Definitions of Engineering and Electronic Terms
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Electrostatic Discharge. ESD
Integrated Circuit Protection. Diodes
Diodes used to protect IC's from over current conditions. Because these diodes are embedded within the IC package their current handling capability is limited. However they still offer protection and in some cases saves from adding extra external diodes to the design, saving both the cost of buying the diodes and stocking them.
Integrated Circuit Protection. CMOS Gate
CMOS gates used to protect IC's from over current conditions. The gates offer about the same protection as the diode. However the level of protection offered by either component has a lot to do with the gate size and structure.
IC Pin Current Protection
Note the location of the second diode and resistor location between this graphic and the graphic at the top of the page. Of course any time a resistor is embedded into silicon, it's not really a resistor, just some gate setup to limit current.