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:
Jul. 01, 2014
Filed:
Sep. 18, 2013
Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);
Edward M. McCombs, Austin, TX (US);
Daniel C. Chow, Austin, TX (US);
Kenneth W. Jones, Austin, TX (US);
Alexander E. Runas, Austin, TX (US);
Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US);
Abstract
A memory includes an I/O unit that is shared between multiple storage arrays. The shared I/O unit provides output data from the arrays. The memory includes an isolation unit connected between each storage array and the shared I/O unit. In addition, each of the storage arrays and the shared I/O unit may be connected to a separate switched voltage domain through for example, power gating circuits. If one or more of the storage arrays is placed in retention or low-voltage mode, the isolation units that are coupled to the affected storage arrays may be configured to isolate the bitlines of those storage arrays from the shared I/O data paths.