Patent ID: 7639462

Claim:
An electrostatic discharge (ESD) power clamp comprising: ESD suppression circuitry to detect an ESD and to shunt the ESD to ground, wherein the ESD suppression circuitry comprises a first switch and a second switch operable to shunt the ESD to the ground; single event effect (SEE) protection circuitry coupled to the ESD suppression circuitry to suppress a non-ESD transient event that may be experienced by the ESD suppression circuitry such that the ESD suppression circuitry maintains proper operation while experiencing the transient event, wherein the SEE protection circuitry includes a first triggering circuit coupled to the first switch of the ESD suppression circuitry and a second triggering circuit coupled to the second switch of the ESD suppression circuitry in order to operate the first switch and the second switch independently; and a defect detector coupled to the ESD suppression circuitry and the SEE protection circuitry to detect manufacturing defects of the ESD power clamp, wherein the defect detector comprises a first P-type transistor having a gate receiving an output of the first triggering circuit, a second P-type transistor having a gate receiving an output of the second triggering circuit, and a current source, wherein if an output from one of the first or second triggering circuits is below a threshold level, of an output of the first P-type transistor or an output of the second P-type transistor results in a signal indicating a defect.