Single-stage and multi-stage voltage level shifters

A structure comprising:

• first voltage rail at a first positive voltage;
• a second voltage rail at a second positive voltage that is higher than the first positive voltage;
• and
• a voltage level shifter connected to the first voltage rail and the second voltage rail,
• wherein the voltage level shifter includes two input nodes;
• two N-type transistors having source regions connected to the input nodes, respectively, and further having gates connected to receive the first positive voltage;
• and four output nodes,
• wherein the voltage level shifter receives two input voltage pulses at the input nodes, respectively, and outputs four output voltage pulses at the output nodes, respectively,
• wherein the two input voltage pulses include:
• an input voltage pulse that transitions between the first positive voltage and ground;
• and an inverted input voltage pulse,
• wherein the four output voltage pulses include:
• an intermediate output voltage pulse that transitions between the first positive voltage and the second positive voltage;
• an inverted intermediate output voltage pulse;
• a final output voltage pulse that transitions between ground and the second positive voltage;
• and an inverted final output voltage pulse,
• wherein the voltage level shifter further includes multiple transistors,
• wherein the multiple transistors have the same voltage rating equal to the first positive voltage, and
• wherein the second positive voltage is essentially double the first positive voltage.

A structure comprising:

• multiple voltage rails including at least:
• a first voltage rail at a first positive voltage;
• a second voltage rail at a second positive voltage that is higher than the first positive voltage;
• and a third voltage rail at a third positive voltage that is higher than the second positive voltage;
• and
• a voltage level shifter including multiple voltage shifting stages including at least:
• a first voltage shifting stage connected to the first voltage rail and the second voltage rail, wherein the first voltage shifting stage receives multiple first input voltage pulses and outputs multiple first output voltage pulses, wherein the multiple first input voltage pulses include a first input voltage pulse that transitions between the first positive voltage and ground, and wherein the multiple first output voltage pulses include an intermediate first output voltage pulse that transitions between the first positive voltage and the second positive voltage and a final first output voltage pulse that transitions between ground and the second positive voltage;
• and
• a second voltage shifting stage connected to the second voltage rail and the third voltage rail, wherein the second voltage shifting stage receives the multiple first output voltage pulses and outputs multiple second output voltage pulses, and wherein the multiple second output voltage pulses include at least an intermediate second output voltage pulse that transitions between the second positive voltage and the third positive voltage, an additional intermediate second output voltage pulse that transitions between the first positive voltage and the third positive voltage, and a final second output voltage pulse that transitions between ground and the third positive voltage.