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:
Sep. 26, 2000
Filed:
Apr. 14, 1999
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
A method for fast programming of non-volatile memory cells in a non-volatile memory array comprises the steps of providing an acceleration voltage greater than the internal pump voltage supplied by a conventional internal drain pump, providing a program write command, and coupling the acceleration voltage to provide a programming current to all of the bit lines selected to be programmed at a time. In an embodiment, the acceleration voltage is reduced to a drain voltage before it is applied to the drains of the memory cells. In an embodiment in which the flash memory cells comprise typical dual-gate NOR devices, the acceleration voltage is in the range of about 7 V to about 10 V, and the drain voltage is on the order of about 5 V. The sources of the memory cells are grounded during the fast programming operation. In a further embodiment, the method further comprises the steps of detecting the acceleration voltage, generating an acceleration voltage indicator signal in response to the presence of the acceleration voltage, and generating a fast program write command in response to the acceleration voltage indicator signal and the program write command to set the flash memory cells in a fast program mode.