The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 24, 1998
Filed:
Dec. 30, 1996
Mathew R Arcoleo, San Jose, CA (US);
Raymond M Leong, Los Altos, CA (US);
Derek R Johnson, Los Gatos, CA (US);
Cypress Semiconductor Corporation, San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
An output buffer circuit of a semiconductor memory device can produce multiple output buffer drive strengths. An electronic system including a memory device in which such an output buffer circuit is implemented can include a mechanism for enabling the output buffer drive strength to be easily selected by a user of the memory device (such as an assembler of an electronic system including the memory device) from the multiple possible drive strengths. The invention thus enables a memory device to be easily configured to have an output buffer drive strength that is compatible with a wide variety of electrical loads to be driven by the output buffers of the memory device. Since the output buffer circuit of the invention allows the output buffer drive strength to be more closely tailored to the electrical load being driven, signal reflections, voltage overshoot and undershoot, and timing problems that can result from mismatch between the output buffer drive strength and the associated electrical load can be reduced.