Variable frequency oscillator controlled EEPROM charge pump
First Claim
1. Semiconductor circuit comprising an EEPROM programming charge pump, a current controlled oscillator for providing power to such an EEPROM charge pump, leakage current sensing means, responsive to ambient temperature of the circuit, and means, responsive to the leakage current sensing means, for increasing frequency of the oscillator as a nonlinear function of rise in the ambient temperature such that the output frequency of the oscillator is constrained accordingly for providing EEPROM charge pump power at a level appropriate to the ambient temperature whereby to achieve high economy of total EEPROM programming power utilization.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Semiconductor circuit provides an EEPROM programming charge pump (18), and includes a leakage current measuring device (12), a plurality of interconnected current mirrors, and a current controlled oscillator (16) for providing programming power to such EEPROM. The leakage current sensor (12) generates current nonlinearly related to device ambient temperature of the semiconductor circuit, the current mirrors combining and scaling the leakage current (14) with a constant current to provide a composite current altering frequency of the oscillator (16). The oscillator output is constrained accordingly to provide EEPROM charge pump (18) programming power proportional to the oscillator (16) frequency for ensuring that only that amount of programming power appropriate to the ambient temperature is delivered, achieving high economy of total EEPROM programming power utilization, as for an EEPROM of a miniaturized, self-contained responder of a read/write transponder system resident on a single semiconductor integrated circuit chip.
40 Citations
9 Claims
- 1. Semiconductor circuit comprising an EEPROM programming charge pump, a current controlled oscillator for providing power to such an EEPROM charge pump, leakage current sensing means, responsive to ambient temperature of the circuit, and means, responsive to the leakage current sensing means, for increasing frequency of the oscillator as a nonlinear function of rise in the ambient temperature such that the output frequency of the oscillator is constrained accordingly for providing EEPROM charge pump power at a level appropriate to the ambient temperature whereby to achieve high economy of total EEPROM programming power utilization.
- 5. A semiconductor circuit for providing a programming charge pump for an EEPROM, the circuit comprising a leakage current measuring means which is responsive to ambient temperature of the circuit, a plurality of interconnected current mirrors, and a current controlled oscillator for providing programming power to such an EEPROM, the leakage current measuring device generating a current nonlinearly related to device ambient temperature of the semiconductor circuit, the current mirrors combining and scaling the leakage current with a constant current to provide a composite current which increases the frequency of the oscillator, the output frequency of the said oscillator being constrained accordingly for providing EEPROM charge pump programming power in proportion to the oscillator frequency for ensuring that only that amount of programming power appropriate to the ambient temperature is delivered, whereby to achieve high economy of total EEPROM programming power utilization.
Specification