Low-capacitance electro-static discharge protection
OwnerJohn Poultoninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit having first and second cross-coupled diodes. The first diode has a cathode coupled to a first power supply conductor and an anode coupled to a first signal conductor, and the second diode has a cathode coupled to the first signal conductor and an anode coupled to the first power supply conductor.
Claims27
An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit comprising:
- a first signal conductor;
- a first supply conductor;
- a first diode element having a cathode coupled to the first supply conductor and an anode coupled to the first signal conductor;
- and
- a second diode element having a cathode coupled to the first signal conductor and an anode coupled to the first supply conductor.
An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit within an integrated circuit device having a first signal conductor and power-supply voltage and ground conductors, the ESD protection circuit comprising:
- a first diode having a cathode coupled to the first signal conductor and an anode coupled to the power-supply voltage conductor;
- and
- a second diode having a cathode coupled to the power-supply ground conductor and an anode coupled to the first signal conductor.
An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit comprising:
- a signal conductor;
- a first power-supply conductor;
- and
- a first cross-coupled pair of diodes coupled between the signal conductor and power-supply conductor.
An electrostatic discharge (ESD) circuit comprising:
- a first signal conductor;
- a power-supply ground conductor;
- and
- a first diode coupled to conduct current from the first signal conductor to the power-supply ground conductor when forward-biased.
A method of discharging an electrostatic charge applied to a first signal conductor of an integrated circuit device, the method comprising conducting current through a first forward-biased diode coupled between the first signal line and a ground conductor of the integrated circuit device.
Computer-readable media having information embodied therein that includes a description of an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit within an integrated circuit device, the information including descriptions of:
- a first signal conductor;
- a first supply conductor;
- a first diode element having a cathode coupled to the first supply conductor and an anode coupled to the first signal conductor;
- and
- a second diode element having a cathode coupled to the first signal conductor and an anode coupled to the first supply conductor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.