Mechanisms for controlling a commercial transaction is presented. An article of manufacture has a time cell that is read by an electronic apparatus. In response to a determination of a state of the time cell by the electronic apparatus, usage of the article of manufacture in a commercial transaction is enabled or denied based on the determined state of the time cell. The expiration period of a time cell controls the time period during which the commercial transaction is enabled or is denied to be performed; an unexpired time cell may both enable or deny performance of a commercial transaction, and an expired time cell may also both enable or deny performance of a commercial transaction. The time cell may be used to restrict the usage period of a coupon, a promotional offer, a pre-paid service, or some other commercial transaction that involves an article of manufacture.

A Time to Digital converter (TDC) may have a Vernier architecture of multiple successive modules arranged in series. Each of the modules may output an indication of a differential in phase between two received signals. Each module may include two signal lines for the received signals, and it may be desirable to calibrate the two signal lines. To this end, a signal output from a proceeding module may be provided to both signal lines of a succeeding module and used as a reference or calibration signal to calibrate the two signal lines of the module.

A method is disclosed for detecting power interruption duration of an electronic device. The method can include establishing a curve model of linearly synthesized values of temperature sensor readings versus time; after power-on, acquiring each of the initial temperature values by respective temperature sensors mounted on the electronic device, and transmitting the temperature initial values to a microprocessor; calculating a linearly synthesized value of the temperature sensor readings of the electronic device according to a power-on duration for this time and a stored curve model, and storing the linearly synthesized value of the temperature sensor readings as a basis for calculating the power interruption duration thereafter. When the electronic device is powered on again after power interruption, a linearly synthesized value of the temperature sensor readings according to the power-on time for this time can be calculated, and used for calculating the power interruption duration thereafter.

A magnetic levitation timing device for levitating a marker or suspending the marker away from the device has a housing having an outer portion and a lower portion. An electromagnetic force driving configuration can move or rotate the marker at a constant or variable speed on, about or around the outer portion of the housing.

An EEPROM memory cell includes a dual-gate MOS transistor in which the two gates are separated by an insulation layer. The insulation layer includes a first portion and a second portion having lower insulation properties than the first one. The second portion is located at least partially above a channel region of the transistor.

An EEPROM memory cell includes a dual-gate MOS transistor in which the two gates are separated by an insulation layer. The insulation layer includes a first portion and a second portion having lower insulation properties than the first one. The second portion is located at least partially above a channel region of the transistor.

Methods and systems for determining the passing time of a moving transponder passing a detection antenna of a base station are described wherein the method comprises: during said passing exchanging a sequence of first signals between a first transponder coil and said detection antenna and a sequence of second signals between a second transponder coil and the detection coil; associating said first and/or second signals with time instances indicating the time when said first and/or second signals are exchanged between said transponder and said base station; and, determining the passing time of said transponder on the basis of the signal strengths of said first and second signals and said time instances.

Methods and systems for determining the passing time of a moving transponder passing a detection antenna of a base station are described wherein the method comprises: during said passing exchanging a sequence of first signals between a first transponder coil and said detection antenna and a sequence of second signals between a second transponder coil and the detection coil; associating said first and/or second signals with time instances indicating the time when said first and/or second signals are exchanged between said transponder and said base station; and, determining the passing time of said transponder on the basis of the signal strengths of said first and second signals and said time instances.

A timer module including a timer and a compensation circuit coupled to the timer is provided. The timer measures time over a first monitoring period. The timer includes a floating-gate and an energy barrier. The floating-gate stores electrons and has an initial state and a measured state. The measured state includes a current time and a current floating-gate voltage. The energy barrier is positioned adjacent the floating-gate and leaks electrons from an ambient environment of the timer to the floating-gate at a predetermined leakage rate using Fowler-Nordheim (FN) tunneling. The compensation circuit selectably adjusts the first monitoring period to facilitate improved robustness of the timer with respect to fabrication mismatch due to the self-compensating dynamics of FN tunneling.

A timer module including a timer and a compensation circuit coupled to the timer is provided. The timer measures time over a first monitoring period. The timer includes a floating-gate and an energy barrier. The floating-gate stores electrons and has an initial state and a measured state. The measured state includes a current time and a current floating-gate voltage. The energy barrier is positioned adjacent the floating-gate and leaks electrons from an ambient environment of the timer to the floating-gate at a predetermined leakage rate using Fowler-Nordheim (FN) tunneling. The compensation circuit selectably adjusts the first monitoring period to facilitate improved robustness of the timer with respect to fabrication mismatch due to the self-compensating dynamics of FN tunneling.