The following NRI patent assets have been sold over multiple transactions to third party purchasers.
Molecular Electronics: Nanoelectronic, Carbon Nanotube, Graphene Nanoribbons, and Printed Electronic Analog Circuits
Many nanoscale electrical sensors, actuators, and transducers operate in an electrically linear fashion, while almost all multi-transistor nanoscale circuits developed and explored in the literature are digital. Further, most multi-transistor nanoscale circuits employ a single nanotube for each transistor, an unscalable situation that is difficult to fabricate. NRI’s work shows how to make differential amplifiers, and from these operation amplifier circuits, all on a single carbon/graphene nanotube or nanoribbon, by using a novel “chain-leapfrog” circuit design technique. It is shown that standard differential amplifier and operation amplifier circuit configurations are naturally implementable with this technique. Part of the “chain-leapfrog” technique involves fully-nanoscale single (FET) nano-transistor constant-current sources at power-supply nodes, which allows for “sewing” alternating positive and negative power supply rails across a single carbon/graphene nanotube or nanoribbon and consecutively interconnected transistors (“chaining) with other interconnection paths among metalized pads (“leap-frogging”). Accordingly, a single carbon/graphene nanotube or nanoribbon can be draped over a metalized pad contact array to make operational amplifiers, comparators, and even A/D and D/A converters. The same technique can be used with printed semiconductor electronics on a far larger physical scale. CAD-based design tools and circuit library systems can be developed that automate and institutionalize contact-array configurations and the “chain-leapfrog” circuit topology technique. Optoelectronic properties of carbon/graphene nanotubes and nanoribbons were also included in this work.
NRI’s original work with different amplifiers was done in 2007 and included explicit designs for fully-nanoscale single (FET) nano-transistor constant-current sources. Several years later Army ARL Technical Report ARL-TR-5151 “Differential Amplifier Circuits Based on Carbon Nanotube Field Effect Transistors (CNTFETs)” by M. Chin and S. Kilpatrick was published (April 2010) (available at www.arl.army.mil/arlreports/2010/ARL-TR-5151.pdf ). This Army ARL work did not employ an active constant-current source, using a resistor instead which limits performance (as stated in the report and a known property of any two-transistor differential amplifier).
NRI’s early patent work in the area of nanoelectronic differential amplifiers and related circuits implemented on a segment of a graphene nanoribbon was cited in the survey book “Fullerenes—Advances in Research and Application: 2013 Edition” (ISBN 1490100199, 9781490100197) pp.707-708.
NRI’s current R&D in Molecular Electronics is directed to other entirely new original approaches to molecular electronics and molecular devices. One of NRI’s new molecular electronics approaches appears to allow direct molecular signal interfacing with chemical magnetic, spintronic, photonic, and other quantum processes and phenomena.
Sold Patent Assets Pertaining to Molecular Transistor Circuits for Nanotube Sensors and Transducers
| Title | Patent Number | Application | Priority Dates | Text Only | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Molecular Transistor Driving of Nanoscale Actuators from Differential Amplifier Circuits Compatible with Carbon Nanotube Sensors and Transducers | 8,941,047 | 12/951,067 | 02/05/07 | Text | |
| Molecular Transistor Circuits Compatible with Carbon Nanotube Sensors and Transducers | 7,858,918 | 12/025,562 | 02/05/07 | Text |
Sold Patent Assets Pertaining to Nanoelectronic Differential Amplifier
| Title | Patent Number | Application | Priority Dates | Text Only | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nanoelectronic Differential Amplifiers and Related Circuits Implemented on a Segment of a Graphene Nanoribbon | 8,324,555 | 13/217,240 | 02/17/07 | Text | |
| Nanoelectronic Differential Amplifiers and Related Circuits Having Graphene Nanoribbons | 8,013,286 RE:44,469 | 12/948,107 RE:13/444,572 | 02/17/07 | Text | |
| Nanoelectronic Differential Amplifiers and Related Circuits Having Carbon Nanotubes, Graphene Nanoribbons, or Other Related Materials | 7,838,809 | 12/033,212 | 02/17/07 | Text |
Sold Patent Assets Pertaining to Nanoelectronic and Printed Electronic Operational Amplifiers
| Title | Patent Number | Application | Priority Dates | Text Only | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hierarchically-Modular Nanoelectronic Differential Amplifiers, Op Amps, and Associated Current Sources Utilizing Carbon Nanotubes, Graphene Nanoribbons, Printed Electronics, Polymer Semiconductors, or Other Related Materials | 8,522,184 | 13/114,833 | 05/26/10 | Text |
Sold Patent Assets Pertaining to Nanoelectronic and Printed Electronic Chain/Leapfrog Circuit Topologies and CAD Tools
| Title | Patent Number | Application | Priority Dates | Text Only | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chain/Leapfrog Circuit Topologies and Tools for Carbon Nanotube/Graphene Nanoribbon Nanoelectronics, Printed Electronics, Polymer Electronics, and Their Confluences | 8,671,370 | 12/791,040 | 6/1/2009 | Text |
Advanced Signal Processing: Frequency Comparators and “Through-Zero” Pulse-Width Modulation
NRI paused its R&D in these two interesting related original innovation topics in 2005 and 2007, but the structures and properties of these unusual dynamical signals and systems remains extremely interesting and appears to have a great deal more to offer and contribute to the body of signal and system methods. NRI plans to return to further study, creation, and development of this technology and its theory in the future.
At present, continues active R&D in other areas of advanced signal processing continues active R&D in other areas of advanced signal processing, for example hysteresis processing/synthesis/compensation and audio signal encoding/decoding based on (non-wavelet) Hilbert space eigenfunction models of human auditory perception (similar to but fundamentally differing from the Slepian Prolate Spheroidal Wave Function signal theory).
Sold Patent Assets Pertaining to Advanced Simplified Frequency Comparator Employing Symbol Dynamics
| Title | Patent Number | Application | Priority Dates | Text Only | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pulse Signal Waveform Asymmetry Identification Utilizing Symbolic Dynamics | 8,565,355 | 13/004,020 | 8/10/2005 | Text | |
| Frequency Comparator Utilizing Enveloping-Event Detection Via Symbolic Dynamics of Fixed or Modulated Waveforms | 7,873,130 | 11/463,557 | 8/10/2005 | Text |
Sold Patent Assets Pertaining to “Through-Zero” Pulse-Width Modulation
| Title | Patent Number | Application | Priority Dates | Text Only | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Through-Zero Pulse-Width Modulation Process with Period-Average-Zero | 8,531,251 | 12/941,379 | 06/24/07 08/11/07 | Text | |
| Variable Pulse-Width Modulation with Zero Constant DC Component in Each Period | 7,830,219 | 12/144,480 | 06/24/07 08/11/07 | Text |
(Additionally the purchaser subsequently filed two U.S. continuation patent applications from these, one becoming U.S. Patent 9,417,716 and the other now-pending U.S. Patent Application 15/209,188.)
Advanced Features for Common User Interfaces: Methods and Hardware
Sold Patent Assets Pertaining to Multiple-Cursor User Interfaces
| Title | Patent Number | Application | Priority Dates | Text Only | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electronic Document Editing Employing Multiple Cursors | 7,620,915 | 10/779,368 | 2/13/2004 | Text |
Sold Patent Assets Pertaining to Advanced Mice and Trackball User Interfaces
| Title | Patent Number | Application | Priority Dates | Text Only | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| User Interface Device, Such as a Mouse or Trackball, with a High-Dimension Joystick Providing At Least Three Independently Adjustable Parameters | Pending at sale | 13/025,129 | 2/13/2004 | Text | |
| User Interface Device, Such as a Mouse, With a Plurality of Scroll Wheels | Pending at sale | 13/024,569 | 2/13/2004 | Text | |
| User Interface Mouse with Touchpad Responsive to Gestures and Multi-Touch | Pending at sale | 12/619,678 | 2/13/2004 | Text | |
| Electronic Document Editing Employing Multiple Cursors | Pending at sale | 12/618,698 | 2/13/2004 | Text | |
| Mouse-Based User Interface Device Employing User-Removable Modules | 8,816,956 | 11/008,892 | 2/13/2004 | Text | |
| Mouse-Based User Interface Device Providing Multiple Parameters and Modalities | 7,557,797 | 10/997,650 | 2/13/2004 | Text | |
| Extended Parameter-Set Mouse-Based User Interface Device Offering Offset, Warping, And Mixed-Reference Features | Pending at sale | 10/997,097 | 2/13/2004 | Text | |
| Freely Rotating Trackball Providing Additional Control Parameter Modalities | Pending at sale | 10/806,694 | 2/13/2004 | Text |