DRAM density enhancements
View Patent ↗In one embodiment, a sense amplifier includes: a differential amplifier adapted to amplify a voltage difference between a pair of bit lines; and a self-bias generation circuit adapted to reduce an offset bias in the differential amplifier with regard to the amplification of the voltage difference between the pair of bit lines.
1. A sense amplifier, comprising:
a differential amplifier adapted to amplify an input voltage difference (V P −V N ) between a pair of bit lines, wherein a first one of the bit lines is charged to the voltage V P and a second one of the bit lines is charged to the voltage V N , the differential amplifier amplifying the input voltage difference according to a gain G so as to drive an output voltage difference (V P0 −V N0 ) between a pair of output nodes, wherein a first one of the output nodes is charged to the voltage V P0 and a second one of the output nodes is charged to the voltage V N0 , the differential amplifier having a non-zero offset bias voltage (ΔV) such that if the input voltage difference is zero, the output voltage difference is non-zero; and
a self-bias generation circuit adapted to couple the first output node to the second bit line such that the output voltage V P0 equals the input voltage V N and to couple the second output node to the first bit line such that the output voltage V N0 equals the input voltage V P , the offset bias voltage ΔV thereby being reduced responsive to the gain G.
2. The sense amplifier of claim 1 , wherein the sense amplifier is a DRAM sense amplifier, the DRAM sense amplifier further comprising a regenerative latch that drives the pair of bit lines responsive to the amplification of the input voltage difference.
3. The DRAM sense amplifier of claim 2 , further comprising a first trim capacitor coupled to a first one of the bit lines and a second trim capacitor coupled to a second one of the bit lines.
4. The DRAM sense amplifier of claim 2 , wherein the self-bias generation circuit comprises a transmission gate that couples the first output node to the second bit line and a transmission gate that couples the second output node to the first bit line.
5. The DRAM sense amplifier of claim 2 , further comprising a multiplexer to select between pairs of bit lines to provide the bit lines having their voltages amplified by the differential amplifier and driven by the regenerative latch.
6. The DRAM sense amplifier of claim 2 , further comprising a pre-charge circuit to bias the bit line pair prior to offset bias reduction by the self-bias generation circuit.
7. The DRAM sense amplifier of claim 6 , wherein the pre-charge circuit is adapted to pull a bit line driven by the regenerative latch to ground, the pre-charge circuit pulling the bit line to a power supply voltage, whereby an access transistor on the pulled bit line has a negative Vgs voltage to reduce leakage current from a corresponding storage capacitor.
8. A method, comprising:
providing a differential amplifier adapted to amplify with a gain G an input voltage difference (V P −V N ) between a pair of bit lines so as to drive an output voltage difference (V P0 −V N0 ) between a pair of output nodes, the differential amplifier having a non-zero offset bias voltage (ΔV) such that if the input voltage difference is zero, the output voltage difference equals ΔV;
coupling the pair of bit lines to the differential amplifier, the differential amplifier thereby driving the pair of output nodes to produce the output voltage difference (V P0 −V N0 ) between the output nodes responsive to the voltage difference V P −V N between the bit lines, wherein a first one of the output nodes is charged to a voltage V P0 and a second one of the output nodes is charged to a voltage V N0 ; and
coupling a first one of the output nodes charged to the output voltage V P0 to a first one of the bit lines such that the output voltage V P0 equals a bit line voltage V N and coupling a second one of the output nodes charged to an output voltage V N0 to a second one of the input nodes such that the output voltage V N0 equals a bit line voltage V P , the offset bias voltage ΔV thereby being reduced responsive to the gain G.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the coupling of the output nodes to the bit lines comprises coupling through transmission gates.
10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
reading the contents of a memory cell coupled to one of the bit lines using the differential amplifier.
11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
based upon the read of the contents, determining whether at least one of the bit lines should be biased by a trim capacitor; and
biasing the at least one bit line using the trim capacitor based upon the determination.