Patent ID: 8014221

Claim:
A semiconductor memory device comprising a memory cell array which includes sub memory cell array blocks, each sub memory cell array block comprising a plurality of unit memory cells between a plurality of word lines and a plurality of bit line pairs, each unit memory cell comprising a first memory cell having a floating body connected between a corresponding word line among the plurality of word lines and a bit line of a corresponding bit line pair among the plurality of bit line pairs and a second memory cell having a floating body connected between the corresponding word line and a complementary bit line of the corresponding bit line pair; a bit line selecting portion comprising bit line selectors, each bit line selector connected between each sub memory cell array block and corresponding sense bit line pair among a plurality of sense bit line pairs, each bit line selector connecting one bit line pair among the plurality of bit line pairs to the corresponding sense bit line pair in response to bit line selecting signals; at least one data line including first and second complementary data lines; and a sensing portion comprising a plurality of sensing circuits, each sensing circuit connected between the corresponding sense bit line pair and at least one data line, wherein the first memory cell and the second memory cell are volatile memory cells, the first memory cell of the unit memory cell stores data and the second memory cell of the unit memory cell stores complementary data in a write operation, and wherein the sensing circuit comprises a column selecting gate transmitting data applied through the first and second complementary data lines in response to a corresponding column selection signal during a read operation and the write operation, first and second voltage limiters limiting a voltage level of each of the corresponding sense bit lines during the read operation, a sensing amplifying circuit generating first and second voltages corresponding to currents flowing through the first and second voltage limiters and sensing and amplifying a voltage difference of the first and second voltages to generate sensing data during the read operation, a latch latching the data transmitted through the column selecting gate during the write operation and latching the sensing data during the read operation, and a write back gate transmitting the data latched in the latch into the corresponding sense bit line pair in response to a write back signal.