Active-semi, Inc.

Active-semi International, Inc.

Other

Steven Huynh

David J Kunst

Matthew Alan Grant

Zhibo Tao

Gary Michael Hurtz

Mingliang Chen

Trey Roessig

Mingfan Yu

Richard Landry Gray

Chuan Xiao

Hue Khac Trinh

Tsing Hsu

Lin Chen

Degang Xia

Khanh Quang Dinh

Jian Yang

XuCheng Wang

Cuong Van Pham

Ge Gan

Duong Cong Le

Quang Khanh Dinh

A power management integrated circuit includes pairs of high-side and low-side drivers, sensing circuitry, and a processor. The high-side and low-side drivers are used in combination with external discrete NFETs to drive multiple windings of a motor. The N-channel LDMOS transistor of each high-side driver has an associated isolation structure and a tracking and clamping circuit. If the voltage on a terminal of the integrated circuit pulses negative during a switching of current flow to the motor, then the isolation structure and tracking and clamping circuit clamps the voltage on the isolation structure and blocks current flow from the substrate to the drain. An associated ESD protection circuit allows the voltage on the terminal to pulse negative. As a result, a large surge of current that would otherwise flow through the high-side driver is blocked, and is conducted outside the integrated circuit through a body diode of an external NFET.

Power management integrated circuit for driving inductive loads

An integrated circuit that senses ambient gas concentrations includes a microcontroller, gas sensors, heating resistors and an analog-to-digital converter. A first gas sensor measures a first attribute of a gas concentration, and a second gas sensor measures a second attribute of the gas concentration. The first attribute varies with the gas concentration differently than does the second attribute. The microcontroller controls the duty cycles of signals driven through the heating resistors to adjust the temperatures of the resistors, which are thermally coupled to the gas sensors. A first heating resistor increases the temperature of the first gas sensor to a first target temperature, and a second heating resistor increases the temperature of the second gas sensor to a second target temperature. The analog-to-digital converter converts the attributes measured by the first and second gas sensors into digital values. The microcontroller then uses the digital values to compute the gas concentration.

Olfactory application controller integrated circuit

An integrated circuit (IC) and fabrication method thereof is provided that include the steps of specifying a plurality of required tile modules suitable for a particular end application, each of the modular tiles being configured to perform a predetermined function and constructed to have approximately the same length and width dimensions. The modular tiles are used to form the IC in a standard IC fabrication process. In many implementations, physical layout of the IC does not include the step of routing. Capabilities also include configuring the modular tiles to have programmable performance parameters and configuring the modular tiles to cooperate usefully with one another based on a programmable parameter.

Method and system for the modular design and layout of integrated circuits

An LED lamp includes a rectifier, an integrated circuit and a string of series-connected LEDs. The lamp receives an incoming AC signal such that a rectified version of the signal is present across the LED string. The integrated circuit includes a plurality of power switches. Each power switch is coupled so that it can separately and selectably short out a corresponding one of several groups of LEDs in the string. As the voltage across the string increases the integrated circuit controls the power switches such that the number of LEDs through which current flows increases, whereas as the voltage across the string decreases the integrated circuit controls the power switches such that the number of LEDs through which current flows decreases. LED string current flow is controlled and regulated to provide superior efficiency, reliability, anti-flicker, regulation against line voltage variations, power factor correction, and lamp over-voltage, over-current, and over-temperature protection.

AC LED lamp involving an LED string having separately shortable sections

A cognitive architecture uses hierarchically arranged modules to associate the computation of many expected attributes with a single concept. A first value stored in a first module represents a concept state. A second value stored in the first module represents an expectation state. The first module receives a third value that represents an input state. The first module has a lower hierarchy than a second module and a higher hierarchy than a third module. The first module provides the first value to the second module and the second value to the third module. The first value is computed using the third value and concept information stored in the first module. The second value is computed using the first value, the third value and expectation information stored in the first module. An actuated mechanism receives a signal derived from the second value, which influences an operation of the actuated mechanism.

Conceptual computation system using a hierarchical network of modules

A programmable analog tile integrated circuit is configured over a standardized bus by communicating tile configuration information from a first integrated circuit tile, through a second integrated circuit tile, to a third integrated circuit tile. Each of the three integrated circuit tiles is part of an integrated circuit. The standardized bus is formed when the tiles are placed adjacent one another. Data bus and control signal conductors of the adjacent tiles line up and interconnect such that each signal conductor is electrically connected to every tile. Tile configuration information may be written to a selected register identified by an address in any selected one of the tiles using the data bus and control lines, regardless of the relative physical locations of the tile sending and the tile receiving the information. Thus, tile configuration information may pass from one tile to another tile, through any number of intermediate tiles.

Communicating configuration information across a programmable analog tile to another tile

A single inductor multiple LED string driver comprises a switch control circuit and a current-sensing control circuit. The switch control circuit generates a plurality of digital control signals that are used to control a plurality of switches coupled to a plurality of strings of LEDs. Each switch is selectively turned on and off by each corresponding digital control signal. The current-sensing control circuit determines an integrated charge amount provided by each current that flows from an input voltage through each LED string, through each switch, through a common inductor, and through a main switch to ground. In response to the determined integrated charge amount, the current-sensing control circuit generates an on-time control signal that controls the on-time of each switch such that the average current flowing across each LED string is equal to each other. Furthermore, the total current flowing across each LED string is regulated to a predefined value.

Single inductor multiple LED string driver

A system includes an adaptive power source, a wireless power transmitter, and a wireless power receiver. The adaptive power source supplies a supply voltage across a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector onto the wireless power transmitter that thereby transmits energy to the wireless power receiver. The wireless power transmitter has a USB plug that is inserted into a USB port of the adaptive power source. The wireless power transmitter sends a power control command to the adaptive power source across the USB connector. The power control command determines the supply voltage to be supplied to the wireless power transmitter. If the wireless power receiver determines the power level should be adjusted, then the wireless power receiver sends a wireless control communication to the wireless power transmitter. The wireless power transmitter reads the wireless control communication and sends a power control command to set the supply voltage to a desired level.

Adaptive power source for wireless power transmitter

A packaged device includes a first die, a second die, and specially spaced and positioned sets of package terminals. The first die includes a pulse-width modulator (PWM), a processor, a timer, high-side drivers, low-side drivers, and a fault protection circuit. The second die includes ultra-high voltage high-side drivers. In an ultra-high voltage application, the PWM and external circuitry together form a switching power supply that generates a high voltage. The high voltage powers external high-side transistors. The processor and timer control the ultra-high voltage high-side drivers, that in turn supply drive signals to the external high-side transistors through the package terminals. External low-side transistors are driven directly by low-side drivers of the first die. If the fault protection circuit detects an excessive current, then the fault protection circuit supplies a disable signal to high-side and low-side drivers of both dice. The disable signal is generated without execution of processor instructions.

Power management multi-chip module with separate high-side driver integrated circuit die

A power supply system includes an Offline Total Power Management Integrated Circuit (OTPMIC). The OTPMIC controls a Power Factor Correction (PFC) converter, a main AC/DC converter, and a standby AC/DC converter. A PFC Autodetect circuit in the OTPMIC monitors current flow in the PFC converter. If a high power condition is detected, then the PFC Autodetect circuit enables the PFC converter. The high power condition may be a voltage drop across a current sense resistor of a predetermined voltage for a predetermined time, within one half period of the incoming AC supply voltage. If a low power condition is detected, then the PFC Autodetect circuit disables the PFC converter. The PFC Autodetect circuit stores an IMON value that determines the predetermined voltage, and a TMON value that determines the predetermined time. The IMON and TMON values are loaded into the Autodetect circuit across an optocoupler link of the standby converter.

Power factor correction autodetect

An LED lamp with an integrated circuit, a rectifier, and a string of series-connected LEDs rectifies an incoming AC signal. The integrated circuit includes power switches that can separately and selectably short out a corresponding one of several groups of LEDs in an LED string across which the rectified AC signal is present. As the voltage across the string increases, the integrated circuit controls the power switches to increase the number of LEDs through which current flows, whereas as the voltage across the string decreases the integrated circuit controls the power switches to decrease the number of LEDs through which current flows. The flow of LED string current is broken to reduce flicker. Alternatively, a valley fill capacitor peaks LED current during the valleys of the incoming AC signal to reduce flicker. LED current is regulated to provide superior efficiency, reliability, power-factor correction, and lamp over-voltage, -current, and -temperature protection.

Reduced flicker AC LED lamp with separately shortable sections of an LED string

A Multi-Tile Power Management Integrated Circuit (MTPMIC) includes tiles including an MCU/ADC tile and a power manager tile. The power manager tile includes a hibernate circuit and a set of Configurable Switching Power Supply Pulse Width Modulator (CSPSPWM) components. The CSPSPWM, in combination with other circuitry external to the integrated circuit, form a switching power supply. The hibernate circuit is operable in a hibernate mode where the CSPSPWM is disabled and the switching power supply no longer generates a supply voltage. A processor in the MCU/ADC tile writes across a standardized bus to configure the hibernate circuit to wake up after a timer determines a configurable amount of time has lapsed, or to wake up in response to a signal present on a terminal of MTPMIC. The processor enables the hibernate mode causing the switching power supply to no longer provide power to the processor and other circuitry of MTPMIC.

System and method for powering a timer using a low current linear regulator during hibernate mode while disabling a switching power supply associated with powering a processor responsible for setting a hibernate enable bit

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Fremont, CA, United States of America

Steven Huynh