Performing logical operations using sensing circuitry
The present disclosure includes apparatuses and methods related to performing logical operations using sensing circuitry. An example apparatus comprises an array of memory cells and sensing circuitry coupled to the array an array of memory cells via a sense line. The sensing circuitry is configured to sense, as a voltage associated with a second operand of a logical function, a voltage on the sense line corresponding to a first logical data value resulting in part from reading a first memory cell of the array of memory cells associated with a first operand of the logical function.
1. An apparatus, comprising:
an array of memory cells; and
sensing circuitry coupled to the array of memory cells via a sense line, wherein the sensing circuitry comprises a sense amplifier coupled to equilibrate circuitry, and
wherein a controller controls the sensing circuitry to:
sense, as a voltage associated with a second operand of a logical function stored in a second memory cell, a voltage on the sense line corresponding to a first logical data value resulting in part from reading a first memory cell of the array of memory cells storing a first operand of the logical function, and
prior to sensing the voltage associated with the second operand, precharge the sense line responsive to the logical function being a first logical function, and not precharge the sense line responsive to the logical function being a second logical function.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sensing circuitry is configured to sense, as the voltage associated with the second operand of an AND logical function, the voltage on the sense line corresponding to a first “0” logical data value resulting in part from reading the first memory cell of the array of memory cells associated with the first operand of the AND logical function.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the sensing circuitry is further configured to not precharge the sense line after the voltage corresponding to a “0” logical data value is on the sense line after reading the first memory cell during the AND logical function.
4. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the sensing circuitry is further configured to precharge the sense line after reading the first memory cell storing a charge corresponding to a “1” logical data value before reading a second memory cell associated with a second operand of the AND logical function.
5. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the sensing circuitry is further configured to not precharge the sense line after reading the first memory cell and before reading a second memory cell associated with a second operand of the AND logical function when a voltage on the sense line is less than a precharge voltage level after reading the first memory cell and before reading the second memory cell.
6. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the sensing circuitry is further configured to retain the voltage on the sense line corresponding to the “0” logical data value until reading a second memory cell associated with a second operand of the AND logical function.
7. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the sensing circuitry is configured to sense the voltage associated with the second operand of the AND logical function on the sense line as corresponding to a second “0” logical data value resulting from a sense line precharge voltage modified by a charge stored in the first memory cell and further modified by a second charge stored in a second memory cell,
wherein the second charge stored in the second memory cell corresponds to a “1” logical data value.
8. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the sensing circuitry is further configured to precharge the sense line after the voltage corresponding to a “1” logical data value is on the sense line after reading the first memory cell.
9. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the sensing circuitry is further configured to precharge the sense line after reading the first memory cell and before reading a second memory cell associated with a second operand of the AND logical function when a voltage on the sense line is greater than a precharge voltage level after reading the first memory cell and before reading the second memory cell.
10. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the sensing circuitry is configured to sense, as a voltage associated with a second operand of an AND logical function, a voltage on the sense line corresponding to a logical data value that does not result in part from reading a first memory cell of the array of memory cells associated with a first operand of an AND logical function.
11. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the sensing circuitry is configured to sense, as a voltage associated with a second operand of an AND logical function, a voltage on the sense line corresponding to a logical data value resulting from a sense line precharge voltage modified by a charge stored in a second memory cell.
12. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the sensing circuitry is configured to sense, as a voltage associated with a second operand of an OR logical function, a voltage on the sense line corresponding to a first “1” logical data value resulting in part from reading a first memory cell of the array of memory cells associated with a first operand of the OR logical function.
13. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sensing circuitry is configured to sense, as the voltage associated with the second operand of an OR logical function, the voltage on the sense line corresponding to a first “1” logical data value resulting in part from reading the first memory cell of the array of memory cells associated with the first operand of the OR logical function.
14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the sensing circuitry is further configured to not precharge the sense line after the voltage corresponding to a “1” logical data value is on the sense line after reading the first memory cell during the OR logical function.
15. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the sensing circuitry is further configured to precharge the sense line after reading the first memory cell storing a charge corresponding to a “0” logical data value before reading a second memory cell associated with the second operand of the OR logical function.
16. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the sensing circuitry is configured to sense the voltage associated with the second operand of the OR logical function on the sense line as corresponding to a second “1” logical data value resulting from a sense line precharge voltage modified by a charge stored in the first memory cell and further modified by a second charge stored in a second memory cell,
wherein the second charge stored in the second memory cell corresponds to a “0” logical data value.
17. An apparatus, comprising:
an array of memory cells; and
sensing circuitry coupled to the array of memory cells via a sense line, and a controller configured to control the sensing circuitry to perform a logical function between a data value stored in a first memory cell and a data value stored in a second memory cell, the sensing circuitry including:
a sense amplifier coupled to the sense line; and
equilibrate circuitry coupled to the sense amplifier,
wherein the controller controls the equilibrate circuitry to, subsequently to reading the first memory cell:
precharge the sense line prior to reading the second memory cell in response to the logical function being a first logical function; and
not precharge the sense line prior to reading the second memory cell in response to the logical function being a second logical function.
18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the equilibrate circuitry is further configured to:
not precharge the sense line prior to reading the second memory cell when a voltage corresponding to a “0” logical data value is on the sense line after reading the first memory cell during an AND logical function; and
not precharge the sense line prior to reading the second memory cell when a voltage corresponding to a “1” logical data value is on the sense line after reading the first memory cell during an OR logical function.
19. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the equilibrate circuitry is further configured to:
precharge the sense line prior to reading the second memory cell when a voltage corresponding to a “1” logical data value is on the sense line after reading the first memory cell during an AND logical function; and
precharge the sense line prior to reading the second memory cell when a voltage corresponding to a “0” logical data value is on the sense line after reading the first memory cell during an OR logical function.
20. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein transistors comprising the equilibrate circuitry are on pitch with transistors comprising the array of memory cells.
21. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the equilibrate circuitry is configured to cause a result of the logical function to be initially stored in the sense amplifier.
22. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the sensing circuitry comprises a single latch used to perform the logical function.
23. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the sensing circuitry is configured to selectively isolate the sense amplifier from the sense line.
24. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the sensing circuitry is further configured to consume less power when switching a bit on an AND or OR logical function than when sensing the first or second memory cell.
25. An apparatus, comprising:
an array of memory cells; and
sensing circuitry coupled to the array of memory cells via a pair of complementary sense lines, the sensing circuitry including:
a sense amplifier coupled to the pair of complementary sense lines and configured to store a data value read from a first memory cell as a first input of a logical function; and
equilibrate circuitry coupled to the sense amplifier, the equilibrate circuitry including transistors configured to cause voltages corresponding to a result of an AND logical function and an OR logical function between the data value read from the first memory cell and a data value stored in a second memory cell to occur on the pair of complementary sense lines;
wherein the data value stored in the second memory cell is a second input of the logical operation, and wherein the result of the logical function between the data value read from first memory cell and the data value stored in the second memory cell is stored in the sense amplifier.
26. The apparatus of claim 25 , wherein the equilibrate circuitry comprises:
a first transistor;
a second transistor; and
a third transistor,
wherein:
a first source/drain region of the first transistor is coupled to a first source/drain region of the second transistor and a first one of the pair of complementary sense lines;
a first source/drain region of the third transistor is coupled to a second source/drain region of the second transistor and a second one of the pair of complementary sense lines;
a second source/drain region of the first transistor and a second source/drain region of the second transistor are coupled to a precharge voltage supply; and
a gate of the first transistor is coupled to a gate of the second transistor.
27. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein the precharge voltage supply is configured to provide a voltage equal to VCC/2, wherein VCC is a supply voltage associated with the array of memory cells.
28. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein the equilibrate circuitry further comprises:
a first source/drain region of a fourth transistor coupled to a first source/drain region of a fifth transistor;
a first source/drain region of a sixth transistor coupled to a first source/drain region of a seventh transistor;
a second source/drain region of the fourth transistor and a second source/drain region of the sixth transistor are coupled to the supply voltage associated with the array of memory cells;
a second source/drain region of the fifth transistor and a second source/drain region of the seventh transistor are coupled to the gate of the first transistor and the gate of the third transistor;
a gate of the fifth transistor is coupled to the first one of the pair of complementary sense lines; and
a gate of the seventh transistor is coupled to the second one of the pair of complementary sense lines.
29. The apparatus of claim 28 , wherein:
a gate of the fourth transistor is coupled to an OR logical function control signal line; and
a gate of the sixth transistor is coupled to an AND logical function control signal line.
30. The apparatus of claim 29 , wherein:
the first, second, and third transistors are n-channel transistors; and
the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh transistors are p-channel transistors.
31. The apparatus of claim 28 , wherein the equilibrate circuitry further comprises a first source/drain region of an eighth transistor coupled to a ground reference, a second source/drain region of the eighth transistor coupled to the gate of the first transistor and the gate of the third transistor, and a gate of the eighth transistor is coupled to an equilibration control signal line.
32. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein the equilibrate circuitry further comprises:
a first source/drain region of a fourth transistor is coupled to an OR logical function control signal line;
a first source/drain region of a fifth transistor is coupled to an AND logical function control signal line;
a second source/drain region of the fourth transistor and a second source/drain region of the fifth transistor are coupled to the gate of the first transistor and the gate of the third transistor;
a gate of the fourth transistor is switchably coupled to the first one of the pair of complementary sense lines; and
a gate of the fifth transistor is switchably coupled to the second one of the pair of complementary sense lines.
33. The apparatus of claim 32 , wherein the equilibrate circuitry further comprises a first source/drain region of a sixth transistor coupled to a ground reference, a second source/drain region of the sixth transistor coupled to the gate of the first transistor and the gate of the third transistor, and a gate of the eighth transistor is coupled to an equilibration control signal line.
34. The apparatus of claim 33 , further comprising inverting circuitry configured to selectively couple at most one of the pair of complementary sense lines to a ground reference.
35. The apparatus of claim 34 , wherein the inverting circuitry includes:
a first source/drain region of a first invert transistor coupled to a first source/drain region of a first pulldown transistor;
a first source/drain region of a second invert transistor coupled to a first source/drain region of a second pulldown transistor;
a first source/drain region of a first load transistor coupled to a second source/drain region of the first invert transistor and a first one of the pair of complementary sense lines;
a second source/drain region of the first load transistor coupled to a gate of the first pulldown transistor;
a first source/drain region of a second load transistor coupled to a second source/drain region of the second invert transistor and a second one of the pair of complementary sense lines;
a second source/drain region of the second load transistor coupled to a gate of the second pulldown transistor;
a gate of the first load transistor coupled to a gate of the second load transistor and a LOAD control signal line;
a second source/drain region of the first pulldown transistor and a second source/drain region of the second pulldown transistor coupled to a ground reference; and
a gate of the first invert transistor and a gate of the second invert transistor coupled to an INVERT control signal line.
36. The apparatus of claim 35 , further comprising a cross-coupled latch coupled between the second source/drain region of the first load transistor and the second source/drain region of the second load transistor, wherein the gate of the fourth transistor is coupled to a first node of the cross-coupled latch and the gate of the fifth transistor is coupled to a second node of the cross-coupled latch.
37. The apparatus of claim 25 , wherein the sense amplifier includes a cross-coupled latch configured to initially store in a non-volatile manner the result of the AND logical function and an OR logical function placed on the pair of complementary sense lines by the equilibrate circuitry.
38. The apparatus of claim 25 , further comprising a pair of inverting transistors configured to transpose a first portion of the pair of complementary sense lines coupled to the sensing circuitry with respect to a second portion of the pair of complementary sense lines coupled to the array of memory cells.
39. The apparatus of claim 25 , further comprising inverting circuitry configured to selectively couple a first portion of one of the pair of complementary sense lines to a ground reference and not couple a first portion of another one of the pair of complementary sense lines to the ground reference.
40. The apparatus of claim 39 , wherein the inverting circuitry includes:
a first source/drain region of a first invert transistor coupled to a first source/drain region of a first pulldown transistor;
a first source/drain region of a second invert transistor coupled to a first source/drain region of a second pulldown transistor;
a first source/drain region of a first load transistor coupled to a second source/drain region of the first invert transistor and a first one of the pair of complementary sense lines;
a second source/drain region of the first load transistor coupled to a gate of the first pulldown transistor;
a first source/drain region of a second load transistor coupled to a second source/drain region of the second invert transistor and a second one of the pair of complementary sense lines;
a second source/drain region of the second load transistor coupled to a gate of the second pulldown transistor;
a gate of the first load transistor coupled to a gate of the second load transistor and a LOAD control signal line;
a second source/drain region of the first pulldown transistor and a second source/drain region of the second pulldown transistor coupled to a ground reference; and
a gate of the first invert transistor and a gate of the second invert transistor coupled to an INVERT control signal line.
41. The apparatus of claim 40 , wherein:
the gate of the fifth transistor is selectively coupled to the first one of the pair of complementary sense lines through the first load transistor; and
the gate of the seventh transistor is selectively coupled to the second one of the pair of complementary sense lines through the second load transistor.
42. The apparatus of claim 39 , further comprising a cross-coupled latch coupled between the second source/drain region of the first load transistor and the second source/drain region of the second load transistor.
43. The apparatus of claim 39 , further comprising shift circuitry configured to selectively couple the inverting circuitry to a left-adjacent pair of complementary sense lines and a right-adjacent pair of complementary sense lines.
44. The apparatus of claim 43 , wherein:
a gate of the first pulldown transistor is selectively coupled to an opposite sense line of each of the left and right-adjacent pair of complementary sense lines from a first sense line of the pair of complementary sense lines to which the first source/drain region of a first pulldown transistor is coupled through the first invert transistor; and
a gate of the second pulldown transistor is selectively coupled to an opposite sense line of each of the left and right-adjacent pair of complementary sense lines from a second sense line of the pair of complementary sense lines to which the first source/drain region of a second pulldown transistor is coupled through the second invert transistor.
45. A method, comprising:
modifying a precharge voltage of a sense line coupling an array of memory cells and sensing circuitry with a charge stored in a first memory cell of the array of memory cells to a modified voltage;
selectively not equilibrating the sense line to the precharge voltage from the modified voltage prior to modifying the modified voltage with a charge stored in a second memory cell based on a type of a logical function being performed and the modified voltage.
46. The method of claim 45 , further comprising:
not precharging the sense line prior to coupling the second memory cell to the sense line when the modified voltage corresponds to a “0” logical data value during an AND logical function; and
not precharging the sense line prior to coupling the second memory cell to the sense line when the modified voltage corresponds to a “1” logical data value during an OR logical function.
47. The method of claim 45 , further comprising:
precharging the sense line prior to coupling the second memory cell to the sense line when the modified voltage corresponds to a “1” logical data value during an AND logical function; and
precharging the sense line prior to coupling the second memory cell to the sense line when the modified voltage corresponds to a “0” logical data value is during an OR logical function.