Abstract:
A method and apparatus for charging large capacitances of a circuit, such as an integrated circuit, without imparting noise on an operating voltage. A comparator compares a reference voltage to a voltage representing the voltage on the capacitance and a multiplexer routes one of an external voltage or an operating voltage derived from said external voltage to charge the capacitance depending on the output of the comparator.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for charging large capacitances in a circuit and more specifically to a method and apparatus for charging large capacitances in an integrated circuit device, for example, a memory device. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Many circuits including integrated circuit devices require the charging of large capacitances for operation. One such integrated circuit device is a flash memory device; a nonvolatile memory which retains stored data when power is removed. A common type of flash memory architecture is the “NAND” architecture, so called for the resemblance which the basic memory cell configuration has to a basic NAND gate circuit. 
   A flash memory device can be erased and reprogrammed in blocks instead of one byte at a time. A typical flash memory device comprises a memory array, which includes a large number of memory cells and peripheral support circuits. Each of the memory cells includes a floating gate field-effect transistor capable of holding a charge. The cells are usually grouped into blocks. Each of the cells within a block can be electrically programmed in a random basis by charging the floating gate. The data in a cell is determined by the presence or absence of the charge in the floating gate. The charge can be removed from the floating gate by a block erase operation. 
   The operation of a flash memory requires charging and discharging the capacitances associated with the memory cells, bit lines, and other components within the device, which can be on the order of 50 nF. Charging these capacitances requires a large amount of current. 
     FIG. 1  illustrates a conventional circuit  10  for regulating current to charge the capacitance  104  within a NAND flash memory device. The capacitance  104  may be a capacitance associated with memory cells, bit lines and/or other components and lines within the flash memory device. An external power supply  100  supplies an external voltage V ext  that is higher than the regulated voltage V cc  required for the general operation of the NAND flash memory device and other circuits  106  present on the same integrated circuit (IC) chip. An operating voltage regulator  102  converts the external voltage V ext  to the lower operating voltage V cc , which is then supplied to the components of the flash memory array and the other circuits  106 . 
   The operating voltage V cc  is used to charge the capacitance  104 . However, if the charging current I 2  is uncontrolled, the capacitance  104  of the NAND flash memory may charge too quickly, causing the operating voltage V cc  to drop. This drop causes noise in the operating voltage V cc , which adversely impacts the operation of the other circuits  106 . 
   A technique for controlling the charging current I 2  is to use a current mirror circuit  108  to maintain the charging current I 2  equal to a reference current I ref . The current mirror circuit  108  includes two transistors  120  and  122  whose gates are connected to each other and to the reference current I ref . 
   The current mirror circuit  108  restricts the charging current I 2  to the known amount of the reference current I ref  and thus reduces potential noise from impacting the operating voltage V cc . However, because the capacitance  104  of the flash memory is charged using less current, the amount of time needed to charge the capacitance  104  is increased. Therefore, the reduction of noise in the operating voltage V cc  is traded off for an increased time required to charge the capacitance  104 . 
   A method and apparatus is therefore needed for charging a large capacitance of a circuit such as an integrated circuit device, e.g., a flash memory device, quickly without disrupting the operating voltage supplied to other circuits on the same integrated circuit chip. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Features and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description of the invention which is provided in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a conventional circuit for charging a large capacitance in a circuit, such as an integrated circuit, which may be in a memory device; 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a circuit for an integrated circuit device, for example, a flash memory device, for charging a large capacitance in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a simplified block diagram of a system containing a flash memory device constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; and 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a processor system incorporating a flash memory device constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention, and it is to be understood that structural, logical or procedural changes may be made to the specific embodiments disclosed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2  illustrates a circuit  20 , for limiting the current used to charge a large capacitance  204  of a circuit such as an integrated circuit device, e.g., a flash memory device, constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The circuit  20  includes an operating voltage regulator  202 , a multiplexer  210 , a current mirror circuit  208  including transistors  220  and  222 , a comparator  212 , and a voltage divider  218  including a first resistor  214  and a second resistor  216 . The capacitance  204  may be a capacitance associated with various components and signal lines of an integrated circuit. For example, for a flash memory integrated circuit device, the capacitance  204  may be a capacitance associated with memory cells, bit lines and/or other components and lines within the flash memory. 
   An external power supply  200  supplies an external voltage V ext  to the operating voltage regulator  202  and to the multiplexer  210 . The operating voltage regulator  202  reduces the external voltage V ext  to a lower regulated operating voltage V cc . For example, the external voltage V ext  may be 3.3 V and the operating voltage V cc  may be 2.5 V. The operating voltage regulator  202  supplies the operating voltage V cc  to the multiplexer  210  and to other circuits  206 . 
   The multiplexer  210 , under the control of an output from comparator  212 , routes either the external voltage V ext  or the operating voltage V cc  to the current mirror circuit  208 . The current mirror circuit  208  maintains the charging current I 2  at the same level as the reference current I ref . The charging current I 2  is then used to charge the capacitance  204 . 
   The voltage associated with the capacitance  204  and a reference voltage V ref  are provided to respective inputs of the comparator  212 . The voltage of the capacitance  204  is divided by the voltage divider  218  before it is sent to the comparator  212 . Alternatively, the voltage divider  218  may be omitted and the voltage level of the capacitance  204  may be sent to the comparator  212  undivided. The reference voltage V ref  may be the same as or different from the operating voltage V cc  as is described below in more detail. 
   In operation, the comparator  212  compares the voltage level of the capacitance  204  against the reference voltage V ref . If the voltage level of the capacitance  204  is lower than the reference voltage V ref , the comparator  212  sends a first signal to the multiplexer  210 . The value of the first signal may be logic low or high, provided that the multiplexer  210  is adjusted to react to the first signal by routing the external voltage V ext  from the external power supply  200  to the current mirror circuit  208 . The transistors  220  and  222  of the current mirror circuit  208  are able to handle the increased voltage for a limited amount of time and therefore the capacitance  204  may be charged more quickly using the higher external voltage V ext  without impacting the operating voltage V cc  sent to the other circuits  206 . 
   When the voltage of the capacitance  204  becomes higher than the reference voltage V ref , the comparator  212  sends a second signal to the multiplexer  210 . The second signal will have a logic value opposite the value of the first signal. The multiplexer  210  reacts to the second signal by routing the operating voltage V cc  from the operating voltage regulator  202  to the current mirror circuit  208 . It should be appreciated that the multiplexer  210  may be any switching device or other logic capable of selecting between two inputs and providing the selected input as an output based on an input control signal or signals. 
   The value of V ref  and/or the value of the resistances of the first resistor  214  and the second resistor  216  of the voltage divider  218  may be adjusted so that the capacitance  204  is charged to a voltage less than or slightly less than the operating voltage V cc  using the external voltage V ext  before the comparator  212  switches the voltage supply from the external power supply  200  to the operating voltage regulator  202  to finish charging the capacitance  204  using the operating voltage V cc . Alternatively, the value of V ref  and the value of the resistance of the voltage divider  218  may be adjusted so that the capacitance  204  is charged to the same voltage as the operating voltage V cc  or to a voltage above the operating voltage V cc  using the external voltage V ext  before the comparator  212  switches the voltage supply from the external power supply  200  to the operating voltage regulator  202 . 
   Using the circuit  20  of the invention, the capacitance  204  of a flash memory, such as a NAND flash memory, may be charged directly from the external power supply  200  rather than through the operating voltage regulator  202  when desired. Since the charging of the capacitance  204  is done by the external power supply  200  rather than the operating voltage regulator  202 , the charging current I 2  can be independently adjusted to obtain the desired charging time (by increasing the reference current I ref ) without impacting the operating voltage V cc . The capacitance  204  may therefore be charged quickly without creating excessive noise in the operating voltage V cc  and disrupting the operation of the other circuits  206 . 
     FIG. 3  illustrates an exemplary system  328  incorporating a flash memory device  300  that may incorporate a circuit according to an embodiment of the invention. The operating voltage V cc  is supplied to circuits of the disclosed flash memory. The flash memory device  300  is connected to a host  302 , which is typically a processor, other processing device or memory controller. The flash memory device  300  is connected to a control bus  306  and an address/data bus  308  that are each connected to the host  302  to allow memory read and write accesses. It is noted that in alternative embodiments, the address/data bus  308  can be divided into separate buses. Internal to the flash memory device  300 , a control state machine  310  directs internal operations; manages the flash memory array  312  and updates RAM control registers and non-volatile erase block management registers  314 . The registers  314  (which may include tables) are utilized by the control state machine  310  during operation of the flash memory  300 . 
   The flash memory array  312  contains a sequence of memory banks  316  or segments, each bank  316  being organized logically into a series of erase blocks. Memory access addresses are received on the address/data bus  308  and are divided into row and column address portions. On a read access the row address is latched and decoded by row decode circuit  320 , which selects and activates a row page of memory cells and the other memory cells in their associated strings across a selected memory bank and communicates with I/O buffers  330 . The bit values encoded in the output of the selected row of memory cells are connected to a global bit line and detected by sense amplifiers  322  associated with the memory bank. The column address for the access is latched and decoded by the column decode circuit  324  which communicates with I/O buffers  330 . The output of the column decode circuit  324  selects the desired column data from the sense amplifier  322  outputs and is connected to the data buffer  326  for transfer from the memory device  300  through the address/data bus  308 . On a write access, the row decode circuit  320  selects the row page and the column decode circuit  324  selects the write sense amplifiers  322 . Data values to be written are connected from the data buffer  326  to the write sense amplifiers  322  selected by the column decode circuit  324  and are then written to the selected floating gate memory cells of the memory array  312 . The written memory cells are then reselected by the row and column decode circuits  320 ,  324  and sense amplifiers  322  so that they can be read to verify that the correct values have been programmed into the selected memory cells. 
     FIG. 4  is a block diagram of a processor system  400  utilizing a memory device, e.g., a flash memory device  410 , that may incorporate a circuit in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The flash memory device  410  shown in  FIG. 4  corresponds to the flash memory device  300  shown in  FIG. 3 . The function of the host  302  in  FIG. 3  may be fulfilled by the central processing unit (CPU)  420  of  FIG. 4 , or alternatively, the host  302  may be included with the flash memory  410 . The processor system  400  may be a computer system, a process control system or any other system employing a processor and associated memory. The system  400  includes a CPU  420 , e.g., a microprocessor, that communicates with the flash memory  410  and an I/O device  430  over a bus  440 . It must be noted that the bus  440  may be a series of buses and bridges commonly used in a processor system, but for convenience purposes only, the bus  440  has been illustrated as a single bus. A second I/O device  450  is illustrated, but is not necessary to practice the invention. The processor system  400  also includes random access memory (RAM) device  460  and may include a read-only memory (ROM) device (not shown), and peripheral devices such as a floppy disk drive  470  and a compact disk (CD) ROM drive  480  that also communicate with the CPU  420  over the bus  440  as is well known in the art. 
   While the invention has been described in detail in connection with preferred embodiments known at the time, it should be readily understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Rather, the invention can be modified to incorporate any number of variations, alterations, substitutions or equivalent arrangements not heretofore described, but which are commensurate with the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, while the invention is described in connection with a flash memory and a NAND flash memory, it can be practiced with any other type of circuit, including integrated circuits that include a capacitance that may be charged. Accordingly, the invention is not limited by the foregoing description or drawings, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.