Quarter Match Concurrent Compensation in Memory Row Redundancy
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing clock speeds in semiconductor memory systems are hindered by the time required to charge and discharge access lines, which contributes to higher latency due to the need for threshold voltage compensation and redundancy checks, affecting data access speed and reliability.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a quarter-match RXNOM signal to halt the prime row sense operation earlier and concurrently initiating VtC compensation in both prime and redundant rows, allowing for earlier activation of the wordline and reducing power consumption by skipping compensation when no redundancy is detected.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If threshold voltage compensation and redundancy checks are performed sequentially, then data reliability is improved, but access time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs threshold voltage compensation on redundant rows before determining if redundancy is needed. By preparing the redundant row compensation in advance, the system eliminates the need to wait for redundancy checks to complete before starting compensation, thereby reducing access time while maintaining data reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables overlapping execution of threshold voltage compensation and redundancy determination operations. The compensation process continues continuously on redundant rows while the redundancy check is being performed, maximizing resource utilization and reducing total access time without compromising reliability.
2Reliability
If threshold voltage compensation is performed on all rows, then data reliability is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies threshold voltage compensation selectively only to redundant rows that may be needed, rather than uniformly to all rows. This localized approach reduces power consumption by activating compensation circuitry only when and where it is potentially required, while still ensuring data reliability for the actual accessed data.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs compensation preparation on redundant rows in advance, but only completes the full compensation process if those rows are actually needed. This partial action approach avoids the excessive power consumption of full compensation on all rows while ensuring adequate reliability for the rows that are actually accessed.
3Reliability
If full redundancy checks are completed before memory access, then data reliability is improved, but access speed decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent initiates threshold voltage compensation on redundant rows as a preliminary action before the redundancy determination is complete. This allows the compensation process to be already underway or substantially complete by the time the redundancy check finishes, eliminating the delay between redundancy confirmation and compensation completion, thereby improving access speed while maintaining reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
An example apparatus may perform concurrent threshold voltage compensation in a memory array with distributed row redundancy. The example apparatus may include a row decoder configured to configured to, in response to a determination that the prime row address matches a defective prime row address, concurrently initiate a threshold voltage compensation operation on both of a prime row of the respective plurality of prime rows of memory cells of a first row section of the plurality of row sections corresponding to the prime row address and the respective redundant row of a second row section of the plurality of row sections. The row decoder may be further configured to stop an access operation associated with the prime row from proceeding based on a comparison of subset of match signals from either the first or second pluralities of row sections.