Semiconductor memory device and over driving method thereof
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorYoung-Dae Lee
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A semiconductor memory device may include a power line, an over driver, and/or an internal voltage driver. The power line may be connected to at least one sense amplifier. The at least one sense amplifier may be connected to a memory cell included in a memory block. The memory block may be included in one of a plurality of memory block units including one or more memory blocks. The over driver may be configured to apply an external voltage to the power line in a sensing period of the sense amplifier. The internal voltage driver may be configured to apply an internal voltage to the power line in an amplification period of the sense amplifier. The over driver may be configured to perform an over driving operation by each memory block unit.
Claims23
A semiconductor memory device comprising:
- a power line connected to at least one sense amplifier, the at least one sense amplifier connected to a memory cell included in a memory block, the memory block included in one of a plurality of memory block units including one or more memory blocks, the plurality of memory block units included in a memory cell array;
- an over driver configured to apply an external voltage to the power line in a sensing period of the at least one sense amplifier;
- and
- an internal voltage driver configured to apply an internal voltage to the power line in an amplification period of the sense amplifier,
- wherein the over driver is configured to perform an over driving operation by each memory block unit.
A semiconductor memory device comprising:
- a memory cell array including a plurality of memory blocks, the plurality of memory blocks included in a plurality of memory block units including one or more of the plurality of memory blocks, each of the memory blocks including at least one sense amplifier connected to a memory cell;
- an over driver configured to perform an over driving operation on the at least one sense amplifier;
- a controller configured to generate a first signal if a sensing operation of the at least one sense amplifier is started;
- and
- a row decoder configured to receive an address, decode the address to activate a corresponding word line of the memory cell array, and generate a second signal to select the one or more memory blocks corresponding to a memory block unit,
- wherein the over driver is configured to perform the over driving operation by each memory block unit in response to the first and second signals.
An over driving method of a sense amplifier, the method comprising:
- generating an over driving signal in a sensing period of the sense amplifier;
- selecting a portion of a plurality of memory blocks to be over-driven;
- and
- performing an over driving operation on only the selected portion of the plurality of memory blocks in response to the over driving signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.