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US 10,382,033 B2Granted
Stress tolerant power supply voltage detector circuit operable over a wide range of power supply voltages
AssigneeSTMicroelectronics International N.V.
InventorPrashant Singh
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A power supply voltage detector circuit monitors a ramping supply voltage and selectively enables a voltage divider for operation to divide the ramping supply voltage in response to the ramping supply voltage exceeding a first threshold. Additionally, a variable resistance of the voltage divider is changed in response to the ramping supply voltage exceeding a second threshold. A voltage output from the voltage divider is used to generate a bandgap voltage used as a reference voltage in comparison operations for controlling enabling of the voltage divider and selection of the variable resistance.
Claims50
A circuit, comprising:
- a voltage divider circuit coupled to receive an input supply voltage and having a tap node generating a first reference voltage which is a fraction of the input supply voltage, said voltage divider circuit including a variable resistance component controlled by a first control signal;
- a voltage generator circuit powered from the input supply voltage and receiving the first reference voltage, said voltage generator circuit configured to generate a first voltage that follows said first reference voltage;
- a reference voltage generator circuit powered by the first voltage and configured to generate a second reference voltage;
- and
- a first comparison circuit configured to compare the second reference voltage to a second voltage derived from the input supply voltage and generate the first control signal for changing a resistance of the variable resistance component.
2 more elements
A circuit, comprising:
- a voltage divider circuit coupled to receive a supply voltage and having a tap node, said voltage divider circuit including a variable resistance component controlled by a first control signal, wherein said voltage divider circuit is further selectively enabled for operation in response to a second control signal;
- a voltage generator circuit powered from the supply voltage and configured to generate a first voltage that follows a voltage at the tap node;
- a reference voltage generator circuit powered by the first voltage and configured to generate a reference voltage;
- and
- a first comparison circuit configured to compare the reference voltage to a second voltage derived from the supply voltage and generate the first control signal for changing a resistance of the variable resistance component;
- and
- a second comparison circuit configured to compare the reference voltage to a third voltage derived from the supply voltage and generate the second control signal for enabling the voltage divider circuit.
4 more elements
A circuit, comprising:
- a voltage divider circuit coupled to receive a ramping input supply voltage and having a tap node configured to output a first voltage that is a first fraction of the ramping input supply voltage, wherein said first fraction is set by a variable resistance;
- a voltage generator circuit powered from the ramping input supply voltage and configured to generate a second voltage that follows the first voltage;
- a voltage regulator circuit powered by the second voltage and configured to generate a regulated reference voltage;
- and
- a comparison circuit configured to compare the regulated reference voltage to a third voltage that is a second fraction of the ramping supply voltage and generate a control signal for changing the variable resistance when the third voltage exceeds the regulated reference voltage.
2 more elements
A circuit, comprising:
- a voltage divider circuit coupled to receive a ramping supply voltage and having a tap node configured to output a first voltage dependent on the ramping supply voltage;
- a voltage generator circuit powered from the ramping supply voltage and configured to generate a second voltage that follows the first voltage;
- a voltage regulator circuit powered by the second voltage and configured to generate a regulated reference voltage;
- and
- a comparison circuit configured to compare the regulated reference voltage to a third voltage that is a fraction of the ramping supply voltage and generate a control signal for selectively enabling operation of the voltage divider circuit when the third voltage exceeds the regulated reference voltage.
2 more elements
A circuit, comprising:
- a voltage divider circuit coupled to receive a supply voltage and having a tap node, said voltage divider circuit including a variable resistance component controlled by a first control signal;
- a voltage generator circuit powered from the supply voltage and configured to generate a first voltage that follows a voltage at the tap node, wherein the voltage generator circuit is voltage follower circuit configured to generate the first voltage equal to the voltage at the tap node;
- a reference voltage generator circuit powered by the first voltage and configured to generate a reference voltage;
- and
- a first comparison circuit configured to compare the reference voltage to a second voltage derived from the supply voltage and generate the first control signal for changing a resistance of the variable resistance component.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.