Patent ID: 8436655

Claim:
A voltage level shift circuit comprising: a first signal generation unit that receives an input signal to generate a first signal having a first voltage amplitude; a second signal generation unit that receives the input signal to generate a second signal having a second voltage amplitude different from the first voltage amplitude; a synthesis unit that receives the first and second signals to generate an output signal having different voltage amplitude from the input signal; and an input signal discrimination unit that generates the input signal based on an external signal, wherein the input signal has substantially a same voltage amplitude as the first voltage amplitude, wherein the output signal has substantially a same voltage amplitude as the second voltage amplitude, wherein the second voltage amplitude is smaller than the first voltage amplitude, wherein the first signal generation unit includes a first logic circuit that is connected between a first power supply line and a third power supply line, and a voltage between the first and third power supply lines corresponds to the first voltage amplitude, wherein the input signal discrimination unit includes a second logic circuit that is connected between the first and third power supply lines, and wherein the input signal discrimination unit generates the input signal based on a result of comparing a potential of the external signal with a reference potential.