Patent ID: 7170806

Claim:
A data path for coupling data between a memory cell and an input/output (IO) sense amplifier, the data path comprising: a first pair of data signal lines coupled to a first column of memory including a first memory cell during a memory read operation to the first memory cell; a second pair of data signal lines coupled to a second column of memory including a second memory cell during a memory read operation to the second memory cell; a third pair of data signal lines coupled to an input of the IO line sense amplifier; first and second IO line coupling circuits coupled to the first and second data signal lines, respectively, each coupling circuit further coupled to the third pair of data signal lines and operable for a memory read operation to couple and decouple each of the signal lines of the third pair to and from a voltage supply in accordance with voltage levels of the signal lines of the first pair or the voltage levels of the signal lines of the second pair, the first and second coupling circuits operable in a test mode to couple and decouple each of the signal lines of the third pair to and from the voltage supply in accordance with voltage levels of the signal lines of the first pair and the signal lines of the second pair; and a test compression circuit coupled to the third pair of data signal lines operable in the test mode to compare voltage levels of each of the signal lines to a reference voltage and in response, generate an output test signal indicative of whether the voltage levels of the signal lines of the third pair relative to the reference voltage are complementary or the same.