Patent · US Expired

Sensing the state of a storage cell including a magnetic element

US7116576B2 · kind B2 · utility

14Cited by
6References
32Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 1, 2004
Grant dateOct 3, 2006
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 19, 2025

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG11C27/024
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A storage device includes memory cells each including a magnetic element, where the memory cells include a first memory cell connected between a first voltage and a sense node, and at least second and third memory cells connected in parallel between the sense node and a reference voltage. A sampling circuit is coupled to the sense node, with the sampling circuit configured to receive a first voltage sample corresponding to an original state of the first memory cell, and to store a second voltage sample corresponding to a known state of the first memory cell after the first memory cell has been written to the known state. A differential amplifier compares the first and second voltage samples in their analog forms.

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