IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,823,730
Granted Patent B2
US 11,823,730 · App. 17/703,586 · Granted Nov 21, 2023

Integrated circuit and memory device including sampling circuit

Inventors: Woongrae Kim (Gyeonggi-do, KR); Byeong Yong Go (Gyeonggi-do, KR); Chul Moon Jung (Gyeonggi-do, KR); Yoonna Oh (Gyeonggi-do, KR)
Assignee: SK hynix Inc.
G11C11/4076G11C11/406G11C11/4085
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,823,730
App. No.
17/703,586
Granted
Nov 21, 2023
Kind
B2
Abstract

An integrated circuit includes: first and second pattern generation circuits generating first and second pattern signal for a sampling section; a first section control part generating a coarse section signal for a first section of the sampling section, according to the first pattern signal; a first filter part generating a first section extract signal by filtering the second pattern signal according to the coarse section signal; a second section control part generating a fine section signal for a second section of the sampling section, according to the first section extract signal; a second filter part generating a second section extract signal by filtering the second pattern signal according to the fine section signal; an output control circuit generating a sampling enable signal according to the first and second section extract signals; and a sampling circuit suitable for sampling an input signal according to the sampling enable signal.

Claims (66)

1. An integrated circuit, comprising:

a first pattern generation circuit suitable for generating a first pattern signal randomly pulsing for a sampling section;

a second pattern generation circuit suitable for generating a second pattern signal randomly pulsing for the sampling section;

a first section control part suitable for generating a coarse section signal enabled for a first section of the sampling section, according to the first pattern signal;

a first filter part suitable for generating a first section extract signal by filtering the second pattern signal according to the coarse section signal;

a second section control part suitable for generating a fine section signal enabled for a second section of the sampling section, according to the first section extract signal;

a second filter part suitable for generating a second section extract signal by filtering the second pattern signal according to the fine section signal;

an output control circuit suitable for generating a sampling enable signal according to the first section extract signal and the second section extract signal; and

a sampling circuit suitable for sampling an input signal according to the sampling enable signal.

2. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein the second pattern signal is randomly pulsing with a period shorter than that of the first pattern signal.

3. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein each of the first pattern generation circuit and the second pattern generation circuit includes one selected from a linear feedback shift register (LFSR) based random pattern generator and a pseudo-random binary sequence (PRBS) based random pattern generator.

4. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein each of the first pattern generation circuit and the second pattern generation circuit includes a uniform random number sequence generator for generating pattern signals randomly pulsing the same number of times within a specific period.

5. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein the first section control part includes:

a first random counter suitable for generating a first sampling counting signal by counting a toggling number of the first pattern signal;

a first reference counter suitable for generating a first reference counting signal by counting a number of inputs of a sampling section signal for defining the sampling section; and

a first comparator suitable for outputting the coarse section signal by comparing the first sampling counting signal with the first reference counting signal.

6. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein the first filter part includes a logic circuit suitable for performing a logic AND operation on the second pattern signal and the coarse section signal.

7. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein the second section control part includes:

a second random counter suitable for generating a second sampling counting signal by counting a toggling number of the first section extract signal;

a second reference counter suitable for generating a second reference counting signal by counting a number of inputs of a sampling section signal for defining the sampling section; and

a second comparator suitable for outputting the fine section signal by comparing the second sampling counting signal with the second reference counting signal.

8. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein the second filter part includes a logic circuit suitable for performing a logic AND operation on the second pattern signal and the fine section signal.

9. The integrated circuit of claim 1 , wherein the output control circuit includes:

a set-reset (SR) latch suitable for generating a final section signal set according to a sampling section signal for defining the sampling section and reset according to the second section extract signal; and

a third filter circuit suitable for outputting the sampling enable signal by filtering the first section extract signal according to the final section signal.

10. An operating method of an integrated circuit, comprising:

dividing a sampling section into a plurality of coarse sections;

generating a first pattern signal that is randomly pulsing for each of the coarse sections;

dividing the sampling section into a plurality of fine sections;

generating a second pattern signal that is randomly pulsing for each of the fine sections;

randomly selecting one of the coarse sections;

randomly selecting one of the fine sections for the selected coarse section;

generating a sampling enable signal according to the second pattern signal that is pulsing for the selected fine section; and

sampling an input signal according to the sampling enable signal.

11. The operating method of claim 10 ,

wherein each of the coarse sections and the fine sections has a random period, and

wherein each of the fine sections has a random period shorter than that of each of the coarse sections.

12. The operating method of claim 10 , wherein each of the first pattern signal and the second pattern signal is randomly pulsing the same number of times within a specific period.

13. The operating method of claim 10 , wherein the randomly selecting one of the coarse sections includes:

generating a first sampling counting signal by counting a toggling number of the first pattern signal;

generating a first reference counting signal by counting a number of inputs of a sampling section signal for defining the sampling section;

comparing the first sampling counting signal with the first reference counting signal; and

selecting one of the coarse sections according to a result of the comparing.

14. The operating method of claim 10 , wherein the randomly selecting one of the fine sections for the selected coarse section includes:

generating a first section extract signal by filtering the second pattern signal for the selected coarse section;

generating a second sampling counting signal by counting a toggling number of the first section extract signal;

generating a second reference counting signal by counting a number of inputs of a sampling section signal for defining the sampling section;

comparing the second sampling counting signal with the second reference counting signal; and

selecting one of the fine sections according to a result of the comparing.

15. The operating method of claim 14 , wherein the generating a sampling enable signal according to the second pattern signal includes:

generating a second section extract signal by filtering the second pattern signal for the selected fine section;

generating a final section signal, which is set according to the sampling section signal and reset according to the second section extract signal; and

outputting the sampling enable signal by filtering the first section extract signal according to the final section signal.

16. A memory device, comprising:

a first pattern generation circuit suitable for dividing a target refresh section into a plurality of coarse sections, and generating a first pattern signal that is randomly pulsing for each of the coarse sections;

a second pattern generation circuit suitable for dividing the target refresh section into a plurality of fine sections, and generating a second pattern signal that is randomly pulsing for each of the fine sections;

a first section extract circuit suitable for generating a first section extract signal by extracting the second pattern signal for a coarse section randomly selected from the coarse sections according to the first pattern signal;

a second section extract circuit suitable for generating a second section extract signal by extracting the second pattern signal for a fine section randomly selected from the fine sections according to the first section extract signal;

an output control circuit suitable for generating a sampling enable signal according to the first section extract signal and the second section extract signal; and

a sampling circuit suitable for outputting a target address by sampling an active address according to the sampling enable signal.

17. The memory device of claim 16 , wherein the second pattern signal is randomly pulsing with a period shorter than that of the first pattern signal.

18. The memory device of claim 16 , wherein each of the first pattern generation circuit and the second pattern generation circuit includes a uniform random number sequence generator for generating pattern signals randomly pulsing the same number of times within a specific period.

19. The memory device of claim 16 , further comprising a row control circuit suitable for refreshing one or more neighboring word lines of a word line corresponding to the target address according to a target refresh command for defining the target refresh section.

20. The memory device of claim 16 , wherein the sampling circuit includes:

a latch control circuit suitable for generating a latch enable signal according to an active command and the sampling enable signal; and

a sampling latch circuit suitable for storing the active address as a plurality of sampling addresses according to the latch enable signal and outputting the sampling addresses as the target address according to a target refresh command for defining the target refresh section.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 24, 2022
From: KIM, WOONGRAE; GO, BYEONG YONG; JUNG, CHUL MOON; OH, YOONNA
To: SK HYNIX INC.
Reel/Frame 059393/0270 →
Priority Claims (1)
KR 10-2021-0172410 · Dec 3, 2021 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20230178137A1 · Jun 8, 2023