24484 results about "Voltage reference" patented technology

A DC converter and a mode-switching method used in an electronic apparatus are included. The electronic apparatus includes a subsystem circuit. The DC power converter comprises a first voltage converting circuit electrically connected to the subsystem circuit, receiving a system voltage and a first reference voltage, and converting the system voltage to a first output voltage based on the first reference voltage; and a second voltage converting circuit electrically connected to the subsystem circuit and receiving the system voltage and a second reference voltage, and converting the system voltage to a second output voltage to the same output end of the first voltage converting circuit based on the second reference voltage; wherein the second voltage converting circuit outputs the second output voltage to the subsystem circuit when the first output voltage at the output end is smaller than a threshold.

A touch surface device having improved sensitivity and dynamic range is disclosed. In one embodiment, the touch surface device includes a touch-sensitive panel having at least one sense node for providing an output signal indicative of a touch or no-touch condition on the panel; a compensation circuit, coupled to the at least one sense node, for generating a compensation signal that when summed with the output signal removes an undesired portion of the output signal so as to generated a compensated output signal; and an amplifier having an inverting input coupled to the output of the compensation circuit and a non-inverting input coupled to a known reference voltage.

The present invention is a method, circuit and system for determining a reference voltage to be used in reading cells programmed to a given program state. Some embodiments of the present invention relate to a system, method and circuit for establishing a set of operating reference cells to be used in operating (e.g. reading) cells in a NVM block or array. As part of the present invention, at least a subset of cells of the NVM block or array may be read and the number of cells found at a given state associated with the array may be compared to one or more check sum values obtained during programming of the at least a subset of cells. A Read Verify threshold reference voltage associated with the given program state or associated with an adjacent state may be adjusted based on the result of the comparison.

Methods, devices and computer readable code for reading data from one or more flash memory cells, and for recovering from read errors are disclosed. In some embodiments, in the event of an error correction failure by an error detection and correction module, the flash memory cells are re-read at least once using one or more modified reference voltages, for example, until a successful error correction may be carried out. In some embodiments, after successful error correction a subsequent read request is handled without re-writing data (for example, reliable values of the read data) to the flash memory cells in the interim. In some embodiments, reference voltages associated with a reading where errors are corrected may be stored in memory, and retrieved when responding to a subsequent read request. In some embodiments, the modified reference voltages are predetermined reference voltages. Alternatively or additionally, these modified reference voltages may be determined as needed, for example, using randomly generated values or in accordance with information provided by the error detection and correction module. Methods, devices and computer readable code for reading data for situations where there is no error correction failure are also provided.

A connection cable is disclosed for controlling a voltage-controlled generator such as an electrosurgery generator from a controlling device such as a robotic surgery system. The cable includes a first connector adapted to connect to a voltage-controlled generator and a second connector adapted to connect to a controlling device. Within the cable is a voltage divider interdisposed between the first connector and the second connector. The voltage divider is configured to divide a reference voltage provided by the voltage-controlled generator into at least one control voltage which is selectable by the controlling device. The cable additionally includes a plurality of electrical wires which operatively connect the first connector, the second connector and the voltage divider. During robotic electrosurgery, said operating parameters can be actuated by a surgeon operating at the robotic surgical system console, which causes a corresponding control voltage to be switched to a control voltage input on an electrosurgery generator, which, in turn, generates a corresponding electrosurgical signal in response thereto.

Provided is a bio-sensor system which utilizes radio frequency identification technology and which includes a remote transponder in wireless communication with an implantable on-chip transponder. A power supply collects alternating current voltage pulses from an electro-active polymer generator embedded in muscle tissue for generating power for the on-chip transponder. The power supply is specifically adapted to provide a stable and precise sensor reference voltage to a sensor assembly to enhance the accuracy of measurements of a physiological parameter of a patient. The remote transponder receives data representative of the physiological parameter such as glucose concentration levels. The data is processed and transmitted to the remote transponder by the on-chip transponder. The precision and stability of the sensor reference voltage is enhanced by the specific circuit architecture of a glucose sensor to allow for relatively accurate measurement of glucose concentration levels without the use of a microprocessor.

A charge control circuit for controlling a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) device having variable capacitor formed by first conductive plate and a second conductive plate separated by a variable gap distance. The charge control circuit comprises a switch circuit configured to receive a reference voltage having a selected voltage level and configured to respond to an enable signal having a duration at least as long as an electrical time constant constant of the MEMS device, but shorter than a mechanical time constant of the MEMS device, to apply the selected voltage level across the first and second plates for the duration to thereby cause a stored charge having a desired magnitude to accumulate on the variable capacitor, wherein the variable gap distance is a function of the magnitude of the stored charge.

A light emitting diode (LED) lighting system includes a PFC and output voltage controller and a LED lighting power system. The controller advantageously operates from an auxiliary voltage less than a link voltage generated by the LED lighting power system. The common reference voltage allows all the components of lighting system to work together. A power factor correction switch and an LED drive current switch are coupled to the common reference node and have control node-to-common node, absolute voltage that allows the controller to control the conductivity of the switches. The LED lighting system can utilize feed forward control to concurrently modify power demand by the LED lighting power system and power demand of one or more LEDs. The LED lighting system can utilize a common current sense device to provide a common feedback signal to the controller representing current in at least two of the LEDs.

Cells of a flash memory are read by determining respective adaptive reference voltages for the cells and comparing the cells' threshold voltages to their respective reference voltages. The adaptive reference voltages are determined either from analog measurements of the threshold voltages of the cells' neighbors or from preliminary estimates of the cells' threshold voltages based on comparisons of the cells' threshold voltages with integral or fractional reference voltages common to all the cells. Cells of a flash memory also are read by comparing the cells' threshold voltages to integral reference voltages, comparing the threshold voltages of cells that share a common bit pattern to a fractional reference voltage, and adjusting the reference voltages in accordance with the comparisons.

A capacitive sensor includes a switching capacitor circuit, a comparator, and a charge dissipation circuit. The switching capacitor circuit reciprocally couples a sensing capacitor in series with a modulation capacitor during a first switching phase and discharges the sensing capacitor during a second switching phase. The comparator is coupled to compare a voltage potential on the modulation capacitor to a reference and to generate a modulation signal in response. The charge dissipation circuit is coupled to the modulation capacitor to selectively discharge the modulation capacitor in response to the modulation signal.

A dual output buck-boost power converter operates with a single inductor to achieve high efficiency with automatic or inherent load balancing. Switches associated with the opposite polarity outputs are driven based on feedback signals, with one feedback signal being a reference voltage and another feedback signal being related to an opposite polarity output. The opposite polarity feedback signal is provided to a comparator with a reversed polarity to achieve a simple balanced control that maintains polarity outputs. The power converter delivers power to each output with each switching cycle and uses a single inductor to achieve high efficiency performance.

A touch surface device having improved sensitivity and dynamic range is disclosed. In one embodiment, the touch surface device includes a touch-sensitive panel having at least one sense node for providing an output signal indicative of a touch or no-touch condition on the panel; a compensation circuit, coupled to the at least one sense node, for generating a compensation signal that when summed with the output signal removes an undesired portion of the output signal so as to generated a compensated output signal; and an amplifier having an inverting input coupled to the output of the compensation circuit and a non-inverting input coupled to a known reference voltage.

A threshold voltage distribution of a set of storage elements in a memory device is measured by sweeping a control gate voltage while measuring a characteristic of the set of storage elements as a whole. The characteristic indicates how many of the storage elements meet a given condition, such as being in a conductive state. For example, the characteristic may be a combined current, voltage or capacitance of the set which is measured at a common source of the set. The control gate voltage can be generated internally within a memory die. Similarly, the threshold voltage distribution can be determined internally within the memory die. Optionally, storage elements which become conductive can be locked out, such as by changing a bit line voltage, so they no longer contribute to the characteristic. New read reference voltages are determined based on the threshold voltage distribution to reduce errors in future read operations.

A light-emitting element capable of emitting light having a preferred gradation level depending on display data. During a precharge period, a data driver applies a precharge voltage to a capacitor via a data line. After the application of the precharge voltage, a voltage converter reads a first reference voltage Vref(t1) and a second reference voltage Vref(t2) to generate a compensation voltage based on a difference between the respective reference voltages. Based on the compensation voltage, a voltage calculator compensates an original gradation level voltage Vorg having a value in accordance with display data generated by a gradation level voltage generator. The voltage calculator generates a compensated gradation level voltage Vpix corresponding to a variation amount of an element characteristic for a transistor Tr13 for driving light emission to apply the compensated gradation level voltage Vpix to a data line Ld.

An organic light-emitting diode display device includes a first switch element turned-on in response to a first scanning signal during a first period to supply a data to a first node, and then maintaining an off-state during a second period, a driving device adjusting a current through an organic light-emitting diode element in accordance with a voltage of the first node; a reference voltage source providing a reference voltage that is capable of turning-off the driving device, a second switch element maintaining an off-state during the first period, and turned-on during the second period to supply the reference voltage to the first node, and a storage capacitor maintaining the voltage at the first node.

A system and a method provide a photovoltaic system which regenerates the output characteristics of the photovoltaic at different ambient condition with high precision under all environmental conditions. The photovoltaic system includes a photovoltaic array, a buck / boost converter, a DC link capacitor to connect the buck / booster converter to a load / inverter, an adaptive network-based fuzzy inference maximum power point tracking controller, a voltage control loop, a proportional integral controller to maintain the output voltage of the photovoltaic array to the reference voltage by adjusting the duty ratio of buck / boost converter.

Embodiments of the invention relate to a wireless physiological monitoring system. The system includes at least one wireless sensor and a monitoring device which are linked to one another of a wireless fashion for measuring physiological signals of a patient. The at least one wireless sensor is located on the patient and may comprise a wireless surface electrode assembly or a wireless needle assembly. The system may also comprise a wireless stimulator syncronized with the wireless sensor for performing certain diagnostic tests, such as nerve conduction velocity tests, for example. The wireless sensor preferably includes active, reference and common conductors. The common conductor can be used to measure the common mode voltage of the patient in the vicinity of the testing, and this voltage can then be subtracted from the measured active and reference voltages.

A light emitting diode (LED) lighting system includes a PFC and output voltage controller and a LED lighting power system. The controller advantageously operates from an auxiliary voltage less than a link voltage generated by the LED lighting power system. The common reference voltage allows all the components of lighting system to work together. A power factor correction switch and an LED drive current switch are coupled to the common reference node and have control node-to-common node, absolute voltage that allows the controller to control the conductivity of the switches. The LED lighting system can utilize feed forward control to concurrently modify power demand by the LED lighting power system and power demand of one or more LEDs. The LED lighting system can utilize a common current sense device to provide a common feedback signal to the controller representing current in at least two of the LEDs.

An OLED display device which can sense a current of each pixel at high speed by a simple structure in order to compensate for luminance non-uniformity and a pixel current sensing method thereof are discussed. The OLED display device includes a display panel including pixels, each including a light emitting element and a pixel circuit for independently driving the light emitting element, a data driver for driving a data line connected to the pixel circuit using a data voltage, floating one of the data line, a reference line for supplying a reference voltage to the pixel circuit, and a power line for supplying a power to the pixel circuit to use the floated line as a current sensing line, sensing a voltage corresponding to a pixel current of the pixel circuit flowing to the current sensing line, and outputting the sensing voltage, in a sensing mode.

A storage subsystem implements a background process for selecting voltage reference values to use for reading data from a non-volatile memory array, such as an array of multi-level cell (MLC) flash memory. The process involves performing background read operations using specific sets of voltage reference values while monitoring the resulting bit error counts. The selected voltage reference values for specific pages or other blocks of the array are stored in a table. Read operations requested by a host system are executed using the corresponding voltage reference values specified by the table.

The method is for regulating the supply voltage of a load via a switching voltage regulator having an inductor driven by at least a power switch for delivering current to an output capacitor having a certain parasitic series resistance, connected between the output node of the regulator and ground and to an electric load eventually connected in parallel to the output capacitor. The method includes establishing a reference voltage, generating a comparison signal as the sum of a first voltage signal proportional to the current circulating in the inductor and of a second voltage signal depending on the difference between the output voltage and the reference voltage and on the first voltage signal. The comparison signal is compared with at least a threshold for generating a logic signal that switches between an active state and an inactive state and viceversa each time that the threshold is crossed, and the turn on or the turn off of the switch is controlled as a function of the state of the logic signal.

A plurality of memory cells are managed by obtaining values of one or more environmental parameters of the cells and adjusting values of one or more reference voltages of the cells accordingly. Alternatively, a statistic of at least some of the cells, relative to a single reference parameter that corresponds to a control parameter of the cells, is measured, and the value of the reference voltage is adjusted accordingly. Examples of environmental parameters include program-erase cycle count, data retention time and temperature. Examples of reference voltages include read reference voltages and program verify reference voltages. Examples of statistics include the fraction of cells whose threshold voltages exceed initial lower bounds or initial medians.

Methods and apparatuses to design an Integrated Circuit (IC) with a shielding of wires. In at least one embodiment, a shielding mesh of at least two reference voltages (e.g., power and ground) is used to reduce both the capacitive coupling and the inductive coupling in routed signal wires in IC chips. In some embodiments, a type of shielding mesh (e.g., a shielding mesh with a window surrounded by a power ring, or a window with a parser set of shielding wires) is selected to make more routing area available in locally congested areas. In other embodiments, the shielding mesh is used to create or add bypass capacitance. Other embodiments are also disclosed.

Many electrical sensing devices include an array of transducer elements for converting external stimuli to electrical indications. Novel technologies to realize improvements in low power consumption, low noise, and analog output path which occupies minimal die area while maintaining certain data rates are disclosed. A two stage pipeline architecture of the invention in the analog output path maintains fast pixel rates with minimal ADC (analog digital converter) arrangement. A novel power supply and the use of differential amplifiers in connection with a black signal level as a reference voltage are also described.

An energy source isolation and protection circuit is provided for an electronic device, such as a patient-worn or patient-carried medical device. The isolation and protection circuit includes a supply voltage rail, a reference voltage rail, an electrical load coupled across the supply voltage rail and the reference voltage rail, and an energy source for supplying a voltage to the electrical load via the supply voltage rail and the reference voltage rail. The isolation and protection circuit also includes a voltage-controlled switch architecture that is configured to detach and electrically isolate the energy source from the electrical load (and from itself) in response to the voltage of the energy source falling below a threshold voltage. The voltage-controlled switch architecture is also designed to maintain the energy source in the detached and electrically isolated state in the absence of operating voltage provided by the energy source to the voltage-controlled switch architecture.

A dual output buck-boost power converter operates with a single inductor to achieve high efficiency with automatic or inherent load balancing. Switches associated with the opposite polarity outputs are driven based on feedback signals, with one feedback signal being a reference voltage and another feedback signal being related to an opposite polarity output. The opposite polarity feedback signal is provided to a comparator with a reversed polarity to achieve a simple balanced control that maintains polarity outputs. The power converter delivers power to each output with each switching cycle and uses a single inductor to achieve high efficiency performance.

A driving circuit in an organic electroluminescent device includes a gate driver unit for sequentially outputting a control signal to select gate lines in a luminescent array unit and a current driver unit for supplying picture data to a data lines in the luminescent array unit corresponding to the gate lines selected by the gate driver unit and selectively driving organic electroluminescent devices of the selected line. The driving circuit includes a minimum gray level judgment unit for determining whether the picture data is of a predetermined minimum gray level; and a switching unit for receiving a control signal according to the determination made by the minimum gray level judgment unit and for selectively supplying a reference voltage or a reference current to the selectively driven organic electroluminescent devices.

An N-phase switching voltage regulator includes N current sensing elements which carry respective phase currents. The voltages present at the switch node sides of the sensing elements are summed and presented to an amplifier which also receives the regulator's output voltage, to produce an output which is proportional to the regulator's total output current Iout. The invention also provides a means for direct insertion of total inductor output current information into a regulator's voltage-mode control loop, to provide active voltage positioning (AVP) for the output voltage. A voltage based on total inductor output current is summed with the regulator's reference voltage; this sum and Vout are applied to the voltage control error amplifier, the output of which is processed to operate the regulator's switches. This enables the regulator's output to have a desired droop impedance and to provide AVP of Vout as a function of total filtered inductor output current Iout(fltr).

A device having a switch with a voltage applied across the switch. A current sensing circuit is connected to one terminal of the switch. The current sensing circuit receives power independently of the voltage applied across the switch. The power supply shares the other terminal of the switch with the current sensing circuit. The switch is adapted for opening and closing. When the switch closes, the current sensing circuit senses current through the switch and upon opening the switch the high voltage of the switch is blocked from the current sensing circuit. The sense current is caused to flow from the current sensing circuit to the other terminal when the switch is closed. The flow of the sense current produces a voltage which is compared differentially to another voltage referenced by the other terminal