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:
Jun. 22, 2010
Filed:
Jun. 06, 2005
David R. Rice, Phoenix, AZ (US);
David R. Rice, Phoenix, AZ (US);
Standard Microsystems Corporation, Hauppauge, NY (US);
Abstract
In one embodiment, an ESD protection circuit comprises a switchable current sinking circuit connected to a positive ESD clamp rail voltage, which may be a power supply voltage, and a single trigger control circuit coupled to a control connection of the switchable current sinking circuit. The single trigger control circuit may be configured to couple the control connection of the switchable current sinking circuit to a negative ESD clamp rail voltage, which may be signal ground, during an ESD event occurring on the positive ESD clamp rail connection. In one embodiment, the switchable current sinking circuit is capable of sinking large amounts of current, and the ESD protection circuit is tolerant of rail voltages that exceed the breakdown voltage of semiconductor devices used in constructing the ESD circuit. In one embodiment, the single trigger control circuit is implemented with a single n-well, thereby minimizing the amount of required silicon area during fabrication of the ESD protection circuit.