Word line booster circuit and method
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorAtul KATOCH
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A memory circuit includes a plurality of word lines, a word line driver coupled to the plurality of word lines, and a booster circuit coupled to the plurality of word lines. The word line driver is configured to output a first word line signal on a first word line of the plurality of word lines, and the booster circuit includes a first node configured to carry a first power supply voltage and is configured to couple the first word line of the plurality of word lines to the first node responsive to a pulse signal and the first word line signal.
Claims20
A memory circuit comprising:
- a plurality of word lines;
- a word line driver coupled to the plurality of word lines and configured to output a first word line signal on a first word line of the plurality of word lines;
- and
- a booster circuit comprising a first node configured to carry a first power supply voltage, wherein the booster circuit is coupled to the plurality of word lines and configured to couple the first word line of the plurality of word lines to the first node responsive to a pulse signal and the first word line signal.
A method of transferring data in a memory circuit, the method comprising:
- generating a set of row decode signals and a pulse signal using a control circuit;
- based on the set of row decode signals, using a word line driver to activate a first end of a word line;
- based on the pulse signal, using a booster circuit to activate a second end of the word line;
- and
- after the activating the first and second ends of the word line, performing a read or write operation on a memory cell coupled to the word line.
A memory circuit comprising:
- a first plurality of word lines;
- a word line driver coupled to the first plurality of word lines and positioned at a first end of the first plurality of word lines;
- and
- a first booster circuit coupled to the first plurality of word lines and positioned at a second end of the first plurality of word lines opposite the first end,
- wherein
- the word line driver is configured to activate each word line of the first plurality of word lines responsive to a corresponding signal of a plurality of signals, and
- the booster circuit is configured to activate each word line of the first plurality of word lines responsive to the corresponding signal of the plurality of signals.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.