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:
Apr. 13, 2004
Filed:
Dec. 12, 2000
Edward C. Guerrero, Jr., Austin, TX (US);
Barry Kent Kates, Austin, TX (US);
Christopher Eric Tressler, Austin, TX (US);
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
A clamping circuit and method for use in a computer system are provided. In the computer system, a voltage regulator supplies a voltage rail to various components in the system. This voltage rail may be susceptible to voltage spikes or other over-voltage conditions, such as when the voltage rail provides the input voltage to a switching regulator. The clamping circuit comprises a detecting stage and a clamping stage. The detecting stage detects when the voltage rail increases beyond a first voltage level. If this increase is detected, the detecting stage activates the clamping stage, which begins reducing the voltage rail. Once the voltage rail decreases beneath the first voltage level, the detecting stage stops activating the clamping stage. In this way, the clamping circuit protects the computer system from voltage spikes on the voltage rail.