VCC translator circuit
US5408147A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 7, 1993 |
| Grant date | Apr 18, 1995 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 7, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH03K19/018592
- WIPO fieldBasic communication processes
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A circuit for translating logic signals from circuits supplied by one high-potential power rail to circuits supplied by another high-potential power rail in which the potentials of the two high-potential rails are not equal. The translator of the present invention is utilized in the transition from a 3V-supplied circuit to a 5V-supplied circuit, or vice versa, without any static current I.sub.CCt and regardless of the power-up sequencing. The static current is eliminated by isolating the output of the first stage of the translator, which is at the first high-potential power rail level, from all transistors of the second stage that are tied directly to the second high-potential power rail. In the preferred embodiment of the invention the transistors of the second stage that are powered by the second high-potential power rail are PMOS transistors and the isolation is achieved by linking those PMOS transistors to the first stage through a series of controlling NMOS transistors. In that way, the PMOS transistors will be completely turned off when necessary so as to avoid any undesirable conduction paths occurring due to differences in the potentials of the two high-potential power rail…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.