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:
Jul. 06, 2004
Filed:
May. 16, 2002
Bradley A. Sharpe-Geisler, San Jose, CA (US);
Lattice Semiconductor Corporation, Hillsboro, OR (US);
Abstract
An electrostatic discharge ESD protection circuit is provided which can selectively be set to operate with a buffer which is programmably controlled to be compatible with different types of circuitry, such as PCI, GTL, or PECL circuits. The ESD circuit includes a lateral NPN BJT transistor which provides a path to ground during ESD without experiencing the gate oxide damage of a typical MOS type device. Additional BJTs are included in Darlington-pair configuration to connect the pad to the lateral BJT during an ESD event and not experience oxide damage. An additional BJT is included along with a series of diode connected transistors to selectively clamp the pad voltage. The pad voltage is clamped to a desired value by controlling fuses connecting the series of diode connected transistors.