Patent · US Expired

Charge pump system for non-volatile ram

US4638464A · kind A · utility

23Cited by
2References
7Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateNov 14, 1983
Grant dateJan 20, 1987
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 14, 2003

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG11C14/00
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A voltage generating system provides a plurality of different voltages for powering a dynamic nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM) chip. The voltage generating system includes a pair of charge pumps. Each charge pump is coupled to a controller that senses the voltage level at the output of the charge pump and generates an enabling signal when said voltage is at a predetermined value. The signal activates a power down circuit which adjusts the charge pump output to a desired voltage level. A programmable oscillator provides the clocking signals for the controller. The charge pumps and programmable oscillators are periodically deactivated. As a result, the overall power consumption of the chip is reduced.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.