Patents by Inventor Minxuan Liu

Minxuan Liu has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7379281
    Abstract: An electrostatic discharge protection circuit adapted to reduce an electrostatic discharge event on a line of an integrated circuit. The protection circuit includes an NMOS transistor having a source contact that is electrically connected to the line. A drain contact is electrically connected to a logical low voltage, and a gate contact is also electrically connected to the logical low voltage, through a resistor. A substrate bias pump is electrically connected to a back gate of the NMOS transistor, where the bias pump provides a steady state direct current negative bias during normal operation of the integrated circuit when there is no electrostatic discharge event.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2008
    Assignee: LSI Logic Corporation
    Inventors: William M. Loh, Minxuan Liu, Jau-Wen Chen
  • Publication number: 20070121262
    Abstract: An electrostatic discharge protection circuit adapted to reduce an electrostatic discharge event on a line of an integrated circuit. The protection circuit includes an NMOS transistor having a source contact that is electrically connected to the line. A drain contact is electrically connected to a logical low voltage, and a gate contact is also electrically connected to the logical low voltage, through a resistor. A substrate bias pump is electrically connected to a back gate of the NMOS transistor, where the bias pump provides a steady state direct current negative bias during normal operation of the integrated circuit when there is no electrostatic discharge event.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 28, 2005
    Publication date: May 31, 2007
    Inventors: William Loh, Minxuan Liu, Jau-Wen Chen
  • Patent number: 7190185
    Abstract: A test methodology which provides that test structures, such as transistors, are arranged in a plurality of rows. A logic circuit controls which row is to be measured. An incrementer receives a triggering signal and functions as an address adder. Each time the triggering signal rises from 0 to 1, the output of the incrementer increases by 1. The output of the incrementer serves as the address input into a decoder. The decoder is connected to the rows of test structures. Preferably, each test structure contains a control circuit which is controlled by this signal (i.e., the output of the decoder). If the test structures are transistors, bias to each of the transistors can be applied separately with a common gate, source and well, and measurement can be done with a separate drain node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2003
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2007
    Assignee: LSI Logic Corporation
    Inventors: Franklin Duan, Minxuan Liu, John Walker, Nabil Monsour, Carl Monzel
  • Publication number: 20050093560
    Abstract: A test methodology which provides that test structures, such as transistors, are arranged in a plurality of rows. A logic circuit controls which row is to be measured. An incrementer receives a triggering signal and functions as an address adder. Each time the triggering signal rises from 0 to 1, the output of the incrementer increases by 1. The output of the incrementer serves as the address input into a decoder. The decoder is connected to the rows of test structures. Preferably, each test structure contains a control circuit which is controlled by this signal (i.e., the output of the decoder). If the test structures are transistors, bias to each of the transistors can be applied separately with a common gate, source and well, and measurement can be done with a separate drain node.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 29, 2003
    Publication date: May 5, 2005
    Inventors: Franklin Duan, Minxuan Liu, John Walker, Nabil Mansour, Carl Monzel