Low voltage to high voltage level shifter and related methods
First Claim
1. A shifter circuit comprising:
- a high voltage buffer stage comprising;
multiple transistors arranged in a transistor stack having a plurality of intermediate nodes connecting individual transistors along the stack, the transistor stack being connected between a voltage level being shifted to and an input voltage; and
an inverter comprising multiple inputs and an output, individual inverter inputs being connected to a respective intermediate node of the transistor stack;
a low voltage buffer stage having an input connected to said input voltage, and an output, the low voltage buffer stage being operably connected to the high voltage buffer stage and being connected between a voltage level being shifted away from and a lower voltage; and
an output buffer stage driven by the outputs of the high voltage buffer stage inverter and the low voltage buffer stage.
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Abstract
A shifter circuit comprises a high and low voltage buffer stages and an output buffer stage. The high voltage buffer stage comprises multiple transistors arranged in a transistor stack having a plurality of intermediate nodes connecting individual transistors along the stack. The transistor stack is connected between a voltage level being shifted to and an input voltage. An inverter of this stage comprises multiple inputs and an output. Inverter inputs are connected to a respective intermediate node of the transistor stack. The low voltage buffer stage has an input connected to the input voltage and an output, and is operably connected to the high voltage buffer stage. The low voltage buffer stage is connected between a voltage level being shifted away from and a lower voltage. The output buffer stage is driven by the outputs of the high voltage buffer stage inverter and the low voltage buffer stage.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A shifter circuit comprising:
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a high voltage buffer stage comprising;
multiple transistors arranged in a transistor stack having a plurality of intermediate nodes connecting individual transistors along the stack, the transistor stack being connected between a voltage level being shifted to and an input voltage; and
an inverter comprising multiple inputs and an output, individual inverter inputs being connected to a respective intermediate node of the transistor stack;
a low voltage buffer stage having an input connected to said input voltage, and an output, the low voltage buffer stage being operably connected to the high voltage buffer stage and being connected between a voltage level being shifted away from and a lower voltage; and
an output buffer stage driven by the outputs of the high voltage buffer stage inverter and the low voltage buffer stage. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A shifter circuit comprising:
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a high voltage buffer stage comprising;
multiple transistor stacks, each of which comprising multiple transistors having a plurality of intermediate nodes connecting individual transistors along a respective stack, each transistor stack being connected between a voltage level being shifted to and an input voltage; and
multiple inverters each of which comprising multiple inputs and an output, each inverter being connected with an individual respective one of the transistor stacks, individual inverter inputs being connected to a respective intermediate node of its connected transistor stack;
a low voltage buffer stage having an input connected to said input voltage and an output, the low voltage buffer stage being operably connected to the high voltage buffer stage and being connected between a voltage level being shifted away from and a lower voltage; and
an output buffer stage driven by the output of a high voltage buffer stage inverter and the output of the low voltage buffer stage. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method comprising:
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supplying a voltage level away from which a shift is desired;
supplying a voltage level to which a shift is desired;
supplying an input voltage; and
shifting the input voltage, using said voltage levels and a circuit comprising;
a high voltage buffer stage comprising;
multiple transistors arranged in a transistor stack having a plurality of intermediate nodes connecting individual transistors along the stack, the transistor stack being connected between the voltage level being shifted to and the input voltage; and
an inverter comprising multiple inputs and an output, individual inverter inputs being connected to a respective intermediate node of the transistor stack;
a low voltage buffer stage having an input connected to said input voltage and an output, the low voltage buffer stage being operably connected to the high voltage buffer stage and being connected between said voltage level being shifted away from and a lower voltage; and
an output buffer stage driven by the outputs of the high voltage buffer stage inverter and the low voltage buffer stage. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification