Patent ID: 7577858
Filing Date: 2009-08-18
Classification: G11C

Abstract:
1. A method for reducing the power consumption in a state retaining circuit during a standby mode, comprising: in an active mode, the state retaining circuit utilizing a regular power supply and a standby power supply; for a transition from an active mode to a standby mode for the purpose of reducing power consumption, while maintaining a connection to the regular power supply, decreasing the regular power supply to ground level and maintaining utilization of the standby power supply thus providing circuit elements of the state retaining circuit with enough power for retaining a state during standby mode; and for a transition from the standby mode to the active mode, increasing the regular power supply from the ground level to an active level, wherein: the state retaining circuit comprises a control unit, a data input unit, a data output unit, and a data storage unit, and each of the control unit, the data input unit, the data output unit, and the data storage unit utilize both the regular power supply and the standby power supply during the active mode.