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:
Oct. 12, 1999
Filed:
Sep. 09, 1997
David L Hoff, San Jose, CA (US);
Frederick S Chiu, San Francisco, CA (US);
S3 Incorporated, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A system for buffering input and output signals in a floating substrate technology environment comprises an output pre-driver and an output driver. The output pre-driver includes a pull-up subsystem and a pull-down subsystem, which both receive an output signal and an output enable signal. The pull-up subsystem includes a multistage delay circuit, a current regulation circuit, and a bootstrap circuit, a keeper circuit, an oscillator circuit, and a turn-off circuit, which are coupled together so that a pull-up signal is generated. The pull-down subsystem includes a stagger circuit and a switch circuit that are coupled together to generate a pull-down signal. The output driver includes a pull-up circuit to receive the pull-up signal and a staggered pull-down circuit to receive the pull-down signal. The output driver generates a pad signal used to drive a peripheral device that is coupled to the mixed voltage drive system. A method for a mixed voltage drive system for floating substrate technology is also disclosed.