Patent ID: RE42494

Claim:
A method for preventing a source-to-body forward bias condition of a PN junction between a drain and a body in a MOS transistor, the method comprising: applying voltage to the a gate of the MOS transistor to place the MOS transistor in an ON condition enabling flow of current between the a source and the drain of the MOS transistor , the source being at a source voltage ; connecting the body of the MOS transistor to the transistor source for the ON condition; applying voltage to the gate of the MOS transistor to place the MOS transistor in an OFF condition preventing flow of current between the source and the drain of the MOS transistor; and switching the body of the MOS transistor from the source to a voltage different than the transistor source voltage for the OFF condition; the different voltage acting to place the PN junction between the drain and the body of the MOS transistor in a source-to-body reverse bias condition , when keeping the transistor body connected to the transistor source would place the PN junction between the drain and the body of the MOS transistor in a source-to-body forward bias condition , wherein the voltage applied to the gate to place the MOS transistor in the OFF condition is the same as the different voltage .