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:
Jan. 03, 2006
Filed:
Jan. 08, 2004
Norihiko Sumitani, Osaka, JP;
Shigeo Houmura, Kyoto, JP;
Youji Nakai, Osaka, JP;
Hidenari Kanehara, Osaka, JP;
Kazuki Tsujimura, Shiga, JP;
Norihiko Sumitani, Osaka, JP;
Shigeo Houmura, Kyoto, JP;
Youji Nakai, Osaka, JP;
Hidenari Kanehara, Osaka, JP;
Kazuki Tsujimura, Shiga, JP;
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Osaka, JP;
Abstract
A dummy bit line is provided between a pair of bit lines. The pair of bit lines is set at a power supply voltage and the dummy bit line is set at a ground voltage, and then the pair of bit lines and the dummy bit line are equalized. When a word line is activated in subsequent read operation, the pair of bit lines is at an intermediate potential lower than the power supply voltage, so that an apparent current drive capability of an access transistor decreases, and the static noise margin of a memory cell increases.