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. 31, 2004
Filed:
Dec. 04, 2002
Takayuki Kawahara, Higashiyamato, JP;
Nozomu Matsuzaki, Kokubunji, JP;
Terumi Sawase, Hanno, JP;
Masaharu Kubo, Hachioji, JP;
Renesas Technology Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A semiconductor device including a nonvolatile memory unit and a variable logic unit mounted on a chip is configured to achieve higher speed operation at a lower voltage. The semiconductor device includes a nonvolatile memory unit comprising a plurality of rewritable nonvolatile memory cells and a variable logic unit whose logical functions are determined, according to logic constitution definition data to be loaded into storage cells thereof. A nonvolatile memory cell essentially has a split gate structure composed of a selecting MOS transistor and a memory MOS transistor and constructed such that the dielectric withstand voltage of the gate of the selecting MOS transistor is lower than that of the memory MOS transistor or the gate insulation layer of the selecting MOS transistor is thinner than that of a high-voltage-tolerant MOS transistor. Because the selecting MOS transistor has a high Gm, a sufficiently great current for reading can be obtained.