High speed level shift
First Claim
1. A level shifter comprising:
- first and second drivers coupled to receive differential input signal and generate first and second differential intermediate signals from the input signal, at least one of the first and second drivers including a differential transistor pair; and
an output driver coupled to use the intermediate signals to provide differential output signal, the output signal having a greater peak-to-peak amplitude than the input signal.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Level shifting circuits and methods are disclosed. One embodiment provides a high speed level shifting circuit that uses an input signal to generate two intermediate signals and uses the intermediate signals to generate an output signal such that voltage stress on individual devices within the level shifting circuit is minimized. One embodiment includes a first driver and second driver coupled in parallel to provide intermediate signals to an output driver. In a particular aspect, individual transistors of the output driver are subject to voltage stresses that are less than the peak-to-peak amplitude of the output signal. In one embodiment, the first driver includes an n-channel metal oxide semiconductor (“NMOS”) cascode circuit, the second driver includes a p-channel metal oxide semiconductor (“PMOS”) cascode circuit, and the output driver includes a complementary metal oxide conductor (“CMOS”) inverter stage. In one embodiment, the level shifter is implemented in an integrated circuit characterized by 45-nanometer technology. In another embodiment, the level shifter is implemented in an integrated circuit characterized by 65-nanometer technology.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. A level shifter comprising:
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first and second drivers coupled to receive differential input signal and generate first and second differential intermediate signals from the input signal, at least one of the first and second drivers including a differential transistor pair; and an output driver coupled to use the intermediate signals to provide differential output signal, the output signal having a greater peak-to-peak amplitude than the input signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A level shifter comprising:
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first and second drivers coupled to receive an input signal and generate first and second intermediate signals from the input signal; and an output driver coupled to use the intermediate signals to provide an output signal, the output signal having a greater peak-to-peak amplitude than the input signal wherein; the first driver is an NMOS stage; the first driver includes resistors and a current sink transistor; the current sink transistor is coupled to a bias voltage; and a resistance of the resistors and a value of the bias voltage are selected to control current and voltages in the first driver such that a low value of the first intermediate signal is greater than a low value of the input signal. - View Dependent Claims (26)
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27. A level shifter comprising:
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first and second drivers coupled to receive an input signal and generate first and second intermediate signals from the input signal; and an output driver coupled to use the intermediate signals to provide an output signal, the output signal having a greater peak-to-peak amplitude than the input signal where; the second driver is a PMOS stage; the second driver further includes resistors and a current source transistor; the current source transistor is coupled to a bias voltage; and a resistance of the resistors and a value of the bias voltage are selected to control current and voltages in the second driver such that a high value of the second intermediate signal is less than a level of a source voltage powering the second driver. - View Dependent Claims (28)
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29. A method of shifting a level of an electronic signal comprising:
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receiving differential input signal having an input low value and an input high value; using the input signal to generate first and second differential intermediate signals, the first intermediate signal having a first intermediate low value and a first intermediate high value and the second intermediate signal having a second intermediate low value and a second intermediate high value; and using the first and second intermediate signals to generate an differential output signal, the output signal having an output low value and an output high value, a peak-to-peak amplitude of the output signal being greater than a peak-to-peak amplitude of the input signal. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A level shifter comprising:
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means for using a differential input signal to generate first and second differential intermediate signals; and means for using the first and second intermediate signals to generate aft differential output signal wherein; the output signal has a greater peak-to-peak amplitude than the input signal; and voltage ranges of the first and second intermediate signals each include different portions of a voltage range of the output signal. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37)
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Specification