Patent ID: 11894673
Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
Field: Semiconductors (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 8:
9. An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit, comprising:
a first switch including a first current terminal, a second current terminal, and a control terminal, wherein the first current terminal of the first switch is adapted to be coupled to input terminals, and the second current terminal of the first switch is adapted to be coupled to a ground terminal of an integrated circuit (IC);
a second switch including a first current terminal, a second current terminal, and a control terminal, wherein the first current terminal of the second switch is adapted to be coupled to the control terminal of the first switch, and the second current terminal of the second switch is adapted to be coupled to the ground terminal; and
a control circuit adapted to be coupled to the control terminal of the first switch, the first current terminal of the second switch, and the control terminal of the second switch, the control circuit configured to:
detect a set of parameters including:
a first parameter indicating an ESD event;
a second parameter indicating a transient voltage at one of the input terminals, in which the transient voltage is caused by an initial coupling of that input terminal to a battery;
a third parameter indicating a condition in which the first switch has been closed for longer than a threshold amount of time;

close the first switch responsive to the first parameter to couple the ESD event to the ground terminal through the first switch;
open the first switch responsive to the second or third parameters; and
close the second switch responsive to the second parameter.