Current switching sensor detector
AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
InventorsZvi Regev, Alon Regev
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A sensor for a switching circuit detects the logical state of the switching circuit by monitoring the current flow through the switching circuit. The current flow is conditioned by one or more current limiters and a voltage regulator, coupled in series with the switching circuit. The sensor also includes a current limit control circuit coupled to each of the current limiters. The sensor is effectively shielded from the effect of parasitic capacitance in the switching device because the current flow through the switching circuit reacts immediately and without regard to the level of parasitic capacitance whenever the switching circuit makes a state change.
Claims10
A circuit for detecting a state of a controllable element, comprising:
- a current sensing amplifier for producing a first current;
- a first current limiter, coupled to said current sensing amplifier, for limiting a current level of a current flowing through said first current limiter to be no greater than a first parameter;
- and
- a voltage regulator, coupled to said first current limiter, for controlling a voltage at an output node of said voltage regulator to be at a second parameter;
- wherein
- said first current flows in series through said first current limiter, said voltage regulator, and said controllable element,
- said current sensing amplifier senses a current level of said first current and produces an output signal as a function of said current level,
- said output signal also being indicative of a state of said controllable element.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.