Abstract:
A variety of techniques for concealing the content of a communication between a client device, such as a cell phone or laptop, and a network or cloud of media nodes are disclosed. Among the techniques are routing data packets in the communication to different gateway nodes in the cloud, sending the packets over different physical media, such as an Ethernet cable or WiFi channel, and disguising the packets by giving them different source addressees. Also disclosed are a technique for muting certain participants in a conference call and a highly secure method of storing data files.
Abstract:
A rigid-flex PCB includes an array of rigid PCB "islands" interconnected by a flexible PCB formed into flexible connectors. The conductive and insulating layers of the flexible PCB extend into the rigid PCBs, giving the electrical connections to the rigid PCBs added resistance to breakage as the rigid-flex PCB is repeatedly stressed by bending and twisting forces. In addition, the durability of the rigid-flex PCB is enhanced by making the power and signal lines driving the rigid PCBs redundant so that a breakage of a line will not necessarily affect the operation of the rigid PC B to which it is attached. The rigid-flex PCB is particularly applicable to light, pads used in phototherapy, wherein LEDs mounted on the rigid-PCBs are powered and controlled through the redundant lines in the flexible PCB.
Abstract:
In a secure cloud for transmitting packets of digital data, the packets may be repeatedly scrambled (i.e., their data segments reordered) and then unscrambled, split and then mixed, and/or encrypted and then decrypted as they pass through media nodes in the cloud. The methods used to scramble, split, mix and encrypt the packets may be varied in accordance with a state such as time, thereby making the task of a hacker virtually impossible inasmuch as he or she may be viewing only a fragment of a packet and the methods used to disguise the data are constantly changing.
Abstract:
A power package includes a heat tab extending from a die pad exposed on the underside of the package, which facilitates the removal of heat from the die to the PCB or other surface on which the package is mounted. The heat tab has a bottom surface coplanar with the flat bottom surface of the die pad and bottom surface of a lead. The lead includes a horizontal foot segment, a vertical columnar segment, and a horizontal cantilever segment facing the die pad. The heat tab may also have a foot. A die containing a power device is mounted on a top surface of the die pad and may be electrically connected to the lead using a bonding wire or clip. The die may be mounted on the die pad with an electrically conductive material, and the package may also include a lead that extends from the die pad and is thus electrically tied to die bottom of the die. The result is a package with a minimal footprint that is suitable for the technique known as "wave soldering" that is used in relatively low-cost printed circuit board assembly factories. Methods of fabricating the package are disclosed.
Abstract:
A system for controlling multiple strings of LEDs includes a group of LED driver ICs, each of which includes a current sense feedback (CS FB) sample latch for storing a digital representation of the forward-vohage drop across a controlled LED string. Each CSFB latch is coupled to a register within a serial lighting interface (SLI) bus that both originates and terminates at an interface IC. As the data on the SLI bus is shifted into the interface IC, the interface iC selects the CSFB word that represents the highest forward- voltage drop of any of the controlled LED strings, which is then used by the interface IC to generate a CSFB signal for setting the appropriate supply voltage for the controlled LED strings.
Abstract:
A semiconductor die is solder bump-bonded to a leadframe or circuit board using solder balls having cores made of a material with a melting temperature higher than the melting temperature of the solder to ensure that in the finished structure the die is parallel to the leadframe or circuit hoard.
Abstract:
Thermal transfer from a silicon^m-insulator (SOI) die is improved by mounting the die in a bump-on-Iead.frame manner in a semiconductor package, with solder or other metal bumps connecting the active layer of the SOI die to metal leads used to mount the package on a printed circuit board or other support structure.
Abstract:
A DC/DC voltage converter includes an inductive switching voltage regulator and a capacitive charge pump connected in series between the input and output terminals of the converter. The charge pump has a second input terminal connected to the input terminal of the converter. This reduces the series resistance in the current path by which charge is transferred from the capacitor in the charge pump to the output capacitor and thereby improves the ability of the converter to respond to rapid changes in current required by the load.
Abstract:
Isolated transistors formed in a semiconductor substrate include a submerged floor isolation region and a filled trench extending downward from the surface of the substrate to the floor isolation region. Together the floor isolation region and the filled trench form an isolated pocket of the substrate. In alternative embodiments a doped sidewall region extends downward from the bottom of the trench to the floor isolation region. The substrate does not contain an epitaxial layer, thereby overcoming the many problems associated with fabricating the same.
Abstract:
Isolated transistors formed in a semiconductor substrate include a submerged floor isolation region and a filled trench extending downward from the surface of the substrate to the floor isolation region. Together the floor isolation region and the filled trench form an isolated pocket of the substrate. In alternative embodiments a doped sidewall region extends downward from the bottom of the trench to the floor isolation region. The substrate does not contain an epitaxial layer, thereby overcoming the many problems associated with fabricating the same.