Internal voltage converter scheme for controlling the power-up slope of internal supply voltage
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorJune Lee
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Ramping voltage circuits are described for augmenting or supplying a higher power-up slope upon initial power-up or a wake-up transition from a period of dormancy to a semiconductor memory device. Such ramping voltage circuits are responsive to a power-up signal, and are capable of increasing by at least two orders of magnitude the power-up slope, thereby enabling far quicker device turn-on. In one embodiment, a level shifter is used to ramp up the power-on voltage. In another embodiment, the internal voltage line is effectively shorted to an external voltage line via a power-up turned-on PMOS or depletion-type NMOS transistor.
Claims24
A circuit for generating an internal operating voltage for use in a memory device, the circuit comprising:
- a power level detector receiving an external voltage for generating a power up signal;
- and
- a ramping voltage generator coupled to the power level detector and structured to ramp the internal operating voltage to a minimum operating voltage when the ramping voltage generator receives the power up signal.
A circuit for generating an internal operating voltage for use in a memory device, comprising:
- a voltage controller having an input for receiving a power-up signal, and for generating a control signal when the power-up signal is received;
- and
- one or more voltage drivers each having separate inputs and a common output, each voltage driver structured to raise the internal operating voltage on the common output when the control signal is received at its respective input.
A voltage ramping circuit for generating an internal operating voltage for use in a memory device, the voltage ramping circuit comprising:
- a power level detector receiving an external voltage for generating a power up signal;
- and
- a shorting circuit coupled to an external voltage line and structured to short the external voltage line to an internal voltage line when the shorting circuit receives the power up signal.
An internal voltage ramping circuit for use in a memory device, comprising:
- a voltage controller having an input for receiving a power-up signal and structured to generate a control signal when the power-up signal is received;
- one or more controller drivers each having an input and a common output, and each controller driver structured to raise an internal voltage on the common output when the control signal is received;
- and
- a shorting circuit coupled to an external voltage and structured to couple the common output to the external voltage when the shorting circuit receives the power up signal.
A method for generating an internal operating voltage for use in a memory device, comprising:
- detecting a power-up signal;
- generating an enable signal when the power-up signal is detected;
- providing the enable signal to one or more voltage ramping circuits;
- and
- ramping the internal operating voltage from zero volts to the minimum operating voltage when the enable signal is provided to the one or more voltage ramping circuits.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.