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:
May. 02, 2006
Filed:
Feb. 24, 2005
Applicant:
Ronald Pasqualini, Los Altos, CA (US);
Inventor:
Ronald Pasqualini, Los Altos, CA (US);
Assignee:
National Semiconductor Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H02H 9/04 (2006.01); H01L 23/62 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
Abstract
An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit includes a diode that is connected between a pad and a power supply line, and a negative protection circuit that is connected between the pad and a ground line. The negative protection circuit allows the pad voltage to go below ground during normal (non-ESD) operation, and provides adequate ESD protection during an ESD event.