US Patent No: 5,955,894

Number of patents in Portfolio can not be more than 2000

Method for controlling the impedance of a driver circuit

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ATTORNEY / AGENT: (SPONSORED)
 

Importance

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Abstract

A method for controlling the impedance of drivers controls the output impedance of drivers by coupling the drivers to a impedance control circuit. Accordingly, a desired driver output impedance can advantageously be established and maintained over a wide range of variations in operating conditions and manufacturing processes. Thereby shortening the signal settling time and increasing the attainable signaling frequency.

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First Claim

Related Publications

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Patent Owner(s)

Patent OwnerAddressTotal Patents
SUN MICROSYSTEMS, INC.SANTA CLARA, CA9089

International Classification(s)

  • [Classification Symbol]
  • [Patents Count]

Inventor(s)

Inventor Name Address # of filed Patents Total Citations
Starr, Jonathan E Cupertino, CA 26 399
Taylor, Alexander D Cupertino, CA 18 351
Vishwanthaiah, Sai V Sunnyvale, CA 13 300

Cited Art

Patent Info (Count) # Cites Year
 
ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES, INC. (2)
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4,804,871 Bit-line isolated, CMOS sense amplifier 51 1987
 
FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR, INC. (2)
4,831,287 Latching sense amplifier 45 1988
5,162,672 Data processor having an output terminal with selectable output impedances 61 1990
 
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION (2)
5,666,078 Programmable impedance output driver 113 1996
5,789,937 Impedence self-adjusting driver circuit 15 1996
 
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED (2)
4,845,675 High-speed data latch with zero data hold time 60 1988
4,959,563 Adjustable low noise output circuit 39 1988
 
AT&T Bell Laboratories (1)
5,194,765 Digitally controlled element sizing 199 1991
 
BULL S.A. (1)
5,596,285 Impedance adaptation process and device for a transmitter and/or receiver, integrated circuit and transmission system 60 1994
 
CREDENCE SYSTEMS CORPORATION (1)
4,707,620 Adjustable impedance driver network 65 1986
 
CYPRESS SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION (1)
5,852,579 Method and circuit for preventing and/or inhibiting contention in a system employing a random access memory 30 1997
 
DEUTSCHE THOMSON-BRANDT GMBH (1)
5,821,768 Receiver circuit with constant input impedance 9 1996
 
FUJITSU LIMITED (1)
5,615,161 Clocked sense amplifier with positive source feedback 41 1996
 
GTE LABORATORIES INCORPORATED (1)
4,859,877 Bidirectional digital signal transmission system 130 1988
 
HITACHI, LTD. (1)
4,719,369 Output circuit having transistor monitor for matching output impedance to load impedance 172 1986
 
INTEGRATED DEVICE TECHNOLOGY, INC. (1)
5,828,233 Mixed mode CMOS input buffer with bus hold 10 1996
 
INTEL CORPORATION (1)
5,528,168 Power saving terminated bus 37 1995
 
KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA (1)
4,931,675 Semiconductor sense amplifier 21 1986
 
MILAN JANKOVIC (1)
5,134,311 Self-adjusting impedance matching driver 292 1990
 
MITSUBISHI DENKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA (1)
5,371,420 Output circuit having reduced switching noise 41 1993
 
NEC CORPORATION (1)
4,937,479 Data latch circuit with improved data write control function 20 1989
 
NEC ELECTRONICS CORPORATION (1)
4,743,784 Sense amplifier circuit 27 1986
 
RENESAS ELECTRONICS CORPORATION (1)
5,644,252 Driver for interfacing integrated circuits to transmission lines 24 1996
 
SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. (1)
5,245,883 Integral type reduction mechanism for tape recorder 2 1991
 
SAMSUNG SEMICONDUCTOR AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS, LTD. ("SST") (1)
4,855,628 Sense amplifier for high performance dram 47 1987
 
SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC (1)
4,948,991 Load controlled ECL transient driver 19 1988
 
SONY ELECTRONICS INC. (1)
5,457,407 Binary weighted reference circuit for a variable impedance output buffer 158 1994
 
VESSELINA KAPLINSKY MARITAL TRUST DATED NOVEMBER 11, 1999, THE (1)
5,726,583 Programmable dynamic line-termination circuit 83 1996

Patent Citation Ranking

Forward Cites

Patent Info (Count) # Cites Year
 
SUN MICROSYSTEMS, INC. (12)
6,323,672 Apparatus for reducing reflections when using dynamic termination logic signaling 1 1999
6,323,673 Apparatus for dynamic termination logic signaling 5 1999
6,232,792 Terminating transmission lines using on-chip terminator circuitry 29 1999
6,275,062 Termination of transmission lines using simultaneously enabled pull-up and pull-down circuits 5 1999
6,535,945 Method and apparatus for programmable adjustment of computer system bus parameters 14 1999
7,254,599 Average code generation circuit 1 2002
7,117,382 Variably controlled delay line for read data capture timing window 3 2002
7,053,677 Input/output device having linearized output response 3 2002
6,906,561 Cascode stage input/output device 2 2002
6,700,418 Output driver having dynamic impedance control 11 2002
6,600,348 Input/output device having dynamic delay 2 2002
6,784,690 Circuit and method for dynamically controlling the impedance of an input/output driver 2 2002
 
INTEL CORPORATION (6)
6,326,802 On-die adaptive arrangements for continuous process, voltage and temperature compensation 22 1999
6,347,850 Programmable buffer circuit 13 1999
6,369,605 Self-terminated driver to prevent signal reflections of transmissions between electronic devices 61 2000
6,747,474 Integrated circuit stubs in a point-to-point system 7 2001
6,573,747 Digital update scheme for adaptive impedance control of on-die input/output circuits 35 2001
6,756,810 Apparatus and method to provide a single reference component for multiple circuit compensation using digital impedance code shifting 9 2003
 
ALTERA CORPORATION (4)
7,239,171 Techniques for providing multiple termination impedance values to pins on an integrated circuit 9 2004
7,176,710 Dynamically adjustable termination impedance control techniques 0 2005
7,679,397 Techniques for precision biasing output driver for a calibrated on-chip termination circuit 1 2005
7,109,744 Programmable termination with DC voltage level control 9 2005
 
IP-FIRST, LLC (3)
6,998,875 Output driver impedance controller 3 2003
6,985,008 Apparatus and method for precisely controlling termination impedance 2 2003
6,949,949 Apparatus and method for adjusting the impedance of an output driver 5 2003
 
HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P. (2)
7,057,415 Output buffer compensation control 3 2003
7,248,636 Systems and methods for adjusting an output driver 4 2004
 
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION (2)
6,922,074 ASIC architecture for active-compensation of a programmable impedance I/O 5 2002
7,081,842 Electronic component value trimming systems 6 2004
 
MOSAID TECHNOLOGIES INCORPORATED (2)
7,834,654 Dynamic impedance control for input/output buffers 1 2008
8,035,413 Dynamic impedance control for input/output buffers 0 2010
 
SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. (2)
6,525,558 Programmable impedance control circuit 40 2001
6,556,038 Impedance updating apparatus of termination circuit and impedance updating method thereof 9 2001
 
VITESSE SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION (2)
6,566,904 Pad calibration circuit with on-chip resistor 11 2001
7,817,674 Output clock adjustment for a digital I/O between physical layer device and media access controller 0 2004
 
ATI TECHNOLOGIES ULC (1)
6,541,996 Dynamic impedance compensation circuit and method 39 1999
 
AVAGO TECHNOLOGIES GENERAL IP (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD. (1)
6,509,757 Binary weighted thermometer code for PVT controlled output drivers 20 2001
 
FUJITSU SEMICONDUCTOR LIMITED (1)
7,952,381 Semiconductor device 0 2010
 
HITACHI, LTD. (1)
6,049,221 Semiconductor integrated circuit system having function of automatically adjusting output resistance value 21 1998
 
IXYS CH GMBH (1)
6,255,902 Switch amplifier circuit 4 2000
 
KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA (1)
6,919,738 Output buffer circuit, memory chip, and semiconductor device having a circuit for controlling buffer size 11 2002
 
QIMONDA AG (1)
6,958,626 Off chip driver 2 2003
 
RENESAS TECHNOLOGY CORP. (1)
6,777,976 Interface circuit and semiconductor device with the same 11 2002
 
VIA TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (1)
6,084,425 Apparatus for adjusting impedance of controlling chip on a computer mainboard 5 1998