Elpida Memory, Inc.

Eiji Yamasaki

Yutaka Ito

Takeshi Hashimoto

Hidetoshi Iwai

Shigeo Takeuchi

Masayuki Kaneda

Disclosed is a semiconductor memory device having a data retention operating mode. When an entry into the data retention operating mode is performed, parity information on data of the memory cells is calculated and the error correction on the memory cells is carried out at a time of an exit from the data retention operating mode, by an ECC (Error Correction Circuit). The semiconductor memory device includes means for outputting from an NC pin flag information indicating that the semiconductor memory device is the one including the data retention operating mode, that the exit processing from the data retention operating mode is under way, and that the error correction cannot be performed.

Semiconductor memory device

A semiconductor memory device including an on-chip ECC circuit and having a data retention mode which includes, in the order of state transition, an encoding state EEST by an error correction circuit in which the error correction circuit carries out calculation of parity bits of data of the memory cells, a burst self-refresh state BSST in which the memory cells are self-refreshed in a burst with a period shorter than in ordinary self-refresh, a power-off state PFST in which an internal power supply circuit is partially turned off, a power-on state PNST in which the internal power supply circuit, partially turned off, is turned on, and a decoding state EDST by the error correction circuit in which the error correction circuit corrects errors of the memory cells. In case a command for exiting from the data retention mode in the encoding state, transition may be made to an idle state IST so that re-entry may be made from the decoding state EDST to the BSST.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Eiji Yamasaki