DRAM signal margin test method
US5610867A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 28, 1995 |
| Grant date | Mar 11, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 28, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11C11/401
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
In the Preferred embodiment of the present invention, a bit line pair is coupled through a pair of high-resistance pass gates to a sense amp. During sense, the high-resistance pass gates act in conjunction with the charge stored on the bit line pair as, effectively, a high-resistance passive load for the sense amp. A control circuit selectively switches on and off bit line equalization coincident with selectively passing either the equalization voltage or set voltages to the sense amp and an active sense amp load. Further, after it is set, the sense amp is selectively connected to LDLs through low-resistance column select pass gates. Therefore, the sense amp quickly discharges one of the connected LDL pair while the bit line voltage remains essentially unchanged. Thus, data is passed from the sense amp to a second sense amplifier and off chip. After data is passed to the LDLs, the control circuit enables the active sense amp load to pull the sense amp high side to a full up level. Additionally, because the control circuit uses the equalization voltage to disable the sense amp, cell signal margin may be tested in a new way. Instead of varying the sense amp reference voltage, as in p…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.