Bi-directional level shifted interrupt control
US7755412B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 1, 2008 |
| Grant date | Jul 13, 2010 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 1, 2028 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH03K19/018592
- WIPO fieldBasic communication processes
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The present example provides a circuit offering interoperability between circuits that may be powered from differing voltages, and that may operate at differing logic levels. Isolation may be provided from the impedance provided by transistor circuits and level shifting may be provided by a divider network. Accordingly, an exemplary slave and a master (or equivalently two circuits which are being coupled together) can operate on different voltages. This may be useful because some circuits such as processors can require higher or lower voltage than other processors that are sought to be coupled together. The circuit also may require one “read only” and another “input/output” pin, therefore, reducing the resources needed to implement the circuit functions. The present example can be useful for microprocessors that can use a software algorithm for the communications protocol, which can be economical to implement as it utilizes one input/output pin and one input only pin.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.