Patent ID: 7916441

Claim:
A device for protecting an electronic circuit against a fault, said electronic circuit including an output stage for driving a load and a driving circuit for driving said output stage, the driving circuit being configured to produce a drive signal for driving a power output in response to at least one input signal, said device comprising: an input terminal configured to receive a detection signal representative of a detection of a fault either of the load or of the output stage; a digital deactivation circuit configured to deactivate the output stage within an intervention time between the detection of the fault and the deactivation of the output stage that is on an order of logic circuitry switching times, the digital deactivation circuit including: a first gating circuit having a first input configured to receive the drive signal, a second input configured to receive a control signal, and an output configured to activate and deactivate the output stage based on the drive signal and the control signal; and a hysteresis comparator having an input and an output, the hysteresis comparator being configured to provide an output signal; a second gating circuit having a first input coupled to the input terminal, a second input coupled to the output of the hysteresis comparator, and an output coupled to the second input of the first gating circuit, the second gating circuit being configured to provide the control signal to the first gating circuit; and a transistor having a first conduction terminal coupled to the input of said hysteresis comparator, a second conduction terminal coupled to a voltage reference terminal, and a control terminal coupled to the second gating circuit, said transistor being configured to provide a current path between the input of the hysteresis comparator and the voltage reference terminal with the transistor switched on, said second gating circuit being configured to maintain said transistor normally off and configured to switch the transistor on in response to said detection signal.