Method and system for correcting soft errors in memory circuit
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorChien-Hua Huang
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Abstract
A method and a system for correcting a soft error in a memory circuit during a stand-by mode are disclosed. According to the disclosure, after reading data from at least one memory cell without outputting the read data through an input/output module of the memory circuit in the stand-by mode, it is determined whether the read data is a soft error. If so, a correct value is written to the memory cell if the read data is the soft error.
Claims18
A method for correcting a soft error in a memory circuit during a stand-by mode, the method comprising:
- reading data from at least one memory cell without outputting the read data through an input/output module of the memory circuit;
- determining whether the read data is a soft error;
- and
- writing a predetermined value to the memory cell if the read data is the soft error.
A method for correcting soft errors in a memory circuit, the method comprising:
- generating an initiation signal on a periodic basis when the memory circuit is in a stand-by mode;
- reading one or more word values of a set of memory cells in response to the initiation signal without outputting the word values through an input/output module of the memory circuit;
- and
- writing a correct value to the memory cell if any one of the word values is a soft error.
A system for correcting soft errors of a memory circuit, the system comprising:
- a timer for initiating a dummy read cycle when the memory circuit is in a stand-by mode;
- an address counter for producing one or more addresses corresponding to one or more memory cells in the memory circuit after the dummy read cycle is initiated;
- and
- an error checking and correcting circuit for reading one or more word values of one or more memory cells based on the addresses generated by the address counter and for writing a correct value to the memory cell if any of the word values is a soft error.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.