Patent attributes
The present invention reduces the congestion of signal wires around an ESD protection circuit resulting from the presence of a connecting wire above the ESD protection circuit. The connecting wire connected to the ESD protection circuit extends in the same direction as a wire preferential direction of a corresponding wiring layer. Therefore, a signal wire extending in the lateral direction may be formed in the wiring layer in which the connecting wire extends in the lateral direction and a signal wire extending in the longitudinal direction may be formed in the wiring layer in which the connecting wire extends in the longitudinal direction. This makes it possible to arrange the signal wire to extend in both of the lateral and longitudinal directions above the ESD protection circuit irrespective of the presence of the connecting wire.
