Patent ID: 11862960
Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY LTD.
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 16:
17. A method of operating an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit, the method comprising:
receiving a first ESD voltage on a first node, the first ESD voltage being greater than a supply voltage of a voltage supply, the first ESD voltage corresponding to a first ESD event;
turning on a first diode thereby conducting a first ESD current from a first anode of the first diode to a first cathode of the first diode;
conducting the first ESD current from the first cathode of the first diode to a first signal tap of an ESD clamp circuit, wherein the ESD clamp circuit is coupled to the first diode, the first signal tap is coupled to the voltage supply, and the first diode is coupled to and configured to share the first signal tap with the ESD clamp circuit;
turning on the ESD clamp circuit in response to the first ESD current being received at the first signal tap of the ESD clamp circuit or a second node; and
discharging the first ESD current of the first ESD event by the ESD clamp circuit.