Signal transition detector circuit

Abstract

A semiconductor device which includes at least one of (1) an input buffer circuit formed of an input level converter and a non-inverting buffer circuit and an inverting buffer circuit each including BiCMOS circuitry which effects high-speed operation; (2) a decoder circuit formed of plural logic gates each of which is composed of the combination of MOS and bipolar circuitry; (3) a sense amplifier circuit including a multiemitter transistor; (4) a signal or address transition detector circuit which includes input circuits each receiving, for example, an address signal of a voltage amplitude and outputting a current amplitude signal in response to a change in level of the address signal, and a detector circuit connected thereto which has a cascode amplifier arranged such that it receives current amplitude signals at an input thereof and in which the cascode amplifier input is maintained at a substantially constant voltage, in which the detection circuit detects a transition of one or more of the current amplitude signals and, in response thereto, generates an ATD signal of a voltage amplitude; and (5) an output buffer circuit, in which the decoder, sense amplifier and output buffer of the device such as for a memory are controlled in accordance with signals from a clock generator, which is responsive to the ATD signal.