Patent Description:
One Time Programmable (OTP) memory can store data in multiple OTP units which are either in an unprogrammed state or in a programmed state. An OTP unit usually includes a fuse element or an antifuse element. After the fuse element or the antifuse element is programmed, it will be in an unrecoverable state. This unrecoverable state will not be affected by power failures, so that data can be stored stably.

In Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), an OTP unit is often used to control the opening or closing of a redundancy memory unit. For example, when a memory unit in a memory unit area corresponding to a word line is defective, the corresponding OTP unit will be programmed (the output state of the OTP unit changes from "<NUM>" to "<NUM>"), and the DRAM control circuit will turn off the reading and writing of the memory unit in the memory unit area, and will open the reading and writing of a memory unit in a redundant area, which then will replace the memory unit in the defective memory unit area with the corresponding memory unit in the redundant area, thereby repairing the DRAM defect.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of a read-write circuit of an OTP unit in the related art. It can be seen from <FIG> that each memory unit is connected with a corresponding antifuse element and a detection element. This connection method in a large-scale integrated circuit will cause problems such as circuit area being too large and wiring being too complex. Due to the numerous components and complicated wiring, circuit reliability will be reduced as a result.

It should be noted that the information disclosed in the background section above is only used to enhance understanding of the background of the present disclosure, therefore may include information that does not constitute prior art known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

<CIT> discloses electronic fuse cell and array.

<CIT> discloses reading circuit for semiconductor memory cells.

<CIT> discloses self-timed integrating differential current.

<CIT> discloses offset compensation for ferroelectric memory cell sensing.

The present disclosure provides a one-time programmable memory comprising a read-write circuit, which is used to overcome some of the problems such as large areas and complexity of the memory and low reliability caused by limitations and faults of the existing techniques.

Any embodiment in the description that does not fall within the scope of the claims shall be regarded as an example for understanding the present invention.

The embodiments of the present disclosure realize the following: n*n antifuse units connected between the first node and the second node, a control signal controlling the opening and closing states of an antifuse unit, and the parallel connection of the first switching element and the first capacitor at the second node, the second node connected to the input of the comparator, and one reference array capable to compare the voltages at the second node, all of which achieved detection of the fuse states with a smaller number of components and a smaller circuit area, resulting improved reliability of the circuit.

It is to be understood that the above general description and the detailed description below are merely exemplary and explanatory, and do not limit the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

Exemplary embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the exemplary embodiments can be implemented in various forms, and should not be construed as being limited to the examples set forth herein; on the contrary, the provision of these embodiments makes the present disclosure more comprehensive and complete, and fully conveys the concept of the exemplary embodiments to those skilled in the art. The described features, structures or characteristics may be combined in one or more embodiments in any suitable way. In the following description, many specific details are provided to give a sufficient understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure. However, those skilled in the art will realize that the technical solutions of the present disclosure can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or other methods, components, devices, steps, etc. can be used. In other cases, the well-known technical solutions are not shown or described in detail to avoid overwhelming the crowd and obscuring all aspects of the present disclosure.

In addition, the drawings are only schematic illustrations of the present disclosure, and the same reference numerals in the drawings denote the same or similar parts, and thus their repeated description will be omitted. Some of the block diagrams shown in the drawings are functional entities and do not necessarily correspond to physically or logically independent entities. These functional entities may be implemented in the form of software, or implemented in one or more hardware modules or integrated circuits, or implemented in different networks and/or processor devices and/or microcontroller devices.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of the structure in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, the read-write circuit <NUM> includes antifuse array <NUM>, reference array <NUM>, and comparison circuit <NUM>.

The comparison circuit <NUM> has the first input terminal coupled to the second node N2 and the second input terminal coupled to the third node N3, for determining whether a corresponding antifuse element of the antifuse array has a programming operation based on the voltage comparison result of the second node N2 and the third node N3.

The antifuse element may compose a MOS transistor, equivalent to a capacitor, which is in an off state before being programmed, and is in an on state after being programmed.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of the signal connection of the antifuse unit in the circuit shown in <FIG>.

Referring to the embodiment of the present disclosure in <FIG>, each antifuse unit <NUM> is connected to only one control signal line, and the control signal line is connected to the output terminal of the logic circuit <NUM> for outputting the AND signals WL_x & BL_y from different word line signals WL_x and bit line signals BL_y. The input terminal of the logic circuit <NUM> is connected to all word lines and bit lines. When the numbers of word lines and bit lines are large, the logic circuit <NUM> can convert m+n word line/bit line signals into m*n control signals. Compared with the complicated circuit connections in <FIG> (each fuse/antifuse unit needs to connect to three signal lines), the circuit connections of the antifuse units disclosed in the present embodiment are simpler and takes up less area.

<FIG> is a timing diagram of control signals of the read-write circuit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

<FIG> are schematic diagrams of the circuit states corresponding to the control timing shown in <FIG>.

In the embodiment of <FIG>, the first switching element MN1, the second switching element MN2, the reference switching element MN3, and the switching elements in each antifuse unit are all NMOS switching transistors. At this time, each switching element is turned on at a high voltage level and turned off at a low voltage level. In other embodiments, each switching element may also be a positive channel Metal Oxide Semiconductor (PMOS) switching transistor. In this case, the control signal may be adaptively adjusted according to the switching characteristics of the PMOS switching transistor, and the present disclosure is not limited to this example.

In <FIG> and <FIG>, according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, in the writing state (when the antifuse unit is programmed), the first voltage source VDD_W/R is at the first voltage level, and in the read state (when the state of the antifuse unit is detected), the first voltage source VDD_W/R is at the second voltage level. In some embodiments, the first voltage level is a high voltage (for example, <NUM>~6V), and the second voltage level is a low voltage (for example, <NUM>~<NUM>.

In the writing state, the first control signal V_CTRL1 is at a high voltage level, the first switching element is turned on, and the second control signal V_CTRL2 is at a low voltage level, and the second switching element is turned off. At this time, if any word line signal is in the enabled state and any bit line signal is in the enabled state, the switching transistor of a certain antifuse unit is turned on, both ends of a certain antifuse element connected to the first voltage source and the second voltage source realize fused open, and the state changes irreversibly.

In <FIG> and <FIG> and <FIG>, in the read state, the first control signal V_CTRL1 and the second control signal V_CTRL2 are pulse signals with the same phase, and each pulse corresponds to one read signal output (one word line is in the enable state and one bit line is in the enable state), therefore, in one cycle of the pulse signal, the first switching element and the second switching element undergo a simultaneous turn-on and simultaneous turn-off.

When reading the state of the antifuse unit corresponding to word line x and bit line y (where x and y are any positive integer less than n), word line x is in the enabled state, bit line y is in the enabled state, and the control signal of the reference device MN3 is in the enabled state, then the reference switching element MN3 is turned on. Therefore, in the read state, as long as any antifuse unit in the antifuse array is in the enabled state, the reference switching element MN3 is turned on. Similarly, if all the antifuse units in the antifuse array are not enabled, then the reference switching element MN3 is turned off.

Referring to <FIG>, when the first switching element MN1 and the second switching element MN2 are both turned on (corresponding to the phases T1, T3, and T5 in the timing diagram), the voltage of the second node is zero, and the first capacitor C1 discharges through the first switching element MN1; the voltage of the third node N3 is zero, and the second capacitor C2 discharges through the second switching element MN2. Therefore, in this interval, the voltages on the first capacitor C1 and the second capacitor C2 are both zero, in preparation for charging.

Referring to <FIG>, when the first switching element MN1 and the second switching element MN2 are both turned off (corresponding to phases T2 and T4 in the timing diagram), the first voltage source charges the second capacitor C2 through the mirror current source MP1, the reference resistor R1 and the reference switching element MN3, and the voltage of the third node N3 depends on the charging speed of the second capacitor C2.

At this moment, if the antifuse element C_x_y corresponding to the read word line x and the read bit line y is in an unprogrammed state (blocking state), the first voltage source charges the first capacitor C1 through the mirror current source MP1, the blocking resistor of the antifuse element C_x_y, and the switching element MN_x_y, and the voltage of the second node N2 depends on the charging speed of the first capacitor C1. If the antifuse element C_x_y corresponding to the read word line x and the read bit line y is in the programmed state (conduction state), the first voltage source charges the first capacitor C1 through the mirror current source MP1, the on-resistance of the antifuse element C_x_y and the switching element MN_x_y, and the voltage of the second node N2 depends on the charging speed of the first capacitor C1. The Vn2 signal in the T2 stage in <FIG> corresponds to the charging state of the antifuse unit in the programmed state (enable state) - the resistance is small, so C1 charges faster, and the Vn2 signal in the T4 stage corresponds to the charging state of the antifuse unit in the unprogrammed state (disabled state) - the resistance is large so the charging speed of C1 is slow.

The comparison circuit <NUM> determines whether the currently read antifuse unit is programmed by comparing the voltages of the second node N2 and the third node N3. For example, in the T2 stage in <FIG>, since Vn2 is significantly greater than Vn3 for a period of time, it can be determined that the current read antifuse unit is in the enabled state; in the T4 stage in <FIG>, Vn2 is significantly smaller than Vn3 in a period of time, it can be determined that the current read antifuse unit is in the disabled state.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the charging speeds of the first capacitor and the second capacitor are controlled to maintain the voltage difference between the first capacitor and the second capacitor for a certain period of time, thereby achieving voltage comparison.

The method of controlling the charging speed of the first capacitor and the second capacitor includes reducing the overall charging speeds and controlling the charging speed difference by the differences of resistance values. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, in order to facilitate control of calculation, the capacitance values of the first capacitor and the second capacitor may be set equal.

The method of reducing the overall charging speeds is, for example, by controlling the gate voltage of the mirror current source MP1. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the control terminal of the mirror current source MP1 is connected to the control signal V_MIR, and the control signal V_MIR is provided by the voltage source/current source module. By setting the voltage value of V_MIR, the mirror current magnitude can be set when the mirror current source MP1 is turned on. When the mirror current source MP1 is turned on, its current can be determined according to the capacitance values (based on charging time) of the first capacitor C1 and the second capacitor C2. For example, when the capacitances of the first capacitor and the second capacitor are equal, and the capacitances of the first capacitor and the second capacitor are both in the range of <NUM>~1000fF, the mirror current can be set to <NUM>~100nA.

The method of controlling the difference in charging speed by the difference in resistance values may be, for example, setting the resistance value of the reference resistor R1 according to the resistances of the antifuse element before and after programming, that is, the blocking-resistance and the on-resistance.

Specifically, the blocking-resistance value of the antifuse element is R_NP when it is not broken down, and the on-resistance value is R_P after it is broken down, the resistance of resistor R1 should be greater than R_P but less than R_NP, that is, the resistance of the reference resistor is set to be greater than the on-resistance value of the antifuse element but smaller than the blocking-resistance value of the antifuse element.

In general, R_P is two orders of magnitude or less smaller than R_NP. Therefore, in the present disclosure, R1 is set to be one order of magnitude larger than R_P, and R_NP is set to be one order of magnitude larger than R1, that is, the resistance of the reference resistor can be set less than or equal to one-tenth of the blocking-resistance of the antifuse element, and greater than or equal to ten times the on-resistance of the antifuse element.

Thereafter, the resistance of the reference resistor R1 can be further determined by the preset charging time ratio of the capacitors C1 and C2 according to the design requirements. Finally, when the capacitances of the first capacitor C1 and the second capacitor C2 is in the range of <NUM>~1000fF, the resistance value of the reference resistor R1 can be set in the range of 1KΩ~100KΩ.

In the foregoing embodiment, the reference resistor R1 may be a fixed resistor or an adjustable resistor. Since the resistance value of a fixed resistor usually has an error, setting the reference resistor R1 as an adjustable resistor helps to provide more accurate control over capacitor charging time.

Take the antifuse element C_0_0 as an example, the resistance is R001 when it is not programmed, and the resistance is R002 after it is programmed, assuming R001=<NUM>* R002=<NUM>*R1, C1=C2, when reading the state of C_0_0, that is, the word line at <NUM> being the enable state, and bit line at <NUM> being the enable state, there are two cases to consider.

If C_0_0 is not programmed, the first voltage source VDD_W/R charges the first capacitor C1 through the mirror current source MP1, the blocking-resistance of the antifuse element C_x_y and the switching element NM_x_y, and charges the second capacitor C2 through the mirror current source MP1, the reference resistor R1, and the reference switching element MN3.

Assuming that the voltage of the first node N1 is Vn1, the capacitance of the first capacitor C1 is C1, the charging time is t1, the capacitance of the second capacitor C2 is C2, and the charging time is t2, then: <MAT> <MAT> which is: <MAT> <MAT> under the condition of C1=C2=c, that is, t1=t2=t, the following equation is derived: <MAT> when R001=<NUM>, R1=<NUM>, c=1000f, t=<NUM>, Vn3/Vn2≈<NUM>.

That is, when the resistance of the first resistor R1 is one-tenth of the blocking-resistance of the antifuse element, the voltage Vn3 of the third node N3 is <NUM> times the voltage Vn2 of the second node N2 within a period of time.

If C_0_0 has been programmed, the first voltage source VDD_W/R charges the first capacitor C1 through the mirror current source MP1, the on-resistance of the antifuse element C_x_y and the switching element MN_x_y, and charges the second capacitor C2 through the mirror current source MP1, the reference resistor R1, and the reference switching element MN3. After replacing R001 (blocking-resistance) with R002 (on-resistance) in the above formulas (<NUM>), (<NUM>), (<NUM>), when R002=<NUM>, R1=<NUM>, c=1000f, t=<NUM>, Vn3/Vn2≈<NUM>.

That is, when the resistance of the first resistor R1 is ten times the on-resistance of the antifuse element, the voltage Vn3 of the third node N3 is one-tenth of the voltage Vn2 of the second node N2 within a period of time.

Through the above setting method, regardless of whether the antifuse element has been programmed or not, the voltage of the second node and the voltage of the third node will have a large difference within a period of time. Therefore, the comparator <NUM> does not need to be highly sensitive to determine the status of the antifuse unit, thereby can greatly reduce the components' cost.

In summary, the present disclosure is able to not only simplify circuit connections and reduce the number of components, thereby improving circuit reliability, but also capable of reducing the parameter requirements for components, further saving manufacturing cost.

It should be noted that although several modules or units of the device for action execution are mentioned in the above detailed description, this modulization is not mandatory. In fact, according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the features and functions of two or more modules or units described above may be embodied in one module or unit. Conversely, the features and functions of a module or unit described above can be further divided into multiple modules or units to be embodied.

Those skilled in the art will easily think of other embodiments of the present disclosure after considering the description and practicing the invention disclosed herein. The scope of protection of the invention shall be subject to the scope of protection of the claims.

Claim 1:
A one-time programmable memory comprising:
an antifuse array (<NUM>), comprising:
n*n antifuse units, wherein each of the n*n antifuse units comprises an antifuse element and a switching element coupled together, wherein a first end of each of the n*n antifuse units is coupled to a first node (N1), and a second end of each of the n*n antifuse units is connected to a second node (N2), wherein a control terminal of the switching element in each of the n*n antifuse units is respectively coupled to AND signals of different word line signals and bit line signals, wherein the first node (N1) is coupled to a current source, wherein the current source is electrically connected to a first voltage source; and
a first capacitor (C1) and a first switching element (MN1) connected in parallel between the second node (N2) and a second voltage source, wherein a control terminal of the first switching element (MN1) is coupled to a first control signal (V_CTRL1);
a single reference array (<NUM>), consisting of a reference resistor (R1), a reference switching element (MN3), a second capacitor (C2) and a second switching element (MN2);
the reference resistor (R1) and the reference switching element (MN3) connected in series between the first node (N1) and a third node (N3), wherein a control terminal of the reference switching element (MN3) is coupled to an OR signal of the n*n AND signals of different word line signals and bit line signals; and
the second capacitor (C2) and the second switching element (MN2) connected in parallel between the third node (N3) and the second voltage source, wherein a control terminal of the second switching element (MN2) is coupled to a second control signal (V_CTRL2); and
a comparison circuit (<NUM>), wherein a first input terminal of the comparison circuit (<NUM>) is coupled to the second node (N2), a second input terminal of the comparison circuit (<NUM>) is coupled to the third node (N3), and wherein the comparison circuit (<NUM>) is configured to determine whether a programmed operation occurs at a antifuse unit based on a comparison result of a voltage at the second node (N2) and a voltage at the third node (N3); and wherein
the one-time programmable memory is configured to program the antifuse unit by: the first control signal (V_CTRL1) being at a high voltage level, the first switching element (MN1) being turned on, and the second control signal (V_CTRL2) being at a low voltage level, and the second switching element (MN2) being turned off.