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:
May. 05, 1998
Filed:
Oct. 31, 1996
Douglas Ele Martin, Round Rock, TX (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
The invention is embodied in a receiver and a method for responding to an input signal. The input signal is received in a first stage of the receiver, which generates a first stage output signal responsive thereto. If the input signal does not exceed a first level, the first stage output signal is generated by an overvoltage element. That is, for this case, the overvoltage element passes the input signal through to the first stage output, and the first stage output voltage is not increased by a first stage pullup element. If, on the other hand, the input signal exceeds the first level, the first stage output signal voltage level is increased by the first stage pullup element to a higher output voltage level. The output signal from the first stage is received in a second stage. The second stage generates a second stage output responsive thereto. A second stage pullup element may be disabled by a mode signal in expectation that the input signal will exceed the first level, so that the first stage output voltage will not be increased by the second stage pullup element.