Circuit and method for powering up an integrated circuit and an integrated circuit utilizing same
First Claim
1. A method of providing a reference voltage to an integrated circuit (“
- IC”
) comprising;
i generating a bandgap reset signal and a voltage reset signal once a supply voltage of the IC reaches a first threshold voltage level;
ii disabling the bandgap reset signal once the supply voltage reaches a second threshold voltage level, which second threshold voltage level is sufficient for an associated bandgap reference circuit segment to produce a substantially stable reference voltage; and
iii modulating the voltage-reset signal once the supply voltage reaches a third threshold voltage so as to indicate that the bandgap reference circuit segment is operational.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is a circuit and method for providing a reference voltage and/or one or more circuit/circuit-block enabling signals for an IC. As the voltage level on a power supply line ramps upward towards or above a nominal operating voltage, a first threshold voltage detector circuit segment may be activated and may begin to generate a bandgap reset signal once the voltage level of the power supply reaches a first threshold voltage level. The bandgap reset signal may trigger the power-up and operation of a bandgap reference circuit segment, and according to further embodiments of the present invention, a second threshold voltage detector circuit segment, which second threshold voltage detector circuit segment may be matched with the first voltage detector circuit, may generate a voltage reset signal indicating that the bandgap reference source is powering-up. Once the supply voltage reaches a third threshold reference voltage, the first detector may disable the bandgap reset.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of providing a reference voltage to an integrated circuit (“
- IC”
) comprising;i generating a bandgap reset signal and a voltage reset signal once a supply voltage of the IC reaches a first threshold voltage level; ii disabling the bandgap reset signal once the supply voltage reaches a second threshold voltage level, which second threshold voltage level is sufficient for an associated bandgap reference circuit segment to produce a substantially stable reference voltage; and iii modulating the voltage-reset signal once the supply voltage reaches a third threshold voltage so as to indicate that the bandgap reference circuit segment is operational. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
- IC”
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9. A circuit for providing a reference voltage to an integrated circuit (“
- IC”
) comprising;i a first voltage threshold detection circuit segment adapted to generate a bandgap reset signal once a supply voltage of the IC reaches a first threshold voltage level and to disable the bandgap reset signal once the supply voltage reaches a second threshold voltage level, which second threshold voltage level is sufficient for an associated bandgap reference circuit segment to produce a substantially stable reference voltage, and ii a second voltage threshold detection circuit segment adapted to generate a voltage reset signal once the supply voltage of the IC reaches the first threshold voltage level and to modulate the voltage reset signal once the supply voltage reaches a third threshold voltage level so to indicate that the bandgap reference is operational. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
- IC”
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14. An integrate circuit comprising:
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i non-volatile memory circuitry; ii a first voltage threshold detection circuit segment adapted to generate a bandgap reset signal once a supply voltage of the IC reaches a first threshold voltage level and to disable the bandgap reset signal once the supply voltage reaches a second threshold voltage level, which second threshold voltage level is sufficient for an associated bandgap reference circuit segment to produce a substantially stable reference voltage, iii a second voltage threshold detection circuit segment adapted to generate a voltage reset signal once the supply voltage of the IC reaches the first threshold voltage level and to modulate the voltage reset signal once the supply voltage reaches a third threshold voltage level so to indicate that the bandgap reference is operational; and iv wherein said non-volatile memory circuitry utilizes an output signal from the bandgap reference circuit segment. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification