Hardware/firmware co-design in an 8-bits microcontroller to solve the system-level ESD issue on keyboard

Ming-Dou Ker*, Yu Yu Sung

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

    35 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    A hardware/firmware co-design solution in an 8-bits microcontroller has been proposed to practically fix the system-level ESD (electrostatic discharge) issue on the keyboard products. By including the especial ESD sensors and an additional ESD flag into the chip, the fast electrical transient due to the system-level ESD zapping on the keyboard can be detected. The firmware stored in the ROM of the 8-bits microcontroller is designed to automatically check the ESD flag to monitor the abnormal conditions in system operations. If the keyboard is upset or locked up by a system-level ESD transient, the microcontroller can be quickly recovered to a known and stable state. The 8-bits microcontroller with such a hardware/firmware co-design solution has been fabricated in a 0.45-μm CMOS process. The system-level ESD susceptibility of the keyboard with this 8-bits microcontroller has been improved from the original 2 kV (4 kV) to become greater than 8 kV (15 kV) in the contact-discharge (air-discharge) ESD zapping.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationElectrical Overstress/Electrostatic Discharge Symposium Proceedings
    PublisherESD Assoc
    Pages352-360
    Number of pages9
    ISBN (Print)158537007X
    DOIs
    StatePublished - 28 Sep 1999
    EventProceedings of the 1999 EOS/ESD Symposium 'Electrical Overstress/Electrostatic Discharge' - Orlando, FL, USA
    Duration: 28 Sep 199930 Sep 1999

    Publication series

    NameElectrical Overstress/Electrostatic Discharge Symposium Proceedings
    ISSN (Print)0739-5159

    Conference

    ConferenceProceedings of the 1999 EOS/ESD Symposium 'Electrical Overstress/Electrostatic Discharge'
    CityOrlando, FL, USA
    Period28/09/9930/09/99

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