MEMORY SYSTEM HAVING VARIABLE OPERATING VOLTAGE AND RELATED METHOD OF OPERATION

• US 20140146600A1
• Filed: 11/12/2013
• Published: 05/29/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Chan Kyung Kim, Dong Hyun Sohn, Yun Sang Lee
• Inventors: SOHN, DONG HYUN, KIM, CHAN KYUNG, LEE, YUN SANG
• Granted Patent: US 9,076,542 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 365/158
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 11/1659 Cell access
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 11/1673 Reading or sensing circuits or methods
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 11/1675 Writing or programming circuits or methods
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 11/1693 Timing circuits or methods
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 11/1697 Power supply circuits

Abstract

A magneto-resistive random access memory (MRAM) comprising an MRAM cell array having an MRAM cell, and a control and voltage generation unit configured to generate a back bias voltage for the MRAM cell. The control and voltage generation unit comprising a command decoder configured to generate a decoding signal in response to a command output from a memory controller, and a voltage controller and generator configured to generate the back bias voltage with a magnitude based on the decoding signal and a reset signal output from the memory controller.

Claims

1. A magneto-resistive random access memory (MRAM), comprising:

an MRAM cell array having an MRAM cell; and

a control and voltage generation unit configured to generate a back bias voltage for the MRAM cell,

wherein the control and voltage generation unit comprises;

a command decoder configured to generate a decoding signal in response to a command output from a memory controller; and

a voltage controller and generator configured to generate the back bias voltage with a magnitude based on the decoding signal and a reset signal output from the memory controller.

2. The MRAM of claim 1, wherein the MRAM cell comprises a cell transistor and a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ), the voltage controller and generator provides the back bias voltage to the cell transistor, and the command is a write command or a read command.

3. The MRAM of claim 2, wherein the first magnitude has a positive value and the second magnitude has a negative value.

4. A memory system, comprising:

a memory controller comprising a control unit configured to generate a command and a voltage selection signal; and

a magneto-resistive random access memory (MRAM) comprising a MRAM cell array having an MRAM cell, and a control and voltage generation unit configured to generate an operating voltage for the MRAM cell,

wherein the control and voltage generation unit comprises;

a command decoder configured to generate a decoding signal in response to the command; and

a voltage controller and generator configured to generate the operating voltage with a magnitude determined by the decoding signal and the voltage selection signal.

5. The memory system of claim 4, wherein the memory controller comprises:

a device variation monitoring unit configured to monitor at least one of temperature variation, process variation, and voltage variation of the memory controller; and

a control unit configured to generate the command and the voltage selection signal based on an output signal of the device variation monitoring unit.

6. The memory system of claim 5, wherein the device variation monitoring unit comprises a temperature sensor configured to determine temperature of the MRAM and generate temperature information, a process variation information storage device configured to store process variation information of the MRAM, or a voltage sensor configured to generate present voltage information for a present voltage of the MRAM.

7. The memory system of claim 4, wherein the MRAM further comprises:

a device variation monitoring unit configured to monitor at least one of temperature variation, process variation, and voltage variation of the MRAM and transmitting a monitoring result to the memory controller or the voltage controller and generator,

wherein the memory controller generates the voltage selection signal based on the monitoring result or the voltage controller and generator adjusts the operating voltage based on the monitoring result.

8. The memory system of claim 7, wherein the device variation monitoring unit comprises a temperature sensor configured to determine temperature of the MRAM and generate temperature information.

9. The memory system of claim 7, wherein the device variation monitoring unit comprises a process variation information storage device configured to store process variation information of the MRAM.

10. The memory system of claim 7, wherein the device variation monitoring unit comprises a voltage sensor configured to generate present voltage information for a present voltage of the MRAM.

11. The memory system of claim 4, wherein the voltage selection signal comprises multiple bits.

12. A memory system, comprising:

a memory controller comprising a control unit configured to generate a command and a reset signal; and

a magneto-resistive random access memory (MRAM) comprising an MRAM cell array having an MRAM cell, and a control and voltage generation unit configured to generate a back bias voltage for the MRAM cell,

wherein the control and voltage generation unit comprises;

a command decoder configured to generate a decoding signal in response to the command; and

a voltage controller and generator configured to generate the back bias voltage with a magnitude based on the decoding signal and the reset signal.

13. The memory system of claim 12, wherein the MRAM cell comprises a cell transistor and a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ), the voltage controller and generator provides the back bias voltage to the cell transistor, and the command is a write command or a read command.

14. The memory system of claim 12, wherein the back bias voltage has a first magnitude where the command is a write command and a second magnitude where the command is a read command.

15. The memory system of claim 14, wherein the first magnitude has a positive value and the second magnitude has a negative value.