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. 27, 2001
Filed:
Nov. 09, 1999
Sergio Franco Pioppo, Mascalucia, IT;
Ignazio Cala', Palermo, IT;
STMicroelectronics S.r.l., Agrate Brianza (MI), IT;
Abstract
A circuit and method are disclosed for controlling the slew rate of the output voltage of a driver in a push-pull configuration. The circuit includes a capacitive element and a current generator circuit for generating one or more currents. The circuit further includes a switching circuit for selectively charging and discharging the capacitive element in response to an input signal, wherein the voltage across the capacitive element is a voltage signal whose edge transitions have slopes which are controlled based upon the capacitance of the capacitive element and the current level of the one or more currents. The circuit further includes a conversion circuit for converting the voltage signal into one or more current signals, the one or more current signals being used to control a pull-up device and pull-down device of the driver so that the slopes of the edge transitions of the output voltage thereof is based upon the slopes of the edge transitions of the voltage signal appearing across the capacitive element.