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. 22, 2003
Filed:
Nov. 06, 2001
Emil Lambrache, Campbell, CA (US);
George Smarandoiu, San Jose, CA (US);
Atmel Corporation, San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
A dual mode high voltage power supply circuit using an external high voltage connected through an internal high voltage switch which determines whether the memory blocks of a non-volatile memory circuit are programmed in a first mode from an internal high voltage charge pump or are programmed in a second mode from an external high voltage power supply connected in parallel to the internal high voltage charge pump. When the dual mode high voltage power supply circuit is operating in the first mode using only its internal change pump high voltage, it operates in a low power, low-speed mode, programming only one or two bits at a time but allowing the charge pump area on the die to be small. When operating in the second mode, in which the external power supply high voltage is available, eight or more bits can be written to at the same time, thus allowing a fast programming mode without the need for increasing the size of the internal charge pump, thus eliminating the additional space and cost required to increase the die area.