Patent ID: 7696805

Claim:
A level shifter circuit comprising: first and second load devices for respectively coupling first and second complementary output nodes to a first voltage supply node; first and second mutually exclusive driver circuits respectively for coupling the first and second output nodes to a second voltage supply node, each of the first and second driver circuits respectively comprising: a voltage shifter circuit coupled between the respective output node and a respective intermediate node; a bypass circuit coupled between the respective output node and the respective intermediate node, said bypass circuit having a different circuit arrangement than the voltage shifter circuit; and a switching circuit responsive to an input signal and coupled between the respective intermediate node and the second voltage supply node; wherein the voltage shifter circuit provides a large enough voltage drop to ensure that, for a voltage of the respective output node equal to the highest voltage operably coupled to the first voltage supply node, and the switching circuit being fully enabled in response to the input signal, a voltage of the respective intermediate node does not exceed a maximum snap-back voltage of any device within the switching circuit; and wherein the bypass circuit, when conductive, provides a smaller voltage drop between the respective output node and the respective intermediate node than said voltage drop of the voltage shifter circuit; wherein the first switching circuit comprises a first switch transistor having a source terminal coupled to a first control node and having a gate terminal coupled to a second control node; and wherein the second switching circuit comprises a second switch transistor having a source terminal coupled to the second control node and having a gate terminal coupled to the first control node.