICAL MEASUREMENT OF ELECTRICAL DRIVE PARAMETERS FOR A MEMS BASED DISPLAY - Methods and devices to measure voltage margins of electromechanical devices are disclosed. The voltage margins are determined based on responses to test voltages which cause the devices to change states. State changes of the devices are detected by monitoring integrated current or charge used to drive the devices with the test voltages. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249123 | MEASUREMENT DEVICE - A measurement device includes a first connector unit, a measurement wire, and a second connector unit. The first connector unit includes a first dummy connector and a wire part. The wire part includes an inserting portion. A number of insert holes is defined in the first connector. The inserting portion of the wire part is selectively inserted in one of the insert holes of the connector. The measurement wire is graduated. A first end of the measurement wire is connected to the first connector body, and a second end of the measurement wire is movably connected to the second connector unit, with the measurement wire stretched out straight between the first and second connector units. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249124 | OMNIPOLAR MAGNETIC SWITCHES - Embodiments relate to omnipolar magnetic field switches. In one embodiment, omnipolar behavior is generated in a Hall effect switch by extracting the modulus of the electric signal generated by the Hall transducer and feeding it to a single high-precision comparator, without any sampling or additional processing steps. The modulus extraction and threshold evaluation can be done in parallel. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249125 | Measuring Transducer Displacement - Displacement of a moving diaphragm in an electroacoustic transducer is measured by modulating an electrical signal based on changes in capacitance between the voice coil assembly and the magnetic structure resulting from relative motion between the voice coil and the magnetic structure. The modulated electrical signal is demodulated to produce an output signal having a value proportional to the displacement. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249126 | CIRCUITS AND METHODS FOR MOTION DETECTION - A circuit for detecting object movement includes one or more predetermined threshold detectors, one or more tracking threshold detectors, and an output selector to generate an output signal related to at least one of an output of a predetermined threshold detector or an output of a tracking threshold detector based on a predetermined condition. A method of detecting object movement includes generating: a magnetic field signal proportional to a magnetic field associated with the object, a tracking signal to track peaks of the magnetic field signal, a predetermined threshold output signal responsive to the magnetic field signal and to a predetermined threshold, and a tracking threshold output signal responsive to the magnetic field signal and to the tracking signal, and providing an output signal related to a selected one of the predetermined threshold output signal or the tracking threshold output signal based upon a predetermined condition. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249127 | ANGLE DETECTING DEVICE - A VR resolver | 2012-10-04 |
20120249128 | MAGNETIC SENSOR SYSTEM - A linear sensor system includes a first field sensor displaced linearly from a second field sensor. A member having high magnetic permeability is disposed between the first field sensor and the second field sensor. The member is optimized in shape and material to completely remove any redirection or interference of the magnetic flux in the field sensors. A torque transmitting device incorporating the linear sensor system is also disclosed. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249129 | DEVICE FOR DETERMINING THE ANGULAR POSITION OF A PIVOTABLE COMPRESSOR GUIDE VANE - A device for determining the angular position of a compressor guide vane pivotable about the longitudinal axis thereof disposed in a compressor, associated with a synchronously rotating, flat measuring surface is provided. In order to allow particularly reliable, simple, and nearly error-free detection of the angular positions by means of a robust device, the angular position of the compressor guide vane rotatable about the longitudinal axis thereof is semi-automatically determined by means of the device. To this end, the device includes at least one mounting unit for temporarily fastening the device in alignment on the compressor, and a measuring unit including an angle measuring device having a rotary plate rotatable about the rotary axis, on which rotary plate a vertically protruding measuring arm extending parallel to the rotary axis is provided for making planar contact, via the free end thereof, with the measuring surface. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249130 | Method for measuring longitudinal bias magnetic field in a tunnel magnetoresistive sensor - A method for measuring longitudinal bias magnetic field in a tunnel magnetoresistive sensor of a magnetic head, the method includes the steps of: applying an external longitudinal time-changing magnetic field onto the tunnel magnetoresistive sensor; determining a shield saturation value of the tunnel magnetoresistive sensor under the application of the external longitudinal time-changing magnetic field; applying an external transverse time-changing magnetic field and an external longitudinal DC magnetic field onto the tunnel magnetoresistive sensor; determining a plurality of different output amplitudes under the application of the external transverse time-changing magnetic field and the application of different field strength values of the external longitudinal DC magnetic field; plotting a graph according to the different output amplitudes and the different field strength values; and determining the strength of the longitudinal bias magnetic field according to the graph and the shield saturation value. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249131 | SHEET IDENTIFYING APPARATUS, IMAGE READING SYSTEM, SHEET SHREDDING SYSTEM, NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIUM, AND SHEET IDENTIFYING METHOD - A sheet identifying apparatus includes: an excitation coil disposed upstream in a passage through which a sheet inserted into an input port passes and wound on an outer periphery of the passage; a first output unit that detects a magnetization variation of a magnetic element due to the excited excitation coil when the sheet having the magnetic element passes through a region of the passage where the excitation coil is disposed in a state where an AC current is applied to the excitation coil and that outputs a first detection signal when the magnetization variation is detected; and a second output unit that detects that the sheet passes through a region downstream in the passage on the basis of a characteristic of the sheet without using the magnetic element and that outputs a second detection signal when detecting that the sheet passes through the region. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249132 | MAGNETIC FIELD MEASUREMENT APPARATUS, MAGNETIC FIELD MEASUREMENT SYSTEM AND MAGNETIC FIELD MEASUREMENT METHOD - A magnetic field measurement apparatus includes a first gas cell disposed in a +z direction when seen from an object to be measured, a second gas cell disposed in the +z direction when seen from the first gas cell, a first measurement unit which measures a component of a magnetic field in the first gas cell, a second measurement unit which measures a component of a magnetic field in the second gas cell, a magnetic field generation unit which generates the magnetic field toward the second gas cell so as to reduce the component measured by the second measurement unit, and an output unit which outputs a signal in response to the difference in the components respectively measured by the first measurement unit and second measurement unit. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249133 | DIFFERENTIAL MAGNETIC FIELD SENSOR STRUCTURE FOR ORIENTATION INDEPENDENT MEASUREMENT - A differential magnetic field sensor that enables operation that is independent of sensor-to-target orientation is presented. The differential magnetic field sensor is provided with at least two differential channels. Each differential channel includes a pair of magnetic field sensing elements and has a respective sensing axis defined by those magnetic field sensing elements. The sensing axes are not aligned with respect to each other. One sensing axis is positioned relative to a reference axis of a target profile to define an orientation angle between the sensing axis and the reference axis. The differential magnetic field sensor includes circuitry to produce differential signals associated with the differential channels and use those differential signals to produce a single differential signal having an amplitude that is independent of the orientation angle. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249134 | Means and Method for Thermoregulating Magnets within Magnetic Resonance Devices - The present invention discloses to a magnetic resonance device consisting of magnets housed within a cage, a thermal regulating system (TRS) adapted to thermoregulate the magnets to room temperature T±ΔT. TRS comprising a (i) preset array of one or more opened-bore channels provided within the cage and/or within the magnets; and, (ii) means for forcing fluid throughout the array of opened-bore channels, such that temperature T of the magnets is regulated to a preset range of ΔT. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249135 | LOCAL COIL SYSTEM - The present embodiments relate to a local coil system for a magnetic resonance system. The local coil system includes at least one local coil for detecting MR response signals and at least one transmitting device for the wireless transmission of signals to a receiver of the magnetic resonance system. The local coil system is embodied with a transmitter-side diversity. A receiver-side diversity may exist in the magnetic resonance system. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249136 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING DIFFUSION SPECTRUM IMAGING - A method of generating a magnetic resonance (MR) image of a tissue includes acquiring MR signals at undersampled q-space encoding locations for a plurality of q-space locations that is less than an entirety of the q-space locations sampled at the Nyquist rate, wherein the acquired signal at the q-space locations represents the three-dimensional displacement distribution of the spins in the imaging voxel, synthesizing the MR signal for the entirety of q-space encodings using a compressed sensing technique for a portion of q-space locations at which MR data was not acquired, combining the acquired MR signals at q-space encodings and the synthesized MR signals at q-space encodings to generate a set of MR signals at q-space encodings that are evenly distributed in q-space, using the set of MR signals at q-space encodings to generate a function that represents a displacement probability distribution function of the set of spins in the imaging voxel, and generating an image of the tissue based on at least a portion of the generated function. A system and computer readable medium are also described herein. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249137 | Method of dynamically compensating for magnetic field heterogeneity in magnetic resonance imaging - A method to compensate for the magnetic field heterogeneity inside an object of investigation in a MR device obtains an uncorrected magnetic field distribution of the object and executes an MR sequence with a desired k-space coverage by applying RF pulses to generate a transverse magnetization within the object. MR signal data is recorded, magnetic field shimming parameters are dynamically updated and MR signal data are reconstructed to produce images or localized spectroscopic data. Artifacts in a reconstructed image resulting from an uncorrected magnetic field distribution are suppressed by temporally separating MR signals originating from at least two different sub-volumes within a volume of transverse magnetization by generating a nonlinear phase distribution within the object and by dynamically updating shimming parameters to compensate for the field inhomogeneity distributions within the different sub-volumes in the volume of transverse magnetization. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249138 | MAGNETIC RESONANCE METHOD AND SYSTEM TO CORRECT PHASE INFORMATION IN MR IMAGES - In a magnetic resonance (MR) method and system for correction of phase information in MR images of a predetermined volume segment of an examination subject, a basic magnetic field is applied and MR data of the predetermined volume segment are acquired and evaluated such that phase information is calculated for each image element of the predetermined volume segment. A navigator signal is acquired that detects an unintentional change of the basic magnetic field that is caused by movements of the examination subject or by the magnetic resonance system itself. The phase information is corrected with this navigator signal. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249139 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REDUCTION OF SPECIFIC ABSORPTION RATE (SAR) IN MAGNETIC RESONANCE DATA ACQUISITION - In the acquisition of magnetic resonance data from an examination subject according to a pulse sequence that causes radiation into the examination subject of a radiated radio frequency (RF) pulse having a frequency spectrum and a slice profile with a relationship therebetween, the examination subject is substantially simultaneously, with the radiated RF pulse, to a non-linear magnetic field that alters the relationship in the radiated RF pulse between the frequency spectrum and the slice profile. The alteration of this relationship can be used, for example, to reduce the specific absorption rate (SAR) of the examination subject during the acquisition of the magnetic resonance data. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249140 | LOCAL COIL SYSTEM, MAGNETIC RESONANCE SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRANSMITTING SIGNALS FROM A LOCAL COIL - A local coil system for a magnetic resonance system has a local coil for detecting MR response signals and a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting signals to the magnetic resonance system. At least one pseudo random device is operable to change signals in a pseudo random fashion in order to avoid interferences in the imaging. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249141 | METHOD FOR CORRECTING A DISTORTION IN A MAGNETIC RESONANCE RECORDING - A method is disclosed for correcting a distortion in a magnetic resonance recording. A distortion indicates a mismatch between a distorted position of an image point in the magnetic resonance recording and an actual position of the image point. According to at least one embodiment of the method, a B | 2012-10-04 |
20120249142 | LOCAL COIL - A local coil for a magnetic resonance tomography system includes a housing with a recess for an object under examination. The local coil also includes a radio-frequency receive antenna system and one or more shim elements for homogenization of a static basic magnetic field of the magnetic resonance tomography system. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249143 | MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING APPARATUS - In a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus according to one embodiment, an executing unit executes a first pre-scan and a second pre-scan, each being a pre-scan in which readout gradient magnetic fields and slice direction gradient magnetic fields are applied in an identical manner to a pulse sequence for main-scanning and in which phase encode gradient magnetic fields are applied in an identical manner to the pulse sequence for main-scanning up to just before echoes used in calculating a correction amount, and each having different predetermined imaging parameters; a calculating unit calculates, as a correction amount, an amount of phase shifting by referring to phase differences present in a plurality of echo signals that are collected during the first pre-scan and the second pre-scan; and a correcting unit corrects the pulse sequence for main-scanning based on the correction amount calculated by the calculating unit. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249144 | METHOD AND DEVICE TO GENERATE SPATIALLY RESOLVED QUASI-T2-WEIGHTED MAGNETIC RESONANCE SIGNALS - In a magnetic resonance method and device to generate spatially resolved, quasi-T2-weighted magnetic resonance signals from an examination region, an initial magnetization is flipped in a first direction with a first gradient-balanced SSFP sequence. Spatially coded first magnetic resonance signals from the first gradient-balanced SSFP sequence are detected during the transient portion of the first SSFP sequence. An initial magnetization is flipped in a direction opposite the first direction with a second gradient-balanced SSFP sequence. Spatially coded second magnetic resonance signals from the second gradient-balanced SSFP sequence during the transient portion of the second gradient-balanced SSFP sequence. The first and second magnetic resonance signals are constructively superimposed into overlay signals. Image data with a predominant T2 weighting are reconstructed from the overlay signals, or are used for spatially resolved estimation of the T2 relaxation time constant. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249145 | GRADIENT AMPLIFIER SYSTEM - A gradient amplifier system is presented. An embodiment of a gradient amplifier system that includes a power stage having a plurality of bridge amplifiers, where each of the plurality of bridge amplifiers operates at a first switching frequency. The gradient amplifier system further includes a gradient coil coupled to an output terminal of the power stage and configured to produce a magnetic field proportional to a coil current signal supplied by the power stage. In addition, the gradient amplifier system includes a controller stage coupled to an input terminal of the power stage and configured to generate a pulse width modulated gate signal based on the coil current signal and a reference current signal, where the pulse width modulated gate signal is generated at a second switching frequency upon occurrence of a slew rate associated with the reference current signal is below a determined threshold rate and an amplitude level associated with the reference current signal is above a determined level. Further, the controller stage is configured to apply the generated pulse width modulated gate signal to the power stage for changing an operating frequency of each of the plurality of bridge amplifiers from the first switching frequency to the second switching frequency. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249146 | MRT GRADIENT SYSTEM WITH INTEGRATED MAIN MAGNETIC FIELD GENERATION - In one embodiment, a magnetic resonance tomography system that has a gradient field coil system for generating a gradient field is provided. The gradient field coil system is also a main magnetic field generation system for generating a main field. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249147 | RF ANTENNA FOR MRI WITH A REMOVABLE CONDUCTOR - An RF transmit and/or receive antenna is disclosed, especially in the form of a coil structure or coil or loop arrangement, having one or more removable conductors, especially for use in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system or a magnetic resonance (MR) scanner, for transmitting RF excitation signals (Bi field) for exciting nuclear magnetic resonances (NMR), and/or for receiving NMR relaxation signals. The RF antenna is provided such that it can be adapted in an easy way according to an application which either requires a large opening through the RF antenna or a parallel imaging capability. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249148 | MAGNETIC RESONANCE LOCAL COIL - The present embodiments relate to a magnetic resonance local coil with a receive antenna for receiving magnetic resonance signals. The magnetic resonance local coil also includes a transmission unit for transmitting magnetic resonance signal data generated on the basis of the magnetic resonance signals via a data transmit antenna of the magnetic resonance local coil to a signal data receiving unit of a magnetic resonance tomography systems. The transmission unit is provided, at least in sections, with screening with a first metal coating and a first dielectric coating. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249149 | MODULAR GEOSTEERING TOOL ASSEMBLY - A retrievable tool for steering through an earth formation includes a first tool assembly and a tilted antenna attached to the first tool assembly. The tool also includes a second tool assembly attached to the first tool assembly and a tilted antenna attached to the second tool assembly. The first tool assembly attaches to the second tool assembly so that the antennas are tilted in predetermined directions. The tilted antennas are transmitter antennas or receiver antennas. Each tool assembly is a tubular cylinder with a longitudinal axis running the length of the cylinder, wherein the tubular cylinder has two ends, each end including a rotational attachment mechanism. The tool assemblies attach to each other through their rotational attachment mechanisms. The rotational attachment mechanism may be a screw-on mechanism, press-fit mechanism, or welded mechanism. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249150 | SWITCH STATUS DETECTION CIRCUIT FOR MULTIPLE LIGHT LEVEL LIGHTING SYSTEMS - A switch status detection circuit is provided, including three input terminals and a ground terminal. Two input terminals connect to a power supply via respective switches, receiving a respective voltage signal. The third connects to the power supply, receiving a neutral signal. A neutral synchronization circuit, between the third and the ground terminal, generates a positive pulsed current signal as a function of the neutral signal. Two capacitors, each with a respective first terminal connected to a corresponding input terminal, and a respective second terminal connected to the ground terminal, are charged by the current signal when the capacitor's corresponding switch is in an off state. Respective output terminals are coupled to each capacitor's first terminal to provide respective control signals, indicating the respective switch's state as a function of a voltage level across that capacitor. Each control signal has a logic level corresponding to its respective switch's state. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249151 | RESIDUAL-CURRENT CIRCUIT BREAKER - A compact residual-current circuit breaker constructed for functional testing without any interruption of the downstream electric network includes two separate tripping circuits, wherein a first tripping circuit is independent of the mains voltage and a second tripping circuit is dependent on the mains voltage. During functional testing one of the tripping circuits the respective other tripping circuit monitors the electric network to be protected for fault currents. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249152 | CHARGING/DISCHARGING DETERMINATION APPARATUS AND COMPUTER-READABLE NON-TRANSITORY MEDIUM STORING CHARGING/DISCHARGING DETERMINATION PROGRAM - According to one exemplary embodiment, a charging/discharging determination apparatus includes: a receiving module which receives information of a rated capacity of a battery; and a determination module which determines that charging or a discharge of the battery is permitted if an absolute value of a difference between the rated capacity and a measured capacity which is an actual capacity of the battery is within a threshold value. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249153 | Electrical Power Source Battery Tester - An electrical charge detection device for measuring the electrical charge of a dry cell battery comprises electrically conductive arms joined with a rivet pin at their proximal ends with curved tips at their distal ends. The junction formed by the proximal ends has a light source mounted on the planar top surface and is in electrical contact with the pin. The curved tips at the distal ends of the arms are angled to form inward curved prongs that connect with the polar ends of a power source such as a battery. When the arms are squeezed together, one tip contacts the cathode of the battery and the other touches the anode so that any charge in the battery will travel up the arms thereby lighting the bulb. The degree of brightness illuminated by the bulb is indicative of the electrical strength or power remaining therein. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249154 | GROUND FAULT DETECTION SYSTEM - The present application describes, among other things, a ground fault detection system. The system includes an optocoupler, a current sink, and a first voltage source connected in series. The first voltage source can connect to a negative terminal of a battery unit. Upon connection between a positive terminal of the battery unit and a first node at a ground zero reference level, current can flow through the optocoupler and the current sink to cause the optocoupler to output a ground fault detection signal. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249155 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DEALING WITH FAULTS IN AN ELECTRICAL DRIVE SYSTEM - A method for dealing with faults in an electrical drive system having an electrical machine and a pulse-controlled inverter which has a first and a second supply connection, the method comprising the steps of: detecting a first fault in the electrical drive system; selecting a first of a large number of circuit states ( | 2012-10-04 |
20120249156 | MULTI-TRACK DETECTION SYSTEM FOR DETECTING THE APPEARANCE OF ELECTRONIC ELEMENTS - A multi-track detection system for detecting the appearance of electronic elements includes a rotary module, a feeding module, an unvibrated module, a detection module, and a classification module. The rotary module includes a hollow transparent rotary structure having at least two annular guiding areas on the top surface thereof, and the electronic elements are sequentially arranged on the two annular guiding area. The feeding module has two V-shaped feeding grooves for guiding the electronic elements. The unvibrated module includes an unvibrated guiding block having two V-shaped unvibrated guiding grooves respectively communicated with the two V-shaped feeding grooves and respectively corresponding to the two annular guiding areas. The electronic elements on the V-shaped feeding grooves are sequentially transmitted onto the two annular guiding areas through two V-shaped unvibrated guiding grooves, thus each electronic element can be detected by the detection module and classified by the classification module, respectively. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249157 | TEST APPARATUS - Provided is a test apparatus that tests a memory under test including a plurality of repair regions for repairing fails in a memory region, the test apparatus comprising a testing section that sequentially tests each of a plurality of portions of the memory region of the memory under test; a repair solution memory that stores a repair solution indicating which repair region replaces a fail portion of the memory under test; and an updating section that, during testing, in response to a new fail portion being detected by the testing section, updates the repair solution stored in the repair solution memory to be a repair solution that also repairs the newly detected fail portion. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249158 | METHOD FOR DETECTING A MALFUNCTION OF A SENSOR FOR MEASURING AN ANALYTE CONCENTRATION IN VIVO - The invention relates to a method for detecting a malfunction of a sensor for measuring an analyte concentration in vivo, wherein a series of measurement signals is produced by means of the sensor, and a value of a noise parameter is continually determined from the measuring signals, the noise parameter indicating how severely the measurement is impaired by interference signals. According to the invention, continually determined values of the noise parameter are used to determine how quickly the noise parameter changes, and the rate of change of the noise parameter is evaluated to detect a malfunction. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249159 | Stacked Via Structure For Metal Fuse Applications - A back end of the line (BEOL) fuse structure having a stack of vias. The stacking of vias leads to high aspect ratios making liner and seed coverage inside the vias poorer. The weakness of the liner and seed layers leads to a higher probability of electromigration (EM) failure. The fuse structure addresses failures due to poor liner and seed coverage. Design features permit determining where failures occur, determining the extent of the damaged region after fuse programming and preventing further propagation of the damaged dielectric region. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249160 | REPLACEMENT-GATE-COMPATIBLE PROGRAMMABLE ELECTRICAL ANTIFUSE - After planarization of a gate level dielectric layer, a dummy structure is removed to form a recess. A first conductive material layer and an amorphous metal oxide are deposited into the recess area. A second conduct material layer fills the recess. After planarization, an electrical antifuse is formed within the filled recess area, which includes a first conductive material portion, an amorphous metal oxide portion, and a second conductive material portion. To program the electrical antifuse, current is passed between the two terminals in the pair of the conductive contacts to transform the amorphous metal oxide portion into a crystallized metal oxide portion, which has a lower resistance. A sensing circuit determines whether the metal oxide portion is in an amorphous state (high resistance state) or in a crystalline state (low resistance state). | 2012-10-04 |
20120249161 | LOAD SIMULATOR - A load simulator includes a passive element, two electrode plates that are connected to the passive element, and a bias applier. The bias applier is a coil spring, for example, and is provided between the two electrode plates. The bias applier biases at least one of the two electrode plates in a predetermined direction. The two electrode plates are disposed so as to be substantially parallel with each other, for example, and the bias applier biases the two electrode plates in the direction of separation from each other. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249162 | SIMULATION OF PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD IMPEDANCE VARIATIONS AND CROSSTALK EFFECTS - A method for altering an impedance of a conductive pathway on a microelectronic package includes applying a magnetic field to the conductive pathway. The microelectronic package may be, for example, a printed circuit board. The method also includes controlling a magnitude of the magnetic field at the conductive pathway for altering the impedance of the conductive pathway. The magnetic field may be applied by, for example, an electromagnet or a permanent magnet. A magnetic field may also be applied for simulating crosstalk effects on a conductive pathway. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249163 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTING ARC FORMATION IN A CORONA DISCHARGE IGNITION SYSTEM - A system and method for detecting arc formation in a corona discharge ignition system is provided. The system includes a driver circuit conveying energy oscillating at a resonant frequency; a corona igniter for receiving the energy and providing a corona discharge; and a frequency monitor for identifying a variation in an oscillation period of the resonant frequency, wherein the variation in the oscillation period indicates the onset of arc formation. The method includes supplying the energy to the driver circuit and to the corona igniter; obtaining the resonant frequency of the energy in the oscillating driver circuit; and identifying a variation in the oscillation period of the resonant frequency. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249164 | SENSOR ASSEMBLY FOR DETECTING MATERIALS USING A MICROWAVE EMITTER AND METHOD - A sensor assembly for use in a system is provided. The sensor assembly includes at least one probe for detecting the presence of a material within the system, wherein the probe includes a microwave emitter. The microwave emitter generates at least one electromagnetic field from at least one microwave signal, wherein a loading is induced to the microwave emitter when the material interacts with the electromagnetic field. A data conduit is coupled to the microwave emitter, wherein at least one loading signal representative of the loading is reflected within the data conduit from the microwave emitter. At least one signal processing device is coupled to the microwave emitter via the data conduit. The signal processing device is configured to receive the loading signal and to generate an electrical output that is representative of the presence of the material, wherein the electrical output is usable by an operator and/or the system. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249165 | MICROWAVE POWER MONITORING - A microwave apparatus comprises a microwave source for providing a microwave signal, connectable to a load; control means configured in operation to vary over a frequency range a frequency of the microwave signal provided by the source; a microwave detector for performing microwave measurements, arranged to receive reflections from and/or transmissions to the load in operation and to perform a plurality of measurements, each measurement corresponding to a respective one of a plurality of different frequencies of the frequency range; and means for determining from the plurality of measurements a measure of reflection and/or a measure of transmission. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249166 | METHOD FOR MONITORING THE ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF A LOAD CIRCUIT CONTROLLED IN A CLOCKED MANNER AND CIRCUIT SYSTEM FOR PERFORMING THE METHOD - A method and a circuit system for monitoring the electrical properties of a load circuit controlled in a clocked manner, the load circuit having at least one ohmic component and at least one inductive component, having the following steps: establishing at least one first control signal and one second control signal, the control signals being established in such a way that, in the case of activation of the load circuit using the first control signal, the inductive behavior of the load circuit predominates and, in the case of activation of the load circuit using the second control signal, the ohmic behavior of the load circuit predominates, acquiring at least one measured variable, which is a function of the control signal and the ohmic and/or inductive components, in the case of activation of the load circuit using the first control signal and in the case of activation of the load circuit using the second control signal, ascertaining the deviations of the measured variables from measured variables which are expected on the basis of the nominal values of the inductive and ohmic components, classifying the state of the load circuit on the basis of the ascertained deviations. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249167 | METHOD FOR OBTAINING INFORMATION ENABLING THE DETERMINATION OF A CHARACTERISTIC OF A POWER SOURCE - An apparatus for obtaining information enabling a characteristic like determination of maximum power point of a power source, the apparatus including at least an inductor and a capacitor, the information enabling the determination of the characteristic of the power source being obtained by monitoring the voltage charge of the capacitor, and a mechanism discharging the capacitor through the inductor prior to the monitoring of the charge of the capacitor. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249168 | LIQUID IMMERSION SENSOR - Disclosed is a liquid immersion sensor comprising a substrate ( | 2012-10-04 |
20120249169 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TESTING TRANSPONDERS - The invention relates to a method and system for testing remote transponders. In the method, a radio-frequency transponder is excited with the aid of a first electromagnetic field and the response of the radio-frequency transponder is measured with the aid of a second electromagnetic field. According to the invention, one of said fields is a radiating field and the other of said fields is a reactive field. The invention eliminates the need to test transponders separately from other transponders and the need to inactivate or screen other transponders in the vicinity of the transponder being measured. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249170 | Circuit Arrangement with a Plurality of On-Chip Monitor Circuits and a Control Circuit and Corresponding Methods - Implementations are presented herein that include a plurality of on-chip monitor circuits and a controller. Each of the plurality of on-chip monitor circuits is configured to measure a parameter of a semiconductor chip. The controller is coupled to the plurality of on-chip monitor circuits. The controller is configured to receive a measurement result from at least one of the plurality of on-chip monitor circuits and to control a calibration of another one of the plurality of on-chip monitor circuits in accordance with the measurement result. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249171 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR THE QUALITY CONTROL OF SUPERCONDUCTING BANDS - The invention relates to a method and a device for the quality control of superconducting bands with regard to the critical current carrying capacity of the band, wherein the method comprises the following steps: a) cooling a section of the superconducting band to a temperature at which said band section becomes superconducting, wherein the length of the band equals a multiple of the band section length, b) generating an electrical transport current in the superconducting band section in the longitudinal direction of the band by contacting with a contact assembly, which comprises electrical feed and dissipation contacts spaced apart in the longitudinal direction of the band in order to generate the transport current between them, c) contacting the cooled band section with the electrical contacts of the contact assembly, which are spaced apart from one another in the longitudinal direction of the band, in order to form a measurement section over a partial length of the band section to which the transport current applied, d) continuously moving at least one part of the band in the longitudinal direction of the band through the contact section and/or through the measurement section to electrically contact the moving band so as to generate a transport current progressing through the band in the longitudinal direction of the band, e) detecting a physical measured variable on the basis of the generated transport current in relation to the measurement section by means of the measurement contacts during the movement of at least one part of the band through the measurement section, wherein the physical measured variable is a measure of the superconducting electrical transport properties of the band section or a part of the band. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249172 | ALIGNMENT SYSTEM FOR ELECTRONIC DEVICE TESTING - An alignment system for aligning one or more devices under test with respect to a test station includes a carrier that is configured to carry the one or more devices under test, a conveyor that is configured to move the carrier in unison with the conveyor, and an alignment structure. The alignment structure is engageable with the carrier to move the carrier with respect to the conveyor to align at least one of the devices under test with respect to the test station. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249173 | SILICON CARRIER SPACE TRANSFORMER AND TEMPORARY CHIP ATTACH BURN-IN VEHICLE FOR HIGH DENSITY CONNECTIONS - A silicon carrier space transformer assembly includes one or more silicon structures, which provide space transformer scaling to permit interconnection for fine pitch input/output interconnections with a semiconductor die or wafer, and fine pitch test probe tips connected to the one or more silicon structures. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249174 | CONTACT PROBE AND SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE SOCKET INCLUDING CONTACT PROBE - A contact probe having a plunger; a top contacting member which is provided at a tip end of the plunger and is brought into contact with an electrode of a semiconductor device; a bottom contacting member which is brought into contact with an electrode of a testing board; and an elastic member for urging the top contacting member and the bottom contacting member in opposite directions away from each other. The plunger is formed into a cylindrical shape and includes a through-hole which penetrates through the plunger in an axial direction thereof. The top contacting member includes a plurality of mountain-shaped sharp portions at a tip end thereof, and each of the sharp portions is asymmetrical with respect to a straight line that passes through a peak of the sharp portion and extends along an axial direction of the plunger, and is bent toward a center line of the plunger. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249175 | CONVEYOR-MOUNTABLE CARRIER FOR ELECTRONIC DEVICE TESTING - A conveyor mountable carrier is adapted to test an electronic device that has electrical leads. The carrier includes a body having a clamping area defined by a base surface and at least one lateral stop surface. The body also defines a pneumatic channel for directing pressurized air toward the clamping area. A clamp is movably connected to the body and has an engaging portion that is positioned opposite the stop surface of the body. The clamp is moveable between an engaged position in which the electronic device is securable to the body and a disengaged position in which the electronic device is releasable from the body. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249176 | TEST STRUCTURE AND MEASUREMENT METHOD THEREOF - A test structure including a substrate, at least one conductive plug, a first conductive trace and a second conductive trace is provided. The substrate has a first area and a second area. The at lest one conductive plug is disposed in the substrate in the first area, wherein the conductive plug does not penetrate through the substrate. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249177 | HANDLER TRAY, SYSTEM AND METHOD OF TESTING AN OBJECT INCLUDING THE SAME - A handler tray may include a tray body and a socket. The tray body may be configured to receive an object. The tray body with the object may be transferred to a test board. The tray body may be selectively interposed between the object and the test board to supply a test current from the test board to external terminals of the object. The socket may be formed on the tray body. The socket may electrically make contact with the external terminals of the object. Thus, a pick-up robot and an insert may be unnecessary, so that a test system and method of testing the object may have an optimally available space. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249178 | MONITORING METHOD FOR THREE-DIMENSIONAL INTERGRATED CIRCUIT (3D IC) AND APPARATUS USING THE SAME - A monitoring method of a three-dimensional integrated circuit (3D IC) is provided, wherein the method includes: providing a plurality of TSVs, providing a plurality of inverters; connecting the inverters with the plurality of TSVs as a circuit loop; enabling the circuit loop to oscillate; measuring an output signal on an output end of one of the plurality of inverters; and determining the manufacturing state of the plurality of TSVs of the 3D IC based on the output signal and apparatus using the same. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249179 | PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC DEVICE - A programmable logic device includes a plurality of logic blocks and a plurality of routing networks. One of the plurality of routing networks includes a first selection circuit, a second selection circuit, and an auxiliary power connector circuit. The first selection circuit is connected to the second selection circuit via a signal line. The signal line is connected to a power supply line via the auxiliary power connector circuit. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249180 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE - A device is disclosed herein, which may be used a level-shift circuit. The device includes first, second and third power supply lines supplied respectively with first, second and third power voltages that are different from one another, first and second input terminals and an output terminal, an output circuit coupled to the first power supply line, the first and second input terminals and the output terminal, a first inverter including an input node coupled to the first input terminal and an output node coupled to the second input terminal, a first transistor coupled in series to the first inverter between the second and third power supply lines, the fifth transistor being rendered non-conductive to deactivate the first inverter, and a control circuit configured to prevent the output terminal from being brought into an electrical floating state during deactivation of the first inverter. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249181 | LATCH CIRCUIT AND CLOCK CONTROL CIRCUIT - A latch circuit includes a latch unit and a clock propagation suppressing unit. The latch circuit holds and outputs input data of 0 or 1. The clock propagation suppressing unit compares the input data input to the latch unit with output data output from the latch unit. When it is detected that the input data matches the output data at 0, or that the input data matches the output data at 1, an externally input clock signal is prevented from propagating to the latch unit. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249182 | Power Routing in Standard Cell Designs - A cell-based architecture for an integrated circuit. A row of cell instances borders a first adjacent row of cell instances along a first boundary and a second adjacent row of cell instances along a second boundary. A first power rail (e.g., carrying an auxiliary voltage) extends along the first boundary. A second power rail (e.g., VSS) extends along the second boundary. The second power rail is wider than the first power rail. Additionally, a third power rail (e.g., VDD) extends across the interior of the second row of cells. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249183 | POWER MANAGEMENT DEVICE - A power management device for controlling a power supply device includes a pulse generator, a delay unit, a first XOR gate, an OR gate, and a second XOR gate. The pulse generator generates a pulse signal, the delay unit, the first XOR gate, the OR gate, and the second XOR gate cooperatively generate an enabling signal corresponding to the pulse signal to enable and disable the power supply, and receive an output voltage of the power supply device as a feedback signal. Upon receiving the feedback signal, the power management device can stay at correct enabled and disabled statuses of the power supply device. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249184 | NARROW PULSE FILTER - A narrow pulse filter is disclosed. The narrow pulse filter includes a first tri-state inverter. The narrow pulse filter further includes a pulse generator coupled to the first tri-state inverter. The pulse generator is configured to cause the first tri-state inverter to enter a high-impedance state to filter out a narrow pulse from a signal input to the first tri-state inverter. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249185 | PROTECTION CIRCUIT FOR DRIVING CAPACITIVE LOADS - A detection circuit is coupled to an output terminal of a driver circuit. The detection circuit includes a comparator to compare a signal at the output terminal to a reference signal corresponding to a signal that would be generated if a capacitive load having a relatively high capacitance value were connected to the output terminal. Output of the comparator is sampled at a predetermined time after the driver circuit provides the drive signal. An error signal is generated when the sampled output indicates that the capacitive load having the relatively high capacitance value is actually connected to the output terminal. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249186 | SINGLE-TO-DIFFERENTIAL CONVERSION CIRCUIT - A single-to-differential conversion circuit includes a first transistor, a second transistor, and a transforming unit. Each of the first and second transistors has first, second and third terminals. The trans forming unit has first, second, and third induction elements. The first induction element has a first inductive terminal coupled to the second terminal of the first transistor, and a second inductive terminal coupled to a voltage source. The second induction element has a first inductive terminal to be coupled to the voltage source, and a second inductive terminal coupled to the second terminal of the second transistor. The third induction element has a first inductive terminal coupled to the first terminals of the first and second transistors, and a second inductive terminal coupled to ground. The third induction element electrically couples to the first and the second induction elements according to first and second coupling parameters, respectively. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249187 | CURRENT SOURCE CIRCUIT - According to one embodiment, a current source circuit comprises a first circuit, a second circuit, and a current synthesizing circuit. The first circuit generates a first current having a positive temperature characteristic. The second circuit includes a feedback circuit configured to receive a first voltage having a negative temperature characteristic, and output a second voltage equal to the first voltage, and generates a second current having the negative temperature characteristic based on the second voltage. The current synthesizing circuit generates a constant current having an arbitrary temperature characteristic by adding the first and second currents. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249188 | DIFFERENTIAL OUTPUT BUFFER HAVING MIXING AND OUTPUT STAGES - An exemplary differential output buffer includes a mixing stage and an output stage. The mixing stage includes a mixing circuit that mixes a differential data signal and an inverted delayed differential data signal to generate a mixed differential data signal. The output stage includes a first and a second output stage differential pair of transistors. Sources of the transistors in each of the output stage differential pairs are commonly coupled. Gates of the transistors in the first and second output stage differential pairs are supplied with the differential data signal and the mixed differential data signal, respectively. Drains of corresponding ones of the transistors in the first and second output stage differential pairs are commonly connected to form output nodes to output an emphasized differential data signal. The mixing stage includes a mixing ratio setting circuit that sets the mixing ratio to one of 1:0, 1:1, and 0:1. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249189 | SINGLE-PULSE RESONANT GATE DRIVER FOR DRIVING SWITCHES IN RESONANT ISOLATED CONVERTERS AND OTHER SYSTEMS - A gate driving circuit includes a driving stage configured to receive an input signal and generate a gate drive signal for a gate of a transistor switch. The gate driving circuit also includes an LC circuit having an inductor and a gate capacitance of the transistor switch. The LC circuit is configured so that a pulse in the gate drive signal generates a ringing in the LC circuit at a resonance frequency of the LC circuit to transfer energy into and out of the gate capacitance of the transistor switch. A switch could selectively couple the gate of the transistor switch to ground in order to discharge the gate capacitance. A control circuit could be used to provide the input signal, and the control circuit could be configured to regulate a duty cycle of the gate drive signal by adjusting an off-time between consecutive pulses in the input signal. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249190 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND METHOD FOR DRIVING THE SAME - To provide a semiconductor device including an A/D converter circuit that is capable of performing A/D conversion with high accuracy and high resolution and that can be reduced in size. One loop resistance wiring is shared by a plurality of power supply switches and a plurality of output circuits, and a reference voltage having a triangular (step-like) wave generated using the resistance wiring and the plurality of power supply switches is utilized. Thus, high-accuracy digital signals can be obtained using such an A/D converter circuit that can be reduced in size as an output circuit, without using a complicated circuit structure. Further, the number of constituent elements of the A/D converter circuit is small, whereby in the case of providing A/D converter circuits in parallel, variation between the A/D converter circuits can be made small. | 2012-10-04 |
20120249191 | Source or Emitter Follower Buffer Circuit and Method - In one aspect, a buffer circuit comprises a source or emitter follower input stage and output stage. A load is provided between the stages which comprises a representation of an output load of the buffer circuit. This improves the circuit linearity whilst enabling a high input impedance to be obtained. | 2012-10-04 |