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:
Feb. 29, 2000
Filed:
Oct. 16, 1997
Bahram Fotouhi, Cupertino, CA (US);
Roubik Gregorian, Saratoga, CA (US);
Exar Corporation, Fremont, CA (US);
Abstract
A slew-rate limited output driver circuit that minimizes switching current while delivering sufficient peak load currents is disclosed. The circuit of the present invention includes fixed pull-up and pull-down transistors that are designed to dissipate minimum switching current while maintaining a predetermined slew rate. Additional pull-up and pull-down transistors are then switched in parallel to the fixed pull-up and pull-down transistors to drive the output all the way to full logic levels, after the output signal has made most of its transition. In a preferred embodiment, each switched transistor is controlled by a comparator that generates its output by comparing the level of the output signal to a predetermined reference voltage.