Patent · US Expired

Spare memory arrangement

US5276834A · kind A · utility

38Cited by
39References
13Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 4, 1990
Grant dateJan 4, 1994
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 4, 2010

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F11/1044
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A spare memory arrangement in which a defective chip in a memory array can be electronically replaced with a spare chip of identical construction. A defective memory chip is first detected and located by a suitable means, such as an error correction code (ECC), check sum, or parity check. A sparer chip is constructed to be actuated upon a read to the defective memory chip to replace the defective chip with a memory spare chip. The sparer chip includes a cross-point memory (CPM) cell having an address register for receiving data from a central processing unit (CPU) and routing the data to and from the spare memory chip. The cross-point memory (CPM) cell is actuated by control input from the (CPU).

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