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:
Jul. 03, 2001
Filed:
Apr. 12, 1999
Kuen-Long Chang, Taipei, TW;
Chun-Hsiung Hung, Hsinchu, TW;
Ken-Hui Chen, Tai-Chung, TW;
Tien-Shin Ho, Hsin-Tien, TW;
I-Long Lee, Hsinchu, TW;
Tzeng-Hei Shiau, Hsin-Pu, TW;
Ray-Lin Wan, Fremont, CA (US);
Macronix International Co., Ltd., Hsinchu, TW;
Abstract
An on chip voltage generation circuit is provided suitable for use on integrated circuits such as flash memory devices with a low power supply voltage (e.g., 2.7 to 3.6 volts). A voltage boost circuit is coupled to the supply voltage input and to a boost signal, which boosts the on-chip voltage at a node on the integrated circuit in response to a transition of the boost signal. The voltage boost circuit has a first mode which in response to the transition boosts the on-chip voltage at a first rate of boosting until a first threshold, and a second mode which in response to the transition boosts the on-chip voltage at a second rate of boosting until a second threshold. The second rate of boosting in the preferred system is slower than the first rate of boosting. A detection circuit is coupled to the node on the integrated circuit which receives the on-chip voltage, and to the voltage boost circuit. The detection circuit signals the voltage boost circuit when the node reaches the first threshold, and signals the voltage boost circuit when the node reaches the second threshold. According to one aspect of the invention, the first threshold is reached within less than 5 nanoseconds, and more preferably about 2 nanoseconds, or less, of the transition in the boost signal.