Abstract:
A decoder for a memory device includes driving devices each applying a respective line voltage to a respective line of the memory device when turned on. The decoder also includes a control device coupled to the plurality of driving devices at a common node for generating a voltage that controls the driving devices to turn on or off. Also, a capacitor coupled to the common node increases the voltage at the common node from an initial boost voltage to a final boost voltage. Thus, a line of a memory device is driven to a boost voltage with minimized area and wiring complexity.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0001]     The present invention relates generally to memory devices such as flash memory devices for example, and more particularly to a word-line decoder for a memory device with high density driving transistors.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]      FIG. 1  shows a typical flash memory device  100  including blocks of flash memory cells. The elements of one example block  102  include an array of flash memory cells  103 . An array of eight by eight flash memory cells is illustrated in the example block  102  for simplicity of illustration and description. However, a typical block would have more numerous flash memory cells.  
         [0003]     Each flash memory cell  103  has a control gate, a drain, and a source. The control gates of all flash memory cells in one row are coupled to a same word-line. The drains of all flash memory cells in one column are coupled to a same bit-line. Thus, the example block  102  has the eight word lines WL 0 , WL 1 , . . . , and WL 7  for the eight rows of flash memory cells. In addition, the example block  102  has eight bit lines coupled to eight select MOSFETs (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors)  104 .  
         [0004]     Furthermore, the example block  102  has a local X-decoder  106  for activating one of the word lines WL 0 , WL 1 , . . . , and WL 7 . For accessing one of the flash memory cells in the block  102 , a selected one of the word lines WL 0 , WL 1 , . . . , and WL 7  is activated when a boost voltage VBST is applied thereon by the local X-decoder. Additionally for accessing that flash memory cell, one of the select MOSFETs  104  coupled to the drain of that flash memory cell is turned on for applying a boost voltage YBST thereon. The sources of the flash memory cells are coupled to a low supply voltage VSS.  
         [0005]     Further referring to  FIG. 1 , the local X-decoder  106  applies the boost voltage VBST on the selected one of the word lines WL 0 , WL 1 , . . . , and WL 7  using the controls signals PGW and NGW from a global X-decoder  108 , WLG from a vertical block decoder  110 , and eight word-line voltages AVW 0 , AVW 1 , . . . , and AVW 7  from a vertical word line decoder  112 .  
         [0006]     The PGW signal indicates whether a flash memory cell within the block  102  is to be accessed for an operation such a programming, and NGW is the reverse logical state of PGW. The global X-decoder decodes block row address bits from an address sequencer (not shown) for generating PGW and NGW that are applied across a row of blocks such as  102  and  114  in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0007]     The WLG indicates whether a column of blocks such as blocks  102  and  116  are being accessed. The vertical block decoder  110  decodes vertical block address bits from the address sequencer (not shown) for generating WLG applied across the column of blocks  102  and  116  in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0008]     The vertical word line decoder  112  decodes vertical word line address bits from the address sequencer (not shown) for generating eight word-line voltages AVW 0 , AVW 1 , . . . , and AVW 7  applied across the column of blocks  102  and  116 . In addition, the drain bit line boost voltage YBST is applied on the selected drain bit line across the column of blocks  102  and  116 .  FIG. 1  shows an array of two by two blocks for the flash memory device  100 , but typical flash memory devices typically include more numerous blocks.  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  shows an example implementation  106 A of the local X-decoder  106  as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,646,950. The local X-decoder  106 A inputs the control signals PGW, NGW, WLG, AVW 0 , AVW 1 , . . . , and AVW 7  from the decoders  108 ,  110 , and  112 . The local X-decoder  106 A then applies a boost voltage VBST on one of the word lines WL 0 , WL 1 , . . . , and WL 7  when the PGW is a logical high state.  
         [0010]     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the local X-decoder  106 A includes a respective driver for each of the word lines WL 0 , WL 1 , . . . , and WL 7 . Thus, a first driver  120  is for the first word line WL 0 , a second driver  121  is for the second word line WL 1 , . . . , and so on until an eighth driver  127  is for the eighth word line WL 7 .  
         [0011]     Each driver, such as the first driver  120 , includes a driving MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor)  132  and a pull-down MOSFET  134  coupled in series. The driving MOSFET  132  has a drain coupled to a corresponding line voltage AVW 0  from the vertical word line decoder  112 . Thus, the driving MOSFET within the second driver  121  is coupled to the corresponding line voltage AVW 1 , and so on until the driving MOSFET within the eighth driver  127  is coupled to the corresponding line voltage AVW 7 .  
         [0012]     Further in the example driver  120 , the source of the driving MOSFET  132  is coupled to a drain of the pull-down MOSFET  134 . The source of the pull-down MOSFET  134  is coupled to a low voltage VSS. The control signal NGW from the global X-decoder  108  is coupled to the gate of the pull-down MOSFET  134 . The example driver  120  also includes a control MOSFET  136  having a source coupled to the gate of the driving MOSFET  132  at a control node  138 .  
         [0013]     Further referring to  FIG. 2 , each of the drivers  120 ,  121 , . . . , and  127  are each implemented similarly with a respective control MOSFET, a respective driving MOSFET, and a respective pull-down MOSFET. The PGW control signal from the global X-decoder  108  is applied on the drains of the control MOSFETs in all of the drivers  120 ,  121 , . . . , and  127 . The WLG control signal from the vertical block decoder  110  is applied on the gates of the control MOSFETs in all of the drivers  120 ,  121 , . . . , and  127 .  
         [0014]     For driving one of the word lines WL 0 , WL 1 , . . . , and WL 7  to a boost voltage VBST, the controls signals PGW and WLG are set at the boost voltage VBST. Assume that the first word line WL 0  is to be activated to the boost voltage VBST. In that case, initially, the AVW 0  is set to the low voltage VSS while the control signals PGW and WLG are set to the original boost voltage VBST. With such voltages, an initial boost voltage (VBST-Vth) is generated at the control node  138 , with Vth being the threshold voltage of the control MOSFET  136 .  
         [0015]     Thereafter, with the control signals PGW and WLG still set to the original boost voltage VBST, the AVW 0  is set to the original boost voltage VBST such that a final boost voltage (VBST+ΔV) is generated at the control node  138 , with ΔV being about the gate to source voltage of the driving MOSFET  132 . In this manner, the original boost voltage VBST is generated on the word line WL 0  without degradation of the voltage level from the gate to source voltage drop for the driving MOSFET  132  when the AVW 0  is set to the original boost voltage. On the other hand, if the AVW 0  is the low voltage VSS, then the word line WL 0  is discharged to the low voltage VSS.  
         [0016]     The respective control MOSFET, the respective driving MOSFET, and the respective pull-down MOSFET within each of the other drivers  121 , . . . , and  127  operate similarly. Thus, the corresponding word line WL is activated to the boost voltage VBST if the corresponding line voltage AVW is the boost voltage, or is discharged to the low voltage VSS if the corresponding line voltage AVW is the low voltage VSS, for each of the drivers  120 ,  121 , . . . , and  127 .  
         [0017]     When the NGW is activated to the boost voltage VBST (with the PGW being deactivated to the low voltage VSS), the driving MOSFETs are turned off, and the pull-down MOSFETs are turned on in all of the drivers  120 ,  121 , . . . , and  127 . In that case, each of the word lines WL 0 , WL 1 , . . . , and WL 7  is discharged to the low voltage VSS.  
         [0018]     In the local X-decoder  106 A of  FIG. 2 , each of the drivers  120 ,  121 , . . . , and  127  is implemented with a corresponding control MOSFET  136  for stepping up the control voltage at a respective control node  138  from the initial boost voltage (VBST-Vth) to the final boost voltage (VBST+ΔV) that is higher than the original boost voltage VBST. Thus, eight such control MOSFETs and eight separate such control nodes are used in the eight drivers  120 ,  121 , . . . , and  127  in the prior art of  FIG. 2 , resulting in increased area and wiring complexity.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0019]     Accordingly, a line of a memory device is activated to a boost voltage with minimized area and wiring complexity in a decoder of the present invention.  
         [0020]     In a general aspect of the present invention, a decoder for a memory device includes a plurality of driving devices each applying a respective line voltage to a respective line of the memory device when turned on. Additionally, the decoder includes a control device coupled to the plurality of driving devices at a common node for generating a voltage at the common node for controlling the driving devices to turn on or off.  
         [0021]     In another embodiment of the present invention, the decoder includes a capacitor coupled to the common node, and a charge stored in the capacitor increases the voltage at the common node from an initial boost voltage to a final boost voltage.  
         [0022]     In an example embodiment of the present invention, the capacitor is a MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor) having a gate coupled to the common node and having a drain and a source that are coupled together at a capacitance node. In that case, a low voltage is applied on the capacitance node when the initial boost voltage is generated at the common node.  
         [0023]     In another embodiment of the present invention, each of the driving devices is a MOSFET having a gate coupled to the common node and having a drain with the respective line voltage applied thereon and having a source coupled to the respective line. The respective line voltage for each of the driving devices is the low voltage when the initial boost voltage is generated at the common node. Then, at least one of the respective line voltages is an original boost voltage that is also applied on the capacitance node for generating the final boost voltage at the common node.  
         [0024]     In a further embodiment of the present invention, the control device is a MOSFET having a source coupled to the common node and having a gate and a drain with the original boost voltage applied thereon during generation of the initial boost voltage and the final boost voltage on the common node.  
         [0025]     In another embodiment of the present invention, the decoder includes a plurality of pull-down devices, each applying a low voltage to a respective line of the memory device when the driving devices are turned off. For example, each pull-down device is a MOSFET having a source with the low voltage applied thereon, a drain coupled to a respective line, and a gate coupled to a common control terminal. The gates of all the MOSFETs comprising the pull-down devices are coupled to the common control terminal. In another mode of operation, the original boost voltage is applied on the common control terminal for turning on all the MOSFETs comprising the pull-down devices such that the low voltage is applied on each respective line.  
         [0026]     The present invention may be practiced to particular advantage when the decoder is a local X-decoder for the memory device that is a flash memory device, and when each respective line is a respective word line of the flash memory device. However, the present invention may be used for any type of decoder within any type of memory device.  
         [0027]     In this manner, the driving MOSETs are controlled by one control MOSFET that adjusts the voltage at one common node in the decoder of the present invention. Thus, the area and wiring complexity is minimized with the decoder of the present invention.  
         [0028]     These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood by considering the following detailed description of the invention which is presented with the attached drawings.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0029]      FIG. 1  shows basic elements of a flash memory device including a local X-decoder for driving word lines, according to the prior art;  
         [0030]      FIG. 2  shows a circuit diagram of an example local X-decoder with a respective control MOSFET coupled to a respective driving MOSFET for each word line resulting in high area and wiring complexity, according to the prior art;  
         [0031]      FIG. 3  shows a circuit diagram of a local X-decoder with one control MOSFET for all driving MOSFETs resulting in minimized area and wiring complexity, according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0032]      FIG. 4  shows the local X-decoder of  FIG. 3  with voltages for generating an initial boost voltage at a common node, according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0033]      FIG. 5  shows the local X-decoder of  FIG. 3  with voltages for generating a final boost voltage at the common node, according to an embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0034]      FIG. 6  shows the local X-decoder of  FIG. 3  with voltages for discharging the word lines to a low voltage, according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
       [0035]     The figures referred to herein are drawn for clarity of illustration and are not necessarily drawn to scale. Elements having the same reference number in  FIGS. 1, 2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 , and  6  refer to elements having similar structure and function.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0036]      FIG. 3  shows an X-decoder  106 B which may be used in a flash memory device, similarly to the local X-decoder  106  within the flash memory device  100  of  FIG. 1 . Referring to  FIG. 3 , the X-decoder  106 B includes eight drivers  200 ,  201 , . . . , and  207 , each driving a respective word-line WL 0 , WL 1 , . . . , and WL 7  of the flash memory device. Each driver such as the example driver  200  includes a driving MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor)  212  and a pull-down MOSFET  214 .  
         [0037]     The driving MOSFET  212  has a drain with a respective line voltage AVW 0  applied thereon. The driving MOSFET  212  also has a gate coupled to a common node  216  also coupling all the gates of the driving MOSFETs of the eight drivers  200 ,  201 , . . . , and  207 . The source of the driving MOSFET  212  is coupled to the drain of the pull-down MOSFET  214 .  
         [0038]     The pull-down MOSFET  214  has a source coupled to a low voltage VSS. The sources of the pull-down MOSFETs for all the eight drivers  200 ,  201 , . . . , and  207  are coupled to the low voltage VSS. The pull-down MOSFET  214  has a gate coupled to a common control terminal  218  with a NGW control signal applied thereon. The gates of the pull-down MOSFETs for all the eight drivers  200 ,  201 , . . . , and  207  are coupled to the common control terminal.  
         [0039]     Thus, each driver  200 ,  201 , . . . , and  207  has a respective driving MOSFET with a respective line voltage AVW applied on the drain of the respective driving MOSFET for driving a respective word line WL to the line voltage AVW. The gates of the driving MOSFETs are coupled together at the common node  216 .  
         [0040]     The X-decoder  106 B also includes a control MOSFET  220  having a source coupled to the common node  216 . The PGW control signal is coupled to the drain of the control MOSFET  220 , and the WLG control signal is coupled to the gate of the control MOSFET  220 .  
         [0041]     In addition, the X-decoder  106 B includes a capacitor  222  coupled between the common node  216  and a capacitance node  224 . In an example embodiment of the present invention, the capacitor  222  is comprised of a MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor) having a gate coupled to the common node  216  and having a drain and a source that are coupled together at the capacitance node  224 .  
         [0042]     The operation of the X-decoder  106 B is now described in reference to  FIGS. 4, 5 , and  6 . First assume that the control signals PGW and WLG are at a boost voltage VBST (while the control signal NGW is at the low voltage VSS) for driving one of the word lines WL 0 , WL 1 , . . . , and WL 7  to the boost voltage VBST. Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 4 , the control signals PGW and NGW are generated by the global X-decoder  108  of the flash memory device, and the control signal WLG is generated by the vertical block decoder  110  of the flash memory device.  
         [0043]     The global X-decoder  108  activates the PGW control signal to the boost voltage VBST and de-activates the NGW control signal to the low voltage VSS such that the driver  106 B drives one of the word lines WL 0 , WL 1 , . . . , and WL 7  to the boost voltage VBST. Assume for example that the first word line WL 0  is to be driven to the boost voltage VBST.  
         [0044]     Referring to  FIG. 4 , initially, all of the line voltages AVW 0 , AV 1 , . . . , and AVW 7  applied on the driving MOSFETs of the eight drivers  200 ,  201 , . . . , and  207  are set to the low voltage VSS. In addition, the low voltage VSS is applied on the capacitance node  224 . With such voltages in  FIG. 4 , an initial boost voltage (VBST-Vth) is generated on the common node  216 , with Vth being the threshold voltage of the control MOSFET  220 . In addition with such voltages in  FIG. 4 , the low voltage VSS is generated on the word-lines WL 0 , WL 1 , . . . , and WL 7 .  
         [0045]     Thereafter, referring to  FIG. 5 , the boost voltage VBST is applied simultaneously on the capacitance node  224  and on the drain of the driving MOSFET  212  as the line voltage AVW 0 . Generally, the boost voltage VBST is applied on the drain of the driving MOSFET within the driver coupled to the selected one of the word lines WL 0 , WL 1  . . . , or WL 7  to be driven to the boost voltage VBST.  
         [0046]     With such voltages in  FIG. 5 , a final boost voltage (VBST+ΔV) is generated on the common node  216 , with ΔV being at least (and substantially about) the threshold voltage of the driving MOSFET  212 . Thus, the first word line WL 0  is driven to the original boost voltage VBST. Since the other line voltages AVW 1 , . . . , and AVW 7  are the low voltage VSS, the other word lines WL 1 , . . . , and WL 7  are deactivated to the low voltage VSS.  
         [0047]     Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the capacitor  222  stores charge from the bias voltages of  FIG. 4  as the initial boost voltage (VBST−Vth) is generated on the common node  216 . Thereafter, when the boost voltage VBST is applied on the driving transistor  212  and the capacitance node  224  in  FIG. 5 , the final boost voltage (VBST+ΔV) is generated on the common node  216 .  
         [0048]     Such a final boost voltage (VBST+ΔV) is stepped up from the initial boost voltage (VBST-Vth). Such a final boost voltage (VBST+ΔV) is higher than the original boost voltage VBST for advantageously turning on the driving MOSFET  212  when the source of the driving MOSFET  212  is biased to the original boost voltage VBST.  
         [0049]     Because the gates of the eight driving MOSFETs for the eight drivers  200 ,  201 , . . . , and  207  are coupled to the common node  216 , the capacitor  222  is coupled to the common node  216  for maintaining the voltage at the common node  222 . The capacitance of the capacitor  222  is designed to be substantially larger than the gate capacitance of each of the driving MOSFETs for the eight drivers  200 ,  201 , . . . , and  207  for preventing degradation of the voltage at the common node  216 . Any of the other drivers  201 , . . . , and  207  operates similarly to the driver  200  to drive the respective word line WL to the boost voltage VBST when the corresponding line voltage AVW at the drain of the driving MOSFET is activated to the boost voltage VBST.  
         [0050]      FIG. 6  illustrates the case when the PGW control signal is deactivated to the low voltage VSS and the NGW control signal is activated to the boost voltage VBST such that the eight word lines WL 0 , WL 1 , . . . , and WL 7  are deactivated to the low voltage VSS. In that case, the pull-down MOSFETs (such as  214 ) within each of the drivers  200 ,  201 , . . . , and  207  are turned on such that each of the eight word lines WL 0 , WL 1 , . . . , and WL 7  are coupled to the VSS voltage source. In addition, the common node  216  has the low voltage VSS generated thereon no matter the voltage applied on the capacitance node  224 .  
         [0051]     In this manner, the X-decoder  106 B is implemented with just one control MOSFET  220  and the capacitor  222  that is common to all of the eight drivers  200 ,  201 , . . . , and  207 . Thus, the X-decoder  106 B is implemented with a minimized number of the control MOSFET  200 . Furthermore, the one common node  216  is used to bias the gates of the driving MOSFETs of the eight drivers  200 ,  201 , . . . , and  207 . Such a common node  216  is advantageous for minimizing wiring to the eight drivers  200 ,  201 , . . . , and  207 . As a result, the eight drivers may be fabricated compactly with minimized area.  
         [0052]     The foregoing is by way of example only and is not intended to be limiting. For example, the present invention is described for a local X-decoder within a flash memory device. However, the present invention may be used for any type of decoder within any type of memory device. In addition, any number of elements illustrated and described herein is by way of example only, and the present invention may be used for any number of such elements. The present invention is limited only as defined in the following claims and equivalents thereof.