Fast pre-charge circuit and method of providing same for memory devices

• US 20070070744A1
• Filed: 09/27/2005
• Published: 03/29/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Macronix International Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Macronix International Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Chen, Chung-Kuang
• Granted Patent: US 7,257,040 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 365/203
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 2207/2254 Calibration
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 7/12 Bit line control circuits, e.g. drivers, boosters, pull-up circuits, pull-down circuits, precharging circuits, equalising circuits, for bit lines
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 8/08 Word line control circuits, e.g. drivers, boosters, pull-up circuits, pull-down circuits, precharging circuits, for word lines

Abstract

A fast pre-charge circuit and method of providing a fast pre-charge for an integrated circuit memory device is disclosed. The fast pre-charge circuit comprises an address calculating unit and a multi-power driver. The address calculating unit detects the sector distance from driver of the integrated circuit memory device, and the driver provides a voltage to the loading of the integrated circuit memory device based on an output of the address calculating unit. Unlike a conventional fixed-power wordline driver, the driver of the present invention provides multiple voltage levels to the wordline or dynamically adjusts for different loading situations.

Claims

1. A pre-charge circuit for an integrated circuit memory device, comprising:

an address calculating unit to detect a loading of said integrated circuit memory device;

and a driver to provide a voltage to said loading of said integrated circuit memory device based on an output of said address calculating unit.

2. The pre-charge circuit for an integrated circuit memory device according to claim 1, wherein said loading is a wordline.

3. The pre-charge circuit for an integrated circuit memory device according to claim 1, wherein said loading is a bitline.

4. The pre-charge circuit for an integrated circuit memory device according to claim 1, wherein said loading can be defined with a plurality of sectors.

5. The pre-charge circuit for an integrated circuit memory device according to claim 4, wherein said driver provides said voltage with multiple voltage levels to said loading.

6. The pre-charge circuit for an integrated circuit memory device according to claim 4, wherein said driver provides a higher voltage level to a sector with a heavier loading or with a longer distance from driver.

7. The pre-charge circuit for an integrated circuit memory device according to claim 1, wherein said driver dynamically changes a voltage level of said voltage to said loading.

8. A method of providing a power to a pre-charge circuit for an integrated circuit memory device, comprising the steps of:

decoding an address of a line to be provided said power;

detecting a loading of said line; and

providing a voltage to said line based on said loading.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein said line is a wordline.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein said line is a bitline.

11. The method according to claim 8, further comprises a step of calculating a distance from a driver of said line.

12. The method according to claim 8, wherein said line can be defined to have a plurality of sectors.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein said voltage comprises multiple voltage levels.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein a higher voltage level is provided to a sector with a heavier loading.

15. The method according to claim 11, wherein a higher voltage level is provided to a sector with a longer distance from said driver.

16. The method according to claim 8, wherein said voltage to said loading is dynamically changed to a voltage level.

17. A method of providing a power to a pre-charge circuit for an integrated circuit memory device, comprising the steps of:

decoding an address of a wordline to be provided said power;

detecting a loading of said wordline; and

providing a voltage to said wordline based on said loading.

18. The method according to claim 17, further comprises a step of calculating a distance from a driver of said line.

19. The method according to claim 17, wherein said detecting is performed by a bitline address calculating circuit.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein said providing a voltage to said wordline is performed by a wordline multi-power driver.

21. The method according to claim 17, wherein said wordline has a plurality of sectors.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein said voltage comprises multiple voltage levels.

23. The method according to claim 21, wherein a higher voltage level is provided to a sector with a heavier loading.

24. The method according to claim 18, wherein a higher voltage level is provided to a sector with a longer distance from said driver.

25. The method according to claim 17, wherein said voltage to said loading is dynamically changed to a voltage level.

26. A method of providing a power to a pre-charge circuit for an integrated circuit memory device, comprising the steps of:

decoding an address of a bitline to be provided said power;

detecting a loading of said bitline; and

providing a voltage to said bitline based on said loading.

27. The method according to claim 26, further comprises a step of calculating a distance from a driver of said line.

28. The method according to claim 26, wherein said detecting is performed by a wordline address calculating circuit.

29. The method according to claim 26, wherein said providing a voltage to said bitline is performed by a bitline multi-power driver.

30. The method according to claim 26, wherein said bitline has a plurality of sectors.

31. The method according to claim 30, wherein said voltage comprises multiple voltage levels.

32. The method according to claim 30, wherein a higher voltage level is provided to a sector with a heavier loading.

33. The method according to claim 27, wherein a higher voltage level is provided to a sector with a longer distance from said driver.

34. The method according to claim 26, wherein said voltage to said loading is dynamically changed to a voltage level.