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:
Jul. 20, 2010
Filed:
Jun. 07, 2007
Antoine Riviere, Pourcieux, FR;
Frederic Demolli, Rognac, FR;
David Bernard, Aix En Provence, FR;
Atmel Corporation, San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
An electrostatic discharge protection circuit comprises a comparator coupled between a power supply terminal and ground. The comparator responds to an electrostatic discharge event producing a trigger signal at a comparator output. The comparator comprises a first and second current mirror. The first and second current mirrors each comprise a sense device and a mirror device. The mirror devices are coupled in series between the power supply terminal and ground. The first mirror device produces an incident current and the second mirror device receives an absorption current. With a supply voltage on the power supply terminal equal to or greater than a trigger supply voltage, the absorption current exceeds the incident current and produces a trigger signal at the comparator output. The trigger signal activates a shunt device that shunts current from the power supply terminal to ground.