Semiconductor device guaranteeing stable operation
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorHyung-seuk Kim
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A semiconductor device includes a data line pair formed of a data line and a complementary data line; a first sensing amplification unit including a first sensing amplifier and a second sensing amplifier that are cross-coupled with the data line and the complementary data line; a first variable current source supplying or flowing out a first variable current to the first sensing amplifier; and a second variable current source supplying or flowing out a second variable current to the second sensing amplifier. A current amount of the first variable current is different from a current amount of the second variable current.
Claims21
A semiconductor device comprising:
- a data line pair comprising a data line and a complementary data line;
- a first sensing amplification unit comprising a first sensing amplifier and a second sensing amplifier that are cross-coupled with the data line and the complementary data line;
- a first variable current source supplying or flowing out a first variable current to the first sensing amplifier;
- and
- a second variable current source supplying or flowing out a second variable current to the second sensing amplifier,
- wherein a current amount of the first variable current is different from a current amount of the second variable current.
A semiconductor device comprising:
- a plurality of data line pairs each comprising a data line and a complementary data line;
- a plurality of first sensing amplification units corresponding to the plurality of data line pairs, respectively, each first sensing amplification unit comprising a first sensing amplifier and a second sensing amplifier that are cross-coupled with the data line and the complementary data line of a corresponding one of the plurality of data line pairs;
- at least one first variable current source supplying or flowing out a first variable current to the first sensing amplifiers;
- and
- at least one second variable current source supplying or flowing out a second variable current to the second sensing amplifiers.
A semiconductor device comprising:
- a data line pair comprising a data line and a complementary data line;
- a first sensing amplification unit comprising a first sensing amplifier and a second sensing amplifier that are cross-coupled with the data line and the complementary data line;
- a first variable current source supplying or flowing out a first current to the first sensing amplifier;
- and
- a second variable current source supplying or flowing out a second current to the second sensing amplifier,
- wherein when a first memory cell connected to the data line is selected, the second current is supplied or flowed out prior to the first current;
- and when a second memory cell connected to the complementary data line is selected, the first current is supplied or flowed out prior to the second current.
A method of sensing data stored in a data line pair comprising a data line and a complementary data line by using a first sensing amplifier and a second sensing amplifier, the method comprising:
- a precharging operation of precharging the data line pair with one of a first voltage level and a second voltage level;
- and
- a current controlling operation of supplying or flowing out a first variable current to the first sensing amplifier and supplying or flowing out a second variable current to the second sensing amplifier,
- wherein a current amount of the first variable current is different from a current amount of the second variable current.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.