Patent ID: 9379541
Filing Date: 2016-06-28
CPC Classification: H02H

Claim Text:
1. An integrated circuit (IC) comprising: a first circuit coupled to a supply voltage and to a ground and including field-effect transistors (FETs) of a first type having a first breakdown voltage (VBD) resulting from a first set of design and manufacturing process parameters and having VBD process and temperature tracking characteristics resulting from a second set of design and manufacturing process parameters; and a second circuit having: a trigger device having a trigger FET that is configured to generate, in response to the supply voltage exceeding a specified maximum voltage, a signal on a trigger device output, the trigger FET coupled between a supply voltage and a trigger device output and being of a second type having: a clamping device coupled to the supply voltage and to the ground and configured to, in response to the signal on the trigger device output, reduce the supply voltage by connecting the supply voltage to the ground, wherein: the trigger FET comprises an NFET having a source and a gate directly coupled to the trigger device output, and a drain directly coupled to the supply voltage, and the trigger FET further comprises a PFET having a source and a gate directly coupled to the supply voltage, and a drain directly coupled to the trigger device output.