US 7,679,981 B2Granted

Semiconductor device

AssigneeHynix Semiconductor Inc.

InventorsHyung Wook Moon, Ki Chang Kwean

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A semiconductor device may include a first logic unit for performing a logic operation with respect to a plurality of first control signals, each of which indicates whether a corresponding one of a plurality of banks of the semiconductor device is in an active state, a refresh detector for outputting a second control signal which is enabled when at least one of the banks performs a self-refresh operation or auto-refresh operation, and a second logic unit for performing a logic operation with respect to an output signal from the first logic unit and the second control signal to generate a third control signal having information about activation of the semiconductor device. The third control signal is enabled when at least one of the banks performs the self-refresh operation or auto-refresh operation even though it is in the active state.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A semiconductor device comprising:

a first logic unit for performing a logic operation with respect to a plurality of first control signals, each of the first control signals indicating whether a corresponding one of a plurality of banks of the semiconductor device is in an active state;
a controller for receiving an auto-refresh signal, a self-refresh signal and an output signal from the first logic unit, and outputting a second control signal having information about activation of the semiconductor device in response to the auto-refresh signal and the self-refresh signal;
wherein the second control signal is enabled when all banks are in the standby state, the second control signal is disabled when at least one of the banks is in the active state, the second control signal is enabled when at least one of the banks performs the self-refresh operation or the auto-refresh operation even though it is in the active state, the semiconductor device thereby prevented from entering a command wait state under control of the second control signal.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 12/409,095Filed 23 Mar 2009 · division
Priority: KR 2005-9625212 Oct 2005
Published: US 2009/0185433 A123 Jul 2009
Granted: 16 Mar 2010
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification5 codes

G11C 11/406
Forming cells needing refreshing or charge regeneration, i.e. dynamic cells: management or control of the refreshing or charge-regeneration cycles
G11C 11/40611
Management or control of the refreshing or charge-regeneration cycles: external triggering or timing of internal or partially internal refresh…
G11C 11/40615
Management or control of the refreshing or charge-regeneration cycles: internal triggering or timing of refresh, e.g. hidden refresh, self…
G11C 11/40618
Management or control of the refreshing or charge-regeneration cycles: refresh operations over multiple banks or interleaving

Family

Application11/533,536Parent of this division · filed 20 Sep 2006
US 2009/0185433 A1Pre-grant publication · published 23 Jul 2009
US 7,529,146 B2Parent of this division
US 2007/0081404 A1Published application
US 7,679,981 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.