Voltage regulator for single feed voltage memory circuits, and flash type memory in particular

A memory device, comprising:

• a memory cell having first and second terminals, the second terminal being coupled to a voltage reference;
• a decoder having input and output nodes, the output node being coupled to the first terminal of the memory cell;
• and
• a voltage regulator coupled to the first terminal of the memory cell via the decoder, the voltage regulator being structured to provide a regulated voltage to the decoder input node in such a manner that self-limits a current to the memory cell and provides the memory device with a loop gain that is independent of how many programmed memory cells are supplied by the regulated voltage of the voltage regulator, wherein the voltage regulator includes:
• a differential stage having first and second input terminals and an output terminal, the output terminal providing a differential voltage based on voltages at the input terminals;
• a connecting transistor configured as a source follower and having a control terminal coupled to the output terminal of the differential stage and an output terminal coupled to the input node of the decoder;
• and
• a filtering and compensation capacitance coupled between the voltage reference and the output terminal of the connecting transistor.

A memory device, comprising:

• a memory cell having first and second terminals, the second terminal being coupled to a voltage reference;
• a decoder having input and output nodes, the output node being coupled to the first terminal of the memory cell;
• and
• a voltage regulator coupled to the first terminal of the memory cell via the decoder, the voltage regulator being structured to provide a regulated voltage to the decoder input node in such a manner that self-limits a current to the memory cell, wherein the voltage regulator includes:
• a booster circuit that supplies a boosted voltage;
• a differential stage having a non-inverting input terminal receiving a control voltage independent of temperature;
• an inverting input terminal connected to a ground voltage reference;
• a feed terminal connected to the booster circuit to receive the boosted voltage;
• and an output terminal connected to an output terminal of the voltage regulator, for producing an output voltage reference based on a comparison of the voltages at the input terminals of the differential stage;
• and
• a connecting transistor inserted between the feed terminal and the output terminal of the differential stage, wherein the connecting transistor is configured as source follower and has a control terminal connected to the output terminal of the differential stage, a drain terminal connected to the booster circuit, and a source terminal connected to the output terminal of the voltage regulator, in such a way as to self-limit a transition of a voltage on the output terminal.