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:
May. 05, 1998
Filed:
Jul. 01, 1996
Kenway W Tam, Cupertino, CA (US);
Sun Microsystems, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
An improved single ended dynamic sense amplifier circuit for sensing the state of a bitline in a read only memory is disclosed which includes a threshold control circuit coupled to a noise margin circuit and a discharge circuit. A sense node couples the discharge circuit to a precharge circuit and an output circuit. The threshold control circuit maintains a bias on the discharge circuit such that during the precharge phase of operation, the discharge circuit is shut off and then conditionally turned off and on. The inclusion of the threshold control circuit in the disclosed single ended dynamic sense amplifier circuit provides for fully functional operation at supply voltages of close to 1.0 volt.