Output driver circuit for controlling up-slew rate and down-slew rate independently and up-driving strength and down-driving strength independently

Abstract

An output driver circuit includes a push-pull driver for driving an output signal of a semiconductor device to one of two voltage levels corresponding to a determined data state. The push-pull driver includes a pull-up driving circuit for driving the output signal toward a first voltage level when the data state is logic “high,” and a pull-down driving circuit for driving the output signal to a second voltage level when the data state is “low.” The strength with which the pull-up driving circuit drives the voltage level of the output signal toward the first output voltage level can be controlled independently of the strength with which the pull-down driving circuit drives the voltage level of the output signal toward the second output voltage level. The rate at which the pull-up driving circuit drives the output signal voltage level from a “low” data state to a “high” data state can also be controlled independently of the rate at which the pull-down driving circuit drives the output signal voltage level from the “high” data state to the “low” data state.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.