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US 2016/0078963 A1Published application
Programming of antifuse cells
AssigneeSTMicroelectronics S.r.l.
InventorsStephane Lacouture, Joel Damiens
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
For programming an antifuse memory, the power consumption of the memory is assessed during programming mode. The power consumption is compared with a threshold. When the threshold is exceeded, indicative of successful programming of the antifuse memory cell, the programming mode is terminated.
Claims9
A method of programming an antifuse memory, comprising, for a cell to be programmed, the steps of:
- assessing the memory power consumption in programming mode by determining consumed current;
- comparing the memory power consumption with a threshold;
- and
- stopping the programming of the cell when the threshold has been reached.
1 more element
An antifuse memory cell programming circuit, comprising:
- a charge pump circuit configured to deliver, from a first power supply voltage, a second higher programming voltage;
- a circuit of successive selection of the cells to be programmed;
- and
- a circuit configured to assess consumed current based on activity of the charge pump circuit during programming phases.
1 more element
A method of programming an antifuse memory cell, comprising:
- applying a boosted voltage generated by a charge pump circuit to said antifuse memory cell during programming mode;
- comparing the boosted voltage to a first threshold;
- generating control pulses for said charge pump circuit in response to the comparison;
- counting a number of said control pulses generated during a testing period of time during programming mode;
- and
- stopping programming mode when the counted number of control pulses exceeds a second threshold.
3 more elements
An antifuse memory cell programming circuit, comprising:
- a charge pump circuit configured to deliver a boosted voltage to an antifuse memory cell during programming mode;
- a comparator configured to compare the boosted voltage to a first threshold;
- a control pulse generator circuit configured to generate control pulses for controlling operation of said charge pump circuit;
- a counter circuit configured to count a number of said control pulses generated during a testing period of time during programming mode and terminate programming mode when the counted number of control pulses exceeds a second threshold.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.