Patent ID: 7710183

Claim:
A level shifting circuit, comprising: an input point; an output point; a cross-coupled pair of field effect transistors of a first type coupled to the output point; a pair of assist circuits responsive to changes in input voltage levels and output voltage levels for transiently changing gate-to-source and source-to-drain voltages of the field effect transistors of the first type, the pair of assist circuits being coupled to gates of the cross-coupled pair of field effect transistors; and a pair of field effect transistors of a second type coupled between the input and output points, the field effect transistors of the second type being responsive to input voltage levels, wherein each assist circuit comprises two field effect transistors of the first type coupled together in series drain-to-source, one of the assist circuit field effect transistors being responsive to input voltage levels and the other of the assist circuit field effect transistors being responsive to drain voltage levels of one of the field effect transistors of the second type.