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:
Apr. 17, 2007
Filed:
Feb. 25, 2004
Girolamo Gallo, Avezzano, IT;
Tommaso Vali, Sezze, IT;
Giulio Giuseppe Marotta, Contigliano, IT;
Micron Technology, Inc., Boise, ID (US);
Abstract
Sensing circuits are adapted for faster sensing of a programmed state of a floating-gate memory cell. The sensing circuits include a first precharging path for applying a first precharge potential to the input node of a sensing device for precharging bit lines prior to sensing the programmed state of the floating-gate memory cell. The sensing circuits further include a second precharging path for applying a second precharge potential to a target global bit line for precharging bit lines prior to sensing the programmed state of the floating-gate memory cell. The second precharging path is activated during only a portion of the precharging phase of a sensing operation to bring the bit lines rapidly up toward an asymptotic potential level. The second precharging path is thus deactivated prior to deactivating the first precharging path.