Patent ID: 7715244

Claim:
A non-volatile register, comprising: a memory element positioned in at least one memory plane and including a first end and a second end; and a register logic fabricated on a substrate and operative to read data stored in the memory element during a read operation and to write data to the memory element during a write operation, the at least one memory plane is fabricated directly above and in contact with the substrate so that the register logic is positioned below the memory element, the register logic is electrically coupled with the first and second ends of the memory element, the register logic including a biased reference electrically coupled with a ground potential and operative to generate a reference signal on an output node, a comparator including a first input, a second input, and an output, the first input is electrically coupled with the second end of the memory element and the second input is electrically coupled with the output node of the biased reference, a first switch having a first output electrically coupled with the first end of the memory element, the first switch electrically coupled with a read enable signal, a write enable signal, a data signal, a read voltage, and a write voltage, a second switch having a second output electrically coupled with the second end of the memory element and the first input of the comparator, the second switch electrically coupled with the ground, potential the read enable signal, the write enable signal, the data signal, and the write voltage.