Pipelined record and playback for analog non-volatile memory

Abstract

A non-volatile analog memory contains multiple recording pipelines for sampling and storing values representing an analog signal and/or multiple playback pipelines for playing a recorded signal. Each recording pipeline includes a sample-and-hold circuit and a write circuit coupled to a memory array associated with that pipeline and is capable of write operations that overlap write operations of other recording pipelines. Each playback pipeline includes a read circuit and a sample-and-hold circuit coupled to an associated memory array and is capable of read operations that overlap read operations of other playback pipelines. The pipelines operate sequentially during recording or playback, and the number of pipelines is selected according to a desired sampling frequency. One embodiment provides a modular integrated circuit architecture which allows a user selected number of ICs to be connected together to handle a desired sampling frequency.