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:
Oct. 27, 1998
Filed:
Aug. 06, 1996
Christian E Herdt, Monument, CO (US);
Simtek Corporation, Colorado Springs, CO (US);
Abstract
A semiconductor memory device is disclosed that provides replacement of defective main memory portions with operational redundant memory portions. The device includes fuse circuitry that comprises both nonvolatile and volatile memory portions. Because the fuse circuitry includes a volatile memory portion in addition to a nonvolatile memory portion, additional functionality may be achieved by the fuse circuitry. For example, the volatile portion of the fuse circuitry allows the retention of the nonvolatile portion of the circuitry to be tested using standard testing techniques. In addition, the volatile memory portion provides a way for easily utilizing unused redundant memory. In one embodiment of the present invention, a semiconductor memory device is provided that uses nvSRAM cells as the main storage element in the main memory area, the redundant memory area, and in the fuse circuitry.