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:
Dec. 10, 2002
Filed:
Mar. 30, 2001
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Osaka, JP;
Abstract
A monitor circuit for supplying a detection voltage reflecting a supply voltage, a reference voltage generation circuit for generating a high-precision reference voltage not depending upon the supply voltage, and a comparator for comparing the detection voltage with the reference voltage and outputting the result of the comparison are provided and, in addition, a controller is provided which is made up of an auxiliary reference voltage generation circuit for generating a low-precision auxiliary reference voltage with less power dissipation and an auxiliary comparator for comparing the detection voltage with the auxiliary reference voltage. The auxiliary reference voltage is set higher than the reference voltage, and when the detection voltage becomes higher than the auxiliary reference voltage to cause the comparison output of the auxiliary comparator to become active, the reference voltage generation circuit is placed in a power-down state, thereby achieving a reduction in current dissipation.