DRAM POSITIVE WORDLINE VOLTAGE COMPENSATION DEVICE FOR ARRAY DEVICE THRESHOLD VOLTAGE AND VOLTAGE COMPENSATING METHOD THEREOF

• US 20110080771A1
• Filed: 10/05/2009
• Published: 04/07/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nanya Technology Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nanya Technology Corporation
• Inventors: STEMBRIDGE, Benjamin James, JURASEK, Ryan Andrew, PARENT, Richard Michael
• Granted Patent: US 7,940,549 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 365/149
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 11/4074 Power supply or voltage generation circuits, e.g. bias voltage generators, substrate voltage generators, back-up power, power control circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 11/4085 Word line control circuits, e.g. word line drivers, - boosters, - pull-up, - pull-down, - precharge
• 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

The configurations of a DRAM positive wordline voltage compensation device and a voltage compensating method thereof are provided in the present invention. The proposed device includes a comparator having a first input terminal receiving a positive wordline voltage feedback signal, a second input terminal receiving a compensating reference of array device threshold voltage and an output terminal generating a first enable signal, an oscillator receiving the first enable signal and generating an oscillating signal when the first enable signal is active and a charge pump having a first input terminal receiving a second enable signal, a second input terminal receiving the oscillating signal and an output terminal generating a positive wordline voltage being a sum of a bitline high voltage, an array device threshold voltage and a voltage margin.

Claims

1. A DRAM positive wordline voltage compensation device, comprising:

a comparator having a first input terminal for receiving a positive wordline voltage feedback signal, a second input terminal for receiving a compensating reference of array device threshold voltage and an output terminal for generating a first enable signal;

an oscillator for receiving the first enable signal and selectively generating an oscillating signal when the first enable signal is active; and

a charge pump having a first input terminal for receiving a second enable signal, a second input terminal for receiving the oscillating signal and an output terminal for generating a positive wordline voltage being a sum of a bitline high voltage, an array device threshold voltage and a voltage margin to compensate for a variation in the array device threshold voltage due to temperature and process variations.

2. A device according to claim 1 being disposed in a DRAM system having a plurality of wordline pre-drivers, each of which receives the positive wordline voltage, a DRAM cell circuit for generating the positive wordline voltage feedback signal and a voltage divider for generating the compensating reference of array device threshold voltage, wherein the voltage margin is one of a value of zero and a value of less than 200 mV.

3. A device according to claim 2, wherein the voltage divider has two resistors, both of which have the same resistance, an input terminal receives the bitline high voltage and an output terminal generates the compensating reference of array device threshold voltage being not larger than one half of the bit line high voltage, and the charge pump selectively raises the positive wordline voltage when the positive wordline voltage feedback signal is less than the compensating reference of array device threshold voltage.

4. A device according to claim 2, wherein the DRAM cell circuit has a first DRAM cell sub-circuit with a first DRAM cell, a first refresh switch having a first and a second terminals and a first update switch having a first and a second terminals, a second DRAM cell sub-circuit with a second DRAM cell, a second refresh switch having a first and a second terminals and a second update switch having a first and a second terminals, and a storage capacitor with a first and a second terminals, the first terminal of the first refresh switch is grounded, the second terminal of the first refresh switch is coupled to the first DRAM cell and the first terminal of the first update switch, the second terminal of the first update switch is coupled to the first terminal of the storage capacitor and the second terminal of the second update switch, the second terminal of the storage capacitor is grounded, the first terminal of the second refresh switch receives the bit line high voltage, and the second terminal of the second refresh switch is coupled to the second DRAM cell and the first terminal of the second update switch.

5. A device according to claim 4, wherein the first and the second DRAM cells have a first and a second wordlines respectively, the first and the second refresh switches are turned on and the first and second update switches are turned off in a refresh sequence such that a ground is written to the first DRAM cell and the bitline high voltage is written to the second DRAM cell when the first and the second wordlines are driven to the positive wordline voltage, the first and the second refresh switches and the first and second update switches are turned off when the first and the second wordlines are turned off in a second sequence, and the first and the second refresh switches are turned off and the first and second update switches are turned on in an access sequence such that a ground is selectively read from the first DRAM cell and the bitline high voltage is selectively read from the second DRAM cell when the first and the second wordlines are driven to the positive wordline voltage again, the refresh, the second and the access sequences occur iteratively and cause a charge sharing on the storage capacitor, and a voltage across the first and the second terminals of the storage capacitor is not larger than one half of the bitline high voltage.

6. A device according to claim 5, wherein the written ground and the written bitline high voltage are respectively in a logic zero and a logic one states, and the read ground and the read bitline high voltage are respectively in the logic zero and the logic one states.

12. A voltage compensating method comprising:

selectively raising a positive wordline voltage when the positive wordline voltage is less than a sum of a bitline high voltage, an array device threshold voltage and a voltage margin being used for a DRAM positive wordline voltage compensation device disposed in a DRAM system having a first and a second wordlines as claimed in claim 5, wherein the selectively raising step further comprises steps of;

selectively writing the ground to the first DRAM cell and the bitline high voltage to the second DRAM cell when both of the first and the second wordlines are driven to the positive wordline voltage;

selectively turning off the first and the second refresh switches and the first and second update switches when both of the first and the second wordlines are turned off;

selectively reading the ground from the first DRAM cell and the bitline high voltage from the second DRAM cell when both of the first and the second wordlines are driven to the positive wordline voltage again; and

selectively raising the positive wordline voltage when the positive wordline voltage feedback signal is less than the compensating reference of array device threshold voltage.

13. A voltage compensating method according to claim 12, wherein the compensating reference of array device threshold voltage is not larger than one half of the bit line high voltage.

14. A voltage compensating method according to claim 12, wherein the written ground and the written bitline high voltage are respectively in a logic zero and a logic one states, and the read ground and the read bitline high voltage are respectively in the logic zero and the logic one states.

15. A voltage compensating method according to claim 12, wherein the voltage margin is one of a value of zero and a value of less than 200 mV.

7. A voltage compensation device comprising a first output terminal for generating a positive wordline voltage being a sum of a bitline high voltage, an array device threshold voltage and a voltage margin.

8. A device according to claim 7 further comprising a comparator having a first input terminal for receiving a positive wordline voltage feedback signal, a second input terminal for receiving a compensating reference of array device threshold voltage and a second output terminal for generating a first enable signal, an oscillator for receiving the first enable signal and selectively generating an oscillating signal when the first enable signal is active, and a charge pump having a first input terminal for receiving a second enable signal, a second input terminal for receiving the oscillating signal and the first output terminal, wherein the voltage compensation device is a DRAM positive wordline voltage compensation device.

9. A voltage compensation device comprising a first output terminal for selectively raising a positive wordline voltage when the positive wordline voltage is less than a sum of a bitline high voltage, an array device threshold voltage and a voltage margin.

10. A device according to claim 9 further comprising a comparator having a first input terminal for receiving a positive wordline voltage feedback signal, a second input terminal for receiving a compensating reference of array device threshold voltage and a second output terminal for generating a first enable signal, an oscillator for receiving the first enable signal and selectively generating an oscillating signal when the first enable signal is active, and a charge pump having a first input terminal for receiving a second enable signal, a second input terminal for receiving the oscillating signal and the first output terminal, wherein the voltage compensation device is a DRAM positive wordline voltage compensation device.

11. A voltage compensating method comprising a step of selectively raising a positive wordline voltage when the positive wordline voltage is less than a sum of a bitline high voltage, an array device threshold voltage and a voltage margin.

16. A voltage compensating method comprising a step of generating a positive wordline voltage being a sum of a bitline high voltage, an array device threshold voltage and a voltage margin.

17. A voltage compensating method according to claim 16, wherein the method is used for a DRAM positive wordline voltage compensation device disposed in a DRAM system having a first and a second wordlines.