Patent · US Active

Sense amplifier circuit with offset compensation for a non-volatile memory device

US9627011B1 · kind B1 · utility

4Cited by
2References
21Claims
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Key dates

Filing dateJul 16, 2016
Grant dateApr 18, 2017
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 16, 2036

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH03F2203/45212
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method for operating a non-volatile memory device uses a sense amplifier that includes a first branch and a second branch. During a pre-charging step, a bit line of a memory array of the non-volatile memory device is biased in order to pre-charge the bit line. During the pre-charging step, an offset between the first branch and the second branch is detected and stored. During a reading step subsequent to the pre-charging step, a cell current is received from the bit line at the first branch and a reference current is received from a current-reference structure at the second branch. During the reading step, and amplified voltage is generated as a function of the cell current and the reference current. During the reading step, an output voltage is generated based on the amplified voltage compensated by the offset stored during the pre-charging step.

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