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:
Aug. 20, 2002
Filed:
Jan. 22, 2001
Michael L. Lovejoy, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Xilinx, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
A sense amplifier ( ) is disclosed comprising: a connecting node ( ) connectable to a plurality of logic cells ( ) for reading the logic states thereof; at least one output ( ); circuitry ( ) for transferring the read logic states from the connecting node ( ) to the at least one output; and a circuit ( ) dynamically operative to limit the voltage at the connecting node ( ) substantially to a predetermined voltage. In one embodiment, the circuit ( ) includes a pass transistor ( ) coupled between the connecting node ( ) and the transferring circuit ( ) and operative to conduct the logic states read from the logic cells to the transferring circuit; and a capacitive divider circuit ( ) coupled to a voltage source (V ) for producing at a node ( ) thereof the predetermined voltage as a fraction of the voltage of the source, the node ( ) being coupled to the pass transistor ( ) to limit the voltage at the connecting node ( ) substantially to the predetermined voltage. In another embodiment, the capacitive divider circuit is dynamically operative in accordance with a duty cycle.