Micron Technology Incorporated

Infineon Technologies Ag

Ronny Schneider

Martin Brox

Thomas Hein

Stefan Dietrich

Michael Dieter Richter

Natalija Jovanovic

Georg Braun

Harald Streif

Juan-Antonio Ocon-Garrido

Methods, systems, and devices for data inversion techniques are described to enable a memory device to transmit or receive a multi-symbol signal that includes more than two (2) physical levels. Some portions of some multi-symbol signals may be inverted. A transmitting device may determine to invert one or more data symbols based on one or more parameters. A receiving device may determine that one or more data symbols are inverted and may re-invert the one or more data symbols (e.g., to an original value). When receiving or transmitting a multi-symbol signal, a device may invert or re-invert a data symbol by changing a value of one bit of the data symbol. Additionally or alternatively, a device may invert or re-invert a data symbol of a multi-symbol signal by inverting a physical level of the signal across an axis located between or associated with one or more physical levels.

Data inversion techniques

Methods, systems, and devices for postamble for multi-level signal modulation are described. One or more channels of a bus may be driven with a multi-level signal having at least two (2) distinct signal levels. After driving the bus with the multi-level signal, at least one (1) of the channels may be terminated. In some examples, the channel may be terminated to a relatively high signal level. Before termination, the channel may be driven with a postamble having an intermediate signal level. Driving the channel to an intermediate signal level before terminating the channel (e.g., to a high signal level) may avoid maximum transitions of the signal. For example, transitions between a lowest potential signal level and the high signal level (e.g., the termination level) may be avoided.

Postamble for multi-level signal modulation

Methods, systems, and devices for bit and signal level mapping are described to enable a memory device to transmit or receive a multi-symbol signal that includes more than two (2) physical levels. Some cyclic redundancy check (CRC) calculations generate one or more bits of CRC output per symbol of an associated signal and the output are transmitted via a multi-symbol signal by converting one or more CRC output bit to a physical level of the signal. The conversion, or mapping, process is performed such that the physical levels of the signal avoid a transition between a highest physical level and lowest physical level. For example, a modulation scheme or mapping process is configured to map different values of CRC output bits to different physical levels, where the different physical levels are separated by one other physical level associated with the signal or the modulation scheme.

Bit and signal level mapping

Methods, systems, and devices for techniques for low power operation are described. A device may be configurable to operate in a first mode and a second mode, where the first mode may include transmitting using a first modulation scheme having two logic levels and the second mode may include transmitting using a second modulation scheme having three or more (e.g., four) logic levels. The device may identify a data symbol for transmission and select, from the first mode and the second mode, the first modulation scheme for the transmission. In some example, the device may determine which of the two modes to select based on a value stored at a mode register. Here, the value stored by the mode register may indicate to utilize the first modulation scheme associated with the first mode. Thus, the device may transmit the data symbol by a signal modulated by the first modulation scheme.

Techniques for low power operation

To include in a device a controller to control operation of the device in a normal-operation mode and in a test mode for performing one or more tests including an accelerated aging test, a temperature sensor to measure operating temperature of the device, and an overheat protection circuit to prevent overheating of the memory device during the test mode. With this overheat protection circuit, a device may undergo an efficient and reliable accelerated aging test with reduced or non-existent, possibility of suffering an overheat damage.

Overheat protection circuit and method in an accelerated aging test of an integrated circuit

An integrated circuit includes an array of memory cells and a digital flag generator circuit configured to generate a data inversion flag based on whether a number of logical zero bits contained in a data word to be transmitted from the memory cells is greater than a threshold number. The digital flag generator circuit includes a first digital stage including a first plurality of binary logic circuits. Each of the binary logic circuits is configured to receive a subset of the data word.

Digital data inversion flag generator circuit

A circuit and method for detecting soft errors produced in latches. An exemplary embodiment of a circuit includes a block of concatenated latches, each latch having a comparator, with an output from the final latch comparator representing a parity bit for the latch block. The circuit further includes a element to store the block parity bit, and a comparator for the block parity bit and stored parity bit. A latch soft error is detected by monitoring an output from the parity bit comparator, which signals an error when the latch block parity bit changes state.

System and method for automatically-detecting soft errors in latches of an integrated circuit

Embodiments of the present invention generally provide a soft error-resistant latch circuit. The latch circuit generally includes first and second inverters, each formed by at least two transistors. At least one delay element decouples the gate of at least one of the transistors of one of the inverters from a diffusion area of at least one of the transistors of the other inverter.

Soft error improvement for latches

The memory device has series-connected ferroelectric memory cells in which a series circuit composed of a resistor and/or of a transistor for the ferroelectric capacitor of a respective memory cell is present. As a result, without unacceptably increasing the access time, the interference pulses at the ferroelectric capacitors of the memory cells which are not being addressed at that particular time and which are generated by the reading out or writing of the addressed memory cell are reduced in such a way that they have virtually no further influence on the non-addressed memory cells.

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Munich, Germany

Ronny Schneider