Freescale Semiconductor,inc.

Nxp Usa, Inc.

Nsp Usa, Inc.

David Paul Lester

Luciano Zoso

Allan P Chin

Lionel Mongin

Mario M Bokatius

Basim H Noori

James Eric Scott

Daniel Joseph Viza

Lakshminarayan Viswanathan

Michael E Watts

Philippe Renaud

Pierre Marie Jean Piel

Qi Hua

Gregory J Durnan

Changyang Wang

Pierre-Marie J Piel

Tonghe Liu

Dong Wu

Viswanathan Lakshminarayan

Pierre Marie J Piel

A device includes a semiconductor die including a transistor. The transistor includes a plurality of parallel transistor elements. Each transistor element includes a drain region, a source region, and a gate region. The semiconductor die includes a first temperature sensor between a first transistor element in the plurality of transistor elements and a second transistor element in the plurality of transistor elements. The first temperature sensor is configured to generate a first output signal having a magnitude that is proportional to a temperature of the first temperature sensor.

Amplifier with integrated temperature sensor

A device includes an antenna configured to be disposed within a cavity of an appliance. The appliance includes an electrode and the antenna includes a sheet of conductive material having a surface area that is equal to or greater than a surface area of the electrode. The device includes a voltage sensor coupled to the antenna, an output device, and a controller coupled to the voltage sensor and the output device. The controller is configured to generate an output at the output device. The output is determined by a voltage of the antenna.

Detector for heating appliance

A system is configured to perform an operation that results in increasing a thermal energy of a load. The system includes a radio frequency signal source configured to supply a radio frequency signal, an electrode coupled to the radio frequency signal source, and a variable impedance network that includes at least one variable passive component. The variable impedance network is coupled between the radio frequency signal source and the electrode. The system includes a controller configured to determine an operation duration based upon a configuration of the variable impedance network, and to cause the radio frequency signal source to supply the radio frequency signal for the operation duration.

Method for performing a defrosting operation using a defrosting apparatus

A radio-frequency (RF) heating system may include a removable drawer, which may be inserted under a fixed shelf of the RF heating system to form an enclosed cavity. The drawer may include conductive channels or side rails that may interface with the shelf of the defrosting system in order to electrically couple the drawer to the RF heating system. The drawer may include an electrode that is electrically coupled to ground or to a RF signal source when the drawer is inserted beneath the shelf. The shelf may include selectable electrodes of varying sizes. The RF heating system may use identification circuitry to recognize the type of drawer that has been inserted beneath the shelf. RF energy may be applied to the electrode of the drawer or the shelf to heat a load in the enclosed cavity.

Drawer apparatus for radio frequency heating and defrosting

A defrosting system includes a radio frequency (RF) signal source, at least one electrode proximate to a cavity within which a load to be defrosted is positioned, a transmission path between the RF signal source and the electrode, at least one bus bar in the transmission path that includes multiple ports to which the electrode may be coupled, a repositionable shelf that is attached to the electrode, and multiple support structures disposed at side-walls of the cavity that support the repositionable shelf. Standoff isolators may attach the electrode to the repositionable shelf and may electrically isolate the electrode from the repositionable shelf. The vertical position of the electrode may be changed by moving the repositionable shelf to be supported by different support structures of the multiple support structures while coupling the electrode to a different port of the multiple ports of the bus bar.

Defrosting apparatus with repositionable electrodes

An RF system includes an RF signal source and a single-ended or double-ended impedance matching network. Non-linear devices, such as gas discharge tubes, are coupled in parallel with components of the impedance matching network. The non-linear devices are insulating below a breakdown voltage and conductive above the breakdown voltage. The system also includes measurement circuitry configured to measure one or more parameters that reflect changes in the impedance of the impedance matching network. A system controller modifies operation of the system when a rate of change of any of the monitored parameter(s) exceeds a predetermined threshold.

RF apparatus with arc prevention using non-linear devices

A system and method for defrosting or heating are presented. A radio frequency (RF) signal source provides, through a transmission path, an RF signal to an electrode that is proximate to a cavity of a defrosting system. A rate of change of a ratio of a reflected RF power measurement and a forward RF power measurement along the transmission path is determined to have transitioned from a relatively high value to a relatively low value. At a point in time when the determination is made, the RF signal is provided to the electrode for an additional time duration beyond the point in time, and provision of the RF signal to the electrode is ceased when the additional time duration has expired.

Apparatus and methods for defrosting operations in an RF heating system

An embodiment of a microwave power generation module includes an amplifier arrangement, an impedance matching element, and a resonant element. The amplifier arrangement includes a transistor with a transistor input and a transistor output. The impedance matching element is formed from a planar conductive structure. The planar conductive structure has a proximal end and a distal end, and the proximal end is electrically coupled to the transistor output. The resonant element has a proximal end electrically coupled to the distal end of the planar conductive structure, and the resonant element is configured to radiate electromagnetic energy having a microwave frequency in a range of 800 megahertz (MHz) to 300 gigahertz (GHz). A combination of the impedance matching element and the resonant element is configured to perform an impedance transformation between an impedance of the transistor and an impedance of an air cavity.

Integrated solid state microwave power generation modules

A system with an integrated antenna includes a housing having a first surface and a second surface. The second surface of the housing defines a recess. A substrate is attached to first surface of the housing, and an amplifying device having an output node is on the substrate. An antenna is attached to the second surface of the housing over the recess. A conductive element is positioned through at least a portion of the housing. The conductive element electrically connects the antenna to the output node of the amplifying device. The conductive element is connected to the antenna at an antenna feed point over the recess in the housing.

Power amplifier system with integrated antenna

The present disclosure presents a device and method for connecting an RF generator to a coaxial conductor. The device includes a substrate, a radio frequency generator on the substrate, and a coaxial conductor coupled to a first surface of the substrate. The coaxial conductor includes a conductive core and a conductive shield around the conductive core and is configured to transmit the radio frequency signal to a radiation device. The device includes a cap coupled to the substrate and extending from a second surface of the substrate opposite the first surface. The cap includes an outer wall and a center post. The outer wall is electrically connected to the conductive shield of the coaxial conductor and the center post is electrically connected to the conductive core of the coaxial conductor. An output pad of the radio frequency generator is electrically connected to the conductive core.

Device and method for connecting an RF generator to a coaxial conductor

A radiation device and related method are presented. The radiation device includes a body. The body includes a threaded portion configured to engage with a threaded opening in an engine and an open interior volume. The radiation device includes a ground electrode coupled to the body, a substrate disposed within the open interior volume in the body, and a radio frequency generator on the substrate. The radio frequency generator is configured to receive an input signal and, in response to the input signal, generate plasma energy between the body and the ground electrode.

Radiation devices

An embodiment of a self-aligning resonator filter circuit includes a tunable resonator having a filter output node, an oscillator having an oscillator output node, a resistance element connected between the oscillator output node and the filter output node when the self-aligning resonator filter circuit is in a tuning mode, and a phase detector loop controller coupled between the oscillator output node and the filter output node. The phase detector loop controller is configured to measure a phase difference across the resistance element, and to adjust the tunable resonator in response to the phase difference.

Self-aligning resonator filter circuits

A NICAM processing method includes receiving and temporarily storing a current frame of A-channel and B-channel input data into a first memory at a first clock rate. Companded A-channel and B-channel data of a previous frame are read from a second memory at a second clock rate and in a manner for interleaving the previous frame companded A-channel and B-channel data into the NICAM standard required interleaved format, wherein the companded A-channel and B-channel data of the previous frame was temporarily stored during a previous frame into the second memory in a format other than an interleaved format according to NICAM standard requirements. The A-channel and B-channel input data of the current frame is companded and stored into the second memory and in the format other than the interleaved format, wherein the companding and storing are performed at a third clock rate during an interval within the current frame that occurs subsequent to both the storing into the first memory and the reading from the second memory.

NICAM processing method

A NICAM encoding method comprises performing NICAM processing and coupling a front-end to the NICAM processing. The front-end processing operates with a system clock that is integer divisible such that the system clock can be used by both the NICAM processing and the front-end processing. The front-end processing includes a front-end input processing and a front-end output processing. The front-end input processing is coupled to an input of the NICAM processing and the front-end output processing is coupled to an output of the NICAM processing.

Front-end method for NICAM encoding

A self-aligning resonator filter, a self-aligning coupled resonator filter circuit, and a television tuner circuit incorporating the filter and the circuit are disclosed herein. The self-aligning resonator filter leverages the local oscillator of the tuner circuit and can be realized with a significant reduction in the amount of off-chip components. The self-aligning resonator filter is configured to align its tunable resonator to resonate at a desired frequency in response to a phase difference measured across a resistance element during a tuning mode, and the resistance element is switched out of the self-aligning resonator filter during a run mode. The self-aligning coupled resonator filter circuit is configured to isolate its individual resonator stages during tuning such that each resonator stage can be aligned without being influenced by the other resonator stage. The television tuner circuit can be manufactured at relatively low cost while retaining high performance and the ability to be dynamically aligned while in use.

Growing community of inventors

Phoenix, AZ, United States of America

David Paul Lester