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US 9,431,072 B2Granted
On-the-fly trimmable sense amplifier
AssigneeSilicon Storage Technology, Inc.
InventorsYao Zhou, Xiaozhou Qian
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A trimmable sense amplifier for use in a memory device is disclosed.
Claims23
A method for trimming a sense amplifier, comprising:
- coupling a first sense amplifier to a selected memory cell and a reference circuit during a read operation;
- decoupling the first sense amplifier from the selected memory cell and the reference circuit during a trim operation of the first sense amplifier;
- coupling the selected memory cell and the reference circuit to a second sense amplifier during the trim operation of the first sense amplifier;
- performing the trim operation of the first sense amplifier and determining a current level to compensate of transistor mismatching;
- and
- after the trim operation is terminated, coupling the first sense amplifier to the selected memory cell and the reference circuit and applying the current level to the first sense amplifier during a read operation of the selected memory cell.
3 more elements
A memory device, comprising:
- a first sense amplifier for coupling to a selected memory cell and a reference circuit;
- a second sense amplifier for coupling to the selected memory cell and the reference circuit;
- and
- a switch for switching the coupling of the selected memory cell and the reference circuit from the first sense amplifier to the second sense amplifier during a trim operation of the first sense amplifier and for switching the coupling of the selected memory cell and the reference circuit from the second sense amplifier to the first sense amplifier after the trim operation is terminated;
- and
- a control for storing results from the trim operation of the first sense amplifier and adjusting a voltage of a node in the first sense amplifier based on the results after the trim operation is terminated.
3 more elements
A memory device, comprising:
- a sense amplifier selectively coupled to a selected memory cell and reference circuit to perform a read operation of the selected memory cell;
- a mismatch compensation circuit selectively coupled to the sense amplifier for performing a trim operation of the sense amplifier when a read operation is not being performed;
- a reference current generator coupled to the sense amplifier;
- and
- a controller coupled to the sense amplifier and the mismatch compensation circuit for offsetting a transistor mismatch in the sense amplifier by changing a voltage of a node in the sense amplifier to a voltage level determined during the trim operation.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.