US6181008B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Integrated circuit power supply
Assignee: Sarnoff Corp
•
Filing: 1999-06-08
•
Granted: 2001-01-30
•
Expires: 2019-06-08
Abstract
Abstract An integrated circuit system includes a substrate of an electrical insulating material having a surface. Mounted on the surface of the substrate is an IC, a semiconductor piece having therein a circuit, such as a microprocessor, having a plurality of functional blocks. Also mounted on the substrate are a plurality of power supply chips. Each of the power supply chips is connected through conductors and vias in the substrate to a separate functional block on the IC semiconductor piece. Each of the power supply chips forms part of a circuit, such as a DC-DC converter, which is capable of reducing a voltage supplied thereto to a lower voltage suitable for the particular functional block to which the particular power supply chip is connected. Thus, a single relatively large voltage fed to the power supply chips through conductors on the substrate is reduced by each power supply chip to a lower voltage suitable for the particular functional block of the IC semiconductor piece.
Inventors
- 👤 Leslie Ronald Avery
- 👤 Robert Amantea
- 👤 Lawrence Alan Goodman
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 23:13
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10W; H10W90/00; H10W72/00; H10W72/20; H10W72/50; H10W70/00; H10W70/60; H10W70/62; H10W70/63; H10W70/67; H10W70/68; H10W70/682; H10W90/701; H10W90/721; H10W90/724; H10W90/751; H10W90/754
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 21
Claim 1
Independent Claim
93 words
An integrated circuit system comprising: a substrate of an insulating material having a surface; an IC semiconductor piece mounted on said substrate surface, said IC piece including an electrical circuit having a plurality of functional blocks; and a plurality of power supply chips mounted on said substrate, each of said power supply chips being electrically connected to a separate functional block of said IC piece and being capable of reducing the input voltage to a lower voltage required by the functional block of the circuit to which the power supply chip is connected.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
93 words
An integrated circuit system comprising: a substrate of an insulating material having a surface; an IC semiconductor piece mounted on said substrate surface, said IC piece including an electrical circuit having a plurality of functional blocks; and a plurality of power supply chips mounted on said substrate, each of said power supply chips being electrically connected to a separate functional block of said IC piece and being capable of reducing the input voltage to a lower voltage required by the functional block of the circuit to which the power supply chip is connected.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
51 words
The integrated circuit system of claim 1 in which the substrate includes a plurality of electrical conductors extending therethrough, said power supply chips and the IC piece being electrically connected to the conductors in the substrate to electrically connect the power supply chips to the functional blocks of the IC piece.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
50 words
The integrated circuit system of claim 2 in which the substrate comprises a body made from multiple layers of insulating material, the conductors are deposited on each of the multiple layers and vias of a conductive material connect the conductors through the insulating layers to the surface of the body.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
50 words
The integrated circuit system of claim 3 in which the IC semiconductor piece has a plurality of contacts on a surface thereof with the contacts being seated on and engaging the vias in the substrate at the surface of the substrate, or a conductor on the surface of the substrate.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
61 words
The integrated circuit system of claim 4 in which the body of the substrate has a plurality of recesses in its top surface with conductors being exposed in each recess, the power supply chips are seated in the recesses and are electrically connected to the conductors so as to be electrically connected to the IC piece through the conductors and vias.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
32 words
The integrated circuit system of claim 3 in which the body of the substrate contains regions of a magnetic material with conductors in or surrounding the magnetic material to form embedded inductors.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
40 words
The integrated circuit system of claim 6 in which capacitors are embedded in the multiple insulating layers by screen printing a capacitor ink on an insulating layer and screen printing a conductor ink above and below the capacitor ink layer.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
31 words
The integrated circuit system of claim 2 in which a housing surrounds and encloses the IC piece and the substrate, the housing having heat conducting capabilities to cool the IC piece.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
36 words
The integrated circuit system of claim 8 in which the housing includes a heat dissipating plate on which the substrate is mounted, said heat dissipation plate being of thermally conductive material and having fins extending therefrom.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
46 words
The integrated circuit system of claim 8 in which the housing further comprises a cover extending over the IC chip and having cooling means, and means to secure the cover to the substrate so as to enclose the IC piece between the cover and the substrate.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
26 words
The integrated circuit system of claim 1 including capacitors on the substrate, IC piece and/or the power supply chip electrically connected to the various circuits thereon.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
27 words
The integrated circuit system of claim 1 including inductors on the substrate, IC piece and/or the power supply chips and electrically connected to the various circuits thereon.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
25 words
The integrated circuit system of claim 1 further including voltage feedback means connected between the circuit on the IC piece and the power supply chip.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
24 words
An integrated circuit system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of power supply chips are formed as a single chip on a silicon substrate.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
28 words
The integrated circuit system of claim 14 wherein the single silicon chip containing the multiple power supply chips further containing I/O circuits of the said integrated circuit system.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
35 words
The integrated circuit system of claim 15 wherein the I/O circuits are also capable of voltage level translation between the IC piece operating at low voltage and the external circuitry operating at a higher voltage.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
32 words
The integrated circuit system of claim 1 wherein sections of the power supply chips may be combined and formed in a common silicon chip and other sections are formed in separate chips.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
30 words
The integrated circuit system of claim 2 wherein certain connections between the IC piece and the power supply chips may be made by direct connection without connecting through the substrate.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
73 words
An integrated circuit system comprising: an IC semiconductor piece containing an electrical circuit having a plurality of functional blocks; and a plurality of power supply circuit chips on said semiconductor piece, each of said power supply circuit chips connected to a separate functional block and being capable of reducing an input voltage to a lower voltage required by the functional block of the circuit to which the power supply circuit chip is connected.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
73 words
An integrated circuit system comprising: an IC semiconductor piece containing an electrical circuit having a plurality of functional blocks; and a plurality of power supply circuit chips on said semiconductor piece, each of said power supply circuit chips connected to a separate functional block and being capable of reducing an input voltage to a lower voltage required by the functional block of the circuit to which the power supply circuit chip is connected.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2004-01-30 | 2004-07-31 | 2005-01-30 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2008-01-30 | 2008-07-31 | 2009-01-30 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2012-01-30 | 2012-07-31 | 2013-01-30 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |