Patent ID: 7376005

Claim:
A thin film magnetic memory device, comprising: a plurality of memory cells for storing data, wherein each memory cell includes a magnetic storage portion having an electric resistance value varying according to a magnetization direction that is rewritten in response to an applied magnetic field, and an access element for supplying a data read current to said magnetic storage portion in a data read operation, said thin film magnetic memory device further comprising: a global data line and a local data line that are arranged in a hierarchical manner, for passing therethrough a data write current for magnetizing said magnetic storage portion in a direction according to write data in a data write operation, wherein said plurality of memory cells are arranged in a matrix, said global data line is provided corresponding to one of every memory cell row and every memory cell column, and said local data line is provided for every prescribed segment of a memory cell group corresponding to a same global data line, said thin film magnetic memory device further comprising: a data write circuit for setting one end of one of a pair of global data lines to a first voltage and one end of the other global data line to a second voltage according to a write data level in data write operation; a first current switch portion provided for every pair of local data lines, for electrically coupling respective one ends of a corresponding pair of local data lines to each other in said data write operation; and a second current switch portion provided for every pair of local data lines, for connecting the other ends of said corresponding pair of local data lines to corresponding two global data lines, respectively.