Patent ID: 7990666

Claim:
A circuit comprising: a current mirror based comparator for coupling to a power supply terminal, wherein currents differ from each other responsive to an electrostatic discharge event, wherein the current mirror based comparator includes: a first current mirror configured provide a first mirror current related to a voltage applied to the power supply terminal; a second current mirror configured to provide a second mirror current non-linearly related to the voltage applied to the power supply terminal; a bias device configured to receive a first sense current from the first mirror device and to provide a bias voltage, and a transconductance device configured to receive the bias voltage at a control input and to provide a second sense current to the second mirror device using the voltage applied to the power supply terminal; a latch coupled to the current mirror based comparator for latching a comparison signal generated by the comparator as a function of the currents generated by the electrostatic discharge event; and a shunt device coupled to the latch, and responsive to shunt current from the power supply terminal to a ground during an electrostatic discharge event.