|Numéro de publication||US5150329 A|
|Type de publication||Octroi|
|Numéro de demande||US 07/555,697|
|Date de publication||22 sept. 1992|
|Date de dépôt||23 juil. 1990|
|Date de priorité||21 juil. 1989|
|État de paiement des frais||Payé|
|Autre référence de publication||DE69026987D1, DE69026987T2, EP0409274A2, EP0409274A3, EP0409274B1|
|Numéro de publication||07555697, 555697, US 5150329 A, US 5150329A, US-A-5150329, US5150329 A, US5150329A|
|Cessionnaire d'origine||Nec Corporation|
|Exporter la citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Citations de brevets (1), Référencé par (17), Classifications (13), Événements juridiques (6)|
|Liens externes: USPTO, Cession USPTO, Espacenet|
The present invention relates to a dynamic memory, and more particularly to a dynamic random access memory having a built-in refresh address counter.
Dynamic random access memories (DRAM) are extensively used as a high speed, large capacity memory. The mainstream of DRAMs currently in use is of an address multiplex type. The address multiplex type DRAM is structured so that row address signals are taken in as an active level of a row address strobe signal (RAS) via a pair of address input terminals, and then column address signals are taken in as an active level of a column address strobe signal (CAS) via the same pair of address input terminals. This construction reduces the number of address terminals to one half and also reduces the size of package.
As one method of refreshing an address multiplex type DRAM is known where, contrary to the use of the row address strobe signal at the time of normal accessing as an active level and then using the column address strobe signal as an active level, the column address strobe signal is used first as an active level and then the row address strobe signal is used as an active level to refresh the memory cell of the row designated by the built-in refresh address counter as the internal refresh mode of the DRAM. This technique has been called as CAS Before RAS (CBR) refreshing and is now employed in large capacity DRAMs. In order to refresh all of the memory cells, a CBR refreshing operation must be repeated for all of the rows of a memory array.
With the prior art DRAM as mentioned above, the refreshing operation is carried out using a power source at a voltage level similar to that used during the normal accessing operation. This arrangement consumes a relatively large amount of power during the refreshing operation.
Also CBR refreshing requires a controlling operation by an external a unit to successively activate a column address strobe signal and then a row address strobe signal each time DRAM is in the CBR refreshing cycle. This complicates the control of the refreshing operation and thus lowers the operating efficiency.
An object of the present invention is to provide a dynamic semiconductor memory with reduced power consumption at the time of a refreshing operation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a dynamic semiconductor memory which is capable of a simple refreshing operation without requiring an additional external control unit.
The dynamic semiconductor memory according to this invention comprises a memory array having a plurality of memory cells arranged in rows and columns, an address input device to input row address information from an external unit, and a refresh address counter to output an internal refresh address. A selecting device is connected to both the address input device and the refresh address counter to output as output information row address information when in a first state and an internal refresh address when in a second state. A refresh device is provided to select one of the rows in the memory array based on the output information taken out from the selecting device to refresh the memory cell of the row thus selected. A control device controls the selecting device in the first state when a voltage of the power voltage source is at a first level and in the second state when the voltage is at a second level that is smaller than the first level.
According to the present invention, the internal address information of the refresh address counter is supplied to the refresh means by a simple operation of lowering the supply voltage from the first level to the second level, thereby performing automatic refreshing inside the memory.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram to show the construction of a prior art dynamic memory;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a refresh mode detection circuit;
FIGS. 3A and 3B show the waveforms to explain the operation of CBR generation circuit;
FIG. 4 is a block diagram to show a refresh control circuit of the first embodiment according to the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a block diagram to show a refresh control circuit of the second embodiment according to the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a block diagram to show a refresh control circuit of the third embodiment according to the present invention; and
FIG. 7 is a block diagram to show a refresh control circuit of the fourth embodiment according to the present invention:
Referring to FIGS. 1 through 3, the dynamic memory of the prior art will now be explained.
FIG. 1 shows the overall construction of the dynamic memory. The memory cell array 1 includes plural dynamic memory cells MC arranged in rows and columns, word lines WL arranged in each row and bit lines BL arranged in each column. A sense amplifier block 2 has plural refresh sense amplifiers SA which are provided in each column. A row address buffer 3 latches information at address terminals AT1 -ATn as row address information in response to a timing signal φ1. An address switch circuit 5 is inputted with row address signals Ar1 -Arn from the row address buffer 3 and with count signals R1 -Rn from the refresh address counter, supplies row address signals Ar1 -Arn to a row address decoder 4 when an internal refresh mode signal φCBR is at an inactive level and supplies count outputs R1 -Rn to the row address decoder 4 when the signal φCBR is at an active level. The row address decoder 4 selects one word line which is designated by the signals Ar1 -Arn or R1 -Rn in response to a timing signal φ2. Information stored in the memory cell MC which is connected with the word line WL thus selected is read out in parallel at bit lines BL and also amplified and refreshed by the sense amplifier 2 which is energized in response to a timing signal φ3. A column address buffer 6 latches information of address terminals AT1 -ATn as column address information in response to a timing signal φ4. A column address decoder 7 establishes a signal path between one of the bit lines BL and a bus line DB in response to a timing signal φ5. The bus line DB is connected to input/output terminals via an input/output circuit 8. A timing signal generator 10 receives a row address strobe signal RAS, a column address strobe signal CAS, and a signal φCBR, and generates timing signals φ1, φ2 and φ3 in this order upon activation of the signal RAS when the signal φCBR is at an inactive level. By realizing an active level for CAS after RAS reaches an active level, the timing signal generator 10 also generates signals φ4 and φ5 in this order. These steps are routinely conducted during an access operation.
An example of a detection circuit 11 is shown in FIG. 2. NAND gates AG1, AG2 constitute a flip-flop and inverters IV3, IV4 a delay circuit. As shown in FIG. 3A, the circuit 11 outputs an inactive signal φCBR when the signal RAS is at an active (low) level and when the signal CAS reaches an active level or during a normal access cycle. In the meantime, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the signal RAS is activated after the signal CAS is brought to an active (low) level, the signal φCBR at an active level is outputted after a delay time of the inverters IV3, IV4 elapsed following said activation of the signal RAS.
CBR refreshing operation will now be explained. The signal CAS is first brought to an active (low) level, and then the signal RAS is detected to be at an active (low) level. The refresh mode detection circuit 11 then outputs a signal φCBR, which is supplied to the timing signal generator 10 to successively activate the signals φ2 and φ3. Signals φ1, φ4 and φ5 remain inactive during this time. Because of the active (high) level of the signal φCBR, the count outputs R1 -Rn of the refresh address counter 9 are supplied to the row address decoder 4 via the address switch circuit 4 to select one of the word lines depending on the content of the counter 9 and to refresh the memory cell which is connected to the word line thus selected. The signal φCBR subsequently returns to an inactive level, and the internal refreshing operation is completed.
By conducting the CBR refreshing operation for all of the word lines in the array 1, all the memory cells are refreshed. In other words, as the steps of activating the signal CAS and of subsequently activating the signal RAS are repeated for the number of times corresponding to the total number of the word lines WL in the memory array, the entire memory cells in the array are refreshed.
The above procedure involves complex operation of the signals RAS and CAS and requires a complicated external system.
It is also noted that during the internal (CBR) refreshing operation, the source voltage is maintained at the level routinely employed for the normal access operation and the power consumption during the internal refreshing operation is considerable.
An embodiment of the present invention will now be explained referring to FIG. 4.
The memory of the first preferred embodiment is realized by replacing the inverters IV1, IV2 and the detection circuit 11 shown in FIG. 1 with a refresh control circuit of FIG. 4. The rest of the structure is identical to that shown in FIG. 1. The following description will therefore refer only to the control circuit.
In the first preferred embodiment, a source voltage detection circuit 21 is provided with MOS transistors of an N-channel enhancement type, T1 -TN, T11 and inverters IV11, IV12, and outputs a signal Vpd for detecting the source at a low level when the source voltage Vcc drops below the lower limit of the recommended operating voltage (hereinafter referred to as rated voltage). An oscillation circuit 22 is provided with inverters IV13, IV14, IV15 and a NOR gate OG1, and outputs an oscillation signal VOSC of a predetermined frequency when the source voltage detection signal Vpd is at a high level. A CBR signal generator circuit 23 is provided with a delay element D1, and is inputted with the oscillation signal VOSC to generate first trigger signal VC without delay as well as the second trigger signal VR with a delay of a prescribed time from the first trigger signal VC. The second trigger signal VR is inputted at a NOR gate OG2 together with a row address strobe signal RAS, while the first trigger signal VC is inputted at a NOR gate OG3 together with a column address strobe signal CAS. Outputs from the NOR gates OG2 and OG3 are inputted at the detection circuit 11 which outputs a signal φCBR. The structure of the detection circuit 11 is shown in FIG. 2.
The operations of the embodiment will now be explained. The MOS transistors T1 -TN of the voltage detection circuit 21 with the input of source voltage Vcc are in diode connection, the number of stages is so selected that when the source voltage Vcc is within the rated operating voltage range (e.g. 5.5-3.5 V), an output node N2 of the Inverter IV11 with the input of an output node N1 comes to a low level and when the voltage Vcc is lower than the lower limit of the recommended operating voltage, the output node N2 of the inverter IV11 comes to a high level.
The voltage level when the source voltage Vcc is within the rated operating voltage or the level of the source voltage, detection signal Vpd is high which is an inactive level, and the level at a node N7 which is the output (VOSC) of the NOR gate OG1 having the voltage detection signal Vpd as the gate input becomes low. Since the level at the nodes N9 and N10 varies in synchronization with the row address strobe signal RAS and the column address strobe signal CAS that are inputted from the outside, the normal access operation becomes possible.
When the source voltage Vcc drops below the lower limit of the recommended operating voltage, the source voltage detection signal Vpd reaches a low or active level, and an oscillation signal VOSC of the output node N5 of the ring oscillator comprising the inverters IV12 -IV15 is outputted at the output node N7 of the NOR gate OG1. At the node N8, the second trigger signal VR in the same phase but slightly delayed from the oscillation signal VOSC by the delay element D1 is outputted. And the detection circuit 11 is held in a state identical to the state when the gate input of the NOR gates OG2 and OG3 is in the CBR refresh cycle, or when the row address strobe signal RAS is activated after the row address strobe signal RAS is activated. In other words, the detection circuit 11 is inputted via the gate circuits OG2 and OG3 with signals that are identical to the row address strobe signal RAS and the column address strobe signal CAS during the CBR refresh cycle. The detection circuit 11 judges the level and the timing of these signals and outputs the refresh control signal φCBR to effect CBR refresh operation.
A refresh control circuit according to the second preferred embodiment is shown in FIG. 5. According to the second preferred embodiment, the CBR signal generator 23' comprises an inverter IV16 and a delay element D1 and the gate circuits OG2 and OG3 are replaced by NAND gates AG4 and AG5 respectively. The operation is substantially the same as that in the first embodiment.
A refresh control circuit according to the third preferred embodiment is shown in FIG. 6. According to this embodiment, the ring oscillation circuit 22' comprises a NOR gate OG1' and inverters IV14 and IV15, the NOR gate OG1' being incorporated in the loop of the ring oscillator. The CBR signal generator 23' comprises an inverter IV16 and a delay element D1.
A refresh control circuit according to the fourth preferred embodiment is shown in FIG. 7. According to this embodiment, the ring oscillation circuit 22' is identical in construction to the third embodiment, while the CBR signal generator 3 comprises a delay element D1 alone, and the NAND gates AG4 and AG5 are employed.
The operations of these third and fourth embodiments are also the same as that in the first embodiment.
As has been described above, the present invention is so structured that when the source voltage drops below the lower limit of the recommended operating voltage, signals identical to the row address strobe signal RAS and the column address strobe signal CAS in the CBR refresh cycle are generated and supplied to the detection circuit 11 to thereby automatically switch to a refresh mode whenever the voltage drops below the lower limit of the recommended operating voltage. This not only prevents loss of data but minimizes the voltage consumption during the refresh operations as the voltage can be maintained at a low level.
|Brevet cité||Date de dépôt||Date de publication||Déposant||Titre|
|US3737879 *||5 janv. 1972||5 juin 1973||Mos Technology Inc||Self-refreshing memory|
|Brevet citant||Date de dépôt||Date de publication||Déposant||Titre|
|US5210717 *||27 nov. 1991||11 mai 1993||Nec Corporation||Dynamic random access memory device with improved refreshing unit|
|US5249152 *||20 juin 1991||28 sept. 1993||Unisys Corporation||Bookkeeping memory|
|US5283764 *||15 déc. 1992||1 févr. 1994||Samsung Electronics, Co., Ltd.||Refresh timer for providing a constant refresh timer regardless of variations in the operating voltage|
|US5404335 *||30 mars 1993||4 avr. 1995||Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha||Dynamic type semiconductor memory device operable in a self-refreshing mode|
|US6209071||7 mai 1996||27 mars 2001||Rambus Inc.||Asynchronous request/synchronous data dynamic random access memory|
|US6298000 *||15 août 1995||2 oct. 2001||Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha||Dynamic type semiconductor memory device operable in self refresh operation mode and self refresh method thereof|
|US6334167||31 août 1998||25 déc. 2001||International Business Machines Corporation||System and method for memory self-timed refresh for reduced power consumption|
|US6405296||11 août 2000||11 juin 2002||Rambus Inc.||Asynchronous request/synchronous data dynamic random access memory|
|US6532522||21 nov. 2000||11 mars 2003||Rambus Inc.||Asynchronous request/synchronous data dynamic random access memory|
|US6542976||23 mai 2000||1 avr. 2003||Rambus Inc.||Memory device having an internal register|
|US6847540 *||2 avr. 2003||25 janv. 2005||Fujitsu Limited||Semiconductor memory device and control method thereof|
|US7085906||5 nov. 2002||1 août 2006||Rambus Inc.||Memory device|
|US7315929||30 avr. 2007||1 janv. 2008||Rambus Inc.||Memory device|
|US8248884||21 déc. 2010||21 août 2012||Rambus Inc.||Method of controlling a memory device having multiple power modes|
|US8305839||6 nov. 2012||Rambus Inc.||Memory device having multiple power modes|
|US20070201280 *||30 avr. 2007||30 août 2007||Rambus Inc.||Memory device|
|DE4309363A1 *||23 mars 1993||14 oct. 1993||Mitsubishi Electric Corp||Semiconductor DRAM operable in self-refreshing mode - has refreshing function signal generator operating in dependence on mode actuating signal|
|Classification aux États-Unis||365/222, 365/193, 365/236, 365/189.14|
|Classification internationale||G11C11/4076, G11C11/406, G11C11/4074|
|Classification coopérative||G11C11/4074, G11C11/4076, G11C11/406|
|Classification européenne||G11C11/4076, G11C11/406, G11C11/4074|
|23 juil. 1990||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: NEC CORPORATION,, JAPAN
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST.;ASSIGNOR:HOSHI, KATSUJI;REEL/FRAME:005374/0777
Effective date: 19900720
|21 mars 1996||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 4
|13 mars 2000||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 8
|6 févr. 2003||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: NEC ELECTRONICS CORPORATION, JAPAN
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:NEC CORPORATION;REEL/FRAME:013758/0595
Effective date: 20030110
|18 févr. 2004||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 12
|26 nov. 2006||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: ELPIDA MEMORY, INC., JAPAN
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:NEC CORPORATION;NEC ELECTRONICS CORPORATION;REEL/FRAME:018545/0737
Effective date: 20060531