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US 9,755,632 B2Granted
Cascode voltage generating circuit and method
AssigneesSTMicroelectronics International N.V., STMicroelectronics S.r.l.
InventorsVikas Rana, Fabio De Santis
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A cascode voltage generating circuit and method are provided. The circuit includes four switching elements. In a high voltage operation mode, the first and second switching elements, respectively, couple a first intermediate voltage input node to a first intermediate voltage output node, and a second intermediate voltage input node to a second intermediate voltage output node. In a low voltage operation mode, the third switching element couples the first and second intermediate voltage input nodes to a ground reference voltage level, and the fourth switching element couples the first and second intermediate voltage output nodes to a supply voltage level.
Claims20
A cascode voltage generating circuit, comprising:
- a first switching element positioned to selectively couple a first intermediate voltage input node to a first intermediate voltage output node;
- a second switching element positioned to selectively couple a second intermediate voltage input node to a second intermediate voltage output node;
- a third switching element positioned to selectively couple the first and second intermediate voltage input nodes to a ground reference voltage;
- a fourth switching element positioned to selectively couple the first and second intermediate voltage output nodes to a supply voltage, and configured to selectively provide the supply voltage to the first and second intermediate voltage output nodes via the fourth switching element;
- a fifth switching element having first and second conduction terminals respectively coupled to the first and second intermediate voltage input nodes;
- and
- a controller being configured to, in a high voltage operation mode:
- turn on the first and second switching elements, and turn off the third and fourth switching elements, thereby driving the first intermediate voltage output node to a voltage level at the first intermediate voltage input node, and driving the second intermediate voltage output node to a voltage level at the second intermediate voltage input node, and
- in a low voltage operation mode:
- turn off the first and second switching elements, and turn on the third and fourth switching elements, thereby driving the first and second intermediate voltage input nodes to a ground reference voltage level, and driving the first and second intermediate voltage output nodes to the supply voltage.
7 more elements
A method, comprising:
- providing a first switching element positioned to selectively couple a first intermediate voltage input node to a first intermediate voltage output node;
- providing a second switching element positioned to selectively couple a second intermediate voltage input node to a second intermediate voltage output node;
- providing a third switching element positioned to selectively couple the first and second intermediate voltage input nodes to a ground reference voltage;
- providing a fourth switching element positioned to selectively couple the first and second intermediate voltage output nodes to a supply voltage, and configured to selectively provide the supply voltage to the first and second intermediate voltage output nodes via the fourth switching element;
- and
- providing a fifth switching element having first and second conduction terminals respectively coupled to the first and second intermediate voltage input nodes.
3 more elements
A circuit comprising:
- a charge-pump configured to provide an output voltage;
- a voltage dividing circuit configured receive the charge-pump output voltage and output first and second divided output voltages;
- and
- a cascode voltage generating circuit configured to receive the first and second divided output voltages, the cascode voltage generating circuit including:
- a first switching element positioned to selectively couple a first intermediate voltage input node to a first intermediate voltage output node;
- a second switching element positioned to selectively couple a second intermediate voltage input node to a second intermediate voltage output node;
- a third switching element positioned to selectively couple the first and second intermediate voltage input nodes to a ground reference voltage;
- a fourth switching element positioned to selectively couple the first and second intermediate voltage output nodes to a supply voltage, and configured to selectively provide the supply voltage to the first and second intermediate voltage output nodes via the fourth switching element;
- a fifth switching element having first and second conduction terminals respectively coupled to the first and second intermediate voltage input nodes;
- and
- a controller being configured to, in a high voltage operation mode:
- turn on the first and second switching elements, and turn off the third and fourth switching elements, thereby driving the first intermediate voltage output node to a voltage level at the first intermediate voltage input node, and driving the second intermediate voltage output node to a voltage level at the second intermediate voltage input node, and
- in a low voltage operation mode:
- turn off the first and second switching elements, and turn on the third and fourth switching elements, thereby driving the first and second intermediate voltage input nodes to a ground reference voltage level, and driving the first and second intermediate voltage output nodes to the supply voltage.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.