Patent ID: 7764475

Claim:
A multi-mode electrostatic discharge (ESD) circuit for a semiconductor chip comprising an input buffer, the circuit comprising: one or more ESD diodes connected to an input terminal of the input buffer and adapted to discharge static electricity applied to the input terminal of the input buffer; and one or more body voltage varying units adapted to apply one or more respective body voltages to the one or more ESD diodes; wherein each of the one or more respective body voltages has a voltage level greater than a power source voltage of the ESD circuit or less than a ground voltage of the ESD circuit where the ESD circuit is in a first mode, and further adapted to apply the one or more respective body voltages to the one or more ESD diodes with respective voltage levels equal to the power source voltage of the ESD circuit or the ground voltage of the ESD circuit where the ESD circuit is in a second mode.