NON-VOLATILE ONE-TIME - PROGRAMMABLE AND MULTIPLE-TIME PROGRAMMABLE MEMORY CONFIGURATION CIRCUIT
First Claim
1. In a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or programmable logic device (PLD) coupled to a programmable non-volatile configuration storage bit circuit the improvement comprising:
- a first floating gate associated with a first non-volatile device;
a second floating gate associated with a second non-volatile device;
a first drain region associated with said first non-volatile memory device; and
a second drain region associated with said second non-volatile memory device; and
wherein the first drain region and the second drain region overlap respective sufficient portions of said first floating gate and said second floating gate respectively such that a programming voltage applied to said drains can be imparted to said floating gates through capacitive coupling;
an output coupled to said first non-volatile device and said second non-volatile device;
wherein a value of said output of said programmable non-volatile circuit is based on a programmed state of said first non-volatile device and said second non-volatile memory device and can be used to configure a function to be performed by the FPGA or PLD.
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Abstract
A programmable non-volatile configuration circuit uses a pair of non-volatile memory devices arranged in a pull-up and pull-down arrangement. The non-volatile memory devices have floating gates that overlaps a variable portion of a source/drain region. This allows a programming voltage for the device to be imparted to the floating gate through variable capacitive coupling, thus changing the state of the device. The invention can be used in environments to store configuration data for programmable logic devices, field programmable arrays, and many other applications.
61 Citations
12 Claims
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1. In a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or programmable logic device (PLD) coupled to a programmable non-volatile configuration storage bit circuit the improvement comprising:
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a first floating gate associated with a first non-volatile device; a second floating gate associated with a second non-volatile device; a first drain region associated with said first non-volatile memory device; and a second drain region associated with said second non-volatile memory device; and wherein the first drain region and the second drain region overlap respective sufficient portions of said first floating gate and said second floating gate respectively such that a programming voltage applied to said drains can be imparted to said floating gates through capacitive coupling; an output coupled to said first non-volatile device and said second non-volatile device; wherein a value of said output of said programmable non-volatile circuit is based on a programmed state of said first non-volatile device and said second non-volatile memory device and can be used to configure a function to be performed by the FPGA or PLD. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A one-time programmable (OTP) configuration circuit incorporated on a silicon substrate with one or more other additional logic and/or non-OTP configuration circuits, characterized in that:
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a. said OTP configuration circuit has an OTP n-type channel pull-up memory device coupled to an OTP n-type channel pull-down memory device; b. any and all regions and structures of said OTP n-type channel pull-up memory device and OTP n-type channel pull-down memory device are derived solely from corresponding regions and structures used as components of other logic devices within a programmable logic circuit or field programmable gate array circuit. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. A configuration circuit coupled to a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or programmable logic device (PLD) and comprising:
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a. a non-volatile pull-up device adapted to cause a first logical value to be presented at an output of the configuration circuit; b. a non-volatile pull-down device coupled to said non-volatile pull-up device and adapted to cause a second logical to be presented at said output; wherein each of said non-volatile pull-up device and said non-volatile pull-down device has a drain region capacitively coupled to a floating gate, such that a programming charge applied to said drain region can be imparted to said floating gate; further wherein a conductance of said a non-volatile pull-up device or said non-volatile pull-down device can be permanently set to a first state or a second state to control said output provided to the FPGA or PLD. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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Specification