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US 6,333,670 B1Granted
Semiconductor device capable of stably generating internal voltage with low supply voltage
AssigneeMitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsTakashi Kono, Takeshi Hamamoto
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Abstract
Change in internal voltage on an internal voltage line is detected as discharging current of a capacitance element via an MOS transistor to change a charged voltage of the capacitance element. According to the charged voltage of the capacitance element, a current drive transistor is driven to supply a current to the internal voltage line. The internal voltage is stably generated with low current consumption and small occupation area.
Claims14
A semiconductor device comprising:
- an internal voltage line;
- and
- internal voltage generation circuitry for generating an internal voltage on said internal voltage line,
- said internal voltage generating circuitry including:
- a reference voltage generating circuit for generating a reference voltage;
- a capacitance element;
- a difference detection circuit for changing a charged voltage of said capacitance element in a one-way direction according to a difference between said reference voltage from said reference voltage generating circuit and the internal voltage on said internal voltage line;
- a current drive element having a control gate, for causing a current flow between a power supply node and said internal voltage line according to the charged voltage of said capacitance element, said capacitance element being coupled with the control gate of the current drive element;
- and
- a precharge circuit for precharging the control gate of the current drive element through precharging of said capacitance element to a predetermined voltage to make the current drive element non-conductive in response to a precharge instruction.
7 more elements
A semiconductor device comprising:
- an internal voltage line;
- and
- a plurality of internal voltage generation circuits, coupled to said internal voltage line, each for generating an internal voltage on said internal voltage line,
- each of said plurality of internal voltage generating circuits including:
- a capacitance element;
- a difference detection circuit for changing a charged voltage of said capacitance element according to a difference between a reference voltage and the internal voltage on said internal voltage line;
- and
- a current drive element having a control gate coupled to said capacitance element, for causing a current flow between a power supply node and said internal voltage line according to the charged voltage of said capacitance element;
- said plurality of internal voltage generation circuits operating at timings different from each other to generate the internal voltage.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.