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. 06, 2008
Filed:
Nov. 18, 2005
John R. Camagna, El Dorado Hills, CA (US);
Sajol Ghoshal, Austin, TX (US);
John R. Camagna, El Dorado Hills, CA (US);
Sajol Ghoshal, Austin, TX (US);
Akros Silicon Inc., Folsom, CA (US);
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention provide an integrated circuit (IC) having an integrated DC-DC power converter therein. This IC is operable to support the distribution of combined power and data signals in a network environment such as an Ethernet network according to protocols such as the power over Ethernet (PoE) protocol. The IC includes a DC-DC power converter, a power feed circuit, and a network physical layer (PHY) module, wherein the PHY module may contain fine line structures susceptible to damage when exposed to excessive voltages. To prevent or reduce the likelihood of damage to the PHY module from voltages supplied to the DC-DC power converter, a common substrate ground is shared between the IC components.