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. 14, 2000
Filed:
Jul. 02, 1998
Texas Instruments Incorporated, Dallas, TX (US);
Abstract
A circuit for reducing the stand-by current of semiconductor device is disclosed in a number of embodiments. In a first embodiment, a first conductive line (302), such as a bit line or common capacitor plate in a DRAM, is charged to a first potential in a stand-by state. A second conductive line (304), such as a word line in a DRAM, is driven to the first potential in the stand-by state in the event a short circuit condition exists between the first conductive line (302) and the second conductive line (304). In a second embodiment, a second conductive line (404) in a semiconductor device is 34w isolated from other circuits in the semiconductor device in a stand-by mode. This allows the second conductive line (404) to rise to a short circuit potential in the event a short circuit condition exists between the second conductive line (404) and a short circuit potential.