Patent ID: 6972613

Claim:
A method of storing, in a latch circuit, information concerning a condition of a fuse; said latch circuit comprising a pair of inverter circuits, a first transistor, and a second transistor; said pair of inverter circuits being connected in anti-parallel with a common input terminal and a common output terminal; said first transistor having a first terminal coupled to said input terminal of said pair of inverter circuits, a further terminal coupled to a further terminal of said fuse, and a gate terminal coupled to a strobe line; and said second transistor having a first terminal coupled to a supply voltage, a further terminal connected to said further terminal of said fuse and to said further terminal of said first transistor, and a gate terminal coupled to a pre-charge line; said method comprising: supplying a first signal on said strobe fine that activates said first transistor thereby setting said input terminal of said pair of inverter circuits at a first voltage state when said fuse is in a first condition and keeping a voltage state of said input terminal of said pair of inverter circuits unchanged when said fuse is in a second condition; and supplying a second signal on said pre-charge line while said first signal is being supplied on said strobe line, said second signal activating said second transistor thereby keeping said input terminal of said pair of inverter circuits in said first voltage state when said fuse is in said first condition and setting said input terminal of said pair of inverter circuits at a second voltage state when said fuse is in said second condition.