Texas Instruments Corporation

Texas Instruments Incorporated Deutschland, Gmbh

Adolf Baumann

Mark Jung

Konstantin O Aslanidis

Oliver Nehrig

Ernst Georg Muellner

Andreas Hagl

Jens Graul

Thomas J Flaxl

Ralph Ledwa

Carlo Peschke

Johann Hoffmann

Christian Sichert

Alfons Lichtenegger

Wolfgang Ramin

Harald Parzhuber

Simon Atherton

Gerhard Eberth

Heiner Brenninger

Christian Ecker

A digital system includes a non-volatile calculating register having a set of latches configured to perform a calculation. A set of non-volatile storage cells is coupled to the set of latches. Access detection logic is coupled to the calculating register and is operable to initiate a calculation of a next value by the calculating register each time the calculating register is accessed by an accessing module. The access detection logic is operable to cause the next value to be stored in the set of non-volatile storage cells at the completion of the calculation as an atomic transaction. After a power loss or other restore event, the contents of the calculating register may be restored from the non-volatile storage cells.

Computing register with non-volatile-logic data storage

An embodiment of semiconductor device including a control unit and an FRAM storage unit is disclosed. The FRAM storage unit contains FRAM cells. The control unit includes a predetermined test data pattern. The control unit is configured to read the FRAM cells that contain a test data pattern in a margin-mode, compare the read out bit information with the test data pattern to determine whether a bit error is present in the dedicated FRAM cells. When a bit error is present, the control unit is configured to read-out the complete FRAM storage unit in a recovery-mode and refresh all FRAM cells of the FRAM storage unit by writing back the read out bit information to the respective FRAM cells. In the margin-mode, the read operation is performed using a lower read-sensitivity compared to the read operation reading out the complete FRAM storage unit that is performed in the recovery-mode.

Identifying and correcting a bit error in a FRAM storage unit of a semiconductor device

An electronic device is provided, which includes a current supplying stage which is adapted to supply a first compensation current and a second compensation current to a first wire or a second wire, wherein the first compensation current is determined during a first clock period, when the first wire and the second wire are connected. The second compensation current is determined during a second clock period while the first wire and the second wire are not connected and the magnitude of the second current represents a ratio of a resistance value of the first wire and a resistance value of the second wire.

Electronic device and method for wire check

An ASK demodulator for use in an RFID transponder having a limiter circuit associated with the antenna circuit and converting the ASK antenna field strength modulation into an ASK limiter current modulation by limiting the antenna voltage to a fixed value and thereby causing the limiter current to be substantially proportional to the ASK antenna field strength, and a current discriminator circuit that discriminates the ASK limiter current modulation. By converting the field strength modulation into a proportional limiter current and discriminating that limiter current, a linear relationship and a stable demodulator sensitivity are achieved. The current discrimination can be made accurately under low-voltage conditions.

High dynamic range ASK demodulator for use in an RFID transponder

In a circuit assembly for generating pulses sustaining or &ldquo;plucking&rdquo; RF oscillations in a resonant circuit ( ) of transponder ( ) having no battery power supply in which the supply voltage needed for its operation is obtained from a RF carrier oscillation pulse defined in time exciting the resonant circuit into oscillation and used to charge a storage element whose charging voltage forms the supply voltage, a plucking pulse is generated every time the amplitude of the RF oscillations drops below a defined threshold value and its momentary value is in a defined relationship to a reference voltage (VPEAK) changing in time as the charging voltage of a capacitor ( ). A switch ( ) is provided which can be switched on for the duration of the plucking pulse (PLUCK) for connecting the storage element ( ) to the resonant circuit ( ). A closed control loop ( ) is provided which varies the slope of the reference voltage curve between two plucking (PLUCK) pulses in the direction of maintaining the predefined relationship between the momentary value of the RF oscillations and the reference voltage.

Circuit assembly for generating RF oscillation plucking pulses

Transponders present in an interrogation zone can be identified by an interrogator by it sending an RF interrogation signal into the interrogation zone, the RF interrogation signal containing a code string prompting the transponders to generate partial addresses. As soon as one transponder &ldquo;sees&rdquo; that the generated partial address agrees with part of its own address, it responds by sending its full address which can then be read by the interrogator. Immediately after having received a full address the interrogator sends a code string characterizing the address of the transponder having responded before so that this transponder is thereby addressable. The signal sent by the interrogator to the transponder with this code string also contains an instruction which prompts the transponder to assume the condition in which it no longer responds to receiving its address or partial address.

Method of identifying several transponders

A method of tuning the resonance frequency of a transponder to a target frequency is described, wherein a transponder comprises a film antenna with an IC (IC) mounted to the film antenna (L) and an integrated resonance capacitor (C) is part of a IC. During testing of IC at chip probe to determine the pass/fail of the IC, the integrated resonance capacitor (C) is measured and the value is stored with the pass/fail data of the wafer map. Then after mounting a passed IC (IC) to a film antenna (L) with variable inductance, retrieve the integrated resonance capacitance value from the wafer map and calculate the amount of inductance necessary to achieve the target frequency. Tune the film antenna (L) to achieve the necessary inductance, measure the transponder resonance frequency, and compare the transponder resonance frequency to the target frequency.

Method of trimming film type antennas

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Haag, Germany

Adolf Baumann