JP3501847B2 - Driver circuit for semiconductor test equipment - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a low power consumption driver circuit for a semiconductor test device which can reduce power consumption and can cope with high amplitude and high speed in the semiconductor test device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 3, a conventional driver circuit has a large number of circuit stages because it is divided into a switching circuit section 11 and an output buffer circuit 12. Also,
A current is constantly applied to each circuit portion. Furthermore,
Even in the static state, the current component output by the driver circuit is always supplied as the idling current of the output section. Therefore, there is a drawback that a limit occurs in achieving low power consumption while satisfying higher requirements for higher amplitude and higher speed.

[0003]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION In the prior art,
In order to perform a high-amplitude and high-speed operation, an idling current is constantly supplied to the output section of the driver circuit in order to increase or decrease the switching voltage in a shorter time. The reason is that the parasitic capacitance of the element, stray capacitance generated in the wiring portion, etc. exist, so that an extra current is absorbed and the time required to rise to reach the switching voltage setting value is shortened. This is because the current is always applied to the output unit in advance.

Therefore, in this conventional technique, a large amount of power is consumed, so that not only heat dissipation and cooling as a measure against temperature rise are required, but also the power consumption of the driver circuit as a whole is reduced and running cost is reduced. It was difficult to reduce it. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to realize a driver circuit that can significantly reduce power consumption, can be set to a low power supply voltage, and can easily take measures against temperature rise, as compared with the related art.

[0005]

Output means 1 for semiconductor test
In the driver circuit for switching between the high level and the low level for outputting to 5, the current source means 103 for supplying the output current for the period set by the current switch is provided. Then, voltage output means (101, 102) for outputting the current source output by the emitter follower with the given input voltage 3
To provide. The high level amplifier 13 having the above configuration is provided. Further, the low level amplifier 14 having the above configuration is also provided to configure a low power consumption driver circuit for a semiconductor test apparatus.

The following may be added to the above driver circuit. Detection means (104, 105, 106, 107, 108) for detecting an increase / decrease in the output current of the output end 15 is provided. Then, according to the detected value, the current source means 1
Feedback control means 10 for controlling the current value of 03.
9 is provided to configure a low power consumption driver circuit for a semiconductor test device.

Further, the following may be added to the above driver circuit. Clamping means 110 for obtaining a constant minimum current source value according to the detected value is provided to configure a low power consumption driver circuit for a semiconductor test apparatus.

[0008]

1 is a conceptual diagram of a driver circuit according to the present invention. The driver circuit shown in FIG. 1 has a VH amplifier 13 that outputs a high level and a VL amplifier that outputs a low level, in which a switching circuit unit 11 and an output buffer circuit unit 12 in the driver circuit configuration of the prior art are integrated. 14 and divided by logic signal DH1.5 and DH2.6 and DL
By controlling 1.7 and DL2.8, high-level output and low-level output are switched and output.

(1) When the VH amplifier 13 is off, that is, VL
When the amplifier 14 outputs a low level, the following operation is performed. Q1 of the VH amplifier 13 turns on, Q2 turns off, and I2 flows to Q1. When the emitter potential of Q3 is V1 and the emitter potential of Q6 is V2, a current of (V1-V2) / (R3 + R4 + R5) flows through R1, but this current is a very small current that does not turn off Q3 and Q6. Therefore, the potential due to R1 is small,
For example, it is about 0.3V or less, and the current source of Q4 turns off. Therefore, the emitter of Q5 and the diode of D4 are lowered to the low level, Q5 and D4 are cut off, and I3 does not flow. In addition, diode D3 ・ 301 and diode D
4. 302 is a Schottky barrier diode for protecting the withstand voltage (BVEBO) of the base and the emitter with respect to the transistors Q7 101 and Q5 102, respectively. The diode D5 ・ 303 and the diode D6 ・ 304 are respectively the transistor Q8 ・ 2.
01 and the transistors Q13 and 202 are Schottky barrier diodes for protecting the breakdown voltage (BVEBO) of the base and the emitter.

(2) Next, when the VH amplifier 13 is turned on, that is, when the low level is switched to the high level, the following operation is performed. Q1 of the VH amplifier 13 turns off, Q2 turns on, and I2 flows from Q2 to R3, Q3, and R1. The potential of I2 × R1 is applied to the base of Q4, Q4 is turned on, a current flows into the driver output 15, and the driver output potential starts to rise. At this time, the VL amplifier 14 is turned off. The output potential continues to rise until Q5 and D4 turn on,
When Q5 and D4 turn on, the current I6 of the current source of Q4 becomes Q5 and
Flow to D4 and split into R4 and R5. The current I4 flowing to R4 reduces the current flowing to R1,
That is, the current becomes (I2-I4), and the current of the current source of Q4 is reduced.

The above (2) and (2) indicate that a feedback loop circuit is constructed,
While the current continues to rise to the set output potential, that is, only at the moment of the transition, the current I2 entirely flows to the resistor R1, but when the set output potential is reached and the static state is detected, the current is fed back through R4 and the resistor R1 The current flowing through it decreases. That is, the dynamic current amount when switching from the low level to the high level increases only momentarily, but when the VH amplifier 13 sets the set potential value of VH · 3, the current amount decreases.

Next, referring to FIG. 2, the driver circuit of the present invention, FIG. 2-2B, is shown in FIG.
The reason why the power supply voltage can be set lower than A is shown. 2B shows a driver circuit according to the present invention, and in view of the configuration of the circuit, PV21 is a + power source and MV is a − power source.
Both of (22vf ・ 9 + VBE
・ Since the voltage part corresponding to 10) is unnecessary, the power supply voltage can be set lower accordingly. In both methods, the required voltage amplitude is the same.

[0013]

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, it has the following effects. In the configuration of the driver circuit according to the present invention, it is divided into a VH amplifier which outputs a high level and a VL amplifier which outputs a low level, an output of high level and a low level is separated by a logic signal, and a high level is output by a logic signal. Since it is a driver circuit that switches between level and low level output,
The power consumption in the static state excluding the dynamic current amount at the time of switching from low to high or from high to low can be significantly reduced as compared with the driver circuit of the related art. Further, by adopting the configuration of the driver circuit of the present invention, the power supply voltage can be set lower than that of the conventional driver circuit. Furthermore, due to the reduction in power consumption, measures against temperature rise are simplified, and the running cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a conceptual diagram of a driver circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a current voltage in a driver circuit according to the present invention and the prior art.

FIG. 3 shows a conceptual diagram of a driver circuit according to the prior art.

[Explanation of sign]

1, 21 + power PV 2, 22-Power MV 3 VH 4 VL 5 DH1 6 DH2 7 DL1 8 DL2 9 2vf 10 VBE 11 Switching circuit 12 Output buffer circuit 13 VH amplifier 14 VL amplifier 15 outputs 16 Differential amplifier A 17 Differential amplifier B 101 Q7 102 Q5 103 Q4 104 Q3 105 Q6 106 R3 107 R4 108 R5 109 R1 110 D1 201 Q8 202 Q13 203 Q14 204 Q11 205 Q12 206 R6 207 R7 208 R8 209 R9 210 D2 301 D3 302 D4 303 D5 304 D6

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. The output to the output end (15) of the driver circuit
The reference voltage that regulates the output voltage on the high level side
Level reference voltage (VH) and driver circuit output terminal (1
5) Standard that regulates the output voltage on the low level side that is output to
Externally receives the low-level reference voltage (VL), which is the voltage
Based on this, the high / low level output voltage
Driver with a complementary configuration that specifies and outputs
And the output on the high level side of the driver circuit is turned on / off.
The differential high-side differential input signal (DH)
A differential output that turns the low-level output of the IVA circuit on and off.
The low side differential input signal (DL) is received and the high side / low side
Complementary drive based on both differential input signals
In a driver circuit for a semiconductor test device that switches between a high level and a low level from an output terminal (15) of an inverter circuit, and outputs a high-side output source current, a high-level amplifier (13) and a low- level amplifier Sync that becomes the output on the level side
And a low level amplifier supplies a current (14), the high-level amplifier positive power supply (PV) and a driver circuit
PNP type high-side output stage that switches current with negative power supply (MV)
The transistor (Q4) and the high-side output stage transistor
A high-side front-stage drive circuit that controls driving, and the high-side front-stage drive circuit is connected to the high-level reference voltage (VH).
The high-side output based on the high-side differential input signal (DH)
Drives and controls the stage transistor to output a high level steady voltage.
The output voltage on the high level side that is output when the power is applied is detected,
For comparison between the detection voltage and the high level reference voltage (VH)
Based on the high side output stage
The low level amplifier controls the drive current to the transistor, and the low level amplifier controls the positive power supply (PV) and
NPN type low-side output stage that switches current with negative power supply (MV)
Transistor (Q14) and the low side output stage transistor
A low-side front-stage drive circuit for driving and controlling the low-side reference voltage (VL).
The low side output based on the low side differential input signal (DL)
Controls the driving of the stage transistors, the low level output steady voltage
The output voltage on the low level side that is output when the power is applied is detected,
For comparison between the detection voltage and the low level reference voltage (VL)
Based on the low side output stage
A driver circuit for a semiconductor test device , which controls a drive current to a transistor . 2. The high side front stage drive circuit according to claim 1,
The voltage corresponding to the output voltage of the high-side output stage transistor
Voltage and the high-level reference voltage (VH)
First, at the time of rising transition
A displacement is detected, and a large drive current is
A side output stage transistor, and second
When a steady voltage is output, a small potential difference is detected by the above detection.
Based on this, a small drive current is applied to the high side output stage
Supply a constant high voltage to the transistor
The low side front stage drive circuit according to claim 1,
The voltage corresponding to the voltage at the output of the transistor and the low level
The voltage difference between the reference voltage (VL) and the reference voltage (VL) is detected, and the first
At the time of falling transition, a large potential difference is detected by the detection,
Based on this, a large drive current is applied to the low side output stage transformer.
Second, when the low level steady voltage is output,
Detects a small potential difference in the above detection, and based on this,
Supply a small drive current to the low-side output stage transistor
And outputs a predetermined low-level steady-state voltage . A driver circuit for a semiconductor test device. 3. The high-side front-stage drive circuit according to claim 1, is an NP.
N-type first transistor (Q7) and first diode (D
3), constant current source (I1), differential amplifier (16) and NPN type
Second transistor (Q3), first bias power supply and PNP
Type third transistor (Q6), second bias power supply, and
1st resistance (R1), 2nd resistance (R2) and 3rd resistance (R3)
And 4th resistance (R4) and 5th resistance (R5) and 4th PNP type
Equipped with a transistor (Q5) and a second diode (D4)
The high level reference voltage (VH) is applied to the first transistor (Q
7) Connected to the base input terminal of the first transistor (Q
Connect the collector end of 7) to the positive power supply (PV) and
The emitter end of the transistor (Q7) is the first diode (D3)
Of the first diode (D3) is connected to the anode end of the
To the base input end of the power supply (Q5) and one end of the constant current source (I1)
Connect the other end of the constant current source (I1) to the negative power source (MV)
However, both the differential input terminals of the differential amplifier (16) are connected to the high side differential input terminal.
Connected to the input power signal (DH) to switch the current of the differential amplifier (16).
One output terminal is connected to the positive power supply (PV)
The other output of the width switch (16) that switches current is the third resistor.
One end of the resistor (R3) and one end of the fourth resistor (R4) are connected, and the other end of the third resistor (R3) is connected to the second transistor (Q3).
It is connected to the emitter end and the other end of the fourth resistor (R4) is connected to the fourth transistor.
Of the collector end of the transistor (Q5) and the fifth resistor (R5)
It is connected to one end, and the emitter end of the third transistor (Q6) is connected to the fifth resistor (R
5) is connected to the other end of the third transistor (Q6)
Input terminal is connected to the second bias power supply, and the third transistor
The collector end of the transistor (Q6) is connected to the negative power supply (MV), and the emitter end of the fourth transistor (Q5) is the second diode.
Connected to the cathode end of the high side output stage transistor (Q4)
Connect to the anode end of the diode (D4) and
It becomes the output terminal of the high level side of the driver circuit, and the high side
The emitter end of the output stage transistor has a second resistor (R2)
Connect to one end and connect the base of the high side output stage transistor
The power end is connected to one end of the first resistor (R1) and the second transistor (Q
3) is connected to the collector end, the other end of the second resistor (R2) is connected to the positive power source (PV),
The other end of the resistor (R1) is connected to the positive power supply (PV), and the base input end of the second transistor (Q3) is the first via.
A low side front stage drive circuit according to claim 1 connected to a high side output stage circuit.
The circuit element of the transistor (Q4) and the high side front stage drive circuit
And a complementary configuration for connection and
The corresponding comp so that the output voltage on the level side is output.
The low-side output stage transistor is provided with circuit elements of
A driver circuit for a semiconductor test device , which is connected to a transistor . 4. The high side front stage drive circuit according to claim 3.
And the third diode (D) that clamps the voltage generated across the fifth resistor (R5) with the forward voltage of the diode (D5).
4. The low-side pre-stage drive circuit according to claim 3 , wherein 1) is provided in parallel.
The fifth resistor (R
6th resistor (R8) of the low side front stage drive circuit corresponding to 5)
A fourth diode (D2) is provided in parallel on both ends of the
And a driver circuit for a semiconductor test device.