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:
Oct. 05, 2004
Filed:
Feb. 19, 2002
Hans Viehmann, S. Burlington, VT (US);
Heinz Hoenigschmid, Essex Junction, VT (US);
Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, DE;
Abstract
It is difficult to fabricate a semiconductor memory device without any faulty memory storage cells. One solution is to produce more storage cells than needed on a device and faulty storage cells are replaced by the redundant storage cells. This solution requires that the addresses of the faulty storage cells, along with the replacement storage cells, be saved in a memory. The present invention teaches the use of non-volatile memory cells, particularly magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) cells, to store the addresses. Non-volatile memory cells can effectively replace the laser fuses currently used and also provides an advantage in the elimination of the laser fuse-burning step during the fabrication of the device.