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. 02, 2013
Filed:
Mar. 10, 2008
Hendrik Santo, San Jose, CA (US);
Dilip Sangam, Saratoga, CA (US);
Kien Vi, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Ranajit Ghoman, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Matthew D. Schindler, Redwood City, CA (US);
Hendrik Santo, San Jose, CA (US);
Dilip Sangam, Saratoga, CA (US);
Kien Vi, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Ranajit Ghoman, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Matthew D. Schindler, Redwood City, CA (US);
Atmel Corporation, San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention relates to circuits and methods for limiting the operating area of a transistor in a constant current source. The circuits and methods use a detector and a driver to limit the operating area of a transistor. The detector and driver have parameters selected so that, when the voltage at the drain of the transistor satisfies a reference condition, the driver causes drain current of the transistor to decrease. The reference condition is determined relative to the maximum safe drain-to-source voltage at the design drain current of the constant current source.