Patent ID: 7180338

Claim:
A high performance integrated circuit (IC) output driver comprising: a first voltage supply source (Vddq); a second voltage supply source (Vssq) having a lower potential than said first voltage supply source; last stage output circuit(s) directly driving IC external output signal(s), said IC external output signal(s) is/are partial-voltage signals switching between voltage levels that are lower than Vddq and higher than Vssq, wherein said last stage output circuit(s) comprise(s): n-channel pull up transistor(s), wherein said n-channel pull up transistor(s) provide(s) majority of the driving force to drive said IC external signal(s) to higher voltage level(s); and p-channel pull down transistor(s), wherein said p-channel pull down transistor(s) provide(s) majority of the driving force to drive said IC external signal(s) to lower voltage level(s).