Patent ID: 7164185

Claim:
A method for protecting a semiconductor component from a transient electrical signal, comprising: characterizing the current-width relationship of a first plurality of variable resistance resistors to determine a stress current level sufficient to cause failure of one or more resistors of the first plurality of variable resistance resistors; characterizing the voltage-length relationship of a second plurality of variable resistance resistors to determine a voltage across the resistors of the second plurality of variable resistance resistors in response to the stress current level; characterizing a current-voltage relationship of a selected variable resistance resistor having a selected length and width, wherein the variable resistance resistor serves as a tuned variable resistance resistor; providing a semiconductor device having a device node; providing a first input/output node; coupling the device node to the first input/output node with the tuned variable resistance resistor having the selected length and width; and operating the tuned variable resistance resistor in a first operating mode in the absence of the transient electrical signal and in a second operating mode in the presence of the transient electrical signal.