Patent · US Expired

Short circuit detector circuit for memory arrays

US5181205A · kind A · utility

39Cited by
7References
9Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateApr 10, 1990
Grant dateJan 19, 1993
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 10, 2010

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG11C29/50
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method for detecting voltage supply short circuits in integrated circuits and a circuit for implementing that method is disclosed. Entire rows of memory cells in an SRAM are coupled to a single sense line. The sense line to each row is activated individually. The sense lines are in turn coupled to a current sensing circuit. If a short exists on any memory cell in a given row, the current sensing circuit generates a low output, indicating a short circuit.

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