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, 2015
Filed:
Apr. 24, 2012
Hans-martin Ritter, Hamburg, DE;
Achim Werner, Hamburg, DE;
Hans-Martin Ritter, Hamburg, DE;
Achim Werner, Hamburg, DE;
NXP B.V., Eindhoven, NL;
Abstract
Circuit protection is provided. In accordance with one or more example embodiments, a thyristor-based circuit and a diode-based circuit are connected in series between an internal circuit terminal and reference terminal, for protecting the internal circuit terminal against circuit stresses such as overvoltage and/or overcurrent, as may be associated with electrostatic discharge. The thyristor and diode-based circuits operate in a first mode at which leakage current is limited by the thyristor, and in a second (protection) mode in which a voltage at the internal terminal exceeds a threshold level at which the thyristor-based circuit operates in a forward-biased mode and the diode operates in a breakdown mode, for shunting current between the internal circuit terminal and reference terminal.