Level shelter, semiconductor integrated circuit and information processing system
View Patent ↗A level shifter normally operates with low power consumption at a high operating frequency. The level shifter, including a first level shifter, which has transistors MP 3 and MP 4, which have a supply voltage VDD applied to respective sources and respective gates connected to the other's drain, and transistors MN 3 and MN 4, which have signals SIN and SINB applied to respective gates, respective drains connected to the transistors MP 3 and MP 4 drains, and respective sources grounded; and a second level shifter, which has transistors MN 5 and MN 6, which have respective sources grounded and respective drains connected to the other's gate, and transistors MP 5 and MP 6, which have a supply voltage VDD applied to respective sources, signals SIN and SINB applied to respective gates, and respective drains connected to the transistors MP 5 and MP 6 drains; wherein the drains of the transistors MP 3 and MN 5 are connected to each other, and the drains of the transistors MP 4 and MN 6 are connected to each other.
1. A level shifter, comprising:
a first transistor of a first conduction type, which is connected between a first power supply line and a first node, has a control terminal connected to an input terminal to which an input signal is to be applied;
a second transistor of a second conduction type, which is connected between a second power supply line and the first node, has a control terminal connected to an output terminal;
an inverter, which is connected between the input terminal and a second node;
a third transistor of the first conduction type, which is connected between the first power supply line and the output terminal, has a control terminal connected to the second node;
a fourth transistor of the second conduction type, which is connected between the second power supply line and the output terminal, has a control terminal connected to the first node;
a fifth transistor of the second conduction type, which is connected between the second power supply line and the first node, has a control terminal connected to the input terminal;
a sixth transistor of the second conduction type, which is connected between the second power supply line and the output terminal, has a control terminal connected to the second node;
a seventh transistor of the first conduction type, which is connected between the first power supply line and the output terminal, has a control terminal connected to the first node; and
an eighth transistor of the first conduction type, which is connected between the first power supply line and the first node, has a control terminal connected to the output terminal.
2. The level shifter according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a ninth transistor of the second conduction type, which is inserted between the fifth transistor and the first node, has a control terminal connected to the output terminal; and
a tenth transistor of the second conduction type, which is inserted between the sixth transistor and the output terminal, has a control terminal connected to the first node.
3. The level shifter according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a ninth transistor of the first conduction type, which is inserted between the fifth transistor and the first node, has a control terminal connected to the first node; and
a tenth transistor of the first conduction type, which is inserted between the sixth transistor and the output terminal, has a control terminal connected to the output terminal.
4. The level shifter according to claim 1 , wherein the first through eighth transistors have approximately the same voltage tolerance.
5. A level shifter, comprising:
a first transistor of a first conduction type, which is connected between a first power supply line and a first node, has a control terminal connected to an input terminal to which an input signal is to be applied;
a second transistor of a second conduction type, which is connected between a second power supply line and the first node, has a control terminal connected to an output terminal;
an inverter, which is connected between the input terminal and a second node;
a third transistor of the first conduction type, which is connected between the first power supply line and the output terminal, has a control terminal connected to the second node;
a fourth transistor of the second conduction type, which is connected between the second power supply line and the output terminal, has a control terminal connected to the first node; and
a fifth transistor of the second conduction type, which is connected between the second power supply line and the first node, has a control terminal connected to the input terminal,
wherein the first and the third transistor have a gate width larger than the other transistors.
6. The level shifter according to claim 2 , wherein the ninth and the tenth transistor have the same gate width as the transistor with the smallest gate width from among the first through eighth transistors, or have a smaller gate width than the other transistors.
7. The level shifter according to claim 1 , wherein the inverter has a lower voltage tolerance than the first through fifth transistors.
8. A level shifter, comprising:
a first transistor of a first conduction type, which is connected between a first power supply line and a first node, has a control terminal connected to an input terminal to which an input signal is to be applied;
a second transistor of a second conduction type, which is connected between the first node and a second power supply line, has a control terminal connected to an output terminal;
an inverter, which is connected between the input terminal and a second node;
a third transistor of the first conduction type, which is connected between the first power supply line and the output terminal, has a control terminal connected to the second node;
a fourth transistor of the second conduction type, which is connected between the second power supply line and the output terminal, has a control terminal connected to the first node;
a fifth transistor of the second conduction type, which is connected between the second power supply line and the first node, has a control terminal connected to the input terminal;
a sixth transistor of the second conduction type, which is connected between the second power supply line and the output terminal, has a control terminal connected to the second node;
a seventh transistor of the first conduction type, which is connected between the first power supply line and the output terminal, has a control terminal connected to the first node; and
an eighth transistor of the first conduction type, which is connected between the first power supply line and the first node, has a control terminal connected to the output terminal.
9. A level shifter, comprising:
a first transistor of a first conduction type, which is connected between a first power supply line and a first node, has a control terminal connected to an input terminal to which an input signal is to be applied;
a second transistor of a second conduction type, which is connected between a first node and a second power supply line, has a control terminal connected to an output terminal;
an inverter, which is connected between the input terminal and a second node;
a third transistor of the first conduction type, which is connected between the first power supply line and the output terminal, has a control terminal connected to the second node;
a fourth transistor of the second conduction type, which is connected between the second power supply line and the output terminal, has a control terminal connected to the first node; and
a fifth transistor of the first conduction type, which is connected between the first power supply line and the first node, has a control terminal connected to the output terminal;
a sixth transistor of the second conduction type, which is connected between the second power supply line and a third node, has a control terminal connected to the input terminal;
a seventh transistor of the first conduction type, which is connected between the first node and the third node, has a control terminal connected to the first node;
an eighth transistor of the first conduction type, which is connected between the first power supply line and the output terminal, has a control terminal connected to the first node;
a ninth transistor of the second conduction type, which is connected between the second power supply line and a fourth node, has a control terminal connected to the second node; and
a tenth transistor of the first conduction type, which is connected between the fourth node and the output terminal, has a control terminal connected to the output terminal.
10. The level shifter according to claim 9 , further comprising:
an eleventh transistor of the second conduction type, which is connected between the first transistor and the third node as a substitute for the seventh transistor, has a control terminal connected to the output terminal; and
a twelfth transistor of the second conduction type, which is connected between the fourth node and the output terminal as a substitute for the tenth transistor, has a control terminal connected to the first node.
11. A semiconductor integrated circuit, comprising a level shifter according to claim 1 .
12. An information processing system, comprising the semiconductor integrated circuit according to claim 11 .
13. The level shifter according to claim 1 , wherein the first and the third transistor have a gate width larger than the other transistors.
14. The level shifter according to claim 2 , wherein the first and the third transistor have a gate width larger than the other transistors.
15. The level shifter according to claim 3 , wherein the first and the third transistor have a gate width larger than the other transistors.
16. The level shifter according to claim 4 , wherein the first and the third transistor have a gate width larger than the other transistors.
17. The level shifter according to claim 3 , wherein the ninth and the tenth transistor have the same gate width as the transistor with the smallest gate width from among the first through eighth transistors, or have a smaller gate width than the other transistors.
18. A level shifter, comprising:
a first transistor of a first conduction type, which is connected between a first power supply line and a first node, has a control terminal receiving an input signal;
a second transistor of a second conduction type, which is connected between a second power supply line and the first node, has a control terminal connected to an output terminal;
a third transistor of the first conduction type, which is connected between the first power supply line and the output terminal, has a control terminal receiving an inverted input signal;
a fourth transistor of the second conduction type, which is connected between the second power supply line and the output terminal, has a control terminal connected to the first node;
a fifth transistor of the second conduction type, which is connected between the second power supply line and the first node, has a control terminal receiving said input signal;
a sixth transistor of the second conduction type, which is connected between the second power supply line and the output terminal, has a control terminal receiving said inverted input signal;
a seventh transistor of the first conduction type, which is connected between the first power supply line and the output terminal, has a control terminal connected to the first node; and
an eighth transistor of the first conduction type, which is connected between the first power supply line and the first node, has a control terminal connected to the output terminal.
19. The level shifter according to claim 18 , further comprising:
a ninth transistor of the second conduction type, which is inserted between the fifth transistor and the first node, has a control terminal connected to the output terminal; and
a tenth transistor of the second conduction type, which is inserted between the sixth transistor and the output terminal, has a control terminal connected to the first node.
20. The level shifter according to claim 18 , further comprising;
a ninth transistor of the first conduction type, which is inserted between the fifth transistor and the first node, has a control terminal connected to the first node; and
a tenth transistor of the first conduction type, which is inserted between the sixth transistor and the output terminal, has a control terminal connected to the output terminal.
21. The level shifter according to claim 18 , wherein the first through eighth transistors have approximately the same voltage tolerance.
22. The level shifter according to claim 19 , wherein the ninth and the tenth transistors have the same gate width as the transistor with the smallest gate width from among the first through eighth transistors, or have a smaller gate width than the other transistors.
23. A level shifter, comprising:
a first transistor of a first conduction type, which is connected between a first power supply line and a first node, has a control terminal receiving an input signal;
a second transistor of a second conduction type, which is connected between a second power supply line and the first node, has a control terminal connected to an output terminal;
a third transistor of the first conduction type, which is connected between the first power supply line and the output terminal, has a control terminal receiving an inverted input signal;
a fourth transistor of the second conduction type, which is connected between the second power supply line and the output terminal, has a control terminal connected to the first node; and
a fifth transistor of the second conduction type, which is connected between the second power supply line and the first node, has a control terminal receiving said input signal;
wherein the first and the third transistors have a gate width larger than the other transistors.
24. The level shifter according to claim 18 , wherein the first and the third transistors have a gate width larger than the other transistors.
25. The level shifter according to claim 19 , wherein the ninth and the tenth transistors have the same gate width as the transistor with the smallest gate width from among the first through eighth transistors, or have a smaller gate width than the other transistors.