Other

Aptix Corporation

Alan Elbert Comer

Ralph G Whitten

Amr M Mohsen

Chun-Mai Liu

Ta-Pen Guo

Yu-Lin Lee

William Albert Bladen, Jr

Michael David La Fleur

Scott Graham

Ladder network comprises control terminals including at least ground terminal and master terminal, and slave terminals, each individually connected to ground terminal through fuse elements, respectively. The slave terminals are also sequentially linked, each to the next through antifuses, respectively. Master terminal is connected to slave terminal. By applying programming signals to control terminals, master terminal may be disconnected from ground terminal and sequentially connected to each slave terminal. Described ladder variations include segmented ladder, wherein master terminal can be sequentially connected to, and subsequently disconnected from, second conductors; hierarchical ladder network; and programmable SAW transducer. Finally, a programmable architecture based upon such ladder networks, suitable for incorporation within a configurable IC package, is described, including also a programmable contact structure if the package is stackable.

Electrically-programmable interconnect architecture for easily-configurable stacked circuit arrangements

Artificial muscle analog is located within hollow exoskeletal bone Muscle comprises inflatable bladder cable roller anchor point and connection means whereby said bladder may be inflated and deflated. Bladder is affixed to the interior surface of said bone. Cable attached to bone at point passes over bladder and through roller Cable if unobstructed and taut, takes a shortest path from point to roller When inflated, bladder forces cable to deviate from this shortest path, pulling cable in through said roller, under tension. In their paired opposing muscle form the artificial muscles synergistically assist each other when used in opposition. Paired muscles may actuate a robotic arm and are easily controlled by the associated simple low-cost control systems of the present invention.

Pneumatic muscle analogs for exoskeletal robotic limbs and associated control mechanisms

Bag closure , formed from a single length of pliable, resilient substantially-tubular hose comprises a first &ldquo;base&rdquo; section of unmodified hose, a second narrowed &ldquo;neck&rdquo; section , and a third &ldquo;clamp&rdquo; section . Clamp section is a trimmed section of hose having a substantially C-shaped cross section, formed by removing a narrow strip of hose material parallel to the hose axis. Hinge is a trimmed section of hose having a substantially parenthesis-shaped cross section, formed by removing a wider strip of hose material parallel to the hose axis. A bag neck may be sealed by laying the flattened bag neck across substantially-cylindrical base , folding the closure at its narrowed neck or hinge and forcing clamp section over base , trapping the bag neck between base and clamp and forming a tight seal.

Bag closure or clamp made from pliable, resilient hose

A two-terminal fuse-antifuse structure comprises a horizontal B-fuse portion and a vertical A-fuse portion disposed between two metallization layers of an integrated circuit device. The two-terminal fuse-antifuse can be programmed with a relatively high current applied across the two terminals to blow the B-fuse, or with a high voltage applied across the two terminals to program the A-fuse. Such a device, connected between two circuit nodes, initially does not provide an electrical connection between the two circuit nodes. It may then be programmed with a relatively high voltage to blow the A-fuse, causing it to conduct between the two circuit nodes. Then, upon application of a relatively high current between the two circuit nodes, the B-fuse will blow, making the device permanently non-conductive. An improvement permitting higher current programming of B-fuses either alone or as part of Ab-fuse structures, incorporates an air gap which provides a pocket of space either above, below or both above and below the B-fuse portion of the device. This air gap provides a place for material disrupted (melted or vaporized) by a fuse or Ab-fuse programming event to go, eliminates direct contact between the dielectric material and the fuse-portion of the device, and also thermally isolates the melted fuse material from the dielectric, thus reducing the physical stress within the dielectric itself associated with high current programming and avoiding undesired collateral damage normally associated with high current programming events. The creation of an air gap around the fuse neck is accomplished by the removal of a sacrificial layer of an oxidizable polymer material in a gaseous and/or plasma state through a small hole in the dielectric referred to as a sacrificial via opening or just 'sacrificial via'. After removal of the oxidizable polymer material through the sacrificial via, the sacrificial via is sealed with a passivation layer formed of a polymeric material to prevent damage to the underlying structure. The integration of the air gap and sacrificial via sealing into the current fuse process manufacturing requires the following additional processing steps: (1) Air gap definition; (2) Air gap evacuation with oxygen plasma; (3) the application of the sealing polymer; and (4) the curing of the sealing polymer.

Integrated two-terminal fuse-antifuse and fuse and integrated

A stackable semiconductor package is described which has external contact points (pins, pads, solder-bumps, etc.), which are arranged in arrays on the top and bottom surfaces of the package. This package also has internal contact points (bond pads) for connection to an integrated circuit die. The external and internal connection points are connected by a programmable interconnection matrix, which may be manufactured separately from the package body and then assembled within the package. The internal contact points can each be selectively connected to the external contact points, and selective connections can also be made linking pairs of the external contact points. Stacks of such packages, containing different dice, may be formed, creating large, tightly-coupled circuit blocks. A presently-preferred embodiment of the programmable package is described in which the package body and programmable matrix are manufactured as a unit. The described embodiment comprises a package body (12) with a formed recess (14) for receiving a package lid (50) surrounding a deeper die cavity (16), both on the package's top surface. After mounting, an integrated circuit die (20) is connected through internal contact points (24) to a first metal trace layer (28) formed on the package's bottom surface. A second metal trace layer (30) is connected to the package external contact points, consisting of a horseshoe-shaped array of solder bumps (38) on the package bottom, a matching array of solder-contacts (42) on the top, a linear array of solder bumps (34) along one edge of the package, and a matching linear array of solder-contacts (36) along the opposite edge of the package. A flange on lid (50) is bonded to lid recess (14), and the lid body is bonded to the surface of IC die (20) with a material which is thermally conductive, but electrically insulating. The lid conducts heat away from the IC die, and extends beyond the package body to act as a cooling fin for the package. If further cooling is required, a hole (52) bored through the lid beyond the package body may be used to bolt the lid to a heat sink. Alternatively, a heat sink or heat dissipation device might be connected to the lid using a conductive epoxy.

Stacked assemblies of semiconductor packages containing programmable

A first passive ESD protection device for an electronic component in a microcircuit includes a fuse element shunting the component to be protected and includes a passive programming path from the outside of the microcircuit to the fuse element. A second passive ESD protection device is deactivatable and reactivatable and includes a first fuse element shunted by a second fuse element in series with a first antifuse element. Shunting the second fuse element with a third fuse element in series with a second antifuse element permits a second deactivation and reactivation to be performed. Additional deactivation/reactivation cycles may be permitted by providing additional series combinations of fuse elements and antifuse elements shunting the preceding fuse element. Combinations of the passive protection device and dual elements comprise ESD protection schemes which may be deactivated and activated multiple times.

Growing community of inventors

Olalla, WA, United States of America

Alan Elbert Comer