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:
Sep. 28, 2010
Filed:
May. 05, 2008
Hongtau Mu, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Nian Yang, Mountain View, CA (US);
Fan Wan Lai, San Jose, CA (US);
Guowei Wang, San Jose, CA (US);
Hongtau Mu, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Nian Yang, Mountain View, CA (US);
Fan Wan Lai, San Jose, CA (US);
Guowei Wang, San Jose, CA (US);
Spansion LLC, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
A memory device includes a sense amplifier to sense the state of a bitcell. The sense amplifier includes two input terminals connected via a switch. One of the input terminals is connected to a node, whereby a current through the node represents a difference in current drawn by a bitcell and a reference current. During a first phase, the switch between the input terminals of the sense amplifier is closed, so that a common voltage is applied to both input terminals. During a second phase, the switch is opened, and the sense amplifier senses a state of information stored at the bitcell based on the current through the node. By using the switch to connect and disconnect the inputs of the sense amplifier in the two phases, the accuracy and speed with which the state of the information stored at the bitcell can be determined is improved.