US 11,888,304 B2
Circuit with hot-plug protection, corresponding electronic device, vehicle and method
Vittorio D'Angelo, Salerno (IT); Salvatore Cannavacciuolo, Cornaredo (IT); Sergio Lecce, Pavia (IT); Valerio Bendotti, Vilminore di Scalve (IT); and Orazio Pennisi, Pieve Emanuele (IT)
Assigned to STMicroelectronics S.r.l., Agrate Brianza (IT)
Filed by STMicroelectronics S.r.l., Agrate Brianza (IT)
Filed on Oct. 29, 2019, as Appl. No. 16/666,989.
Claims priority of application No. 102018000009947 (IT), filed on Oct. 31, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2020/0136366 A1, Apr. 30, 2020
Int. Cl. H02H 1/06 (2006.01); H02H 9/04 (2006.01); H02J 7/00 (2006.01)
CPC H02H 1/063 (2013.01) [H02H 9/046 (2013.01); H02J 7/0014 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An integrated circuit comprising:
a plurality of input pins; and
at least one output pin, the integrated circuit including a hot-plug protection circuit, the hot-plug protection circuit comprising:
a plurality of electrical connections, wherein input pins in the plurality of input pins are electrically coupled to a common node in the hot-plug protection circuit via respective electrical connections in the plurality of electrical connections;
clamping circuitry coupled between the common node and the at least one output pin, the clamping circuitry being activatable as a result of a voltage spike applied across the clamping circuitry; and
a power limiting circuit coupled between the at least one output pin of the integrated circuit and a reference pin and comprising an electronic switch coupled between the at least one output pin of the integrated circuit and the reference pin, and wherein the electronic switch comprises an MOS transistor, a capacitor coupled between a gate and a source of the MOS transistor, a first resistor coupled between the gate and a control terminal of the electronic switch, and a second resistor coupled between the source and the control terminal of the electronic switch, wherein a drain of the MOS transistor is directly coupled to the at least one output pin of the integrated circuit, and wherein the source of the MOS transistor is directly coupled to the reference pin,
wherein the plurality of electrical connections and the clamping circuitry provide respective current discharge paths between the input pins in the plurality of input pins and the at least one output pin, the respective current discharge paths configured to become conductive as a result of a voltage spike applied to any of the input pins in the plurality of input pins being transferred to the common node via the respective electrical connection in the plurality of electrical connections electrically coupling any of the input pins to the common node.