Patent ID: 8670219

Claim:
A high-voltage device, comprising: a high-voltage transistor having a drain terminal, a gate terminal, and a source terminal; and an over-voltage protection circuit coupled between the drain terminal and the source terminal of the high-voltage transistor, wherein the over-voltage protection circuit is configured to monitor a voltage across the high-voltage transistor, to detect an over-voltage condition of the high-voltage transistor, and to provide a first electrical signal to the gate terminal of the high-voltage transistor to turn the high-voltage transistor ON when the over-voltage condition is detected; wherein, the over-voltage protection circuit comprises: a voltage detection circuit configured to monitor the voltage across the high-voltage transistor to generate a second electrical signal indicative of the voltage across the high-voltage transistor; and an over-voltage determination circuit configured to receive the second electrical signal and to compare the second electrical signal with an over-voltage threshold to provide the first electrical signal to the gate terminal of the high-voltage transistor, wherein the first electrical signal turns the high-voltage transistor ON when the second electrical signal is higher than the over-voltage threshold, and wherein the first electrical signal turns the high-voltage transistor OFF when the second electrical signal is lower than the over-voltage threshold.