Encoded Global Bitlines for Memory and Other Circuits
AssigneeBroadcom Corporation
InventorsTravis Reynold Hebig, Ronald Daniel lsliefson, Carl Anthony Monzel, III, Myron James Buer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Encoded bitlines run globally through a memory architecture. The encoded bitlines carry an encoded representation of the data bits read from memory cells. As a specific example, the encoded representation may be carried on encoded global bitlines in an SRAM memory architecture. The encoded representation reduces power consumption when used in conjunction with bitline pre-charging or pre-discharging. The encoding technique may be implemented in circuitry other than memories and applied to any type of signal bus, e.g., for address, data, or control signals, running between any types of circuitry.
Claims20
A circuit comprising:
- a first memory cell connection configured to carry a first input bit;
- a second memory cell connection configured to carry a second input bit;
- and
- encoding circuitry comprising an encoded output, the encoding circuitry configured to:
- receive the first input bit from the first memory cell;
- receive the second input bit from the second memory cell;
- map the first input bit and the second input bit to a pre-defined encoded representation;
- and
- output the pre-defined encoded representation on the encoded output.
A method comprising:
- receiving differentially defined bits from memory cells;
- encoding the differentially defined bits according to a pre-defined mapping to obtain an encoded representation of the bits;
- and
- outputting the encoded representation on global memory cell bitlines in communication with the memory cells.
A circuit comprising:
- memory cells;
- encoders coupled to pairs of the memory cells and comprising two-input to four-output low-swing encoded global bitline outputs;
- and
- decoders coupled to the low-swing encoded global bitline outputs and comprising four-input to two-output data connections.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.