Patent ID: 7515391

Claim:
A low capacitance overvoltage protection circuit, comprising: an overvoltage protection device having at least two terminals, said overvoltage protection device responsive to an overvoltage for providing a low impedance path between said two terminals; said overvoltage protection device characterized by a rated surge current; a diode bridge having at least four nodes, and said diode bridge having a first diode connected between a first node and a third node, a second diode connected between the third node and a second node, a third diode connected between the second node and a fourth node, a fourth diode connected between the first node and the fourth, and said overvoltage protection device connected between said first and second nodes of said diode bridge; one or more of said diodes having a respective junction area capable of carrying the rated surge current of said overvoltage protection device and not substantially more, thereby minimizing a capacitance of said diode bridge; and said diode bridge does not include series bridge diodes to reduce capacitance, between at least one of the following four pairs of nodes; a) said first node and said third node, b) said third node and said second node, c) said second node and said fourth node d) said fourth node and said first node.