Patent ID: 7474577

Claim:
A voltage generation circuit for developing a plurality of read voltages and a plurality of program verify voltages to be applied to nonvolatile memory cells, each of the memory cells having an associated threshold voltage that is a function of temperature, the voltage generation circuit comprising: a voltage regulator circuit that receives an enable signal and operable to develop a plurality of internal voltages, each of the internal voltages having a value that is substantially independent of temperature, and the voltage regulator circuit further operable to output a selected one of the internal voltages as a regulated output voltage in response to the enable signal; a compensation voltage generator coupled to the voltage regulator circuit to receive one of the internal voltages, the compensation voltage generator having a compensation threshold voltage having the same function of temperature as threshold voltages of the memory cells, and the compensation voltage generator operable to develop a compensation voltage from the internal voltage and the compensation threshold voltage; and a voltage combining circuit coupled to the voltage regulator circuit and the compensation voltage generator, the combining circuit operable to combine the regulated output voltage and the compensation voltage to generate a corresponding read voltage or program verify voltage.