| 摘要 |
An apparatus and method for providing electrostatic discharge protection of a transmit integrated circuit including an ESD protect block coupled to an integrated circuit pad in a package without bond wires, and an ESD clamp circuit coupled between the ESD protect block and ground. During transmission, one or more capacitors within the ESD protect block may charge up to various levels near the peak transmit voltage, which reverse biases one or more diodes in the ESD protect block, thereby buffering the transmit circuit from the capacitive load of the ESD clamp circuit. The ESD protect block may prevent the ESD clamp circuit from activating due to the high peak voltages output from the transmit circuit. An embodiment of the ESD protect block may apply particularly to transmit power amplifier circuits in which the output signal peaks at twice the supply voltage. In one embodiment applicable for lower voltage CMOS processes, the ESD protect block includes a diode and a capacitor. In another embodiment applicable for higher voltage CMOS processes, the ESD protect block includes two diodes, one or two capacitors, and an optional resistor.
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