Method and circuit for controlling generation of a boosted voltage in devices receiving dual supply voltages
First Claim
1. A row driver circuit adapted to receive a first supply voltage and a second supply voltage and operable to provide the first supply voltage on an output responsive to the first supply voltage being greater than a threshold value, and operable to generate a boosted voltage that is greater than the first supply voltage and provide that boosted voltage on the output responsive to the first supply voltage being less than the threshold value.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A row driver circuit receives a first supply voltage and a second supply voltage. The circuit provides the first supply voltage on an output responsive to the first supply voltage being greater than a threshold value. The circuit generates a boosted voltage that is greater than the first supply voltage and provides that boosted voltage on the output responsive to the first supply voltage being less than the threshold value.
28 Citations
30 Claims
- 1. A row driver circuit adapted to receive a first supply voltage and a second supply voltage and operable to provide the first supply voltage on an output responsive to the first supply voltage being greater than a threshold value, and operable to generate a boosted voltage that is greater than the first supply voltage and provide that boosted voltage on the output responsive to the first supply voltage being less than the threshold value.
- 7. A row driver circuit adapted to receive a first supply voltage and a second supply voltage and operable to provide the first supply voltage on an output responsive to a magnitude of the first supply voltage being greater than a threshold value plus a magnitude of the second supply voltage, and operable to generate a boosted voltage having a magnitude that is greater than the magnitude of the first supply voltage and to provide that boosted voltage on the output responsive to the magnitude of the first supply voltage being less than the threshold value plus the magnitude of the second supply voltage.
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17. A memory device, comprising:
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a memory-cell array including a plurality of memory cells and a plurality of word lines, each memory cell being coupled to an associated word line;
read/write circuitry coupled to a data bus and the memory-cell array;
control circuitry coupled between a control bus and the memory-cell array; and
address decoder circuitry coupled to an address bus and to the memory-cell array, the address decoder circuitry including a row driver circuit adapted to receive a first supply voltage and a second supply voltage and operable to provide the first supply voltage on one of the word lines responsive to the first supply voltage being greater than or equal to a threshold value, and operable to generate a boosted voltage that is greater than the first supply voltage and provide that boosted voltage on the word line responsive to the first supply voltage being less than the threshold value. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. A computer system, comprising:
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a data input device;
a data output device;
computer circuitry coupled to the data input and output devices; and
a memory device coupled to the computer circuitry, the memory device including, a memory-cell array including a plurality of memory cells and a plurality of word lines, each memory cell being coupled to an associated word line;
read/write circuitry coupled to a data bus and the memory-cell array;
control circuitry coupled between a control bus and the memory-cell array; and
address decoder circuitry coupled to an address bus and to the memory-cell array, the address decoder circuitry including a row driver circuit adapted to receive a first supply voltage and a second supply voltage and operable to provide the first supply voltage on one of the word lines responsive to the first supply voltage being greater than or equal to a threshold value, and operable to generate a boosted voltage that is greater than the first supply voltage and provide that boosted voltage on the word line responsive to the first supply voltage being less than the threshold value. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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24. A method of generating a boosted voltage, comprising:
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determining whether a magnitude of a first supply voltage is greater than a threshold value plus a magnitude of a second supply voltage;
when the magnitude of the first supply voltage is determined to be greater than the threshold value plus the magnitude of the second supply voltage, generating the boosted voltage having a magnitude equal to the magnitude of the first supply voltage;
determining whether the magnitude of the first supply voltage is less than the threshold value plus the magnitude of the second supply voltage; and
when the magnitude of the first supply voltage is determined to be less than the threshold value plus the magnitude of the second supply voltage, generating the boosted voltage having a magnitude that is greater than the magnitude of the first supply voltage. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27)
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28. A method of generating a boosted word line voltage to access addressed memory cells in a dynamic random access memory-cell array, the memory-cell array including a plurality of word lines and a plurality of access transistors, each access transistor having an associated threshold value, and the method comprising:
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determining whether a magnitude of a pumped supply voltage is greater than or equal to the threshold value plus a magnitude of a lower supply voltage;
when the magnitude of the pumped supply voltage is greater than or equal to the threshold value plus the magnitude of the lower supply voltage, generating the boosted word line voltage having a magnitude that is equal to the magnitude of the pumped supply voltage;
when the magnitude of the pumped supply voltage is less than the threshold value plus the magnitude of the lower supply voltage, generating the boosted word line voltage having a magnitude that is greater than the magnitude of the pumped supply voltage; and
applying the boosted word line voltage on a word line associated with the addressed memory cells. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
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Specification