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:
May. 16, 2006
Filed:
May. 25, 2004
Takaaki Nakazato, Austin, TX (US);
Toru Asano, Austin, TX (US);
Osamu Takahashi, Round Rock, TX (US);
Sang Dhong, Austin, TX (US);
Takaaki Nakazato, Austin, TX (US);
Toru Asano, Austin, TX (US);
Osamu Takahashi, Round Rock, TX (US);
Sang Dhong, Austin, TX (US);
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, JP;
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
Systems and methods for decreasing the sensitivity of a sense amplifier to variations in the threshold voltages of the data line pull-down transistors by pre-charging the intermediate nodes of the sense amplifier to the voltages on the opposing bit lines when the sense amplifier is not enabled. In one embodiment, the intermediate nodes are coupled to the input bit lines through transistors that are switched on when the sense amplifier is not enabled and switched off when the sense amplifier is enabled. In one embodiment, the intermediate nodes are pre-charged to a predetermined voltage before being pre-charged to the voltages on the bit lines. In one embodiment, the bodies of the data line pull-down transistors may also be body-tied to the opposing intermediate nodes to increase current flow through these transistors, particularly on the side of the sense amplifier that will be pulled low when the sense amplifier is enabled.