Fast, accurate and low power supply voltage booster using A/D converter

The present invention relates generally to memory systems and in particular, to flash memory array systems and methods for producing a voltage boost circuit, wherein a voltage detection circuit may be used to measure the V applied to a voltage boost circuit, along with boost compensation circuitry t...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

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Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Le, Binh Quang, Ly, Cathy Thuvan, Cleveland, Lee, Chen, Pau-Ling
Format: Patent
Sprache:eng
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Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:The present invention relates generally to memory systems and in particular, to flash memory array systems and methods for producing a voltage boost circuit, wherein a voltage detection circuit may be used to measure the V applied to a voltage boost circuit, along with boost compensation circuitry to regulate the boost voltage output from V variations. The boost voltage may be applied to a wordline for read mode operations of memory cells. Flash memory array systems and methods are disclosed for producing a regulated boosted word line voltage for read operations. The system comprises a multi-stage voltage boost circuit operable to receive a supply voltage and one or more output signals from a supply voltage detection circuit to generate the boosted word line voltage having a value greater than the supply voltage. The voltage boost circuit comprises a precharge circuit and a plurality of boost cells connected to a common node of the boosted word line, and a timing control circuit. The stages of the plurality of boost cells are coupled in series for charge sharing between the stages, and couple a predetermined number of boost cells to the boosted word line common node to provide an intermediate voltage to the boosted word line during the pre-boost timing, thereby anticipating a final boosted word line voltage provided during the boost timing. The voltage boost circuit is operable to receive the one or more output signals from the supply voltage detection circuit and alter a boost gain of the multi-stage voltage boost circuit based on the one or more output signals, thereby causing the boosted word line voltage to be substantially independent of the supply voltage value.