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:
Dec. 01, 2009
Filed:
Dec. 13, 2006
Clinton H. Holder, Jr., Slatington, PA (US);
Kang W. Lee, Allentown, PA (US);
Joseph E. Simko, Whitehall, PA (US);
Yehuda Smooha, Allentown, PA (US);
Ying Zhu, Bethlehem, PA (US);
Clinton H. Holder, Jr., Slatington, PA (US);
Kang W. Lee, Allentown, PA (US);
Joseph E. Simko, Whitehall, PA (US);
Yehuda Smooha, Allentown, PA (US);
Ying Zhu, Bethlehem, PA (US);
Agere Systems Inc., Allentown, PA (US);
Abstract
In one embodiment, the invention is an integrated circuit (IC) including an OTP memory and conditioning circuitry. The IC receives an externally-generated DC programming voltage signal that the conditioning circuitry transforms into a programming pulse signal for programming the OTP memory. The conditioning circuitry includes: (i) reset protection circuitry for holding the programming pulse signal low if the IC is powering up, (ii) an overvoltage protection circuit for substantially preventing the programming pulse voltage from exceeding predefined boundaries, and (iii) a conversion switch for controlling the programming pulse voltage. The programming pulse voltage is (i) substantially equivalent to the externally-generated DC voltage if an enable signal is on, and (ii) substantially equivalent to a reference voltage if the enable signal is off.