Voltage pumping circuit for semiconductor memory device

Abstract: A semiconductor memory device is described having a memory cell array including at least two banks (21 ... 24). A number of voltage pumping circuits (25 ... 27) are provided, each for pumping an input voltage to a desired level. A control circuit 30 generates a control signal (Am) for each voltage pumping circuit (25 ... 27) so as to enable at least one of the control signals if at least one of the banks is selected.

Description: Background to the Invention The present invention relates to voltage pumping circuits for semiconductor memory devices. Generally, a voltage pumping circuit is provided in a semiconductor memory device to generate a pumped voltage which is higher in level than an operating voltage in the memory device. For example, the pumped voltage from the voltage pumping circuit may be used as a word line voltage which is supplied to a word line and an isolation gate control signal which is transferred to isolation gates in a charge sharing sense amplifier configuration. The voltage pumping circuit typically comprises two parts, a main pump and an active kicker. In the voltage pumping circuit, only the main pump is operated in the standby mode and both the main pump and active kicker are operated in an active mode to supply a large amount of charge. Recently, semiconductor memory devices comprising banks have been developed which perform bank operations. The arrangement of voltage pumping circuits is important in such semiconductor memory devices as perform bank operations. In other words, because voltage pumping circuits include large-capacity capacitors, their number and position have an important effect on chip size. In a conventional memory device with no bank operation, voltage pumping circuits must be provided to supply sufficiently pumped voltages to word lines which are simultaneously enabled and additional voltage pumping circuits must be provided to supply pumped voltages to other elements. US 5,267,214 describes a DRAM memory having a memory array split into several blocks, adjacent blocks sharing banks of sense amplifiers. A control circuit is provided for selectively enabling the sense amplifiers. US 5,339,279 describes a block erasable flash EEPROM memory, having a charge pump allocated to each block, wherein each charge pump has a capacitor sized in proportion to the size of the associated block. US 4,769,792 describes a circuit for continuously supplying an increased bootstrap voltage to a row or column decoder, by cyclically enabling one of two or more voltage bootstrap circuits. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional layout of array blocks and voltage pumping circuits in a semiconductor memory device. As shown in this drawing, when a row address signal is applied, word lines in the array blocks corresponding to the applied row address signal are simultaneously enabled. The voltage pumping circuits are operated to supply word line voltages of pumped levels to the enabled word lines. However, in a semiconductor memory device performing a bank operation, such as a synchronous memory, banks are provided in such a manner that a selected bank can be made active in response to bank selection information of the row address signal. The present invention has as it objective to provide a semiconductor memory device in which voltage pumping circuits are arranged in a semiconductor memory device using bank selection in a proper manner to reduce chip size. Summary of the Invention In accordance with the present invention, A semiconductor memory device comprises: a memory cell array including a number, n, of banks, where n > 2; a number, m, of voltage pumping circuits each for pumping an input voltage to a desired level (Vpp), where 2 ≤ m < n; a control circuit adapted to receive address signals selecting respective banks and, in response, to activate a selected voltage pumping circuit; characterised in that the control circuit is adapted, on receipt of any address signal selecting any one of the n banks, to activate the next in a predetermined cyclic sequence of the m voltage pumping circuits. The present invention also extends to a method of operating a semiconductor memory device comprising a memory cell array including a number, n, of banks, where n > 2 and a number, m, of voltage pumping circuits each for pumping an input voltage to a desired level (Vpp), where 2 < m < n, the method comprising: receiving address signals selecting respective banks and, in response, activating a selected voltage pumping circuit; characterised in that , on receipt of any address signal selecting any one of the n banks, the next in a predetermined cyclic sequence of the m voltage pumping circuits is activated. Brief Description of the Drawings The present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional layout of array blocks and voltage pumping circuits in a semiconductor memory device; FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a layout of banks, voltage pumping circuits and a control circuit in a semiconductor memory device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a detailed circuit diagram illustrating an embodiment of the control circuit in FIG. 3; FIG. 4 is a timing diagram illustrating the operation of the control circuit in FIG. 4; FIG. 5 is a detailed circuit diagram illustrating an alternative embodiment of the control circuit in FIG. 3; and FIG. 6 is a timing diagram illustrating the operation of the control circuit in FIG. 6. Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a layout of banks, voltage pumping circuits and a control circuit in a semiconductor memory device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in this drawing, a memory cell array is divided into a plurality of banks or n banks 21-24. A desired number of voltage pumping circuits or m voltage pumping circuits 25-27 are connected to the banks 21-24. A control circuit 30 has input terminals for receiving a refresh signal PRFH and row address signals RA_0-RA_(n-1), respectively, and its output terminals connected respectively the input terminals of the voltage pumping circuits 25-27. In FIG. 2, m voltage pumping circuits are sequentially driven in a bank active mode so that the voltage pumping operation can be secured in each tRRD cycle. For example, in the case where the tRRD cycle is 20ns and the voltage pumping operation cycle is 40ns, the voltage pumping operation can reasonably be performed in the bank active mode by alternately driving two voltage pumping circuits. Provided that the tRRD cycle is short or the voltage pumping operation cycle is long, m voltage pumping circuits are required, where m is a minimum integer larger than the value which is obtained by dividing the voltage pumping operation cycle by the tRRD cycle. The m voltage pumping circuits are sequentially operated. Therefore, in a semiconductor memory device with many banks, the pumped voltage necessary to the bank operation can be supplied by employing at least m voltage pumping circuits. As a result, the voltage pumping operation can efficiently be performed and the chip size can be reduced. FIG. 3 is a detailed circuit diagram illustrating an embodiment of the control circuit 30 in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4 is a timing diagram illustrating the operation of the control circuit 30 in FIG. 3. In FIG. 3, the control circuit 30 is constructed to control at least two voltage pumping circuits. The control circuit 30 includes an n-pulse generation circuit 31 which allows the pumping operation to be performed n times in a refresh mode similarly to the normal mode. The output of the n-pulse generation circuit 31 is transferred to an m-bit counter 32 through a transfer gate which is switched in response to the refresh signal PRFH. FIG. 5 is a detailed circuit diagram illustrating an alternative embodiment of the control circuit 30 in FIG. 3 and FIG. 6 is a timing diagram illustrating the operation of the control circuit 30 in FIG. 5. In FIG. 5, the control circuit 30 is constructed to control two voltage pumping circuits (i.e., m = 2). A D-type flip-flop 43 is provided to generate a signal which is triggered synchronously with the positive edge of an input signal. The two voltage pumping circuits are alternately operated in response to the output signal from the D flip-flop 43. In other words, the voltage pumping circuit 1 is precharged when the voltage pumping circuit 0 performs the voltage pumping operation. Also, the voltage pumping circuit 1 performs the voltage pumping operation when the voltage pumping circuit 0 is precharged. An n-pulse generation circuit is required to allow the pumping operation to be performed n times in the refresh mode similarly to the normal mode. The output of the n-pulse generation circuit is transferred to the D-type flip-flop 43 through a transfer gate which is switched in response to the refresh signal PRFH. In FIG. 5, the n-pulse generation circuit is provided with three delay elements 40-42 and one OR gate. As apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the voltage pumping circuits are arranged in the semiconductor memory device in a proper manner efficiently to perform the voltage pumping operation, so as to increase the pumping efficiency. Further, the proper arrangement of the voltage pumping circuits contributes to the integration of the semiconductor memory device.

Claims: A semiconductor memory device comprising: a memory cell array including a number, n, of banks 5 (21-24), where n > 2; a number, m, of voltage pumping circuits (25-27) each for pumping an input voltage to a desired level (Vpp), where 2 ≤ m < n; a control circuit (30) adapted to receive address signals (RA) selecting respective banks and, in response, to activate a selected voltage pumping circuit; characterised in that the control circuit is adapted, on receipt of any address signal (RA) selecting any one of the n banks, to activate the next in a predetermined cyclic sequence of the m voltage pumping circuits. A semiconductor memory device according to claim 1 in which m=2. A semiconductor memory device according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which outputs of all of the voltage pumping circuits are electrically connected together, and are further electrically connected to all of the respective inputs of the banks, which inputs are also electrically connected together. A semiconductor memory device according to any preceding claim, in which the control circuit comprises a counter (32) which is incremented each time one of the said banks is selected and means for decoding the count value to provide an activating signal to a respective voltage pumping circuit. A semiconductor memory device according to claim 4 in which the means for decoding the count value comprises a series of logic gates, each of which is adapted to recognize a particular count value and to provide an enabled output signal when the count reaches that particular value. A semiconductor memory device according to claim 5 in which the output of each of the said logic gates is fed to a pulse generator (34-37) to generate the control signal 5 for the respective voltage pumping circuit. A semiconductor memory device according to claim 6 in which the logical sum (Psum) of the bank selection signals is fed to the input of the counter (32) in the normal mode; and the output of a multi-pulse generator (31) which is activated by each of the bank selection signals (RA) is fed to the input of the counter in the refresh mode. A semiconductor memory device according to any one of claims 1-5, in which m=2 and the control circuit comprises a D-type flip-flop (43) connected to receive a CK input (Psum) each time one of the banks is selected, the Q and /Q outputs serving as activating signals for respective voltage pumping circuits. A semiconductor memory device according to claim 8 in which the logical sum (Psum) of the bank selection signals is fed to the CK input of the D-type flip-flop in the normal mode and the output of a multi-pulse generator which is activated by each of the bank selection signals (RA) is fed to the CK input of the D-type flip-flop in the refresh mode. A semiconductor memory device according to any preceding claim, which is a semiconductor DRAM. A method of operating a semiconductor memory device comprising a memory cell array including a number, n, of banks (21-24), where n > 2 and a number, m, of voltage pumping circuits (25-27) each for pumping an input voltage to a desired level (Vpp), where 2 ≤ m < n, the method comprising: receiving address signals (RA) selecting respective banks and, in response, activating a selected voltage pumping circuit; characterised in that , on receipt of any address signal (RA) selecting any one of the n banks, the next in a predetermined cyclic sequence of the m voltage pumping circuits is activated. A method according to claim 11 in which the semiconductor memory device is as claimed in any one of claims 1-9.

Inventors: BAE YONG-CHEOL, SEO DONG-IL, YOON SEI-SEUNG, BAE, YONG-CHEOL, SEO, DONG-IL, YOON, SEI-SEUNG
Applicants: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD, SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
Application year: 1996
Main classification: G11C5
IPC codes: H01L21, G11C5, G11C11, H01L27