IP Library Granted Patent US 9,842,628
Granted Patent B2
US 9,842,628 · App. 12/170,526 · Granted Dec 12, 2017

Capacitor enablement voltage level adjustment method and apparatus

Inventors: Ronald H Sartore (Poway, CA); Yingnan Liu (San Diego, CA); Lane Hauck (San Diego, CA)
Assignee: AGIGA TECH INC.
G11C5/143G11C16/10G11C16/225G11C16/30
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,842,628
App. No.
12/170,526
Granted
Dec 12, 2017
Kind
B2
Abstract

An apparatus includes logic to determine a discharge drop of a capacitor and to adjust an enablement charge level of the capacitor according to the discharge drop.

Claims (20)

1. An apparatus comprising:

a controller;

at least one capacitor; and

at least one of non-transitory machine memory and circuits comprising logic accessible to the controller to:

measure a first voltage of the at least one capacitor prior to beginning use of the at least one capacitor for an operation that uses the at least one capacitor as a power source;

begin the operation, using the at least one capacitor as a power source;

conclude the operation and use of the at least one capacitor as a power source;

measure a second voltage of the at least one capacitor at the conclusion of the operation and conclusion of the use of the at least one capacitor as a power source; and

set an enablement voltage level for the at least one capacitor as a minimum operating voltage level for the at least one capacitor plus a difference between the second voltage and the first voltage, the enablement voltage level being a voltage level the at least one capacitor must charge to before the apparatus enables the at least one capacitor to be used as a power source for a memory backup operation.

2. A hybrid memory module, comprising:

a controller;

a volatile memory;

a non-volatile memory;

at least one capacitor; and

at least one of non-transitory machine memory and circuits comprising logic accessible to the controller to:

measure a first voltage of the at least one capacitor prior to beginning use of the at least one capacitor for an operation that uses the at least one capacitor as a power source;

begin the operation, using the at least one capacitor as a power source;

conclude the operation and use of the at least one capacitor as a power source;

measure a second voltage of the at least one capacitor at the conclusion of the operation and conclusion of the use of the at least one capacitor as a power source; and

set an enablement voltage level for the at least one capacitor for use as a power source to back up contents of the volatile memory to the non-volatile memory, the enablement voltage level set as a minimum operating voltage level for the at least one capacitor plus a difference between the second voltage and the first voltage, the enablement voltage level being a voltage level the at least one capacitor must charge to before the apparatus enables the at least one capacitor to be used as a power source for backing up the contents of the volatile memory to the non-volatile memory.

Assignments (2)
MERGER Recorded Apr 23, 2025
From: AGIGA TECH, INC.
To: CYPRESS SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 070926/0472 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 10, 2008
From: SARTORE, RONALD H.; LIU, YINGNAN; HAUCK, LANE
To: AGIGA TECH INC.
Reel/Frame 021226/0262 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20100008174A1 · Jan 14, 2010