The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 15, 2002
Filed:
Jun. 28, 1996
Rodney Drake, Phoenix, AZ (US);
Brian Boles, Mesa, AZ (US);
Microchip Technology Incorporated, Chandler, AZ (US);
Abstract
A device including a microcontroller fabricated on a semiconductor chip is used to control an LCD display of an external system intended to be controlled by the microcontroller. The microcontroller enters a sleep state in which it operates in a battery power conservation mode during periods of time when functional activity of the microcontroller is reduced. The microcontroller awakens from the sleep state for resumption of activity when such a period ends. Timing to the LCD is decoupled from the microcontroller's own internal clock when the independent internal on-chip clock, which may be an RC oscillator, is selected by the user of the device. This allows the chip to continue to drive the LCD display even though the microcontroller's internal clock has stopped during the sleep.