Protection Circuit
AssigneeAnadigics, Inc.
InventorsRobert Hickman, Alan Brandstaedter
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A protection circuit for an electronic circuit. The protection circuit includes a first transistor, a second transistor, a base current path, and a current discharge path. The first transistor is connected to a first terminal of the electronic circuit. The second transistor is connected to a second terminal of the electronic circuit. The first transistor is connected to the second transistor forming the base current path. The current discharge path conducts a discharge current from the first terminal to the second terminal through the second transistor when the second transistor is turned on with a base current in the base current path.
Claims18
A protection circuit for an electronic circuit, the protection circuit comprising:
- a first transistor, the emitter terminal of the first transistor being connected to a first terminal of the electronic circuit;
- a second transistor, the emitter terminal of the second transistor being connected to a second terminal of the electronic circuit;
- a base current path for conducting a base current from the base terminal of the first transistor to the base terminal of the second transistor when a voltage at the emitter terminal of the first transistor exceeds the reverse breakdown voltage of the base emitter junction of the first transistor plus the forward turn-on voltage of the base emitter junction of the second transistor;
- a current discharge path for conducting a discharge current from the first terminal to the second terminal through the second transistor when the second transistor is turned on with the base current;
- and
- one or more diodes in the base current path or connected to the base current path.
A protection circuit for an electronic circuit, the protection circuit comprising:
- a first transistor, the emitter terminal of the first transistor being connected to a first terminal of the electronic circuit;
- a second transistor, the emitter terminal of the second transistor being connected to a second terminal of the electronic circuit;
- a base current path for conducting a base current from the base terminal of the first transistor to the base terminal of the second transistor when a voltage at the emitter terminal of the first transistor exceeds the reverse breakdown voltage of the base emitter junction of the first transistor plus the forward turn-on voltage of the base emitter junction of the second transistor;
- a current discharge path for conducting a discharge current from the first terminal to the second terminal through the second transistor when the second transistor is turned on with the base current;
- a first diode in the current discharge path for conducting the discharge current when the second transistor is on;
- and
- one or more diodes in the base current path or connected to the base current path.
An integrated circuit for protecting an electronic circuit from electrostatic discharge (ESD), the integrated circuit comprising:
- a first transistor, the emitter terminal of the first transistor being connected to a first terminal of the electronic circuit;
- a second transistor, the emitter terminal of the second transistor being connected to a second terminal of the electronic circuit, and the base terminal of the second transistor is integrated with the base terminal of the first transistor to form a common base area;
- a first diode, the anode terminal of the first diode being connected to the emitter terminal of the first transistor;
- and
- a second diode, the anode terminal of the second diode being connected to the emitter terminal of the second transistor and
- the cathode terminal of the second diode, the cathode terminal of the first diode, the collector terminal of the second transistor, and the collector terminal of the first transistor are connected to form a common collector area.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.