Patent · US Expired

Voltage regulator for memory device

US6456557B1 · kind B1 · utility

41Cited by
5References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateAug 28, 2001
Grant dateSep 24, 2002
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 28, 2021

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG11C16/0491
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A memory device includes a voltage regulator that compensates for resistance variations in the bit line control (multiplexing) circuit used to access the memory cells by including in its feedback path an emulated multiplexing circuit having an identical resistance to that of the multiplexing circuit. The voltage regulator also includes a differential amplifier, a pull-up transistor for generating a reference voltage, and a first clamp transistor controlled by the reference voltage to pass a desired voltage level to the multiplexing circuit. The feedback path incorporates the emulator circuit between a second clamp transistor and a voltage divider. Because the emulation and multiplexing circuits have the same resistance, the voltage passed to the voltage divider is essentially identical to the voltage passed by the multiplexing circuit to a selected memory cell, thereby allowing the voltage regulator to produce an optimal voltage level at the selected memory cell.

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