Patent ID: 7817390

Claim:
An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit, comprising: a clamping module coupled between a positive power line and a negative power line; and a detecting module, comprising: a triggering unit having an input terminal, an output terminal, and a switching terminal, the output terminal being coupled to and used for triggering the clamping module; a resistor coupled between the negative power line and the input terminal of the triggering unit; and a MOS capacitor having a first end and a second end, the first end being coupled to the input terminal of the triggering unit; wherein during a normal power operation, the switching terminal of the triggering unit enables the second end of the MOS capacitor to be coupled with the negative power line; in an ESD event, the switching terminal of the triggering unit enables the second end of the MOS capacitor to be coupled with the positive power line.