Measuring and controlling current consumption and output current of charge pumps
AssigneeSaifun Semiconductors Ltd.
InventorsYoram Betser, Alexander Kushnarenko, Oleg Dadashev
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention is a method and apparatus for regulating current consumption and output current of a charge pump. According to some embodiments of the present invention, a first current coming into the charge pump and a second current coming into a driver of at least one of one or more stages of the charge pump is measured. A control loop may regulate one or more parameters of the charge pump and/or a load connected to the charge pump, such as by adjusting one or more of: a supply voltage; a stage's voltage; the stage's frequency and/or duty-cycle; and the number of stages.
Claims20
A method of operating a non-volatile memory device comprising:
- regulating a charge pump having one or more stages based on measuring current consumption (Icp_in) and output current (load current, Icp_out) of the charge pump (CP), wherein measuring includes:
- measuring a first current (I.sub.1) coming into the charge pump;
- and
- measuring a second current (I.sub.2) coming into a driver for at least one of the one or more stages of the charge pump.
A method of controlling operation of a charge pump (CP) pipe having an input receiving a supply voltage (Vsupply), a number of stages, and an output (Vout, Iout), comprising:
- regulating the charge pump based on measuring current consumption (Icp_in) in the charge pump pipe and measuring a second current (I.sub.2) coming into a driver for at least one of the one or more stages of the charge pump;
- and
- decreasing the current consumption (Icp_in) by adjusting one or more of:
- a. a supply voltage (Vsupply);
- b. a stage's voltage (V.phi.);
- c. the stage's frequency and/or duty-cycle;
- d. the number (N) of stages;
- and
- e. adjusting a load connected to the output of the charge pump pipe.
A Non-Volatile Memory apparatus comprising:
- a control circuit for controlling operation of a charge pump (CP) pipe having an input receiving a supply voltage (Vsupply), a number of stages, and an output (Vout, Iout), said control circuit including means for measuring current consumption (Icp_in) in the charge pump pipe, and means for measuring a second current (I.sub.2) coming into a driver for at least one of the one or more stages of the charge pump, and
- means for decreasing or increasing the current consumption (Icp_in) by adjusting one or more of:
- a. a supply voltage (Vsupply);
- b. a stage's voltage (V.phi.);
- c. the stage's frequency and/or duty-cycle;
- d. the number (N) of stages;
- and
- e. adjusting a load connected to the output of the charge pump pipe.
A non-volatile memory apparatus comprising:
- A control circuit for a charge pump (CP) pipe having an input receiving a supply voltage (Vsupply), a number (N) of stages, each stage having a driver (drv), and an output (Vout, Iout), said control circuit comprising:
- means for measuring a first current (I.sub.1) coming into the charge pump;
- and
- means measuring a second current (I.sub.2) coming into a driver for at least one of the one or more stages of the charge pump.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.