Patent ID: 11923770
Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS S.R.L.
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC H  B  G | IPC B  G  H

Claim 0:
1. A circuit, comprising:
at least one switching transistor including:
a first terminal configured to receive a control signal; and
second and third terminals, wherein the at least one switching transistor is configured to:
selectively provide a first path for a first current, the first path being between the second and third terminals;
in response to the control signal having a first value, switch to a conductive state in which the first path enables the first current to flow through the at least one switching transistor between a node and a reference node, wherein in the conductive state, the at least one switching transistor has a conduction voltage drop between the second and third terminals; and
in response to the control signal having a second value, switch to a non-conductive state, wherein in the non-conductive state, a stress voltage drop is applied between the second and third terminals of the at least one switching transistor;

a sense transistor coupled to the at least one switching transistor and configured to:
provide a scaled replica of the at least one switching transistor;
selectively provide a second path for a sense current through the sense transistor, wherein the sense current is indicative of the first current; and

coupling circuitry configured to:
in response to the at least one switching transistor being switched to the non-conductive state, apply the stress voltage drop across the sense transistor, wherein in response to the at least one switching transistor being switched to the non-conductive state, the stress voltage drop is replicated across both the at least one switching transistor and across the sense transistor.