Patent ID: 7508726

Claim:
A signal sensing circuit, comprising: a sense amplifier having a first sense terminal, a second sense terminal, a first power terminal and a second power terminal; a kick transistor with the source connected to a first supply voltage and a capacitor, and the gate controlled by a kick signal; a first control transistor with the source connected to the drain of said kick transistor at a node defined as a regulated node, the drain connected to said first power terminal and the gate controlled by a first control signal; a second control transistor with the source connected to a second supply voltage, the drain connected to said second power terminal and the gate controlled by a second control signal; a pre-charge circuit connected between said first power terminal and said second power terminal for providing a pre-charge voltage; and a recovery circuit connected between said regulated node and said second supply voltage for regulating the voltage on said regulated node; said voltage of said regulated node responsive to a voltage difference between said first and second sense terminals; said voltage of said regulated node operatively lowered to a second reference voltage of the recovery circuit when greater than the second reference voltage of said recovery circuit and said kick transistor is turned off.