Patent ID: 8913047

Claim:
A semiconductor device comprising: a plurality of sets of n external drive terminals arranged in a marginal region along one long side of a rectangular semiconductor substrate; a plurality of sets of n ESD protection circuits arranged in the marginal region, each set of n ESD protection circuits coupled to a corresponding set of n external drive terminals; a plurality of output circuits, each output circuit including a set of n output units coupled to a corresponding set of n external drive terminals, each output unit including a plurality of circuit components; and a processing circuit formed over said semiconductor substrate to control output operation of said output circuits, wherein each set of n external drive terminals is arranged in a plurality of n columns along a Y direction in a staggered arrangement in which the positions of the external drive terminals in adjacent columns are shifted with respect to each other, and wherein said plurality of output circuits are arranged in a plurality of different columns along the Y direction, each column including a single output circuit and extending in an X direction perpendicular to the Y direction.