Under voltage tolerant clamp

摘要

An apparatus comprises an integrated circuit (IC) comprising an external IC connection, an IC substrate connection, a voltage clamp circuit and an under voltage circuit. The voltage of the IC substrate connection is set to a first voltage when a voltage of the external connection of the IC is within a normal operating voltage range. The voltage clamp circuit is configured to clamp the voltage supply of one or more circuits internal to the IC to within a normal operating voltage range when the voltage of the external IC connection exceeds the normal operating voltage range. The under voltage circuit is communicatively coupled to the clamp circuit and configured to set the voltage of the substrate to a second voltage when the voltage at the external IC connection of the IC is less than zero volts.

主权项

1. An integrated circuit (IC) to provide both over voltage protection and under voltage protection, the IC comprising:
an external IC connection; an IC substrate connection, wherein a voltage of the IC substrate connection is set to a first voltage when a voltage of the external connection of the IC is within a normal operating voltage range; a voltage clamp circuit configured to clamp the voltage supply of one or more circuits internal to the IC to within a normal operating voltage range when the voltage of the external IC connection exceeds the normal operating voltage range; and an under voltage circuit communicatively coupled to the clamp circuit and configured to set the voltage of the substrate to a second voltage when the voltage at the external IC connection of the IC is less than zero volts.