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State-monitoring memory element

  • US 8,705,309 B2
  • Filed: 06/11/2013
  • Issued: 04/22/2014
  • Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2007
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. An apparatus comprising:

  • a state-monitoring memory element comprising a first power supply connection and a second power supply connection between which is applied an input voltage supply;

    a circuit element coupled to the state-monitoring memory element to effectuate a voltage drop in the input voltage supply to provide a degraded voltage supply between the first power supply connection and the second power supply connection of the state-monitoring element, wherein the circuit element is configured to cause the state-monitoring memory element to lose a logic state before a normal memory element when the input voltage supply drops below a threshold value; and

    a failure detection element coupled to the state-monitoring element, wherein the failure detection element is configured to detect a failure by the state-monitoring memory element to retain the logic state and, responsive to the detection, to generate an indication of the failure.

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