The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 24, 1998
Filed:
Sep. 28, 1995
Applicant:
Inventors:
Trevor Monk, Chepstow, GB;
Curtis Dicke, Colorado Springs, CO (US);
Assignee:
SGS-Thomson Microelectronics Limited, Bristol, GB;
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H03K / ; H03K / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
326 83 ; 326 80 ; 326 68 ; 327109 ;
Abstract
An off-chip driver circuit can operate in an output mode to drive a signal supplied at its input terminals to an output terminal. It can also operate in an input mode in which signals are driven from an external circuit via the output terminal onto the chip. In an output mode, the output terminal is clamped to reduce the effect of overshoot voltages, for example as a result of reflections from the external circuits.