Write driver circuit with write-per-bit data masking function

Abstract

A write driver circuit with a write-per-bit data masking function, comprising a masking register for inputting data to be written in a memory cell and generating masking data with respect to the input data, a first output controller for determining masking of the input data in response to an output signal from the masking register, a second output controller for determining masking of an inverted one of the input data in response to the output signal from the masking register, and an output unit for transferring output data from the first and second output controllers to data input/output lines of a memory device. According to the present invention, a WPB data masking operation is not performed at the column active step but at the row active step. Therefore, a write speed is enhanced by removing a conventional write delay time resulting from the execution of the WPB data masking operation at the column active step.