Abstract:
A delay from the release of a low power consumption mode of nonvolatile memory to the restart of read operation is reduced. Nonvolatile memory which can electrically rewrite stored information has in well regions plural nonvolatile memory cell transistors having drain electrodes and source electrodes respectively coupled to bit lines and source lines and gate electrodes coupled to word lines and storing information based on a difference between threshold voltages to a word line select level in read operation, and the nonvolatile memory has a low power consumption mode. In the low power consumption mode, a second voltage lower than a circuit ground voltage and higher than a first negative voltage necessary for read operation is supplied to the well regions and word lines. When boost forming a rewriting negative voltage therein, a circuit node at a negative voltage is not the circuit ground voltage in the low power consumption mode.
Abstract:
The present invention is directed to largely reduce peak current at the time of operation of a boosting circuit provided for an EEPROM. In the erase/write operation, first, a low-frequency clock signal as a selection clock signal is input by a low-frequency clock control signal to a charge pump. After lapse of a certain period (about ⅓ of fall time), a high-frequency clock signal having a frequency higher than that of the low-frequency clock signal is output by a high-frequency clock control signal and is input as the selection clock signal to the charge pump to boost a voltage to a predetermined voltage level. In such a manner, while suppressing the peak of consumption current, the fall time of the boosted voltage can be shortened.
Abstract:
A semiconductor integrated circuit comprises a semiconductor chip, a power supply terminal provided on the semiconductor chip for receiving a voltage from an external power supply source, an internal circuit provided on the semiconductor chip, a power supply circuit provided on the semiconductor chip for transforming an external power supply voltage received from the power supply terminal for supplying a source voltage resulting from the voltage transformation to the internal circuit, and a control circuit provided on the semiconductor chip for controlling the power supply circuit, wherein the control circuit includes external power supply voltage detecting means and/or temperature detecting means and responds to the signal from the external power supply voltage detecting means and/or the temperature detecting means by changing the power supply voltage to the internal circuit to thereby maintain the operating speed of the internal circuit to be constant.
Abstract:
A nonvolatile memory includes a control register (CRG) for providing instructions as to basic operations such as writing, erasing, reading, etc., a boosted voltage attainment detecting circuit for detecting whether a voltage boosted by a booster circuit has reached a desired level, a circuit which counts the time required to apply each of write and erase voltages, and a circuit which detects the completion of the writing or erasing. Respective operations are automatically advanced by simple setting of the operation instructions to the control register. After the completion of the operations, an end flag (FLAG) provided within the control register is set to notify the completion of the writing or erasing.
Abstract:
A semiconductor integrated circuit comprises a semiconductor chip, a power supply terminal provided on the semiconductor chip for receiving a voltage from an external power supply source, an internal circuit provided on the semiconductor chip, a power supply circuit provided on the semiconductor chip for transforming an external power supply voltage received from the power supply terminal for supplying a source voltage resulting from the voltage transformation to the internal circuit, and a control circuit provided on the semiconductor chip for controlling the power supply circuit, wherein the control circuit includes external power supply voltage detecting means and/or temperature detecting means and responds to the signal from the external power supply voltage detecting means and/or the temperature detecting means by changing the power supply voltage to the internal circuit to thereby maintain the operating speed of the internal circuit to be constant.
Abstract:
Disclosed is a one-chip ULSI which can carry out fixed operations for a wide range of power supply voltages (1 V to 5.5 V). This one-chip ULSI is composed of a voltage converter circuit(s) which provides a fixed internal voltage for a wide range of power supply voltages, an input/output buffer which can be adapted to several input/out interface levels, a dynamic or volatile RAM(s) which can operate at a power supply voltage of 2 V or less, etc. This one-chip ULSI can be applied to compact and portable electronic devices such as a lap-top type personal computer, an electronic pocket note book, a solid-state camera, etc.
Abstract:
An intermediate voltage generating circuit for generating a voltage lying between an external power supply voltage and a ground voltage, and two voltage limiter circuits for generating internal power supply voltages and stabilized with this intermediate voltage as a reference are provided in a semiconductor integrated circuit. Even if the external power supply voltage or the ground voltage fluctuates, no disagreement is produced between a logical threshold of a circuit operating on the external power supply voltage and a logical threshold of a circuit operating on the internal power supply voltage.
Abstract:
A semiconductor integrated circuit comprises a semiconductor chip, a power supply terminal provided on the semiconductor chip for receiving a voltage from an external power supply source, an internal circuit provided on the semiconductor chip, a power supply circuit provided on the semiconductor chip for transforming an external power supply voltage received from the power supply terminal for supplying a source voltage resulting from the voltage transformation to the internal circuit, and a control circuit provided on the semiconductor chip for controlling the power supply circuit, wherein the control circuit includes external power supply voltage detecting means and/or temperature detecting means and responds to the signal from the external power supply voltage detecting means and/or the temperature detecting means by changing the power supply voltage to the internal circuit to thereby maintain the operating speed of the internal circuit to be constant.
Abstract:
A semiconductor device is provided wherein a current mirror circuit controlled by a pulse input voltage is utilized and a load is driven in such a manner that the output current of the current mirror circuit becomes a substantially constant current. Further, the output voltage of the current mirror circuit can be compared with a predetermined reference voltage by a comparator, with the current mirror circuit being controlled by the output voltage of the comparator in accordance with the result of comparison. The driver circuit can be used for driving the data lines of a dynamic random access memory or an external capacitance load. With these techniques, power consumption and peak current are reduced.
Abstract:
An object of this invention is to provide a rewritable nonvolatile memory cell that can have a wide reading margin, and can control both a word line and a bit line by changing the level of Vcc. As a solution, a flip-flop is formed by cross (loop) connect of inverters including memory transistors that can control a threshold voltage by charge injection into the side spacer of the transistors. In the case of writing data to one memory transistor, a high voltage is supplied to a source of the memory transistor through a source line and a high voltage is supplied to a gate of the memory transistor through a load transistor of the other side inverter. In the case of erasing the written data, a high voltage is supplied to the source of the memory transistor through the source line.