Patent ID: 7521964

Claim:
A level-shifting circuit for accepting an input signal at a first power-supply level and providing said input signal as an output signal at a second power-supply level higher than said first power-supply level, said level-shifting circuit comprising: a first power supply at said first power-supply level; a second power supply at said second power-supply level; a first complementary transistor pair arranged as an inverter between said first power supply and ground, accepting as an input said input signal, and providing as a first intermediate signal said input signal inverted; a second complementary transistor pair connected in source-to-drain configuration between said second power supply and said first intermediate signal, a first transistor of said second complementary transistor pair being gated by a reference signal and a second transistor of said second complementary transistor pair being gated by said input signal, said second complementary transistor pair providing a second intermediate output at their common connection; and a third complementary transistor pair arranged in source-to-drain configuration between said second power supply and ground, a first transistor of said third complementary transistor pair being gated by said first intermediate signal and a second transistor of said third complementary transistor pair being gated by said second intermediate signal, said third complementary transistor pair providing said output signal at their common connection.