Dynamic wordline assist scheme to improve performance tradeoff in SRAM
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsPankaj Agarwal, Vaibhav V. Prabhu, Krishnan S. Rengarajan
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Abstract
A dynamic wordline assist circuit for improving performance of an SRAM. An SRAM is disclosed that includes a plurality of memory cells, wherein each memory cell is coupled to a wordline and a pair of bitlines; and a wordline assist circuit coupled to the wordline, wherein the wordline assist circuit includes a first input for activating the wordline assist circuit during a read or write cycle and includes a second input for deactivating the wordline assist circuit during the read or write cycle after a delay.
Claims20
A static random access memory (SRAM) device, comprising:
- a plurality of memory cells, wherein each memory cell is coupled to a wordline and a pair of bitlines;
- and
- a wordline assist circuit coupled to the wordline, wherein the wordline assist circuit includes a first input for activating the wordline assist circuit during a read or write cycle and includes a second input for deactivating the wordline assist circuit during the read or write cycle after a delay.
A wordline assist circuit for enhancing performance of a static random access memory (SRAM) device, comprising:
- a control node for controlling a wordline associated with a plurality of memory cells;
- a first input for activating the wordline assist circuit during a read or write cycle;
- and
- a second input for deactivating the wordline assist circuit during the read or write cycle after a delay;
- wherein, upon activation, the wordline assist circuit limits a supply at the wordline provided by a wordline driver.
A method for improving performance of a static random access memory (SRAM) device, comprising:
- providing an SRAM device with a plurality of memory cells, wherein each cell is coupled to a wordline and a pair of bitlines;
- activating a wordline assist using a first input during a read or write cycle, wherein the wordline assist limits a supply at the wordline to improve stability;
- and
- deactivating the wordline assist using a second input during the read or write cycle after a delay to improve associated reading or writing performance.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.