Subthreshold sense circuit for clamping an injected current

Details Subthreshold sense circuit for clamping an injected current Subthreshold sense circuit for clamping an injected current

1991-11-06

1993-04-13

Sikes, William L.

Electrical transmission or interconnection systems

Personnel safety or limit control features

Interlock

307546, 307548, 3072962, 307568, H03K 5153, H03K 508, H03B 104

Patent

active

052025900

ABSTRACT:
A subthreshold sense circuit for clamping an injected current at the input pins of an integrated circuit device before the injected current causes the voltage at the input pins to exceed the supply voltage by more than a diode's ON voltage. The subthreshold sense circuit is driven to operate in the linear region of the FETs. The subthreshold sense circuit of the present invention comprises level shifters, a subthreshold current source, a reference voltage generator, a subthreshold comparator, and a clamping circuit. The subthreshold current source generates a reference drain current to drive the sense circuit of the present invention in the linear region. A level shifter is connected to an input pin to shift the voltage level of the input pin by a subthreshold voltage level. The reference voltage generator provides a reference voltage to be compared with the subthreshold-shifted input voltage. The subthreshold comparator compares the subthreshold-shifted input voltage with the reference voltage level such that when the subthreshold-shifted input voltage from the input pin exceeds the reference voltage level, the subthreshold comparator will turn on. The clamping circuit is activated by the subthreshold comparator to clamp the input pin to less than one V.sub.D (ON) drop over the supply voltage by sinking the injected current at the input pin when the subthreshold comparator is turned on.

REFERENCES:
patent: 4443717 (1984-04-01), Hague
patent: 4910455 (1990-03-01), Nadd
patent: 4965468 (1990-10-01), Nicollini et al.
patent: 5087834 (1992-02-01), Tsay
patent: 5113092 (1992-05-01), Herold

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