Low-power high-voltage CMOS level-shifters for liquid crystal display drivers

An original CMOS level-shifter architecture with high-voltage driving capability and extremely low power consumption is presented. Simulations indicate that an adequate dynamic control of the charge on the gate electrodes of the high-voltage output transistors allows reliable level-shifter operation, even at very low data refresh rates, without the continuous power dissipation found in conventional CMOS level-shifter architectures. Therefore, the CMOS level-shifters presented in this paper are perfectly suited for the monolithic integration of high-voltage display driver circuits in battery-powered applications.