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. 30, 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 increasing the amount of current that can flow through the data line pull-down transistors in a sense amplifier by tying the bodies of these transistors to a voltage other than ground. In one embodiment, the bodies of the data line pull-down transistors in a sense amplifier are tied to the intermediate nodes on the opposing side of the sense amplifier to increase the current flow through the data line pull-down transistors, and also to reduce the voltage at the intermediate node that will be pulled low by the action of the bit line transistors. In one embodiment, the sense amplifier also includes pre-charge circuits which pre-charge the intermediate nodes to a predetermined voltage that is not reduced by the threshold voltage of the pull-down transistors.