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. 25, 2010
Filed:
Jul. 25, 2006
Akira Okada, Tokyo, JP;
Masaru Yano, Tokyo, JP;
Kazuhide Kurosaki, Tokyo, JP;
Spansion LLC, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
A semiconductor device includes: a pump circuit that boosts an output node connected to a memory cell array; an oscillator that outputs a clock to the pump circuit; and a detection circuit that outputs an actuating signal to the oscillator. In this semiconductor device, the actuating signal actuates the oscillator when the voltage of the output node of the pump circuit is lower than a first reference voltage, and the actuating signal stops the oscillator when the voltage of the output node is higher than a second reference voltage. In accordance with the present invention, when the voltage of the output node of the pump circuit is higher than the target voltage, the oscillator is stopped, and so is the pump circuit. Thus, unnecessary charge flow to the ground can be prevented, and the power consumption of the booster circuit can be reduced.