Programmable array spaces
AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
InventorsAlec S. Wyen, Rachael S. Skreen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In some examples, a fuse array, a mode register, or a combination thereof, is programmed to select which banks and/or rows are to be utilized in a reduced density mode of a memory device. In some examples, an additional fuse or other programmable device is used to indicate memory device is operating in a reduced density mode. The information from the fuse array, mode register, or combination thereof, is provided to an array utilization circuit, which uses the information to access the utilized portions of the memory array. In some embodiments, the array utilization circuit may map a smaller external row address space to a larger internal row address space when a memory device is in a reduced density mode.
Claims20
An apparatus comprising:
- a memory array comprising a plurality of banks each comprising a plurality of word lines;
- a fuse array comprising a plurality of fuses configured to store information indicating a subset of the plurality word lines utilized in a reduced density mode;
- and
- an array utilization circuit configured to receive the information from the fuse array and cause a row decoder to access individual word lines of the subset in the reduced density mode.
An apparatus comprising:
- a memory array comprising a plurality of word lines;
- an array utilization circuit configured to map an external row address to an internal row address;
- and
- a fuse array comprising a plurality of fuses configured to store first information indicating which bits of the external row address should be mapped to which bits of the internal row address and second information indicating whether the memory array is utilized in a full density mode or a reduced density mode.
An apparatus comprising:
- a memory array comprising a plurality of banks each comprising a plurality of word lines;
- a mode register comprising a plurality of registers configured to store information indicating a subset of the plurality word lines utilized in a reduced density mode;
- and
- an array utilization circuit configured to receive the information from the mode register and cause a row decoder to access individual word lines of the subset in the reduced density mode.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.