Capacitively coupled logic gate
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An electronic logic circuit comprising:
- a. a plurality of interconnected two terminal areal capacitive coupling devices coupled to a set of data inputs;
each of said two terminal areal capacitive coupling devices comprising;
i) a floating gate; and
ii) an n-type impurity source coupled to a first terminal; and
iii) an n-type impurity drain coupled to a second terminal andwherein the n-type impurity drain overlaps a sufficient portion of said floating gate and is configured to impart an input signal voltage applied to said second terminal of said n-type impurity drain and said first terminal to said floating gate through areal capacitive coupling and cause each of said areal capacitive coupling devices to be placed into a first state;
further wherein an output of each two terminal areal capacitive coupling device is related to said first state or said second state, and said plurality of interconnected two terminal areal capacitive devices are configured to generate a plurality of separate outputs;
said plurality of separate outputs of said plurality of interconnected two terminal areal capacitive coupling devices being adapted to effectuate a collective output corresponding to an output which is a first logical function associated with the set of data inputs applied to said plurality of interconnected two terminal areal capacitive coupling devices.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic logic circuit uses areal capacitive coupling devices coupled together to process a set of data inputs. Each areal capacitive coupling device can be configured such that a floating gate potential of such device can be altered to at least a first state or a second state in response to receiving an input signal from the set of data inputs, which is coupled electrically to the floating gate. A majority function logic circuit (and other similar circuits) can be interconnected this way using far fewer gates than with a conventional CMOS implementation. Selective logic gates can also be enabled or disabled by configuring them effectively as memory devices.
39 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. An electronic logic circuit comprising:
-
a. a plurality of interconnected two terminal areal capacitive coupling devices coupled to a set of data inputs; each of said two terminal areal capacitive coupling devices comprising; i) a floating gate; and ii) an n-type impurity source coupled to a first terminal; and iii) an n-type impurity drain coupled to a second terminal and wherein the n-type impurity drain overlaps a sufficient portion of said floating gate and is configured to impart an input signal voltage applied to said second terminal of said n-type impurity drain and said first terminal to said floating gate through areal capacitive coupling and cause each of said areal capacitive coupling devices to be placed into a first state; further wherein an output of each two terminal areal capacitive coupling device is related to said first state or said second state, and said plurality of interconnected two terminal areal capacitive devices are configured to generate a plurality of separate outputs; said plurality of separate outputs of said plurality of interconnected two terminal areal capacitive coupling devices being adapted to effectuate a collective output corresponding to an output which is a first logical function associated with the set of data inputs applied to said plurality of interconnected two terminal areal capacitive coupling devices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
8. A majority function logic circuit comprising:
-
a. a plurality of two terminal areal capacitive coupling devices interconnected in parallel to a set of separate data inputs; each of said two terminal areal capacitive coupling devices comprising; i) a floating gate; and ii) an n-type impurity source coupled to a first terminal; and iii) an n-type impurity drain coupled to a second terminal and wherein the n-type impurity drain overlaps a sufficient portion of said floating gate and is configured to impart an input signal voltage applied to said second terminal of said n-type impurity drain and said first terminal to said floating gate through areal capacitive coupling and cause each of said areal capacitive coupling devices to be placed into a first state; said plurality of interconnected two terminal areal capacitive coupling devices being adapted to generate an output which is a majority function associated with the set of separate data inputs; wherein said output has a first logical value when a majority of said set of separate data inputs exceed a predetermined voltage potential, and said output has a second logical value when a majority of said set of separate data inputs does not exceed said predetermined voltage potential. - View Dependent Claims (19)
-
-
9. A majority function silicon based semiconductor electronic logic circuit comprising:
-
a plurality of two terminal areal capacitive coupling devices coupled to process a set of separate data inputs, each of said separate data inputs having at least two distinct logic values, including a first logic value and a second logic value; each two terminal areal capacitive coupling device being configured to alter a floating gate logic value of such device can be altered in response to receiving an input signal from said set of data inputs; wherein said floating gate is configured to place a logic value of said two terminal areal capacitive coupling device into a first state or a second state through areal capacitive coupling to a potential associated with a first active region receiving said input signal; wherein said plurality of two terminal areal capacitive coupling devices are interconnected to generate a collective output which has a first value when a majority of said set of separate data inputs have said first logical value, and said collective output has a second value when a majority of said set of separate data inputs has said second logical value; the circuit being further configured to reduce a number of valid inputs in the set of data inputs by selectively electrically disabling any two terminal areal capacitive devices representing said invalid inputs. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 20)
-
Specification