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:
Sep. 09, 2003
Filed:
Jul. 27, 2000
Christian Cornelius Russ, Princeton, NJ (US);
Koen Gerard Maria Verhaege, Gistel, BE;
Leslie Ronald Avery, Flemington, NJ (US);
Sarnoff Corporation, Princeton, NJ (US);
Abstract
An ESD protection circuit includes a SCR and a switching means, such as a MOS transistor connected to the SCR so that the SCR is turned on by the switching means to allow an ESD pulse to pass from a Pad line to a grounded VSS line and thereby dissipate the ESD pulse. The SCR is connected between the Pad line and the VSS line. One MOS switching means is connected between the Pad line and the SCR and has a gate which is connected to a VDD line which maintains the switch in open condition during normal VDD bias conditions. An ESD pulse applied to the Pad line, the switch is preconditioned in ON mode allowing the SCR to be predisposed to conduction to allow the ESD pulse to flow to the VSS line.