Patent ID: 7663394

Claim:
A start signal detector circuit, comprising: a rectifier circuit that includes a plurality of stages of three-terminal elements, in which each of the three-terminal elements includes a first terminal, a second terminal and a control terminal, and in which each three-terminal element has a resistance value that varies nonlinearly in response to a control voltage or to a control current applied to said control terminal, the three-terminal elements being connected to each other with the second terminal of each three-terminal element connected to the first terminal of the three-terminal element in the following stage; and a bias circuit that includes a plurality of stages of three-terminal elements that have the same configuration as said three-terminal elements and that are connected to each other with the second terminal of each three-terminal element connected to the first terminal of the three-terminal element in the following stage, the control terminals of the rectifier circuit and the bias circuit in the same stage being connected to each other, and the first terminals and the control terminals of the three-terminal elements in the bias circuit being connected to each other.