Measuring and controlling current consumption and output current of charge pumps

• US 7,605,579 B2
• Filed: 11/21/2006
• Issued: 10/20/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Saifun Semiconductors Ltd. (Infineon Technologies AG)
• Original Assignee: Saifun Semiconductors Ltd. (Infineon Technologies AG)
• Inventors: Betser, Yoram, Kushnarenko, Alexander, Dadashev, Oleg
• Primary Examiner(s): Gutierrez; Diego
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, HOAI AN D
• Application Number:
  US11/602,222
• Publication Number:
  US 20080094127A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,064 Days
• Field of Search: 324/100, 324/99.R, 324/98, 324/522, 324/76.11, 324/158.1, 324/76.79, 327/148, 327/157, 327/536, 327/537, 257/299, 375/374, 331/1.A, 331/1.R
• US Class Current: 324/76.11
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/0009 Devices or circuits for detecting current in a converter
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 3/073 Charge pumps of the Schenkel-type

Abstract

The present invention is a method and apparatus for regulating current consumption and output current of a charge pump. According to some embodiments of the present invention, a first current coming into the charge pump and a second current coming into a driver of at least one of one or more stages of the charge pump is measured. A control loop may regulate one or more parameters of the charge pump and/or a load connected to the charge pump, such as by adjusting one or more of: a supply voltage; a stage'"'"'s voltage; the stage'"'"'s frequency and/or duty-cycle; and the number of stages.

Claims

1. A method of operating a non-volatile memory device comprising:

regulating a charge pump having one or more stages based on measuring current consumption (Icp_in) and output current (load current, Icp_out) of the charge pump (CP), wherein measuring includes;

measuring a first current (I.sub.1) coming into the charge pump; and

measuring a second current (I.sub.2) coming into a driver for at least one of the one or more stages of the charge pump.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

controlling current consumption and/or output current of the charge pump using a control loop affecting one or more parameters of the charge pump and/or a load connected to the charge pump.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

decreasing the current consumption (Icp_in) by adjusting one or more of;

a. a supply voltage (Vsupply);

b. a stage'"'"'s voltage (V.phi.);

c. the stage'"'"'s frequency and/or duty-cycle; and

d. the number (N) of stages.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

decreasing the current consumption (Icp_in) by adjusting a load connected to the output of the charge pump pipe.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

measuring the first current using a resistive path.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

comparing the first current to a first reference current.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

measuring the second current using a resistive path.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

comparing the second current to a second reference current.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

comparing the first current to a first reference current.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a first measured voltage (Vmeas1) indicative of the first current (I.sub.1);

providing a second measured voltage (Vmeas2) indicative of the second current (I.sub.2);

providing a first supply voltage (Vsupply) to an input of the charge pump;

providing a second supply voltage (V.phi.1) to a driver of the charge pump;

providing a first reference voltage (Vref1) based on the first supply voltage (Vsupply);

providing a second reference voltage (Vref2) based on the second supply voltage (V.phi.1); and

selectively comparing the measured voltages to the reference voltages to control operation of the charge pump.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

wherein a load connected to the charge pump comprises non-volatile memory cells.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

implementing the charge pump on a same integrated circuit (IC) chip as the memory cells.

13. A method of controlling operation of a charge pump (CP) pipe having an input receiving a supply voltage (Vsupply), a number of stages, and an output (Vout, Iout), comprising:

regulating the charge pump based on measuring current consumption (Icp_in) in the charge pump pipe and measuring a second current (I.sub.2) coming into a driver for at least one of the one or more stages of the charge pump; and

decreasing the current consumption (Icp_in) by adjusting one or more of;

a. a supply voltage (Vsupply);

b. a stage'"'"'s voltage (V.phi.);

c. the stage'"'"'s frequency and/or duty-cycle;

d. the number (N) of stages; and

e. adjusting a load connected to the output of the charge pump pipe.

14. A Non-Volatile Memory apparatus comprising:

a control circuit for controlling operation of a charge pump (CP) pipe having an input receiving a supply voltage (Vsupply), a number of stages, and an output (Vout, Iout), said control circuit including means for measuring current consumption (Icp_in) in the charge pump pipe, and means for measuring a second current (I.sub.2) coming into a driver for at least one of the one or more stages of the charge pump, and

means for decreasing or increasing the current consumption (Icp_in) by adjusting one or more of;

a. a supply voltage (Vsupply);

b. a stage'"'"'s voltage (V.phi.);

c. the stage'"'"'s frequency and/or duty-cycle;

d. the number (N) of stages; and

e. adjusting a load connected to the output of the charge pump pipe.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein:

each stage comprises a switch (S) and a capacitor (C).

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein:

the means for measuring current consumption (Icp_in) comprises;

means for measuring a first current (I.sub.1) coming into the charge pump; and

means for measuring a second current (I.sub.2) coming into a driver (drv1) for a given stage of the charge pump.

17. A non-volatile memory apparatus comprising:

A control circuit for a charge pump (CP) pipe having an input receiving a supply voltage (Vsupply), a number (N) of stages, each stage having a driver (drv), and an output (Vout, Iout), said control circuit comprising;

means for measuring a first current (I.sub.1) coming into the charge pump; and

means measuring a second current (I.sub.2) coming into a driver for at least one of the one or more stages of the charge pump.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising:

means for controlling the current consumption and/or output current of the charge pump using a control loop affecting one or more parameters of the charge pump and/or a load connected to the charge pump.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising:

means for comparing the first current to a first reference current; and

means for comparing the second current to a second reference current.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising:

means for controlling the current consumption by adjusting one or more of;

a. a supply voltage (Vsupply);

b. a stage'"'"'s voltage (V.phi.);

c. the stage'"'"'s frequency and/or duty-cycle; and

d. the number (N) of stages; and

e. a load connected to the output of the charge pump pipe.