Semiconductor Line Self-Boosting Circuit Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Semiconductor memory devices face challenges in driving lines with high load, leading to insufficient signal transfer rates due to inadequate driving force in the driving circuit, which is difficult to enhance without increasing circuit area and current consumption, particularly for long lines like column and word lines.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of self-boosters and booster enable units that sense the logic levels of grouped target lines to generate booster enable signals, allowing for localized boosting of lines without increasing circuit area or current consumption, thereby enhancing the driving force.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If the driving circuit is designed with larger transistors to increase driving force, then the signal transfer rate improves, but the circuit area and current consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The driving circuit is segmented into a primary driver and multiple secondary drivers (boosters). The primary driver handles the initial signal output, while secondary drivers are activated in stages to provide additional driving force. This segmentation allows the system to achieve high driving force without requiring all transistors to be oversized, thus reducing overall circuit area.
Solution Approach 2:
The booster drivers are activated in a predetermined sequence after the primary driver. By preparing the booster drivers in advance and activating them in stages rather than simultaneously, the circuit achieves high driving force when needed while minimizing the time and area occupied by active large transistors, thereby reducing current consumption and circuit area.
2Speed
If the driving circuit is designed with larger transistors to increase driving force, then the signal transfer rate improves, but the current consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The driving circuit is segmented into a primary driver and multiple secondary drivers (boosters). The primary driver handles the initial signal output, while secondary drivers are activated in stages to provide additional driving force. This segmentation allows the system to achieve high driving force without requiring all transistors to be oversized, thus reducing overall circuit area.
Solution Approach 2:
The booster drivers are activated in a predetermined sequence after the primary driver. By preparing the booster drivers in advance and activating them in stages rather than simultaneously, the circuit achieves high driving force when needed while minimizing the time and area occupied by active large transistors, thereby reducing current consumption and circuit area.
3Speed
If a repeater is inserted into the middle of the line to increase driving force, then the signal transfer rate improves, but the circuit area increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the boosting function from the traditional repeater structure and integrates it directly into the driving circuit. Instead of inserting a complete repeater with dummy cell arrays and sense amplifier arrays into the line, the patent extracts only the essential boosting capability and implements it through controlled transistor activation, thereby eliminating the need for large auxiliary structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The driving circuit performs self-boosting by using its own transistors to generate additional driving force without requiring external repeater structures. The circuit serves itself by activating booster transistors in response to the signal conditions, eliminating the need for separate repeater components that would occupy additional area.
4Force
If a control signal is generated to boost the line, then the driving force improves, but the timing control difficulty and current consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The driving circuit performs self-boosting by using its own transistors to generate additional driving force without requiring external repeater structures. The circuit serves itself by activating booster transistors in response to the signal conditions, eliminating the need for separate repeater components that would occupy additional area.
Solution Approach 2:
The booster drivers are activated based on feedback from the signal conditions. The control logic monitors the state of the line and the primary driver output, and activates the booster transistors accordingly. This feedback mechanism simplifies timing control by using the actual signal state rather than requiring complex predetermined timing sequences.
Data Source
AI summary
A semiconductor device includes: a plurality of target lines to be driven; a plurality of target line drivers configured to drive the corresponding target lines in a logic level corresponding to a plurality of target line selection signals; a plurality of booster enable units configured to generate a booster enable signal by sensing whether a group of target lines that is obtained by grouping the target lines by a predetermined number is enabled or not; and a plurality of self-boosters configured to boost corresponding target lines by sensing levels of the corresponding target lines in response to the booster enable signal.