Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080212362 | Control of set/reset pulse in response to peripheral temperature in pram device - A driver circuit for a PRAM (phase-change random access memory) device includes a write driver that generates a set/reset current in response to a set/reset pulse. In addition, a temperature compensator controls a pulse width of the set/reset pulse in response to a peripheral temperature of the PRAM device. For example, the temperature compensator maintains the pulse width to be substantially constant irrespective of the peripheral temperature. In another example, the temperature compensator decreases the pulse width for higher peripheral temperature. | 09-04-2008 |
20080232161 | RESISTANCE VARIABLE MEMORY DEVICE AND READ METHOD THEREOF - A memory system includes a resistance variable memory device, and a memory controller for controlling the resistance variable memory device. The resistance variable memory device includes a memory cell connected to a bitline, a high voltage circuit adapted to generate a high voltage from an externally provided power source voltage, where the high voltage is higher than the power source voltage, a precharging circuit adapted to charge the bitline to the power source voltage and further charge the bitline to the high voltage, a bias circuit adapted to provide a read current to the bitline with using the high voltage, and a sense amplifier adapted to detect a voltage level of the bitline with using the high voltage. | 09-25-2008 |
20080232177 | NONVOLATILE MEMORY DEVICE USING VARIABLE RESISTIVE ELEMENT - Disclosed is a nonvolatile memory device using a variable resistive element, and a data read circuit for use in variable resistive memory devices. More specifically, embodiments of the invention provide a data read circuit with one or more decoupling units to remove noise from one or more corresponding control signals. For instance, embodiments of the invention remove noise from a clamping control signal, a read bias control signal, and/or precharge signal. The disclosed decoupling units may be used alone or in any combination. Embodiments of the invention are beneficial because they can increase sensing margin and improve the reliability of read operations in memory devices with variable resistive elements. | 09-25-2008 |
20090003048 | NONVOLATILE MEMORY DEVICE USING A VARIABLE RESISTIVE ELEMENT AND ASSOCIATED OPERATING METHOD - A nonvolatile memory device that utilizes both a voltage provided outside the memory device and a voltage generated within the device instead of using only a voltage generated within the device as a driving voltage avoids malfunctions of the memory device when instantaneous significant voltage drops occur. The nonvolatile memory device includes a plurality of nonvolatile memory cells, a bit line coupled to at least a portion of the plurality of nonvolatile memory cells, a column-selection transistor coupled to the bit line and a driving circuit. The driving circuit is coupled to a gate of the column-selection transistor and is configured to supply a charge to the gate using a first voltage and a second voltage wherein the second voltage is higher than the first voltage. | 01-01-2009 |
20090027956 | RESISTANCE VARIABLE MEMORY DEVICE REDUCING WORD LINE VOLTAGE - A resistance variable memory device includes a memory cell array, a sense amplifier circuit, and a column selection circuit. The memory cell array includes a plurality of block units and a plurality of word line drivers, where each of the block units is connected between adjacent word line drivers and includes a plurality of memory blocks. The sense amplifier circuit includes a plurality of sense amplifier units, where each of the sense amplifier units provides a read current to a corresponding block unit and includes a plurality of sense amplifiers. The column selection circuit is connected between the memory cell array and the sense amplifier circuit and selects at least one of the plurality of memory blocks in response to a column selection signal to apply the read current from the sense amplifier circuit to the selected memory block. | 01-29-2009 |
20090040819 | NONVOLATILE MEMORY DEVICE USING RESISTIVE ELEMENTS AND AN ASSOCIATED DRIVING METHOD - A nonvolatile memory device is configured to increase the reliability of a write operation by providing a sufficiently high write current while reducing current consumption in a read operation. The nonvolatile memory device includes a memory cell array having a plurality of nonvolatile memory cells. A global bit line and a local bit line coupled to a plurality of the nonvolatile memory cells. The local bit line has first and second nodes. First and second bit line selection circuits are included where the first bit line selection circuit is coupled to the first node of the local bit line and the second bit line selection circuit is coupled to the second node of the local bit line. The first and second bit line selection circuits operate during a first period to electrically connect the local bit line to the global bit line, and only one of the first and second bit line selection circuits operates during a second period to electrically connect the local bit line to the global bit line. | 02-12-2009 |
20090097304 | NONVOLATILE MEMORY USING RESISTANCE MATERIAL - Provided is a nonvolatile memory using a resistance material. In embodiments of the invention, a PRAM is configured to apply a step-down voltage to wordlines during a standby mode. Aspects of the present invention thus provide a nonvolatile memory with reduced standby current. Additionally, embodiments of the invention allow for faster transition from a standby state to an active state. | 04-16-2009 |
20090122600 | NONVOLATILE MEMORY USING RESISTANCE MATERIAL - A nonvolatile memory using a resistance material includes first and second memory-cell blocks having different block address information and each including a plurality of nonvolatile memory cells; a global bitline common to the first and second memory-cell blocks; first and second local bitlines corresponding to the first and second memory-cell blocks, respectively, and coupled to each other; and a common bitline selection circuit interposed between the first and second memory-cell blocks and coupled between the first and second local bitlines and the global bitline. | 05-14-2009 |
20090213646 | Phase-change random access memories capable of suppressing coupling noise during read-while-write operation - A semiconductor memory device includes at least one write global bit line connected to a plurality of local bit lines and at least one read global bit line connected to the local bit lines. The phase-change memory device having the write global bit line and the read global bit line suppress coupling noise generated during a read-while-write operation. | 08-27-2009 |
20090213647 | Phase-change random access memory capable of reducing word line resistance - A phase-change random access memory (PRAM) device capable of reducing a resistance of a word line may include a plurality of main word lines of a semiconductor memory device or PRAM bent n times in a layer different from a layer in which a plurality of sub-word lines are disposed. The semiconductor memory device or PRAM may further include jump contacts for connecting the plurality of cut sub-word lines. In a PRAM device including the plurality of main word lines and the plurality of sub-word lines being in different layers, the number of jump contacts for connecting the plurality of main word lines to a transistor of a sub-word line decoder is the same in each sub-word line or the plurality of main word lines are bent several times so that a parasitic resistance on a word line and power consumption may be reduced, and a sensing margin may be increased. | 08-27-2009 |
20090237986 | NONVOLATILE MEMORY DEVICE USING VARIABLE RESISTIVE ELEMENT - A nonvolatile memory device using variable resistive element with reduced layout size and improved performance is provided. The nonvolatile memory device comprising: a main word line; multiple sub-word lines, wherein each of the sub-word line is connected to multiple nonvolatile memory cells; and a section word line driver which controls voltage level of the multiple sub-word lines, wherein the section word line driver includes multiple pull-down elements which are connected to each of the multiple sub-word lines and a common node and a selection element which is connected to the common node and the main word line. | 09-24-2009 |
20090251953 | Variable resistance memory device - A variable resistance memory device includes a variable resistance memory cell array including a plurality of variable resistance memory cells; a plurality of global word lines configured to drive the variable resistance memory cell array; and a plurality of local word line decoders. Each of the plurality of local word line decoders includes a first transistor having a gate connected to the global word line. A voltage greater than an operation voltage of one or more of the plurality of local word line decoders is applied to a selected one of the plurality of global word lines. | 10-08-2009 |
20090262573 | MULTILEVEL NONVOLATILE MEMORY DEVICE USING VARIABLE RESISTANCE - A multilevel nonvolatile memory device using a resistance material is provided. The multilevel nonvolatile memory device includes at least one multilevel memory cell and a read circuit. The at least one multilevel memory cell has a level of resistance that varies according to data stored therein. The read circuit first reads first bit data from the multilevel memory cell by providing a first read bias to the multilevel memory cell and secondarily reads second bit data from the multilevel memory cell by providing a second read bias to the multilevel memory cell. The second read bias varies according to a result of the first reading. | 10-22-2009 |
20090285009 | Nonvolatile memory devices using variable resistive elements - A nonvolatile memory device using a variable resistive element is provided. The nonvolatile memory device may include a memory cell array which includes an array of multiple nonvolatile memory cells having variable resistance levels depending on data stored. Word lines may be coupled with each column of the nonvolatile memory cells. Local bit lines may be coupled with each row of the nonvolatile memory cells. Global bit lines may be selectively coupled with the multiple local bit lines. | 11-19-2009 |
20090310403 | NONVOLATILE MEMORY DEVICE USING VARIABLE RESISTIVE ELEMENT - A nonvolatile memory device includes multiple memory blocks divided into multiple memory block groups. Each memory block group includes at least two memory blocks of the multiple memory blocks. The nonvolatile memory device also includes a main word line common to the memory blocks, and multiple sub-word lines corresponding to the memory blocks. Sub-word lines of the multiple sub-word lines located within the same memory block group are electrically connected to each other, and sub-word lines of the multiple sub-word lines located in different memory block are electrically isolated from each other. | 12-17-2009 |
20090316474 | Phase change memory - The phase change memory device includes a plurality of memory banks, a plurality of local conductor lines connected to the plurality of memory banks, at least one global conductor line connected to the plurality of local conductor lines, and at least one repair control circuit configured to selectively replace at least one of the at least one global conductor line with at least one redundant global conductor line and configured to selectively replace at least one of the plurality of local conductor lines with at least one redundant local conductor line. | 12-24-2009 |
20100019217 | PHASE-CHANGE MEMORY DEVICE AND METHOD OF FABRICATING THE SAME - A phase-change memory device includes a semiconductor substrate, a bit line and a word line arranged on the semiconductor substrate to intersect each other, and a phase-change material strip interposed between the bit line and the word line and extending lengthwise in a direction that is substantially parallel to at least a portion of the word line. | 01-28-2010 |
20100067279 | SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE USING VARIABLE RESISTOR - Example embodiments relate to a variable resistance semiconductor memory device including: a plurality of memory blocks belonging to different memory sectors and alternately arranged in a memory bank including the memory sectors so as to be adjacent to each other; and a line selecting unit simultaneously selecting word lines of the plurality of memory blocks and simultaneously selecting bit lines of the memory blocks belonging to the same memory sector among the plurality of memory blocks in an access operation mode. | 03-18-2010 |
20100080039 | Nonvoltile memory device and method of driving the same - A nonvolatile memory device and a method of driving the same are provided, which adopt an improved write operation. The method of driving a nonvolatile memory device includes providing the nonvolatile memory device including a plurality of memory banks each having a plurality of local bit lines and a plurality of variable resistance memory cells; selectively connecting read global bit lines for reading data with the local bit lines, and firstly discharging the selectively connected local bit lines by turning on local bit line discharge transistors coupled to the read global bit lines; and selectively connecting write global bit lines for writing data with the local bit lines, and secondly discharging the selectively connected local bit lines by turning on global bit line discharge transistors. | 04-01-2010 |
20100080040 | Nonvolatile memory device and method of driving the same - A nonvolatile memory and a method of driving the same are provided, which adopt an improved write verify operation. The method of driving a nonvolatile memory device having variable resistance memory cells, bit lines coupled to the variable resistance memory cells, and column selection transistors coupled between the variable resistance memory cells and the bit lines to receive a first control voltage being applied to their gates, includes making the first control voltage at a first level, and changing a resistance of the variable resistance memory cells by providing a write bias to the variable resistance cells; verifying and reading whether the changed resistance enters into a specified resistance window; and changing the first control voltage to a second level that is different from the first level, and changing the resistance of the variable resistance memory cells by providing the write bias to the variable resistance memory cells. | 04-01-2010 |
20100110769 | CONTROLLING A VARIABLE RESISTIVE MEMORY WORDLINE SWITCH - A method of controlling the voltage of a sub-wordline in a variable resistive memory device includes switchably passing a voltage from a main wordline to the sub-wordline, and substantially blocking forward current flow from the sub-wordline to a variable resistive memory cell of the device. | 05-06-2010 |
20100110771 | VARIABLE RESISTIVE MEMORY - A variable resistive memory device includes memory sectors, memory cells in each of the memory sectors, sub-wordlines including a first in signal communication with at least a first pair of the memory cells in a first sector and a second in signal communication with at least a second pair of the memory cells in a second sector, local bitlines where each is in signal communication a memory cell, a local bitline selecting signal generator in signal communication with local bitline selecting signal paths, a first local bitline selecting signal path in signal communication with a first pair of the local bitlines, and a second local bitline selecting signal path in signal communication with a second pair of the plurality of local bitlines, where a first of the first pair of local bitlines is in signal communication with a first of the first pair of the memory cells in the first sector and a second of the first pair of local bitlines is in signal communication with a second of the second pair of the memory cells in the second sector, and a first of the second pair of local bitlines is in signal communication with a second of the first pair of the memory cells in the first sector and a second of the second pair of local bitlines is in signal communication with a first of the second pair of the memory cells in the second sector. | 05-06-2010 |
20100124103 | Resistance-change random access memory device - A resistance-change random access memory device includes a resistance-change memory cell array having a plurality of resistance-change memory cells, where a plurality of word lines are connected to respective first terminals of the plurality of resistance-change memory cells. A plurality of bit lines are disposed perpendicular to the word lines and connected to respective second terminals of the plurality of resistance-change memory cells. The device also includes a plurality of discharge elements that are capable of connecting or disconnecting respective bit lines from a discharge voltage, where the discharge elements connect the respective bit lines to the discharge voltage before write and read operations. | 05-20-2010 |
20100142249 | NONVOLATILE MEMORY DEVICE USING A VARIABLE RESISTIVE ELEMENT - A nonvolatile memory device includes a plurality of memory banks, each including a plurality of nonvolatile memory cells, write global bit lines shared by the plurality of memory banks, read global bit lines shared by the plurality of memory banks, and a dummy global bit line arranged between the write global bit lines and the read global bit lines, wherein the dummy global bit line is configured and operable to reduce noise affecting a write bit line involved in a write operation or noise affecting a read global bit line involved in a read operation. | 06-10-2010 |
20100142254 | Nonvolatile Memory Device Using Variable Resistive Element - A nonvolatile memory device using a variable resistive element is provided. The nonvolatile memory device includes first and second nonvolatile memory cells. Word lines are coupled to the first and second nonvolatile memory cells. First and second bit lines are coupled to the first and second nonvolatile memory cells, respectively. A read circuit reads resistance levels of the first and second nonvolatile memory cells by providing first and second read bias currents of different levels to the first and second bit lines, respectively. | 06-10-2010 |
20100214832 | PHASE-CHANGE RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY - A phase-change random access memory includes a memory block including a plurality of memory columns corresponding to the same column address and using different input/output paths; a redundancy memory block including a plurality of redundancy memory columns using different input/output paths; and an input/output controller repairing at least one of the plurality of memory columns using at least one of the plurality of redundancy memory columns, and controlling the number of memory columns simultaneously repaired using redundancy memory columns in response to an input/output repair mode control signal. | 08-26-2010 |
20100290276 | Semiconductor memory using resistance material - A semiconductor memory includes a memory cell array including a plurality of memory cells arranged in rows and columns, a plurality of bit lines, each bit line connected to a corresponding column of the memory cells; a column selection circuit configured to select at least one bit line in response to a column select signal; and a read circuit configured to precharge the selected bit line in response to a precharge signal, to apply a read bias to the precharged bit line in response to a read bias provision signal, and to read data from the memory cells. A resistance level of each of the memory cells varies according to data stored therein, and the read circuit reads data from a first memory cell of the plurality of memory cells in response to the precharge signal having a first pulse width and reads data from a second memory cell of the plurality of memory cells in response to the precharge signal having a second pulse width. | 11-18-2010 |
20100320433 | Variable Resistance Memory Device and Method of Manufacturing the Same - A variable resistance memory device includes a substrate, a plurality of active lines formed on the substrate, are uniformly separated, and extend in a first direction, a plurality of switching devices formed on the active lines and are separated from one another, a plurality of variable resistance devices respectively formed on and connected to the switching devices, a plurality of local bit lines formed on the variable resistance devices, are uniformly separated, extend in a second direction, and are connected to the variable resistance devices, a plurality of local word lines formed on the local bit lines, are uniformly separated, and extend in the first direction, a plurality of global bit lines formed on the local word lines, are uniformly separated, and extend in the second direction, and a plurality of global word lines formed on the global bit lines, are uniformly separated, and extend in the first direction. | 12-23-2010 |
20100329057 | Method of discharging bit-lines for a non-volatile semiconductor memory device performing a read-while-write operation - In a method of discharging bit-lines for a non-volatile semiconductor memory device performing a read-while-write operation. The method include discharging a global write bit-line to a ground voltage based on a write command within a first period. the method also includes maintaining the discharged voltage of the global write bit-line in the ground voltage during a second period. | 12-30-2010 |
20110026303 | VARIABLE RESISTANCE MEMORY DEVICE AND SYSTEM THEREOF - A nonvolatile memory device comprising: a plurality of memory banks, each of which operates independently and includes a plurality of resistance memory cells, each cell including a variable resistive element having a resistance varying depending on stored data; a plurality of global bit lines, each global bit line being shared by the plurality of memory banks; a temperature compensation circuit including one or more reference cells; and a data read circuit which is electrically connected to the plurality of global bit lines and performs a read operation by supplying at least one of the resistance memory cells with a current varying according to resistances of the reference cells. | 02-03-2011 |
20110026306 | RESISTANCE VARIABLE MEMORY DEVICE REDUCING WORD LINE VOLTAGE - A resistance variable memory device includes a memory cell array, a sense amplifier circuit, and a column selection circuit. The memory cell array includes a plurality of block units and a plurality of word line drivers, where each of the block units is connected between adjacent word line drivers and includes a plurality of memory blocks. The sense amplifier circuit includes a plurality of sense amplifier units, where each of the sense amplifier units provides a read current to a corresponding block unit and includes a plurality of sense amplifiers. The column selection circuit is connected between the memory cell array and the sense amplifier circuit and selects at least one of the plurality of memory blocks in response to a column selection signal to apply the read current from the sense amplifier circuit to the selected memory block. | 02-03-2011 |