Patent · US Expired

Method and circuit for generating a gate voltage in non-volatile memory devices

US6016271A · kind A · utility

7Cited by
11References
25Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateAug 27, 1998
Grant dateJan 18, 2000
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 27, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG11C2211/5634
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A circuit generates a regulated voltage, in particular for gate terminals of non-volatile memory cells of the floating gate type. The circuit includes a generator circuit adapted to generate an unregulated voltage on its output. A comparator circuit is coupled to the output of the generator circuit including a reference element including a non-volatile memory cell of the floating gate type and adapted to output an error signal tied to the difference between the unregulated voltage and the threshold voltage of the cell. A regulator circuit is coupled to the output of the comparator circuit and is operative to regulate the unregulated voltage based on the value of the error signal. The regulated voltage is made programmable and tied to the parameters of the memory cell.

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