Patent ID: 7570468

Claim:
An ESD protection circuit comprising: an ESD trigger network coupled between a power terminal and ground, the ESD trigger network responsive to an ESD event and further comprising a trigger capacitor coupled to a trigger resistor; at least one logic gate coupled to an output of the ESD trigger network; an ESD shunt device coupled to an output of the at least one logic gate; a shunt trigger network coupled between the power terminal and ground, the shunt trigger network further comprising a shunt resistor coupled to a shunt capacitor; a shunt device coupled to the output of the ESD trigger network and in parallel with the trigger resistor, a control input of the shunt device coupled to an output of the shunt trigger network; wherein the ESD trigger network is configured to trigger the ESD shunt device, thus shunting the power terminal to ground; and wherein an RC time constant of the ESD trigger network is configured to be significantly reduced by the shunt device shunting the trigger resistor, the shunt device shunting when activated by the circuit having power applied.