Driving Circuit and Driving Method
A driving circuit includes a first driving module, configured to operate at a first operating voltage in a first mode and configured to be deactivated in a second mode; and a second driving module, wherein at least part of the second driving module operates at a protection voltage in the first mode and operates at a second operating voltage in the second mode, wherein the second operating voltage and the protection voltage are lower than the first operating voltage.
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C 119 to Taiwan patent application, TW101128008, filed on Aug. 3, 2012, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driving circuit and related driving method, and more particularly, to a driving circuit and driving method operating at multiple operating voltages.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In operations in the prior art, the driving module 101 is deactivated and the driving module 103 is activated if the operating voltage VOP is 1.2V. Conversely, if the operating voltage VOP is 1.8V, the driving module 101 is activated and the driving module 103 is deactivated to self-protect from higher voltage. However, the input signal DIN is not fixed and varies from time to time. As a result, the driving module 103 cannot be fully deactivated and some current is leaked. If realizing the driving module 103 by elements capable of operating in higher voltage, circuit size would be increased accordingly.
From the above it is clear that prior art still has shortcomings. Thus, there is a need in the industry for a novel technique that solves these problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONOne of objectives of the present invention is to provide a driving circuit and driving method operating at different operating voltages.
One embodiment of the present invention provides a driving circuit, comprising: a first driving module, configured to operate at a first operating voltage in a first mode and configured to be deactivated in a second mode; and a second driving module, wherein at least part of the second driving module operates at a protection voltage in the first mode and operates at a second operating voltage in the second mode, wherein the second operating voltage and the protection voltage are lower than the first operating voltage.
According to the embodiment, a driving method can be concluded. The steps of the driving method can be derived accordingly. No further description is elaborated here.
According to the aforementioned embodiments, by providing protection voltage in a mode operating in higher voltage, the driving circuit can function properly in different operating voltages without increasing circuit area.
The above description is only an outline of the technical schemes of the present invention. Preferred embodiments of the present invention are provided below in conjunction with the attached drawings to enable one with ordinary skill in the art to better understand said and other objectives, features and advantages of the present invention and to make the present invention accordingly.
The present invention can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, with reference made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Some embodiments of the present invention are described in details below. However, in addition to the descriptions given below, the present invention can be implemented in alternative ways, and the scope of the present invention is not limited other than by the scope of the claims. Moreover, for better understanding and clarity of the description, some components in the drawings may not necessarily be drawn to scale, wherein some may be exaggerated relative to others, and irrelevant parts are omitted.
It is noted that the embodiments are merely used to explain but not to limit the scope of the present invention. Already described above, the driving circuit 200 is not limited to operate at the 1.8V and 1.2V combination. Further, the protection voltage VP is not limited to 1.1V. As long as the operating voltage VOPH is larger than the operating voltage VOPL and the protection voltage VP is smaller than or equaling to the operating VOPL, the voltages VOPH, VOPL, and VP can be any values. In addition, the protection voltage VP may be received by the protection circuit 205 as shown in
In the embodiments shown in
The protection circuit 205 is not limited to the structures shown in
Already described in paragraphs above, the protection circuit 205 may receive the protection voltage VP as shown in
According to the aforementioned embodiments, a driving method is concluded accordingly. The method comprises steps shown in
Step 801: operating a first driving module (e.g., the driving module 201) at a first operating voltage VOPH in a first mode and deactivating the first driving module in a second mode.
Step 803: receiving, by a second driving module (e.g., the driving module 203), a protection voltage VP rather than the first operating voltage VOPH in the first mode, and receiving, by the second driving module, a second operating voltage VOPL in the second mode, wherein the second operating voltage VOPL and the protection voltage VP are lower than the first operating voltage VOPH.
Step 805: operating at least part of the second driving module at the protection voltage VP in the first mode and operating the at least part of the second driving module at the second operating voltage VOPL in the second mode.
According to the fore-mentioned embodiments, by providing protection voltage in a mode operating at higher voltage, the driving circuit can function properly at different operating voltages without increasing circuit area.
The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the principles of the present invention, and they should not be construed as to limit the present invention in any way. The above embodiments can be modified by those having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the following appended claims.
Claims
1. A driving circuit, comprising:
- a first driving module, configured to operate at a first operating voltage in a first mode and configured to be deactivated in a second mode; and
- a second driving module, wherein at least part of the second driving module operates at a protection voltage in the first mode and operates at a second operating voltage in the second mode, wherein the second operating voltage and the protection voltage are lower than the first operating voltage.
2. The driving circuit of the claim 1, wherein the protection voltage is not larger than the second operating voltage.
3. The driving circuit of the claim 1, wherein the second driving module further comprises:
- a pre-driving stage, configured to generate a pre-driving voltage according to an input voltage; and
- a driving stage, configured to generate a driving current according to the pre-driving voltage,
- wherein the pre-driving state or both of the pre-driving stage and the driving stage operate at the protection voltage in the first mode and operate at the second operating voltage in the second mode.
4. The driving circuit of the claim 3, wherein the pre-driving stage comprises a level shifter configured to adjust the input voltage to generate the pre-driving voltage.
5. The driving circuit of the claim 1, further comprising:
- a protection circuit, configured to receive the first operating voltage and to provide the protection voltage to the second driving module in the first mode and configured to receive the second operating voltage and to provide the second operating voltage to the second driving module in the second mode
6. The driving circuit of the claim 5, further comprising:
- an operating voltage receiving end, configured to receive the first operating voltage in the first mode and to receive the second operating voltage in the second mode; and
- a protection voltage receiving end, configured to receive the protection voltage;
- wherein the protection circuit further comprises: a first switch element having a first input end coupled to the operating voltage receiving end and a first output end coupled to the second driving module, configured to maintain an open circuit between the first input end and the first output end in the first mode and to maintain a closed circuit between the first input end and the first output end in the second mode; and a second switch element having a second input end coupled to the protection voltage receiving end and a second output end coupled to the second driving module, configured to maintain a closed circuit between the second input end and the second output end in the first mode and to maintain an open circuit between the second input end and the second output end in the second mode.
7. The driving circuit of claim 5, further comprising:
- an operating voltage receiving end, configured to receive the first operating voltage in the first mode and to receive the second operating voltage in the second mode; and
- a protection voltage receiving end, configured to receive the protection voltage;
- wherein the protection circuit further comprises: an output end, configured to output one of the protection voltage and the second operating voltage to the second driving module; and a switch element, configured to connect the protection voltage receiving end with the output end in the first mode and configured to connect the output end with the operating voltage receiving end in the second mode.
8. The driving circuit of claim 5, further comprising:
- an operating voltage receiving end, configured to receive the first operating voltage in the first mode and to receive the second operating voltage in the second mode;
- wherein the protection circuit further comprises: an output end, configured to output one of the protection voltage and the second operating voltage to the second driving module; and a voltage adjustment element, configured to receive the first operating voltage and adjust the first operating voltage to the protection voltage to the output end in the first mode and configured to receive the second operating voltage and to output the second operating voltage to the output end.
9. A driving method, comprising:
- operating a first driving module at a first operating voltage in a first mode and deactivating the first driving module in a second mode;
- receiving, by a second driving module, a protection voltage in the first mode and receiving, by the second driving module, a second operating voltage, wherein the second operating voltage and the protection voltage are lower than the first operating voltage; and
- operating at least part of the second driving module at the protection voltage in the first mode and operating the at least part of the second driving module at the second operating voltage in the second mode.
10. The driving method of claim 9, wherein the protection voltage is not larger than the second operating voltage.
11. The driving method of claim 9, wherein the second driving module further comprises:
- a pre-driving stage, configured to generate a pre-driving voltage according to an input voltage; and
- a driving stage, configured to generate a driving current according to the pre-driving voltage,
- the driving method further comprises: operating the pre-driving state or both of the pre-driving stage and the driving stage in the protection voltage in the first mode and operating the pre-driving stage or both of the pre-driving stage and the driving stage in the second operating voltage in the second mode.
12. The driving method of claim 9, further comprising:
- receiving the first operating voltage and generating the protection voltage by adjusting the first operating voltage.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 3, 2013
Publication Date: Feb 6, 2014
Inventors: Hsian-Feng Liu (Hsinchu Hsien), Eer-Wen Tyan (Hsinchu Hsien), Chao-An Chen (Hsinchu Hsien)
Application Number: 13/934,492
International Classification: G05F 3/02 (20060101);