Microchip Technology Inc.

Checkpoint Systems, Inc.

Lee Furey

Youbok Lee

Roger D St Amand

Sam E Alexander

William F Gallagher, Iii

Shinichiro Inui

Samuel E Alexander

Joseph D Fernandez

Ronald Salesky

Riccardo Benedetti

Gregory Dix

Thomas Youbok Lee

Patrick Richards

Peter H Sorrells

Shannon Poulin

Rohan Raghunathan

Rudy Jaramillo

Ron Salesky

Patrick Kelly Richards

The present disclosure relates to semiconductor devices. Embodiments of the teachings thereof may include processes for manufacturing of semiconductor devices and the devices themselves. For example, some embodiments may include an integrated circuit package comprising: a lead frame; a first die mounted on the lead frame in flip-chip fashion, with a frontside of the first die connected to the lead frame; wherein the first die comprises an oxide layer deposited on a backside of the first die and a back metal layer deposited on the oxide layer; and a second die mounted on the back metal layer of the first die.

Stacked die ground shield

High voltage rated isolation capacitors of inductors are formed on a face of a primary integrated circuit die. The isolation capacitors or inductors AC couple the primary integrated circuit in a first voltage domain to a second integrated circuit in a second voltage domain. The isolation capacitors or inductors DC isolate the primary integrated circuit from the second integrated circuit die. Isolated power transfer from the first voltage domain to the second voltage domain is provided through the high voltage rated isolation capacitors or inductors with an AC oscillator or PWM generator. The AC oscillator voltage amplitude may be increased for an increase in power through the high voltage rated isolation capacitors or inductors.

Method and apparatus for generating regulated isolation supply voltage

Arbitration of multiple transponders, such as RFID tags, occurs in an interrogation field. The arbitration process is custom-tailored for individual applications, under software control, by the transponder reader or tag reader. Different wake-up slots are calculated for each tag during successive transmission cycles based upon the tag ID and the transmission cycle number. The tag reader may also send a special command to a tag to read its data and cause the tag to become decoupled from the environment. The tags may be selectively placed in either a tag-talk-first mode or a reader-talk-first mode. Furthermore, the tag reader may send a special fast read command to the tag which includes a read request and at least one parameter of the read request.

Anticollision protocol with fast read request and additional schemes for reading multiple transponders in an RFID system

Arbitration of multiple transponders, such as RFID tags, occurs in an interrogation field. The arbitration process is custom-tailored for individual applications, under software control, by the transponder reader or tag reader. Different wake-up slots are calculated for each tag during successive transmission cycles based upon the tag ID and the transmission cycle number. The tag reader may send a special fast read command to the tag which includes a read request and communications control parameters including the number of time slots for transponder communications, the number of transmissions that an individual transponder is allowed to issue, and the data rate at which the reader communicates to the transponder. The tag reader may also send a special command to a tag to read its data and cause the tag to become decoupled from the environment. Additional schemes are provided to halve the number of active tags in each transmission cycle and to selectively inactivate designated groupings of tag, thereby improving discrimination of the tags in the interrogation field. The tags may be selectively placed in either a tag-talk-first mode or a reader-talk-first mode.

A radio frequency identification tag device having a sensor input which modifies a tag data word bitstream read by an interrogator/tag detector. The sensor input may be a switch contact(s), digital and/or analog. The sensor input may be voltage, current, pressure, temperature, resistance, acceleration, moisture, gas and the like. Power from the radio frequency interrogator/tag reader may be used to power the circuits of the radio frequency tag device, which in turn may supply power to any sensor connected thereto.

Radio frequency identification tag device with sensor input

A radio frequency identification (RFID) tag device having a pulse position modulation (PPM) decoder circuit which calculates a relative frequency relationship between an internal clock-oscillator of the RFID tag device and an external PPM source such as a RFID tag reader, and then synchronizes the RFID tag device PPM decoder circuit to the required precision for reliable PPM symbol decoding. The PPM decoder is synchronized by measuring the &ldquo;counts per pulse&rdquo; (CPP) from a calibration cycle having a plurality of pulses in a single symbol frame.

Method, system and apparatus for initiating and maintaining synchronization of a pulse position modulation (PPM) decoder with a received PPM signal

A radio frequency identification (RFID) tag on a single layer substrate comprises a semiconductor integrated circuit RFID tag device and antenna circuit. A connection jumper may be used to bridge over the antenna circuit coil turns. The RFID tag device is located on the same side as an inductor coil and capacitor which forms a parallel resonant antenna circuit. The inductor coil has an inner end and an outer end. The inner or outer end may be connected directly to the RFID tag device and the outer or inner end be may connected to the RFID tag device with a jumper over the inductor coil turns, or the RFID tag device may bridge the inductor coil turns when being connected to both the inner and outer ends. An encapsulation (glop top) may be used to seal the RFID tag device and jumper, and an insulated coating may be used to cover the entire surface of the substrate to create an inexpensive &ldquo;chip-on-tag.&rdquo; The encapsulation may be epoxy, plastic or any protective material known to one of ordinary skill in the art of electronic circuit encapsulation. The insulated coating may be of any type suitable for the application of use of the RFID tag.

Radio frequency identification tag on a single layer substrate

A radio frequency identification tag having a step-tunable inductor for tuning a parallel resonant antenna circuit of the radio frequency identification tag to a desired frequency. The step-tunable inductor comprises a plurality of branches in which each branch is adapted for adjusting the step-tunable inductor to a desired inductance value for resonating the parallel antenna circuit to a carrier frequency of a tag interrogator/reader.

Inductively tunable antenna for a radio frequency identification tag

A combination inductive coil and integrated circuit semiconductor chip is provided in a single lead frame package. The lead frame is preferably made of a copper alloy and has a flat configuration. The chip is electrically connected to end portions of the inductive coil thus permitting the inductive coil to function as an antenna for the chip.

Combination inductive coil and integrated circuit semiconductor chip in a single lead frame package and method therefor

An improved integrated circuit transponder device is presented comprising, in combination, a single, externally wireless package enclosing an integrated circuit semiconductor chip, a coil within the package being selectively exposed to an electromagnetic field, and a detection portion on the integrated circuit semiconductor chip and being coupled to each end of the coil for detecting when voltages at each end of the coil are approximately equal over a period of time. The detection portion includes an exclusive NOR gate coupled to each end of the coil for determining when the coil voltages are equal, and the output of the exclusive NOR gate is input to a filter before being delivered to the remainder of the device circuitry.

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Phoenix, AZ, United States of America

Lee Furey