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:
Dec. 23, 2008
Filed:
Sep. 11, 2006
Chien-teh Kuo, St. Paul, MN (US);
James Chyi Lai, St. Paul, MN (US);
Chien-Teh Kuo, St. Paul, MN (US);
James Chyi Lai, St. Paul, MN (US);
Northern Lights Semiconductor Corp., St. Paul, MN (US);
Abstract
A word line driver and decoder for use in a magnetic memory includes a main word line driver and a sub word line driver that cooperate to drive current on a selected one from a number of the magnetic memory's word lines. The main word line driver and sub word line driver employ pull up and pull down transistors that configured to drive current on the selected word line in either a read or write '0' direction or a read or write '1' direction in response to control signals that allow reliable magnetic memory operation. An address decoder selects and activates a multiplexer in the sub word line driver to coordinate the current drive. The main word line driver employs current mirrors, transistor switches, and logic control to prevent direct Vdd to Vss shorting in transitioning from ‘0’ and ‘1’, and read and write data storage operations.