Differential latching inverter circuit
DCFirst Claim
1. A Field Effect Transistor (FET) Differential Latching Inverter (DLI) circuit for sensing signals on first and second bit lines of a memory, comprising:
- first and second complementary FET inverters, each of which is connected between first and second reference voltages, and each of which includes a first input, a second input and an output;
each of said first and second complementary inverters producing an inverter transfer function between said first input and said output which is skewed toward one of said first and second reference voltages and which is identical when said first and second inverters turn on and turn off;
the second input of said first inverter being connected to the output of said second inverter, and the second input of said second inverter being connected to the output of said first inverter;
the first bit line being connected to the first input of said first inverter and the second bit line being connected to the first input of said second inverter; and
the outputs of said first and second complementary FET inverters producing output signals for said DLI circuit.
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Abstract
A differential latching inverter uses a pair of cross-coupled inverters having a skewed voltage transfer function to rapidly sense a differential signal on a pair of bit lines in a random access memory and provide high speed sensing during a read operation. The differential latching inverter may also include a pair of symmetrical transfer function output inverters and additional pull-up circuits to enhance high speed operation. The differential latching inverter may be used in a memory architecture having primary bit lines and signal bit lines, with a differential latching inverter being connected to each pair of signal bit lines. The primary bit lines and signal bit lines are coupled to one another during read and write operations and decoupled from one another otherwise. The read and write operations may be internally timed without the need for external clock pulses in response to a high speed address change detection system, and internal timing signals generated by delay ring segment buffers. A high speed, low power random access memory may thereby be provided.
19 Citations
11 Claims
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1. A Field Effect Transistor (FET) Differential Latching Inverter (DLI) circuit for sensing signals on first and second bit lines of a memory, comprising:
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first and second complementary FET inverters, each of which is connected between first and second reference voltages, and each of which includes a first input, a second input and an output; each of said first and second complementary inverters producing an inverter transfer function between said first input and said output which is skewed toward one of said first and second reference voltages and which is identical when said first and second inverters turn on and turn off; the second input of said first inverter being connected to the output of said second inverter, and the second input of said second inverter being connected to the output of said first inverter; the first bit line being connected to the first input of said first inverter and the second bit line being connected to the first input of said second inverter; and the outputs of said first and second complementary FET inverters producing output signals for said DLI circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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Specification