Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Panasonic Corporation

Hiroo Yamamoto

Shiro Sakiyama

Masayoshi Kinoshita

Jun Kajiwara

Tetsuji Gotou

Kazuyuki Nakanishi

Katsuji Satomi

Tsuguyasu Hatsuda

Katsuhiro Ootani

Toshiyuki Moriwaki

Akio Hirata

Miwa Ito

Akihito Katsura

A semiconductor integrated circuit which operates based on a power supply voltage output from a power supply device configured to generate a voltage of a magnitude in accordance with an analog control signal includes: a first terminal to which the power supply voltage is applied; an internal interconnect which is connected to the first terminal, and distributes the power supply voltage to sections in the semiconductor integrated circuit; and a second terminal from which the analog control signal is output. The analog control signal is generated to have a magnitude in accordance with a potential of the internal interconnect.

Semiconductor integrated circuit and electronic apparatus provided with same

A power supply potential detecting circuit detects a power supply potential of a second circuit block when a first circuit block shifts from a power supply shutdown state to a power supply feeding state or shifts from the power supply feeding state to the power supply shutdown state. Then, an operation control circuit temporarily stops a function of the second circuit block when the first circuit block shifts from the power supply shutdown state to the power supply feeding state or shifts from the power supply feeding state to the power supply shutdown state and then recovers the function of the second circuit block based on a detection result outputted from the power supply potential detecting circuit.

Semiconductor integrated circuit and various devices provided with the same

In a level shifter, in the case where the amplitude voltage of an input signal (i.e., a first power voltage VDDL) input to an input terminal is changed to be higher and the amplitude voltage of an output signal (i.e., a second power voltage VDDH) output from an output terminal is changed to be lower, a fall delay time of the signal output from the output terminal tends to be longer than a rise delay time of the signal. However, an inverted input signal obtained by an inverter is input to a level shifting unit and also to the gate of an N-type transistor, and therefore, the N-type transistor is turned on at the fall of the input signal input to the input terminal, so as to supply a current based on the second power voltage VDDH to an output node of the level shifting unit for assisting the shift into H level performed in the level shifting unit. Accordingly, even when at least one of the amplitude voltage of the input signal and the amplitude voltage of the output signal is changed, balance between the fall delay time characteristic and the rise delay time characteristic of the output signal can be satisfactorily kept.

Level shifter having automatic delay adjusting function

It is an object of the present invention to achieve a semiconductor device capable of preventing circuit malfunctions caused by noise without decreasing an integration degree of the circuit by making a space between signal interconnections wider and inserting a shield or a shield layer between the signal interconnections. The semiconductor device has a multilayer interconnection structure wherein three or more interconnection layers are stacked on a silicon semiconductor substrate, and comprises: a first signal line which is formed with a (N&#x2212;1)-th interconnection layer and comprises a latch circuit; a second signal line which is formed with a (N+1)-th interconnection layer and is arranged so as to cross the first signal line or partially overlap thereover; and a power supply interconnection serving as a shield interconnection which is formed with an N-th interconnection layer in a portion directly beneath the first signal line and the second signal line.

Semiconductor device and design method thereof

A cell library database includes function information of standard cells which are basic circuits forming a logical device, each of the standard cell comprising at least one of power supply terminal as logical terminals, the function information of the standard cell containing logical information or delay information of the power supply terminal relative to an output terminal, or function information of macro cells which are functional circuits forming a logical device, each of the macro cell comprising at least one of power supply terminals as logical terminals, the function information of the macro cell containing logical information or delay information of said power supply terminals relative to an output terminal. A design aiding system uses the cell library database to execute logical simulation, etc.

Cell library database and design aiding system

A power circuit including means for preventing the generation of an inrush current during the power circuit's initial operation without increasing the size of the power circuit is described. The power circuit comprises an output transistor for supplying a current from a power supply to an output terminal, and a differential amplifier for controlling the current supplied by the output transistor in such a manner as to regulate a voltage at the output terminal based on a preset reference voltage. A limiting transistor is provided as a source follower on a current path at the output stage of the differential amplifier. The gate potential of the output transistor is controlled using the source potential of the limiting transistor. Before the power circuit starts to operate, an operation controller charges a capacitor to control the gate potential of the limiting transistor so that during the initial operation of the power circuit, the capacitor is discharged by using a current source. Accordingly, during the initial operation of the power circuit, the gate potential of the limiting transistor gradually decreases while the gate-source voltage of the output transistor gradually increases. As a result, the generation of the inrush current can be suppressed.

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Hiroo Yamamoto