Abstract:
A method for configuring a voltage regulator (20) connected to a memory cell (1) is described, the method comprising the steps of:
identifying at least a first and a second operation regions of the cell (1); associating the first and second operation regions with respective first and second operation conditions of the cell (1); detecting an operative condition of the cell (1) involved in a programming operation; generating at least a configuration signal (EN_LOW_IPROG_HV) of the regulator according to said detected operative condition, this configuration signal (EN_LOW_IPROG_HV) taking a first and a second value associated with the first and second operation conditions.
Abstract:
A sensing circuit is provided. The sensing circuit is adapted to determine when a cell current flowing trough a selected memory cell exceeds a reference current during an evaluation phase of a sensing operation. The sensing circuit is adapted to be coupled to at least one selected memory cell through a respective bit line. The sensing circuit includes: an access circuit node adapted to be coupled to the bit line; precharging means adapted to be activated in a precharge phase of the sensing operation preceding the evaluation phase, so as to bring a voltage of said access circuit node to a reference voltage; a reference circuit node coupled to the access circuit node and arranged to receive the reference current. The sensing circuit further includes an evaluation circuit node coupled to the reference circuit node through a first current to voltage converter, adapted to sink a current flowing from the reference circuit node to the evaluation circuit node and to produce a corresponding voltage difference between the reference circuit node and the evaluation circuit node, wherein said current is nearly equal to the reference current substantially at the end of the precharge phase; comparator means are provided, adapted to compare the voltage of the access circuit node with the voltage of the evaluation circuit node and to provide a corresponding comparison signal whose time pattern indicates when the cell current exceeds the reference current. The first current to voltage converter is an electronic device having essentially the behavior of a diode.
Abstract:
A description has been given of a regulator for a digital-to-analog converter having in input a digital signal (BUS ) and being suitable for providing an analog signal (Vout) in output. The regulator comprises at least one pair of buffers (Buf1, Buf2..Bufn) having in input said digital signal (BUS ) and the outputs connected to a pair of circuit branches (r1, r2..rn) connected to the output of the regulator; each of said at least two circuit branches comprises at least one resistance. To at least one (Buf2, Buf3...Bufn)) of said at least one pair of buffers a variable resistance (Rv2...Rvn) is associated and the regulator comprises means (10) having in input the analog signal and being suitable for measuring its trend and acting on the variable resistance (Rv2...Rvn) in response to its possible anomalous trend compared to a desired trend.
Abstract:
In a memory device (1; 30) having an array (2) of memory cells (3), a column decoder (9) is configured to address the memory cells (3), and a charge-pump supply circuit (6; 32) generates a boosted supply voltage (V b ; V yr ) for the column decoder (9). A connecting stage (22) is arranged between the supply circuit (6; 32) and the column decoder (9); the connecting stage (22) switches between a high-impedance state and a low-impedance state, and is configured to switch into the high-impedance state in given operating conditions of the memory device (1; 30), in particular during a reading step.