Stmicroelectronics S.r.l.

Vincenzo Sambataro

Antonino Conte

Maurizio Giovanni Gaibotti

Michelangelo Pisasale

Michele La Placa

Enrico Castaldo

Salvatore Torrisi

An architecture for implementing an integrated capacity includes a capacitive block inserted between first and second voltage reference. The block is formed The block is formed from elementary capacitive modules. An enable block is inserted between the first voltage reference and the capacitive block and includes switches connected to the elementary capacitive modules and driven on their control terminals by control signals. Each switch of the enable block is inserted between the first voltage reference and a first end of a corresponding elementary capacitive module. A verify and enable circuit is connected to the first voltage reference, as well as at the input of the first end of the elementary capacitive modules and at the output of the control terminals of the switches of the enable block. The verify and enable circuit detects the presence of a current value in each of the elementary capacitive modules and, if said current is detected, disables that elementary capacitive module of the capacitive block using the corresponding switch of the enable block.

Architecture for implementing an integrated capacitance

A power management unit for a non-volatile memory device is proposed. The power management unit includes means for providing a reference voltage, resistive means for deriving a reference current from the reference voltage, means for generating a plurality of operative voltages from a power supply voltage, and means for regulating the operative voltages; in the power management unit of the invention, for each operative voltage the means for regulating includes means for deriving a scaled reference current from the reference current according to a scaling factor, further resistive means for deriving a rating voltage from the scaled reference current, means for deriving a measuring voltage from the operative voltage and the rating voltage, and means for controlling the operative voltage according to a comparison between the measuring voltage and the reference voltage.

Power management unit for a flash memory with single regulation of multiple charge pumps

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S. M. Di Licodia, Italy

Vincenzo Sambataro