Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Comp. Ltd.

Ming-Chieh Huang

Chih-Chang Lin

Chan-Hong Chern

Tao Wen Chung

Yuwen Swei

Tsung-Ching Huang

Fu-Lung Hsueh

Tien-Chun Yang

Tsung-Ching (Jim) Huang

Chiang Pu

Steven Swei

Kuoyuan Hsu

Tien Chun Yang

Min-Shueh Yuan

Bryan David Sheffield

Jing Jing Chen

Derek C Tao

Subramani Kengeri

Young Suk Kim

Tzu Ching Chang

Kuoyuan (Peter) Hsu

David Barry Scott

Bing Wang

Yvonne Lin

Tao-Wen Chung

Tzu-Ching Chang

Tao Wen (David) Chung

A latch circuit includes first and second supply nodes having a first voltage value and a second voltage below the first voltage value, first and second input nodes, first and second output nodes, a first switch coupled between the first and second output nodes and turned on and off responsive to first and second clock signal states, first and second transistors coupled between the respective second and first output nodes and the second supply node. A second switch is coupled between a first transistor gate and the first input node, a third switch is coupled between a second transistor gate and the second input node, and each is turned on and off responsive to the first and second states. During the first state, one of the first or second transistors is part of a low resistance path from the first power supply node to the second power supply node.

Latch circuit and method of operating the same

A latch circuit includes a power supply node, first and second input nodes, and first and second output nodes. A first switching device is coupled between the first and second output nodes and is turned on and off in response to respective first and second states of a clock signal. A first transistor has a source coupled with a common node, a drain coupled with the second output node, and a gate directly coupled with the first input node, and a second transistor has a source coupled with the common node, a drain coupled with the first output node, and a gate directly coupled with the second input node. A second switching device is coupled between the common node and the power supply node and is turned on and off in response to the respective second and first states of the clock signal.

Latch circuits and method of operating a latch circuit

A circuit includes a first power node configured to carry a first voltage having a first voltage level, a second power node configured to carry a second voltage having a second voltage level, an output node, and first and second cascode transistors coupled between the first power node and the output node and to each other at a node. A bias circuit uses the first and second cascode transistors to generate an output signal at the output node that transitions between the first voltage level and a third voltage level, and a delay circuit generates a transition in a first signal from one of the first or second voltage levels to the other of the first or second voltage levels, the transition having a time delay based on the output signal. A contending transistor couples the node to the second power node responsive to the first signal.

Input/output circuit and method

A circuit receives an input signal that switches between reference and first voltage levels, a power node carries a second voltage level, and a set of transistors is coupled between the power node and an output node. The second voltage level is a multiple of the first voltage level, and the multiple and a number of the transistors have a same value greater than two. A control signal circuit includes a level shifting circuit including a series of capacitive devices paired with latch circuits, a number of the pairs being one less than the value of the multiple, and, responsive to the input signal, outputs a control signal to a gate of a transistor of the first set of transistors closest to the power node, the control signal switching between the second voltage level and a third voltage level equal to the second voltage level minus the first voltage level.

A clock generation circuit includes: a two-phase clock generation circuit including first and second branches correspondingly configured to generate a first phase clock signal and a second phase clock signal based correspondingly on a non-inverted clock signal and an inverted clock signal, the first and second branches being cross-coupled with each other; an inverter configured to generate the inverted clock signal based on an input clock signal; and a delay circuit which is non-inverter-based and which is configured to generate the non-inverted clock signal based on the input clock signal, the delay circuit having a predetermined delay.

Clock generation circuit and charge pumping system

A circuit includes a first power node configured to carry a first voltage having a first voltage level, an output node, a node coupled between the first power node and the output node, and a contending transistor coupled between the node and a second power node configured to carry a second voltage having a second voltage level. The circuit generates a signal at the output node that ranges between the first voltage level and a third voltage level, the contending transistor couples the node with the second power node responsive to the signal, a difference between the first voltage level and the second voltage level has a first magnitude, a difference between the first voltage level and the third voltage level has a second magnitude, and the second magnitude is a multiple of the first magnitude having a value greater than one.

Input/output circuit

A level-shifting circuit includes an input device configured to receive an input signal capable of switching between a reference voltage level and a first voltage level, and a set of capacitive devices paired in series with latch circuits. A first capacitive device of the set is coupled with an output of the input device, and each capacitive device and latch circuit pair is configured to upshift a corresponding received signal by an amount equal to a difference between the first voltage level and the reference voltage level.

Level shifting circuit and method

A current value of a first pixel and/or a current value of a second pixel of a display are adjusted until a value of a current difference is within a predetermined range. The current value of the first pixel corresponds to a brightness level of the first pixel. The current value of the second pixel corresponds to a brightness level of the second pixel. Adjusting the current value of the first pixel involves adjusting a threshold voltage value of a transistor of the first pixel. Adjusting the current value of the second pixel involves adjusting a threshold voltage value of a transistor of the second pixel.

Pixel circuit and method of adjusting brightness of pixel circuit

An edge detector includes an output node selectively coupled to a first voltage node through a first transistor, the first voltage node having a first voltage level, and a second transistor configured to continuously couple the output node to a second voltage node having a second voltage level. A capacitor includes a first terminal coupled to a gate of the first transistor and a second terminal configured to receive an input signal.

Edge detector circuit and method

A clock generation circuit includes: a two-phase clock generation circuit configured to generate a first phase clock signal and a second phase clock signal based correspondingly on a non-inverted clock signal and an inverted clock signal; an inverter configured to generate the inverted clock signal based on an input clock signal; and a delay circuit which is non-inverter-based and which is configured to generate the non-inverted clock signal based on the input clock signal, the delay circuit having a predetermined delay sufficient to induce symmetry in the first and second phase clock signals such that durational midpoints of overlapping opposite phases of the first and second phase clock signals are substantially aligned.

A current generator includes an amplifier having a first terminal configured to receive a first voltage, a tunable resistance circuit coupled to an output terminal of the amplifier through a first transistor, a calibration circuit coupled to the tunable resistance circuit, and a second transistor. The second transistor includes a gate terminal coupled to the output terminal of the amplifier and a drain terminal coupled to a load. The calibration circuit is configured to adjust a resistance setting of the tunable resistance circuit.

Current generator and method of operating

A delay line circuit including: a coarse-tuning arrangement, including delay units, the coarse-tuning arrangement being configured to coarsely-tune an input signal by transferring the input signal through a selected number of the delay units and thereby producing a first output signal; and a fine-tuning arrangement configured to receive the first output signal at a beginning of a signal path which includes at least three serially-connected inverters, finely-tune the first output signal along the signal path, and produce a second output signal at an end of the signal path; the fine-tuning arrangement including: a speed control unit which is selectively-connectable, and a switching circuit to selectively connect the speed control unit to the signal path based on a process-corner signal.

Delay line circuit and method of operating the same

A clock generation circuit includes: a two-phase clock generation circuit configured to generate a first phase clock signal and a second phase clock signal based correspondingly on a non-inverted clock signal and an inverted clock signal, the first phase clock signal and the second phase clock signal exhibiting non-overlapping logical high states; an inverter configured to generate the inverted clock signal based on an input clock signal; and a delay circuit which is non-inverter-based and which is configured to generate the non-inverted clock signal based on the input clock signal, the delay circuit having a predetermined delay sufficient to cause a difference between a first duration and a second duration within a clock cycle to be less than a predetermined tolerance.

A level shifting apparatus includes a first inverter configured to receive an input signal and a second inverter capacitively coupled with an output of the first inverter, the second inverter being configured to output an output signal. A transmission gate is configured to feed back the output signal to an input of the second inverter, wherein the transmission gate is configured to selectively interrupt feedback of the output signal to the input of the second inverter.

Level shifting circuit, apparatus and method of operating the same

A circuit includes a first power node having a first voltage level, and an output node. A driver transistor coupled between the first power and output nodes is turned on and off responsive to first and second input signal edge types, respectively. A driver transistor source is coupled with the first power node. A contending circuit includes a slew rate detection circuit that generates a feedback signal based on an output node signal, and a contending transistor between a driver transistor drain and a second voltage. A contending transistor gate receives a control signal based on the feedback signal. The second voltage has a level less than the first voltage level if the output node signal rises responsive to the first input signal edge type, and greater than the first voltage level if the output node signal falls responsive to the first input signal edge type.

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Ming-Chieh Huang