IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,605,422
Granted Patent B2
US 11,605,422 · App. 17/332,753 · Granted Mar 14, 2023

Memory circuit configuration

Inventor: Shih-Lien Linus Lu (Hsinchu, TW)
Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
G11C11/418G11C7/08G11C8/10G11C11/412G11C11/419
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,605,422
App. No.
17/332,753
Granted
Mar 14, 2023
Kind
B2
Abstract

A circuit includes a memory array, a control circuit configured to identify an address of a first row containing a weak cell, and store corresponding address information in a storage device, and an address decoding circuit including NAND pairs, inverter pairs, and a logic tree. Each NAND pair receives corresponding bits of the address information and the address of the first row and corresponding inverted bits of the address information and the address of the first row inverted by corresponding inverter pairs, and output terminals of the NAND pairs are connected to the logic tree. The logic tree matches the address information with the address of the first row based on output logic levels from the NAND pairs and, in response to the corresponding address information matching the address of the first row, activates a second row of the memory array simultaneously with the first row being activated.

Claims (45)

1. A circuit, comprising:

a memory array;

a control circuit configured to identify an address of a first row of the memory array containing a weak cell, and store corresponding address information in a storage device; and

an address decoding circuit comprising NAND pairs, inverter pairs, and a logic tree, wherein:

a first NAND gate in each of the NAND pairs is configured to receive, at a first input terminal, a corresponding bit of the corresponding address information in the storage device and to receive, at a second input terminal, a corresponding bit of the address of the first row of the memory array;

a second NAND gate in each of the NAND pairs is configured to receive, at a third input terminal, a corresponding inverted bit of the corresponding address information inverted by a first inverter of a corresponding one of the corresponding inverter pairs and, at a fourth input terminal, a corresponding inverted bit of the address inverted by a second inverter of the corresponding one of the corresponding inverter pairs;

output terminals of each of the NAND pairs are connected to the logic tree; and

the logic tree is configured to match the corresponding address information in the storage device with the address of the first row based on output logic levels from the output terminals of each of the NAND pairs and, in response to the corresponding address information in the storage device matching the address of the first row, activate a second row of the memory array simultaneously with the first row being activated.

2. The circuit of claim 1 , wherein:

the first inverter of each of the inverter pairs is configured to receive the corresponding bit of the corresponding address information and generate the corresponding inverted bit of the corresponding address information; and

the second inverter of each of the inverter pairs is configured to receive the corresponding bit of the address of the first row of the memory array and generate the corresponding inverted bit of the address of the first row of the memory array.

3. The circuit of claim 1 , wherein each of the NAND pairs is configured to output one logic high level as one of the output logic levels and one logic low level as an other one of the output logic levels when the corresponding bit of the corresponding address information and the corresponding bit of the address match, and to output two logic high levels as two of the output logic levels when the corresponding bit of the corresponding address information and the corresponding bit of the address do not match.

4. The circuit of claim 3 , wherein the logic tree comprises a plurality of NAND gates arranged in tiers, wherein the tiers include a first tier of NAND gates configured to receive the output logic levels.

5. The circuit of claim 4 , wherein the tiers further comprise subsequent tiers having input terminals connected to output terminals of previous tiers.

6. The circuit of claim 5 , wherein

the tiers further comprise a final tier that includes a final NAND gate,

the logic tree comprises an inverter, and

the final NAND gate has an output terminal connected to an input terminal of the inverter.

7. The circuit of claim 6 , wherein the inverter of the logic tree has an output terminal configured to generate an output signal on a signal line.

8. The circuit of claim 7 , wherein each tier of NAND gates in the tiers is configured to output logic levels based on input logic levels such that the output signal of the inverter of the logic tree has a first logic level corresponding to a match of all the bits of the address information and all the bits of the address, and a second logic level corresponding to a mismatch between one or more of the bits of the address information and all the bits of the address.

9. The circuit of claim 1 , wherein a number of the bits in the address information and a number of the bits of the address are both equal to an integer ranging from 2 to 9.

10. The circuit of claim 9 , wherein the number of the bits in the address information is less than a total number of bits in the address information and the number of the bits of the address is less than a total number of bits of the address.

11. A circuit, comprising:

a memory array;

a control circuit configured to identify an address of a first row of the memory array containing a weak cell, and store corresponding address information in a storage device; and

an address decoding circuit comprising NAND pairs, inverter pairs, and a plurality of NAND gates, wherein:

a first NAND gate in each of the NAND pairs is configured to receive, at a first input terminal, a corresponding bit of the corresponding address information in the storage device and to receive, at a second input terminal, a corresponding bit of the address of the first row of the memory array;

a second NAND gate in each of the NAND pairs is configured to receive, at a third input terminal, a corresponding inverted bit of the corresponding address information inverted by a first inverter of a corresponding one of the corresponding inverter pairs and, at a fourth input terminal, a corresponding inverted bit of the address inverted by a second inverter of the corresponding one of the corresponding inverter pairs; and

the plurality of NAND gates are arranged in tiers, wherein the tiers include a first tier of NAND gates configured to receive output logic levels from the NAND pairs.

12. The circuit of claim 11 , wherein:

the first inverter of each of the inverter pairs is configured to receive the corresponding bit of the corresponding address information and generate the corresponding inverted bit of the corresponding address information; and

the second inverter of each of the inverter pairs is configured to receive the corresponding bit of the address of the first row of the memory array and generate the corresponding inverted bit of the address of the first row of the memory array.

13. The circuit of claim 11 , wherein each of the NAND pairs is configured to output one logic high level as one of the output logical levels and one logic low level as an other one of the output logic levels when the corresponding bit of the corresponding address information and the corresponding bit of the address match, and to output two logic high levels as two of the output logic levels when the corresponding bit of the corresponding address information and the corresponding bit of the address do not match.

14. The circuit of claim 11 , wherein the tiers further comprise subsequent tiers having input terminals connected to output terminals of previous tiers.

15. The circuit of claim 14 , wherein the tiers further comprise a final tier that includes a final NAND gate, wherein the final NAND gate has an output terminal connected to an input terminal of an inverter.

16. The circuit of claim 15 , wherein the inverter is configured to generate an output signal on a signal line.

17. The circuit of claim 16 , wherein each tier of NAND gates in the tiers is configured to output logic levels based on input logic levels such that the output signal of the inverter has a first logic level corresponding to a match of all the bits of the address information and all the bits of the address, and a second logic level corresponding to a mismatch between one or more of the bits of the address information and all the bits of the address.

18. The circuit of claim 11 , wherein a number of the bits in the address information and a number of the bits of the address are both equal to an integer ranging from 2 to 9.

19. The circuit of claim 18 , wherein the number of the bits in the address information is less than a total number of bits in the address information and the number of the bits of the address is less than a total number of bits of the address.

20. A method, comprising:

identifying an address of a first row of a memory array containing a weak cell;

storing corresponding address information in a storage device;

inputting the address and the address information into NAND pairs;

from each of the NAND pairs, outputting one logic high level as a corresponding one of two output logical levels and one logic low level as an other corresponding one of the two output logic levels when a corresponding bit of the corresponding address information and the corresponding bit of the address match, and outputting two logic high levels as the two output logic levels when the corresponding bit of the corresponding address information and the corresponding bit of the address do not match; and

receiving the output logic levels at a first tier of a plurality of NAND gates, the plurality of NAND gates arranged in tiers that include the first tier.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 27, 2021
From: LU, SHIH-LIEN LINUS
To: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
Reel/Frame 056377/0538 →
Continuity (4)
Continuation 17007950 · Aug 31, 2020
Continuation 16691175 · Nov 21, 2019
Continuation 15927044 · Mar 20, 2018
Related Publication 20210287738A1 · Sep 16, 2021
Cited By (2)
US 12,400,725 US 12,749,552