Level-shift circuits compatible with multiple supply voltage

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9391619-B2
Application number	US-201414326747-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 9, 2014
Priority date	Oct 15, 2013
Publication date	Jul 12, 2016
Grant date	Jul 12, 2016

Abstract

A level-shift circuit, receiving a supply voltage and a input signal, includes a pre-stage voltage conversion circuit and a post-stage voltage conversion circuit. The pre-stage voltage conversion circuit includes a first voltage protection module generating an inner conversion voltage and a first voltage conversion module converting the input signal into a pre-stage output signal according to the inner conversion voltage. The post-stage voltage conversion circuit includes a second voltage protection module generating a first inverse output signal, a first output signal, a second inverse output signal, and a second output signal. The transistors of the pre-stage voltage conversion circuit and the post-stage voltage conversion circuit have a punch-through voltage. The level-shift makes the stress of the transistors less than the punch-through voltage when the supply voltage is greater than the punch-through voltage, and remains the driving capability when being less than the punch-through voltage.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A level-shift circuit, receiving a supply voltage and an input signal to generate a first inverse output signal, a first output signal, a second inverse output signal and a second output signal, the level-shift circuit comprises:
a pre-stage voltage conversion circuit, comprising:
a first voltage protection module, coupled to the supply voltage and converting the supply voltage into an inner conversion voltage; and
a first voltage conversion module, coupled to the first voltage protection module, receiving the input signal, and converting the input signal into a pre-stage output signal according to the inner conversion voltage, wherein a high logic level of the pre-stage output signal is equal to the inner conversion voltage; and
a post-stage voltage conversion circuit, coupled to the pre-stage voltage conversion circuit, wherein the post-stage voltage conversion circuit receives the pre-stage output signal to generate the first inverse output signal, the first output signal, the second inverse output signal and the second output signal, the post-stage voltage conversion circuit comprising:
a second voltage protection module, generating the first inverse output signal, the first output signal, the second inverse output signal, and the second output signal;
an N-type input pair, comprising a plurality of first N-type transistors, wherein source terminals of the first N-type transistors are coupled to a ground, one of gate terminals of the first N-type transistors receives the pre-stage output signal and the other gate terminal of the first N-type transistors receives an inverse of the pre-stage output signal, and one of drain terminals of the first N-type transistors receives the first inverse output signal and the other drain terminal of the first N-type transistors receives the first output signal; and
a P-type cross-coupled pair, comprising a plurality of first P-type transistors, wherein source terminals of the first P-type transistors are coupled to the supply voltage, one of drain terminals of the first P-type transistors receives the second inverse output signal and the other drain terminal of the first P-type transistors receives the second output signal,
wherein the pre-stage voltage conversion circuit and the post-stage voltage conversion circuit comprise a plurality of transistors with a punch-through voltage, wherein the level-shift circuit makes stress of the transistors less than the punch-through voltage when the supply voltage is greater than the punch-through voltage, and the level-shift circuit outputs the first inverse output signal, the first output signal, the second inverse output signal, and the second output signal with a voltage swing equal to the supply voltage when the supply voltage is less than the punch-through voltage.

2. The level-shift circuit of claim 1 , wherein the second voltage protection module further comprises:
a first N-type transistor pair, comprising a plurality of second N-type transistors, wherein one of source terminals of the second N-type transistors receives the first inverse output signal and the other source terminal of the second N-type transistors receives the first output signal, gate terminals of the second N-type transistors receive a first voltage conversion signal;
a first P-type transistor pair, comprising a plurality of second P-type transistors, wherein one of source terminals of the second P-type transistors receives the second inverse output signal and the other source terminal of the second P-type transistors receives the second output signal, gate terminals of the second P-type transistors receive a second voltage conversion signal, drain terminals of the second P-type transistors are respectively coupled to the drain terminals of the second N-type transistors;
a third N-type transistor, wherein a source terminal of the third N-type transistor receives the first inverse output signal, a drain terminal of the third N-type transistor receives the second inverse output signal, and a gate terminal of the third N-type transistor receives a second logic signal; and
a fourth N-type transistor, wherein a source terminal of the fourth N-type transistor receives the first output signal, a drain terminal of the fourth N-type transistor receives the second output signal, and a gate terminal of the fourth N-type transistor receives a first logic signal.

3. The level-shift circuit of claim 2 , wherein a voltage of the second voltage conversion signal is half of a voltage of a first supply voltage when the supply voltage is the first supply voltage, and the second voltage conversion signal is a ground level when the supply voltage is a second supply voltage.

4. The level-shift circuit of claim 2 , wherein
when the supply voltage is a first supply voltage, a voltage of the first voltage conversion signal and the second voltage conversion signal is half of a voltage of the first supply voltage, and
when the supply voltage is a second supply voltage, the third N-type transistor and the fourth N-type transistor short the first N-type transistor pair and the first P-type transistor pair, according to the second logic signal and the first logic signal respectively, such that a voltage difference of the second inverse output signal and the second output signal is the second supply voltage,
wherein the first supply voltage is greater than the punch-through voltage and the second supply voltage is less than the punch-through voltage.

5. The level-shift circuit of claim 4 , wherein when the supply voltage is the first supply voltage, a variation range of the second output signal and the second inverse output signal is between the first supply voltage and half of the first supply voltage, and a variation range of the first output signal and the first inverse output signal is between half of the first supply voltage and a ground level.

6. The level-shift circuit of claim 4 , wherein the first voltage protection module comprises:
a fifth N-type transistor, wherein a source terminal of the fifth N-type transistor is coupled to the inner conversion voltage, a drain of the fifth N-type transistor is coupled to the supply voltage, and a gate terminal of the fifth N-type transistor receives the first voltage conversion signal; and
a third P-type transistor, wherein a source terminal of the third P-type transistor is coupled to the supply voltage, a drain terminal of the third P-type transistor is coupled to the inner conversion voltage, and a gate terminal of the third P-type transistor receives a voltage selection signal, wherein
when the supply voltage is the first supply voltage, the voltage of the first voltage conversion signal is half of the voltage of the first supply voltage, and the voltage selection signal is the first supply voltage, and
when the supply voltage is the second supply voltage, the voltage of the first voltage conversion signal is the second supply voltage, and the voltage selection signal is a ground level.

7. The level-shift circuit of claim 6 , wherein the first voltage conversion module comprises:
a sixth N-type transistor, wherein a gate terminal of the sixth N-type transistor receives the input signal, a source terminal of the sixth N-type transistor is coupled to the ground, and a drain terminal of the sixth N-type transistor is coupled to the inverse of the pre-stage output signal;
a seventh N-type transistor, wherein a gate terminal of the seventh N-type transistor receives the inverse of the input signal, a source terminal of the seventh N-type transistor is coupled to the ground, and a drain terminal of the seventh N-type transistor is coupled to the pre-stage output signal;
a fourth P-type transistor, wherein a gate terminal of the fourth P-type transistor receives the input

Assignees

• Via Alliance Semiconductor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Si Qiang
• Liu Cheng

Classifications

• H03K19/0175 Primary

  Coupling arrangements; Interface arrangements (interface arrangements for digital computers G06F3/00, G06F13/00) · CPC title

• H02M3/156 Primary

  with automatic control of output voltage or current, e.g. switching regulators · CPC title

• H03K19/018521

  of complementary type, e.g. CMOS · CPC title

• H03K17/08122 Primary

  in field-effect transistor switches · CPC title