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:
Dec. 24, 2002
Filed:
Apr. 11, 2001
Applicant:
Inventors:
Jew-Yong Kuo, Hsinchu, TW;
Albert Sun, Taipei, TW;
Assignee:
Macronix International Co., Ltd., Hsinchu, TW;
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G11C 7/02 ; G11C 1/604 ; G11C 1/606 ; G11C 7/00 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G11C 7/02 ; G11C 1/604 ; G11C 1/606 ; G11C 7/00 ;
Abstract
A structure to inspect high/low of memory cell threshold voltage using a current mode sense amplifier. A current mode sense amplifier is used to compare a memory cell current of a selected memory cell and a reference current to determine high/low of the threshold voltage. Since the current input is compared, it is not necessary to provide a reference word line and a reference memory cell circuit. The area is thus decreased, and the waiting time to convert current to voltage is saved to greatly increase the access speed.