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.

Date of Patent:
Sep. 09, 2014

Filed:

Aug. 27, 2013
Applicant:

Being Advanced Memory Corporation, Essex Junction, VT (US);

Inventors:

Aaron D. Willey, Burlington, VT (US);

Ryan Jurasek, Burlington, VT (US);

Assignee:

Other;

Attorneys:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G11C 11/00 (2006.01); G11C 13/00 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G11C 13/004 (2013.01); G11C 13/0004 (2013.01);
Abstract

Methods and systems for time-based cell decoding for PCM memory. Generally, the higher the PCM element resistance, the longer it takes for a read output to change state. PCM memory output is determined using differentiated timings of read outputs changing state, rather than differentiated values of read outputs. In some single-bit single-ended sensing embodiments, a reference, with resistance between the resistances corresponding to a pair of adjacent logical states, is stored in multiple reference cells; a 'vote' unit emits a clock signal when a majority of the reference cell read outputs transition at the vote unit. Timing units produce different binary outputs depending on whether a data read output or the clock signal changes state first at the timing unit. Time-based decoding provides advantages including improved temperature and drift resilience, improved state discrimination, improved reliability of multibit PCM, and fast and reliable sensing.


Find Patent Forward Citations

Loading…