System and method for protecting low voltage transceiver
AssigneeFreescale Semiconductor, Inc.
InventorsAlan Ruff, Sarvenaz Bahadori, Srinivasan Iyengar, Matthew Nakanishi
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Abstract
A transceiver module can share a common connector with a rechargeable battery connection. The transceiver module can be protected from the high voltages applied by a battery charger. Determining when the voltage applied at a connector exceeds a reference voltage and electrically decoupling the transceiver module from the connector when the reference voltage is exceeded can protect the transceiver module. The reference voltage can be set at a level so that the transceiver is decoupled from the connector when the voltage at the connector reaches a voltage that is unsafe for the transceiver.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- detecting a first voltage at a connector wherein at least a transceiver module portion of an integrated circuit is operable to be powered through the connector;
- and
- electrically decoupling the transceiver module from the connector in response to the first detected voltage having a value greater than a first voltage value, the transceiver module to send and receive information external the integrated circuit.
A system, comprising:
- a connector;
- an integrated circuit, comprising,
- a transceiver module comprising an input to provide a supply voltage to at least a portion of the transceiver module;
- a first comparator comprising an input coupled to the connector and an output to indicate when a voltage at the connector is greater than a first voltage;
- and
- a control module comprising a first input coupled to the output of the first comparator, a second input coupled to the connector, and an output coupled to the transceiver module wherein the output is electrically decoupled from the second input in response to the first comparator indicating the voltage at the connector is greater than the first voltage, and the output is electrically coupled to the connector in response to the first comparator indicating the voltage at the connector is less than the first voltage.
A method comprising:
- detecting a first voltage at a connector of an integrated circuit wherein at least a portion of the integrated circuit is operable to be powered through the connector;
- and
- electrically decoupling a transceiver module from the connector in response to the first detected voltage having a value greater than a first voltage value, the transceiver module to send and receive information external the integrated circuit, wherein electrically decoupling the transceiver module results in the transceiver being powered down while other portions of the transceiver remain powered.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.