Read circuit of semiconductor and read method using a self-reference sensing technique
First Claim
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1. A read circuit of a semiconductor memory, comprising:
- a sense amplifier which determines data stored in a memory cell based on a potential of an input node;
a transfer transistor which is connected between the memory cell and the input node;
a precharge circuit which sets the input node to a precharge potential; and
a VBIAS generator which turns the transfer transistor cutoff based on a first signal obtained from the memory cell through a first read operation,wherein the transfer transistor is turned on when a second signal obtained from the memory cell through a second read operation differs from the first signal.
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Abstract
A read circuit of a semiconductor memory according to the present invention is based on a self-reference sensing technique by which data stored in a memory cell is determined by first and second signals read out from a memory cell through first and second read operations. This read circuit includes a sense amplifier which determines the data stored in the memory cell based on a potential of an input node, a transfer transistor which is connected between the memory cell and the input node, a precharge circuit which sets the input node to a precharge potential, and a VBIAS generator which turns the transfer transistor cutoff based on the first signal.
16 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A read circuit of a semiconductor memory, comprising:
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a sense amplifier which determines data stored in a memory cell based on a potential of an input node; a transfer transistor which is connected between the memory cell and the input node; a precharge circuit which sets the input node to a precharge potential; and a VBIAS generator which turns the transfer transistor cutoff based on a first signal obtained from the memory cell through a first read operation, wherein the transfer transistor is turned on when a second signal obtained from the memory cell through a second read operation differs from the first signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A read method using a self-reference sensing technique, comprising:
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setting an input node of a sense amplifier to a precharge potential; turning a transfer transistor cutoff, based on a first signal obtained from a memory cell through a first read operation, the transfer transistor being connected between the memory and the input node; and turning the transfer transistor on and changing the potential of the input node from the precharge potential, when a second signal obtained from the memory cell through a second read operation differs from the first signal. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification