Address counter, semiconductor memory device having the same, and data processing system

1. An address counter comprising:

a plurality of FIFO units each of which stores a corresponding bit of an address signal, each FIFO unit including a plurality of parallel connected latch circuits each having an input gate and first and second output gates;

a first command counter that brings any one of the input gates included in each FIFO unit into ON state in response to a first internal command;

a second command counter that brings any one of the first output gates included in each FIFO unit into ON state in response to a second internal command; and

a third command counter that brings any one of the second output gates included in each FIFO unit into ON state in response to a third internal command.

2. The address counter as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each of the first to third command counters has a ring counter configuration in which shift registers are connected in circulation.

3. The address counter as claimed in claim 2 , wherein a number of latch circuits included in the FIFO units and a number of the shift registers each configuring the first to third command counters are equal to each other.

4. The address counter as claimed in claim 1 , wherein

the first internal command is generated in response to issuance of at least a read command or a write command,

the second internal command is generated after a lapse of a first latency relative to the first internal command, and

the third internal command is generated after a lapse of a second latency relative to the first internal command.

5. A semiconductor memory device, comprising:

a memory cell array;

a data input/output terminal;

a first data selection circuit that supplies a first data bus with write data inputted via the data input/output terminal;

a second data selection circuit that supplies the memory cell array with the write data on the first data bus; and

the address counter including:

a plurality of FIFO units each of which stores a corresponding bit of an address signal, each FIFO unit including a plurality of parallel connected latch circuits each having an input gate and first and second output gates;

a first command counter that brings any one of the input gates included in each FIFO unit into ON state in response to a first internal command;

a second command counter that brings any one of the first output gates included in each FIFO unit into ON state in response to a second internal command; and

a third command counter that brings any one of the second output gates included in each FIFO unit into ON state in response to a third internal command,

wherein the address signal that passes through the first output gate is supplied to the first data selection circuit, and the address signal that passes through the second output gate is supplied to the second data selection circuit.

6. The semiconductor memory device as claimed in claim 5 further comprising a mode register for setting a burst length, wherein the first data selection circuit includes:

a FIFO block connected to the data input/output terminal;

a transfer circuit that inputs and outputs in parallel k-bit data continuously inputted or continuously outputted via the data input/output terminal; and

a second data bus that performs data transfer between the transfer circuit and the FIFO block, wherein

when a minimum burst length settable to the mode register is represented by j (<k), the transfer circuit performs data transfer using the second data bus in a j-bit unit irrespective of the burst length.

7. The semiconductor memory device as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the memory cell array is divided into a plurality of groups, and

the semiconductor memory device further comprises main amplifiers each of which outputs the k-bit data from a corresponding group of the memory cell array, and wherein

the transfer circuit selects j-bit data for each group out of the k-bit data outputted from the main amplifiers and supplies the selected j-bit data via the second data bus to the FIFO block.

8. The semiconductor memory device as claimed in claim 7 , wherein when the burst length set to the mode register is k, the transfer circuit successively supplies via the second data bus to the FIFO block the k-bit data read from the memory cell array belonging to a same group by each j bits.

9. The semiconductor memory device as claimed in claim 7 , wherein when the burst length set to the mode register is j, the transfer circuit successively supplies via the second data bus to the FIFO block the j-bit data read from the memory cell array belonging to a different group.

10. A data processing system comprising a data processor and a semiconductor memory device coupled to the data processor, wherein the semiconductor memory device includes:

a memory cell array;

a data input/output terminal;

a first data selection circuit that supplies a first data bus with write data inputted via the data input/output terminal;

a second data selection circuit that supplies the memory cell array with the write data on the first data bus; and

the address counter including:

a plurality of FIFO units each of which stores a corresponding bit of an address signal, each FIFO unit including a plurality of parallel connected latch circuits each having an input gate and first and second output gates;

a first command counter that brings any one of the input gates included in each FIFO unit into ON state in response to a first internal command;

a second command counter that brings any one of the first output gates included in each FIFO unit into ON state in response to a second internal command; and

a third command counter that brings any one of the second output gates included in each FIFO unit into ON state in response to a third internal command,

wherein the address signal that passes through the first output gate is supplied to the first data selection circuit, and the address signal that passes through the second output gate is supplied to the second data selection circuit.