Semiconductor device with automatic impedance adjustment circuit

• US 6,115,298 A
• Filed: 12/30/1998
• Issued: 09/05/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Kwon, Ig-Soo, Yoon, Yong-Jin
• Primary Examiner(s): Nelms, David
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tuan T.
• Application Number:
  US09/223,174
• Time in Patent Office: 615 Days
• Field of Search: 365/198, 365/191, 326/30
• US Class Current: 365/198
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 7/1048 Data bus control circuits, e.g. precharging, presetting, equalising

Abstract

A semiconductor device connected to a bus consisting of a plurality of signal lines, comprises a first pad connected with a discrete resistor corresponding to the impedance of the signal lines, a plurality of second pads respectively connected with the signal lines, a reference voltage generator for generating a reference voltage, a comparator for comparing the voltage on the first pad with the reference voltage to generate a control signal, a code generator for generating a code signal according to the control signal, a current source for supplying the first pad with variable current according to the code signal, and a data driver for driving data signals to the signal lines connected with the second pads according to the code signal. The code signal is used to match the impedance of the data driver with the impedance of the signal lines.

Claims

1. A semiconductor device connected to a bus having a plurality of signal lines, the semiconductor device comprising:

a resistor having a first end connected to a ground voltage;

a first pad connected to a second end of the resistor;

a plurality of second pads respectively connected to the plurality of signal lines;

a reference voltage generator for generating a reference voltage;

a comparator for comparing the voltage at the first pad with the reference voltage to generate a control signal;

a code generator for generating a code signal in response to the control signal;

a current source for supplying the first pad with a variable current in accordance with the code signal; and

a data driver for driving data signals onto the signal lines via the second pads in accordance with the code signal.

2. A semiconductor device as recited in claim 1, wherein the resistor is a discrete resistor.

3. A semiconductor device as recited in claim 1, wherein the resistor has a value corresponding to the impedance of the plurality of signal lines, and wherein the code signal is used to match the impedance of the data driver with the impedance of the signal lines.

4. A semiconductor device as recited in claim 1, wherein the code generator includes an up/down counter for generating the code signal, and

wherein the code signal has at least two binary logic values.

5. A semiconductor device as recited in claim 4, wherein the reference voltage generator comprises:

a first source terminal for receiving a source voltage;

a second source terminal for receiving a ground voltage;

an output terminal for outputting the reference voltage;

a first transistor array controlled by the binary logic values,

a plurality of inverters for inverting the binary logic values, and

a second transistor array controlled by the inverted binary logic values.

6. A semiconductor device as recited in claim 5,

wherein the first transistor array further comprises a plurality of first MOS transistors connected in parallel between the output terminal and the second source terminal, and

wherein the second transistor array further comprises a plurality of second MOS transistors connected in parallel between the first source terminal and the output terminal.

7. A semiconductor device as recited in claim 6,

wherein the first MOS transistors are NMOS transistors, and

wherein the second MOS transistors PMOS transistors.

8. A semiconductor device as recited in claim 7, wherein the ratio between the NMOS and PMOS transistors is 1:

1 and pairs of the NMOS and PMOS transistors have the same on-resistance.

9. A semiconductor device as recited in claim 8, wherein each of the NMOS transistors have different widths.

10. A semiconductor device as recited in claim 8, wherein each of the PMOS transistors have different widths.

11. A semiconductor device as recited in claim 5,

wherein the current source further comprises source PMOS transistors connected in parallel between the first source terminal and the first pad,

wherein the source PMOS transistors are respecitvely controlled by the outputs of the plurality of inverters, and

wherein the source PMOS transistors each have different widths.

12. A semiconductor device as recited in claim 5,

wherein the data driver further comprises a plurality of data driver circuits connected in parallel with the plurality of second pads, and

wherein the data driver circuits are controlled by the logic values of the code signal.

13. A semiconductor device connected to a bus having of a plurality of signal lines, the semiconductor device comprising:

a discrete resistor corresponding to the impedance of the signal lines;

a first pad connected to the discrete resistor;

a plurality of second pads respectively connected with the signal lines;

an impedance adjustment circuit connected to the first pad to generate a code signal according to the value of the discrete resistor; and

a data driver for driving data signals to the signal lines in response to the code signal, the impedance of the data driver being adjusted to have the same value as that of the signal lines.

14. A semiconductor device as recited in claim 13, wherein the impedance adjustment circuit further comprises

a reference voltage generator for generating a reference voltage;

a current source for supplying the first pad with variable current according to the code signal;

a comparator for comparing the voltage at the first pad with the reference voltage to generate a control signal; and

a code generator for generating the code signal in accordance with the control signal.