| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20090153230 | Low Voltage Charge Pump with Regulation - Techniques of providing a low output voltage, high current capability charge pump are given. The charge pump has multiple capacitors along with switching circuitry. In an initialization phase, the first plate of each of the capacitors is connected to receive a regulator voltage and the second plate of each capacitor is connected to ground. In a transfer phase, the capacitors are connected in series, where, for each capacitor after the first, the second plate is connected to the first plate of the preceding capacitor in the series. The output voltage of the pump is from the first plate of the last capacitor in the series. Regulation circuitry generates the regulator voltage from a reference voltage to have a value responsive to the output voltage level of the pump. | 06-18-2009 |
| 20090153231 | Diode Connected Regulation of Charge Pumps - A circuit including a charge pump and regulation circuitry is described. The output of the charge pump is connected to provide a first output signal that is connectable to drive a load. A diode is connected to provide a second output signal of lower voltage from the first output signal. The regulation circuitry is connected to the second output level and is connectable to the charge pump to regulate its output. The circuit also includes a current source connectable from the second line to ground, where control circuitry connects the current source to the second line when the first line is connected to the load. | 06-18-2009 |
| 20090161434 | Read, Verify Word Line Reference Voltage to Track Source Level - A non-volatile memory device has individual pages of memory cells to be sensed in parallel. The memory device includes a source level tracking circuit coupled to receive a predetermined word line voltage from a word line voltage supply and the voltage level at the aggregate source node of one or more pages and coupled to provide to word lines of the memory an output voltage during the sensing operation, where the source level tracking circuit includes an op amp whereby the output voltage is the word line voltage offset by an amount to track the voltage level at the aggregate node and compensate for source bias errors due to a finite resistance in the ground loop. | 06-25-2009 |
| 20090302930 | Charge Pump with Vt Cancellation Through Parallel Structure - A charge pump circuit for generating an output voltage is described. The charge pump includes an output generation section and a threshold voltage cancelation section, where these sections have the same structure including a first branch, which receives a first clock signal and provides a first output, and a second branch, which receives a second clock signal and provides a second output. The charge pump circuit also includes first and second transistors, where the first and second outputs of the output generation stage are respectively connected through the first and second transistors to provide the output voltage of the charge pump, and where the first and second outputs of the threshold voltage cancellation stage are respectively connected to the control gate the first and second transistors. | 12-10-2009 |
| 20090315616 | Clock Generator Circuit for a Charge Pump - A charge pump system is formed on an integrated circuit that can be connected to an external power supply. The system includes a charge pump and a clock generator circuit. The clock circuit is coupled to provide a clock output, at whose frequency the charge pump operates and generates an output voltage from an input voltage. The clock frequency is a decreasing function of the voltage level of the external power supply. This allows for reducing power consumption in the charge pump system formed on a circuit connectable to an external power supply. | 12-24-2009 |
| 20090322413 | Techniques of Ripple Reduction for Charge Pumps - A charge pump system for supplying an output voltage to a load is described. It includes a regulation circuit connected to receive the output voltage and derive an enable signal from it and multiple charge pump circuits connected in parallel to supply the output voltage. Each of the charge pump circuits is also connected to receive a clock signal and the enable signal. The system also includes one or more delay circuit elements, where a corresponding one or more, but less than all, of the charge pump circuits are connectable to receive the enable signal delayed by the corresponding delay circuit element. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20100019832 | Self-Adaptive Multi-Stage Charge Pump - A charge pump circuit for generating an output voltage is described. The charge pump includes multiple output generation stages connected in series and a corresponding set of multiple gate stages connected in series, where the output stages have the same structure as the corresponding gate stages. The switches that the provide the output of each output generation stage are controlled by the corresponding gate stage. The number of output stages that are active in boosting the voltage self-adapts according to the output level being regulated, with the later stages changing from a boosting operation to a filtering function with not being used to active boost the output. | 01-28-2010 |
| 20100073069 | On-Chip Bias Voltage Temperature Coefficient Self-Calibration Mechanism - Techniques and corresponding circuitry for deriving a supply a bias voltage for a memory cell array from a received reference voltage is presented. The circuit includes a voltage determination circuit, which is connected to receive the reference voltage and generate from it the bias voltage, a temperature sensing circuit, and a calibration circuit. The calibration circuit is connected to receive the bias voltage and to receive a temperature indication from the temperature sensing circuit and determine from the bias voltage and temperature indication a compensation factor that is supplied to the voltage determination circuit, which adjusts the bias voltage based upon the compensation factor. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100074033 | Bandgap Voltage and Temperature Coefficient Trimming Algorithm - A circuit and corresponding method for providing a reference voltage are presented. The circuit includes a current source having a magnitude with positive temperature correlation connected to a node, and a diode element connected between the node and ground, where the reference voltage is provided from the node. The circuit also includes a variable resistance connected to receive an input indicative of the circuit temperature and through which the diode element is connected to the node. The value of the variable resistance is adjusted based upon the circuit temperature input. The circuit is useful for application as a peripheral circuitry, such as on a flash or other non-volatile memory and other circuits requiring an on-chip reference voltage source. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100157681 | Read, Verify Word Line Reference Voltage to Track Source Level - A non-volatile memory device has individual pages of memory cells to be sensed in parallel. The memory device includes a source level tracking circuit coupled to receive a predetermined word line voltage from a word line voltage supply and the voltage level at the aggregate source node of one or more pages and coupled to provide to word lines of the memory an output voltage during the sensing operation, where the source level tracking circuit includes an op amp whereby the output voltage is the word line voltage offset by an amount to track the voltage level at the aggregate node and compensate for source bias errors due to a finite resistance in the ground loop. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20110018615 | Charge Pump with Current Based Regulation - A charge pump system using a current based regulation method, in addition to the typical voltage based regulation methods is presented. The current flow in the charge pump is determined independently of the output voltage. By sensing the current going through the charge pump while its output is being regulated to the target level, the strength of charge pump can be dynamically adjusted in term of regulation level, branch assignment, clock frequency, clock amplitude, and so on. Indirectly sensing the current going through pump (not in serial with output stage to allow additional IR drop) will allow the pumps to have matrix of V and I to better adjust the charge pump parameters for current saving and ripple reduction | 01-27-2011 |
| 20110018617 | Charge Pump with Reduced Energy Consumption Through Charge Sharing and Clock Boosting Suitable for High Voltage Word Line in Flash Memories - A charge pump circuit for generating an output voltage is described. Charge pump circuits typically have two branches. As the clocks supplying the branches of a charge pump circuit alternate, the output of each branch will alternately provide an output voltage, which are then combined to form the pump output. The techniques described here allow charge to be transferred between the two branches, so that as the capacitor of one branch discharges, it is used to charge up the capacitor in the other branch. An exemplary embodiment using a voltage doubler-type of circuit, with the charge transfer between the branches accomplished using a switch controller by a boosted version of the clock signal, which is provided by a one-sided voltage doubler | 01-27-2011 |
| 20110133820 | Multi-Stage Charge Pump with Variable Number of Boosting Stages - A charge pump circuit for generating an output voltage is described. The charge pump includes multiple output generation stages connected in series, where the number of stages operating in a boosting mode is variable in order to regulate the pump. The number of stages arranged in series stays the same, but the last one or more of the stages can be operated in a filtering mode, with the number of boosting stages being lower as the regulation level goes lower. This improves the power consumption and reduces noise at lower regulated output levels. | 06-09-2011 |
| 20110148509 | Techniques to Reduce Charge Pump Overshoot - A charge pump system for supplying an output voltage to a load is described. The charge pump system includes a charge pump connected to receive an input voltage generate from it the output voltage. The system also includes regulation circuitry connected to receive the output voltage and a reference voltage, where the regulation circuitry is connected to the charge pump to regulate the output voltage based upon the values of the reference voltage and the output voltage. During ramp up or a recovery operation the output voltage is initially regulated according to a first level and subsequently regulated to a second level higher than the first level, the second level corresponding to a desired regulated output voltage. | 06-23-2011 |
