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:
Nov. 21, 2006
Filed:
Dec. 03, 2002
Janardhanan S. Ajit, Irvine, CA (US);
Laurentiu Vasiliu, San Diego, CA (US);
Janardhanan S. Ajit, Irvine, CA (US);
Laurentiu Vasiliu, San Diego, CA (US);
Broadcom Corporation, Irvine, CA (US);
Abstract
A method of preventing Hot Carrier Injection in input/output connections on low voltage integrated circuits. As integrated circuit voltages drop generally so does the external voltages that those circuits can tolerate. By placing input/output devices, in series, external voltages can be divided between the devices thereby reducing junction voltages seen by internal devices. A circuit for preventing Hot Carrier Injection in these input/output devices comprises comparing an input voltage to a reference voltage, and if conditions that would produce Hot Carrier Injection are present (e.g. when input voltage is greater than reference voltage), slowing the turn-on of one of the series connected input/output devices, thereby reducing the voltage from the drain-to-source of another series connected input/output device.