U.S. patent application number 09/943504 was filed with the patent office on 2002-03-14 for random access memory with divided memory banks and data read/write architecture therefor.
Invention is credited to Oowaki, Yukihito.
Application Number | 20020031037 09/943504 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 14084374 |
Filed Date | 2002-03-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020031037 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Oowaki, Yukihito |
March 14, 2002 |
RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY WITH DIVIDED MEMORY BANKS AND DATA READ/WRITE
ARCHITECTURE THEREFOR
Abstract
A dynamic random access memory with two divided memory banks is
disclosed wherein memory cells are divided into first and second
groups each of which includes an array of memory cells connected to
a corresponding word line. Those memory cells are subdivided into
subgroups each of which has four memory cells. A first set of
input/output lines is provided for the first group of memory cells,
and a second set of input/output lines is provided for the second
group of memory cells. An output circuit section is connected to
the those sets of input/output lines to output data transferred
thereto. An access controller section specifies subgroups
alternately from the first and second groups of memory cells with
four memory cells as a substantial access minimum unit, accesses
memory cells of a specified subgroup to read stored data therefrom
and transfers the read data to corresponding input/output lines
associated therewith. The read data is supplied to the output
circuit section for conversion to serial data and then output
therefrom.
Inventors: |
Oowaki, Yukihito;
(Yokohama-shi, JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
OBLON SPIVAK MCCLELLAND MAIER & NEUSTADT PC
FOURTH FLOOR
1755 JEFFERSON DAVIS HIGHWAY
ARLINGTON
VA
22202
US
|
Family ID: |
14084374 |
Appl. No.: |
09/943504 |
Filed: |
August 31, 2001 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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09943504 |
Aug 31, 2001 |
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09603895 |
Jun 26, 2000 |
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6301185 |
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09603895 |
Jun 26, 2000 |
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08578900 |
Dec 27, 1995 |
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6118721 |
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09603895 |
Jun 26, 2000 |
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08330120 |
Oct 27, 1994 |
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5497351 |
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08330120 |
Oct 27, 1994 |
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08120221 |
Sep 14, 1993 |
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08120221 |
Sep 14, 1993 |
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07956469 |
Oct 2, 1992 |
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07956469 |
Oct 2, 1992 |
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07704733 |
May 20, 1991 |
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07704733 |
May 20, 1991 |
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07338157 |
Apr 14, 1989 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
365/230.03 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G11C 7/10 20130101; G11C
7/1033 20130101; G11C 7/1039 20130101; G11C 7/1042 20130101; G11C
7/1072 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
365/230.03 |
International
Class: |
G11C 008/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 18, 1988 |
JP |
63-93511 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A semiconductor memory device comprising: memory cells connected
to word lines and divided into a plurality of memory groups
including first and second groups, each of said first and second
groups including an array of memory cells connected to a
corresponding word line, and said memory cells being subdivided in
subgroups each of which has a selected number of memory cells; a
first set of input/output lines provided for said first group of
memory cells; a second set of input/output lines provided for said
second group of memory cells; output circuit means connected to
said first and second sets of input/output lines for outputting
data transferred thereto; and controller means connected to said
memory cells and said first and second set of input/output lines,
for specifying said subgroups alternately from said first and
second groups in unit of said selected number of memory cells, for
accessing memory cells in a specified subgroup to read stored data
therefrom, and for transferring the read data to corresponding
input/output lines associated with the accessed memory cells, the
read data being supplied to said output circuit means, said
controller means including address control means for receiving and
temporarily holding address data while accessing a certain subgroup
of memory cells selected from one of said first and second groups
of memory cells, said address data being used for accessing another
subgroup of memory cells which are to be selected next and
contained in the other of said first and second groups of memory
cells, whereby accessing said another subgroup of memory cells is
initiated at substantially the same time accessing said certain
subgroup of memory cells selected from said one of said first and
second groups of memory cells is terminated.
2. The device according to claim 1, wherein said controller means
includes decoder circuit sections respectively provided in said
first and second groups of memory cells, each of said decoder
circuit sections having a decoder which produces, when a
corresponding subgroup of memory cells associated with said decoder
is selected, a signal for specifying electrical connection of said
corresponding subgroup of memory cells to a corresponding one of
said first and second sets of input/output lines which is
associated with said corresponding subgroup of memory cells.
3. The device according to claim 1, further comprising write
control means connected to said first and second sets of
input/output lines for receiving externally applied input data,
specifying subgroups of said first and second groups alternately,
transferring said input data to a corresponding one of said first
and second sets of input/output lines that is associated with a
selected subgroup, and writing said input data into said selected
subgroup of memory cells.
4. The device according to claim 3, wherein said write control
means includes data conversion means connected to receive data of
serial bits as said input data for converting said data to data of
parallel bits corresponding in number to the selected number of
memory cells contained in each of said subgroups.
5. The device according to claim 4, wherein said write control
means includes gate means connected to said first and second sets
of input/output lines for transferring the parallel-bit data to one
of said first and second sets of input/output lines which is
associated with a memory group including a subgroup of memory cells
into which id parallel-bit data is to be written.
6. A semiconductor random access memory comprising: parallel word
lines each of which is divided into first and second subword lines;
memory cells each of 1 bit connected to each of said word lines,
said memory cells constructing first and second memory arrays
respectively connected to said first and second subword lines, each
of said memory cell arrays being divided into memory cell units
each of which has a given number of memory cells, said memory cell
units of said first memory array forming a first memory bank, and
said memory cell units of said second memory array forming a second
memory bank; first data input/output lines for said first memory
bank, said memory cell units of said first memory arrays being
electrically connected to said first data input/output lines in
parallel; second data input/output lines for said second memory
bank, said memory cell units of said second memory arrays being
electrically connected to said second data input/output lines in
parallel; first gate means connected to between said memory cell
units of said first memory array and said first data input/output
lines for permitting data transfer therebetween, said first gate
means having first gate units respectively associated with said
memory cell units of said first memory array; second gate means
connected to between said memory cell units of said second memory
array and said second data input/output lines for permitting data
transfer therebetween, said second gate means having second gate
units respectively associated with said memory cell units of said
second memory array; and memory access control means connected to
said first and second gate means for selecting a certain memory
cell unit of said first memory bank, turning a first gate unit
associated with the selected memory cell unit on, and connecting
the selected memory cell unit to said first data input/output lines
via said first gate unit, thereby simultaneously accessing memory
cells contained in the selected memory cell unit of said first
memory bank; and for selecting a certain memory cell unit of said
second memory bank, turning a second gate unit associated with the
selected memory cell unit on, and connecting the selected memory
cell unit to said second data input/output lines via said second
gate unit, thereby simultaneously accessing memory cells contained
in the selected memory cell unit of said second memory bank.
7. The device according to claim 6, wherein said memory access
control means turns said second gate means off while accessing said
memory cells contained in said selected memory cell unit of said
first memory bank, whereby said second memory bank is electrically
disconnected from said second data input/output lines.
8. The device according to claim 7, wherein said memory access
control means allows data to be read from said memory cells
contained in said selected memory cell unit of said first memory
bank and said memory cells contained in said selected memory cell
unit of said second memory bank.
9. The device according to claim 7, wherein said memory access
control means allows data to be written into said memory cells
contained in said selected memory cell unit of said first memory
bank and said memory cells contained in said selected memory cell
unit of said second memory bank.
10. The device according to claim 7, wherein said memory access
control means allows data to be read from said memory cells
contained in said selected memory cell unit of said first memory
bank and allows data to be written into said memory cells contained
in said selected memory cell unit of said second memory bank.
11. The device according to claim 7, wherein said memory access
control means allows data to be written into said memory cells
contained in said selected memory cell unit of said first memory
bank and allows data to be read from said memory cells contained in
said selected memory cell unit of said second memory bank.
12. The device according to claim 9, further comprising data
writing means connected to said first and second input/output lines
for receiving externally applied data as input data, applying to
said first input/output lines data to be written into said memory
cells of said selected memory cell unit of said first memory bank,
and applying to said second input/output lines data to be written
into said memory cells of said selected memory cell unit of said
second memory bank.
13. The device according to claim 10, further comprising data
writing means connected to said first and second input/output lines
for receiving externally applied data as input data and applying to
said second input/output lines data to be written into said memory
cells of said selected memory cell unit of said second memory
bank.
14. The device according to claim 11, further comprising data
writing means connected to said first and second input/output lines
for receiving externally applied data as input data and applying to
said first input/output lines data to be written into said memory
cells of said selected memory cell unit of said first memory bank.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to semiconductor memory
devices and, more particularly, to a serial read/write architecture
for dynamic random access memories.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] With increasing needs for high-speed logic performance of
digital systems, high-speed access techniques, which permit
high-speed access to data stored in semiconductor memories such as
random access memories, are becoming increasingly important. The
performance of central processing units, or CPUs is progressing
rapidly. Naturally memory accessing requires speeding up
accordingly.
[0005] To speed up the transfer of necessary data to a CPU, a cache
memory is often used as an auxiliary memory of a system main memory
formed of a DRAM. In this case, a gate is connected between the CPU
and the main memory, and the cache memory is directly connected to
the CPU via a data bus and an address bus. A controller is
connected to the gate and cache memory so as to control data
transfer among the main memory, cache memory and CPU. In this case
also, nay, even more particularly in this case, speeding up of data
access in the DRAM serving as main memory is very important. This
is because, when data that the CPU needs is not accidentally stored
in the cache memory (that is, when the data is "mishit"), the gate
opens under the control of the controller to fetch necessary data
from the main memory. To this end, high-speed accessing of the main
memory is essential.
[0006] As the presently available data accessing techniques for
DRAMs, there are known architectures of the nibble mode, the page
mode, the static column mode and so on. However, those
architectures cannot successfully meet the above technical
requirements. DRAMs themselves are on the path to high-density
integration, and the above current data accessing techniques are
gradually losing their utility in the midst of rapid increase in
integration density of the DRAMs.
[0007] More specifically, according to the nibble mode architecture
by way of example, data stored in a DRAM are serially accessed with
4 bits or 8 bits as a unit. Column data in a selected row address
are accessed in an established order in unit of a predetermined
number of bits, thus permitting high-speed read/write. However,
idleness will inevitably occurs with data transfer between the
cache memory and the DRAM because the unit bit number and the
accessing order of data units is fixed in a selected row address.
In contrast to the nibble mode architecture, according to the page
mode or static column mode architecture, although a desired bit can
be accessed randomly in a selected row address, an idle time for
restoring will inevitably occur in accessing consecutive random
bits, which impairs speeding up of data accessing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] It is therefore an object of the present invention to
provide a new and improved data accessing architecture which is
successfully implemented in semiconductor memories and improves
their data accessing efficiency.
[0009] In accordance with the above object, the present invention
is addressed to a specific semiconductor memory device with divided
memory banks, wherein memory cells are divided into first and
second groups. The first group of memory cells constitutes a first
memory bank, and the second group of memory cells constitutes a
second memory bank. Each of the first and second memory groups
includes an array of memory cells which are subdivided into
subgroups each of which has a selected number of memory cells. A
first set of input/output lines is provided for the first group of
memory cells, whereas a second set of input/output lines is
provided for the second group of memory cells. An output circuit
section is connected to the first and second input/output output
lines to output data transferred thereto. An access controller
section specifies the subgroups alternately from the first and
second groups with the selected number of memory cells as a
substantial minimum accessing unit, accesses the memory cells in a
specified subgroup to read stored data therefrom and transfers the
read data to a corresponding one of the first and second sets of
input/output lines. The read data is supplied to the output circuit
section.
[0010] The invention and its object and advantages will become more
apparent from the detailed description of a preferred embodiment
presented below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] In the detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the
present invention presented below, reference is made to the
accompanying drawings of which:
[0012] FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of the overall
arrangement of a computer system including a high-speed cache
memory and a main memory using a dynamic random access memory
according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0013] FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate in block form main portions of an
internal circuit arrangement of the dynamic random access memory of
the invention;
[0014] FIG. 3 is a diagram partially showing an internal circuit
arrangement, which corresponds to 1 bit address, of the address
controller of FIG. 2;
[0015] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an internal circuit
arrangement of one of the column address decoder units of FIG.
2;
[0016] FIG. 5 illustrates waveforms of electrical signals developed
at various locations of the DRAM in a data read mode;
[0017] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an internal circuit arrangement
of the write controller of FIG. 2;
[0018] FIG. 7 illustrates waveforms of electrical signals developed
at various locations of the DRAM in a data write mode;
[0019] FIG. 8 illustrates waveforms of electrical signals developed
at various locations of the DRAM in an operation mode which
alternates between data read and data write; and
[0020] FIG. 9 illustrates a modification of the internal circuit
arrangement of the write controller of FIG. 6.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0021] Referring now to FIG. 1, a computer system equipped with a
dynamic random access memory (abbreviated to DRAM hereinafter) in
accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is
generally indicated at 10. A central processing unit (CPU) 12 is
associated with a DRAM 14 acting as a main memory and a cache
memory 16 via a 32-bit data bus 18 and a 32-bit address bus 20. A
gate circuit 22 is connected between CPU 12 and main memory 14. A
controller 24 is connected to cache memory 16 and gate circuit 22
So as to control the switching operation of gate circuit 22 and
data transfer between main memory 14 and cache memory 16.
[0022] When needing data, CPU 12 accesses a certain memory location
in cache memory 16. If desired data exists in the accessed memory
location (if data is "hit"), the data is transferred to CPU 12 via
data bus 18. In case where desired data is not in the accessed
location (if data is "mishit"), a mishit signal is applied to
controller 24. In response to the mishit signal, controller 24
opens gate 22 so that CPU 12 can access main memory 14 to read data
therefrom. The read data is transferred to cache memory 16 as well
as CPU 12 via data bus 18 to be stored therein.
[0023] FIG. 2 illustrates main portions of an internal circuit
arrangement of DRAM 14 serving as the main memory of FIG. 1. Note
that, since the overall circuit configuration is too large to be
illustrated upon a sheet, the drawing thereof is divided into two
figures, i.e., FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B. As shown in FIG. 2A, memory
cells 30 coupled to a word line WL are divided into two systemic
groups 30a and 30b. The first group is A systemic memory bank 30a,
which comprises memory cells M1, M2, M3, M4, . . . , Mm. The second
group is B systemic memory bank 30b, which comprises memory cells
M5, M6, M7, M8, . . . , Mm+4, Mm+5, Mm+6, Mm+7, . . . In each
memory bank, four memory cells forms one unit. In other words, each
memory bank is subdivided into a selected number of subunits each
of which has four memory cells (i.e. four bits) in this example.
All the memory cells can be driven by one word line WL. To state it
differently, word line WL is common to all the memory cells 30 of
the A and B memory banks. Note that although, in FIG. 2A, only one
word line is illustrated for simplification of the drawing, other
word lines also have the same memory cell arrangements associated
therewith.
[0024] Memory banks 30a and 30b have sense amplifier arrays 32a and
32b, respectively. Sense amplifier arrays 32 have sense amplifiers
SA1, SA2, . . . which are respectively connected to memory cells
30. Sense amplifiers SA are connected to FET transfer gate arrays
34a and 34b acting as transfer gates. Transfer gate array 34a is
connected to an A systemic data input/output line set 36a. Line set
36a comprises four pairs of input/output lines DQA1, DQA2, DQA3 and
DQA4. (In the drawing each pair of input/output lines is depicted
as if it were one line for convenience of explanation.) On the
other hand, transfer gate array 34b is connected to a B systemic
data input/output line set 36b. Line set 36b comprises four pairs
of input/output lines DQB1, DQB2, DQB3 and DQB4. Column address
decoder units 38a and 38b are associated with memory banks 30a and
30b, respectively. Each of column address decoder units 38 has an
array of column address decoders. In FIG. 2A, each of portions 40a
and 40b to which hatching is made for convenience sake represents a
collection of numerous signal lines to be connected to inputs of
decoders 38.
[0025] For example, referring to memory cells M1, M2, M3 and M4 of
the first subgroup of memory bank 30a, sense amplifiers SA1, SA2,
SA3 and SA4 are connected to input/output lines DQA1, DQA2, DQA3
and DQA4, respectively, through corresponding transfer gate FETs
34a. Those four transfer gate FETs 34a have their gate electrodes
connected together. Those transfer gate FETs 34a are responsive to
a column select signal to be rendered conductive or nonconductive.
The column select signal is supplied from one decoder of
corresponding address decoder unit 38a to FETs 34a through one line
CSLA1 of A systemic select lines CSLA.
[0026] Referring to memory cells M5, M6, M7 and M8 of the first
subgroup of memory bank 30b, on the other hand, sense amplifiers
SA5, SA6, SA7 and SA8 are connected to input/output lines DQB1,
DQB2, DQB3 and DQB4, respectively, through corresponding transfer
gate FETs 34b. Those four transfer gate FETs 34b have their gate
electrodes connected together. Those transfer gate FETs 34b are
responsive to a column select signal to be rendered conductive or
nonconductive. The column select signal is supplied from one
decoder of corresponding address decoder unit 38b to FETs 34b
through one line CSLB1 of B systemic select lines CSLB.
[0027] As shown in FIG. 2A, an address controller 42 is connected
to the two groups of column address decoder units 38a and 38b. When
receiving a column address Amc (0<m <n; n=an integer) via an
address buffer 44, address controller 42 controls address decoders
38 so as to designate a proper memory cell subunit from memory
banks 30a and 30b in accordance with the received column
address.
[0028] As shown in FIG. 2B, A systemic input/output lines DQA1,
DQA2, DQA3 and DQA4 are connected to data amplifiers S1, S2, S3 and
S4, respectively, of an amplifier section 46a. Data amplifiers S1,
S2, S3 and S4 are connected to data readout lines RD1, RD2, RD3 and
RD4, respectively, through corresponding FETs 48a serving as data
readout transfer gates. Data amplifiers S1, S2, S3 and S4 are
simultaneously activated by an externally applied control signal
QSEA, and gate FETs 48a are simultaneously rendered conductive by
control signal QSEA. Data readout lines RD1, RD2, RD3 and RD4 are
connected to data latch circuits L1, L2, L3 and L4, respectively.
Data latch circuits L1, L2, L3 and L4 are connected to a data
output shift register 50 to which a column address strobe signal
{overscore (CAS)} is applied. Shift register 50 is connected to an
output terminal Dout via an output buffer 52.
[0029] B systemic input/output lines DQB1, DQB2, DQB3 and DQB4 are
connected to data amplifiers S1', S2', S3' and S4', respectively,
of an amplifier section 46b. Data amplifiers S1', S2', S3' and S4'
are connected to data readout lines RD1, RD2, RD3 and RD4,
respectively, through corresponding FETs 48b serving as data
readout transfer gates. Data amplifiers S1', S2', S3' and S4' are
simultaneously activated by an externally applied control signal
QSEB, and gate FETs 48b are simultaneously rendered conductive by
control signal QSEB. Four-bit parallel data read out of data
readout gate section 46a or 46b are held by latch circuits L1 to L4
and then converted to serial data by shift register 50. The
converted readout data is taken from output terminal Dout via
output buffer 52.
[0030] For example, four-bit input data is entered from an input
terminal Din and then applied to an input data buffer 54. Data
buffer 54 is connected via write circuit section 58a to
input/output line group 36a of A memory bank 30a, i.e., input data
latch circuit section 60a associated with lines DQA1, DQA2, DQA3
and DQA4. Gate section 58a has four FETs which are connected via
corresponding latch circuits L1'A, L2'A, L3'A and L4'A of latch
circuit section 60a to input/output lines DQA1, DQA2, DQA3 and
DQA4, respectively. The FETs of gate circuit section 58a are
controlled by an input data shift register 62a responsive to a
column address strobe signal CAS. On the other hand, data buffer 54
is connected via write circuit section 58b to input/output line
group 36b of B memory bank 30b, i.e., input data latch circuit
section 60b associated with lines DQB1, DQB2, DQB3 and DQB4. Gate
section 58b has four FETS which are connected via corresponding
latch circuits L1'B, L2'B, L3'B and L4'B of B-series latch circuit
section 60b to input/output lines DQB1, DQB2, DQB3 and DQB4,
respectively. The FETs of gate circuit section 58b are controlled
by an input data shift register 62B operated by column address
strobe signal {overscore (CAS)}.
[0031] Column address strobe signal {overscore (CAS)} (referred to
as {overscore (CAS)} signal hereinafter) is entered to a {overscore
(CAS)} cycle counter 64 first. Cycle counter 64 supplies the CAS
signal to an address counter 42 (see FIG. 2A) via a line 66. The
CAS signal alternates (toggles) between a high ("HH") level and a
low ("L") level. Column addresses Amc, i.e., AOc to Anc are latched
by address buffer 44 in synchronization to a transition of the CAS
signal from "H" level to "L" level. Address buffer 44 converts
entered column addresses AOc to Amc from TTL logic signal levels to
MOS logic signal levels. Address controller 42 generates A systemic
column addresses AOcA to AmcA and B systemic column addresses AOCB
to AncB. The column addresses AOCA to AncA are applied to column
address decoder units 38a, whereas the column addresses AOcB to
AncB are applied to column address decoder units 38b shown in FIG.
2A. {overscore (CAS)} cycle counter 64 (see FIG. 2B) counts the
number of level changes of the CAS signal to produce a count signal
Stc. The count signal Stc is applied to a data write controller 68,
which is connected to input data buffer 54 and input data shift
registers 62a and 62b. Data write controller 68 is responsive to an
externally applied write enable signal (referred to as {overscore
(WE)} signal hereinafter) to control the operation of those
circuits 54, 62a and 62b.
[0032] A circuit arrangement of address controller 42 for
addressing memory banks 30a and 30b will now detailed with
reference to FIG. 3. Address controller 42 has address control
circuits corresponding in number to the memory subunits of each of
memory banks 30a and 30b. In FIG. 3, only one address control
circuit, for example, address control circuit 42-1 is shown.
[0033] Address control circuit 42 receives column addresses Amc
(AOc to Amc) at its input terminal 70 which is connected to inputs
of clocked inverters 72 and 74 of address control circuit 42-1.
Inverter 72 has an input connected to a latch circuit 76 having
cross-coupled inverters 78 and 80. Inverter 80 provides address
AmcA for A memory bank 30a onto a line 82. Inverter 78 is connected
back to back with another inverter 84 which provides another
address AmcA for A memory bank 30a to line 86. The arrangement for
address control circuit 42 is the same as that for the A system
described above. Though the explanation may be redundant, inverter
74 has an input connected to a latch circuit 88 having
cross-coupled inverters 90 and 92. Inverter 90 provides address
AmcB for B memory bank 30b to a line 94. Inverter 96 is connected
to another inverter 96 which provides another address {overscore
(AmcB)} for B memory bank 30b to line 98. Addresses AmcA,
{overscore (AmcA)}, AmcB and {overscore (AmcB)} are transferred to
column address decoder units 38a and 38b shown in FIG. 2A.
[0034] In FIG. 4, there is illustrated a given one of column
address decoder units 38a and 38b, which is a multi-input AND gate
100 having an input which receives an inverted version {overscore
(.phi.A)} (or {overscore (.phi.B)}) of an internal clock signal
{overscore (.phi.A)} (or {overscore (.phi.B)}) from an inverter 102
and other inputs supplied with addresses AmcA (or AmcB). Where AND
gate 100 is a decoder for A memory bank 30a, the internal clock
signal applied to AND gate 100 is clock signal {overscore (.phi.A)}
and the address signals are signals AlcA, A2cA, . . . , AncA. In
this case, AND gate 100 sequentially outputs column address strobe
signals CAS1, CAS2, . . . , CASm.
[0035] Next, operation modes of the DRAM constructed as above will
be described with reference to the accompanying waveform diagrams.
In the following description, a data read mode, a data write mode
and an operation mode alternating between data read and data write
will be described in order of mention.
[0036] Data Read Mode
[0037] As shown in FIG. 5 (in which signal portions to which
hatching is made represent "Don't Care"), when row address strobe
signal {overscore (RAS)} goes to a "L" level and subsequently
column address strobe signal {overscore (CAS)} goes to a "L" level,
internal clock signal {overscore (.phi.A)} is switched from a "H"
level to a "L" level in synchronization with the transitions of the
strobe signals in level. At this point, internal clock signal
{overscore (.phi.B)} is held at a "H" level. In address controller
42 (see FIG. 3), when clock signal {overscore (.phi.A)} goes to "L"
level during the on-state of inverters 72 and 74, inverter 72 for A
memory bank 30a is rendered off. Column addresses Amc from column
address buffer 44 (see FIG. 2A) are held in latch circuit 76.
Therefore, A column addresses AmcA and {overscore (AmcA)} continue
to be produced on lines 82 and 84. In this situation, the other
latch circuit 88 is off and hence its output is indefinite.
[0038] Column address decoder units 38a and 38b associated with
memory banks 30a and 30b receive output signals from address
controller 42, and column address decoder unit 38a selectively
specifies one (e.g. line CSLA1) of column address select lines CSLA
during the time that clock signal {overscore (.phi.A)} is at "L"
level. Where {overscore (RAS)} signal is at "L" level so that the
DRAM chip is activated, and word line WL is at "H" level so that
all the bit line sense amplifiers SA1 to SAm+7 are activated, when
one column address line CSLA1 is selected, a set of transfer gates
34a connected to one subgroup of memory cells M1, M2, M3 and M4 of
A memory bank 30a are simultaneously turned on. Hence, four-bit
data stored in memory cells M1, M2, M3 and M4 of A memory bank 30a
are transferred in parallel to input/output lines DQA1, DQA2, DQA3
and DQA4 via those transfer gates.
[0039] After the data transfer, control signal QSEA (see FIG. 2B)
goes to "H" level. In response to this control signal data
amplifiers S1, S2, S3 and S4 are activated and at the same time
readout gates 48a are turned on. Therefore, the read four-bit data
are transferred to output lines RD1, RD2, RD3 and RD4 and
subsequently held by output data latch circuits L1, L2, L3 and L4.
The parallel data held in the latch circuits is next converted to
serial data by output shift register 50. The serial data is output
from output data buffer 52 as data R1 to R4 in synchronization with
first four toggling steps of {overscore (CAS)} signal (in FIG. 5,
the toggling step Nos. of {overscore (CAS)} signal are shown
enclosed by circles for convenience of explanation). After the
transferred data to input/output lines DQA1, DQA2, DQA3 and DQA4,
namely, the read data are held by data latch circuits L1, L2, L3
and L4, such reset operations as precharge input/output lines DQA1,
DQA2, DQA3 and DQA4 are initiated.
[0040] After the termination of the above series of operations,
internal clock signals {overscore (.phi.A)}, {overscore (.phi.B)}
are switched: clock signal {overscore (.phi.A)} goes to "H" level,
and clock signal {overscore (.phi.B)} goes to "L" level. As a
result, not A memory bank 30a but B memory bank 30b are enabled
this time. More specifically, a certain group of memory cells M5,
M6, M7 and M8 of B memory bank 30b have been sensed by
corresponding bit-line sense amplifiers SA5, SA6, SA7 and SA8 and
thus placed in the readable state during the time that data are
read from the group of memory cells M1, M2, M3 and M4 of A memory
bank 30a. The four-bit data of memory cells M1, M2, M3 and M4
appear on input/output lines DQB1, DQB2, DQB3 and DQB4 in response
to level transitions of clock signals {overscore (.phi.A)} and
{overscore (.phi.B)}. This is because column select signal CSLB1
produced by column address decoder unit 38b associated with
B-series memory bank 30b goes to "H" level, and of gates 34b, the
gates which are associated with memory cells M5, M6, M7 and M8 are
turned on.
[0041] In response to control signal QSEB going to "H" level, data
amplifiers S1', S2', S3' and S4' are activated and readout gates
48b are turned on. The read four-bit data, therefore, are read out
onto output lines RD1, RD2, RD3 and RD4 and afterward transferred
via output lines RD1, RD2, RD3 and RD4 to output latch circuits L1,
L2, L3-and L4 to be held therein in essentially the same manner as
in the case of the data stored in memory cells M1, M2, M3 and M4 of
A memory bank 30a. The parallel data held in the latch circuits is
next converted to serial data, which is output from output data
buffer 52 as data R5 to R8 in synchronization with four successive
toggling steps of {overscore (CAS)} clock signal.
[0042] Since clocked inverter 74 is turned off in address
controller 42 while B memory bank 30b is selected, the addresses
which have continued to be produced by column address buffer 64 are
held by latch circuit 88, thereby providing addresses AmcB and
{overscore (AmcB)} for B memory bank 30b. Those addresses AmcB and
{overscore (AmcB)} are essentially the same as the above mentioned
addresses AmcA and {overscore (AmcA)} for A memory bank 30a. As
shown in Fig, 4, column address decoder 38b ANDs signals A1CB,
A2cB, A3cB, . . . , AncB and clock signal {overscore (.phi.B)} to
provide only one column address select signal CSLB1.
[0043] During the alternate read cycles of cell units each of four
memory cells of A memory bank 30a and B memory bank 30b, for
example, during the read cycles of memory cells M1 to M8, a first
column address for a memory cell to be read next is entered, and
column addresses AOc to Anc are entered to address buffer 44 in
synchronization with the sixth toggling step from the first
toggling step of {overscore (CAS)} signal. Since clock signal
{overscore (.phi.A)} is at "H" level at this point, latch circuit
76 of address controller 42 will be supplied with a new column
address Amc. The signal AOc is rendered "Don't Care" from this
second entry of the address. Alternatively the signal AOc may be
rendered "Don't Care" from the first entry of the address.
[0044] By repeating the above reading operation, data can be read
alternately from A memory bank 30a and B memory bank 30b in unit of
four memory cells of a desired cell unit. Every data of eight
consecutive bits contains desired four-bit data from A memory bank
30a and four-bit data from B memory bank 30b. Reading eight bits
consecutively from one of the memory banks is not allowed. In each
memory bank, however, units of four-bit memories need not be
necessarily specified simply in their order. At the time of readout
of succeeding data of eight bits, the first four bits can
arbitrarily be read from one of memory banks 30a and 30b, and the
remaining four bits can be read at random from the other of memory
banks 30a and 30b. This is very simple because a starting address
of each cell unit has only to be specified by use of signal AmcA or
AmcB. Such a data reading concept could be named the "random serial
read/write architecture" or "nibbled-page architecture."
[0045] For example, after the completion of sequential data readout
from a specific subgroup of memory cells M1 to M4 in the A memory
bank and a specific subgroup of memory cells M5 to M8 in the B
memory bank, when data requires reading from a certain subgroup of
memory cells Mm, Mm+1, Mm+2 and Mm+3 in A memory bank 30a, the data
stored therein are transferred to input/output lines DQA1, DQA2,
DQA3 and DQA4 and read from output buffer 52 in the same manner as
above in synchronization with ninth to twelfth toggling steps of
{overscore (CAS)} signal. Subsequently, column select signal CSLBm
goes to "H" level, and, as in the case of memory cells M5 to M8
described above, data are read from memory cells Mm+4, Mm+5, Mm+6
and Mm+7 in B memory bank 30b. Reading the four-bit data is
performed in synchronization with the thirteenth to sixteenth
toggling steps of {overscore (CAS)} signal.
[0046] As described above, memory accessing for data readout is
performed in unit of eight bit cells selected from two memory
subgroups, each of four memory cells, included in A memory bank 30a
and B memory banks 30b. In the midst of accessing the latter four
bit cells, that is, at the time of the sixth toggling step of
{overscore (CAS)} signal, column addresses are ready for access to
the next series of eight bit cells. Input/output lines DQA1, DQA2,
DQA3 and DQA4 of A memory bank 30a are in non-selected state while
B memory bank 30b is accessed so that precharging of input/output
lines DQA1, DQA2, DQA3 and DQA4 has no influence on accessing of
next selected memory cells of A memory bank 30a. Accordingly,
reading from memory cells Mm to Mm+7 selected following memory
cells M1 to M8 continues smoothly without intermission.
[0047] Data Write Mode
[0048] Prior to description of the writing operation, an internal
circuit arrangement of write controller 54 shown in FIG. 2B will be
described with reference to FIG. 6. (The reason why the description
of the circuit arrangement was not presented before is that the
arrangement of the write controller is closely related to the
writing operation described below and the description here seems to
raise the efficiency of description.) As shown in FIG. 6, write
controller 69 receives a {overscore (WE)} signal at its input
terminal 110. {overscore (WE)} signal is applied to a parallel
array of a selected number of clocked inverters including clocked
inverters 112 and 114. (In FIG. 6, there is illustrated only two
typical clocked inverters for simplification of illustration.)
Inverter 112 is connected to a latch circuit 116 comprised of
cross-coupled inverters 118 and 120. The output of latch circuit
116 is connected to an input of a two-input NOR gate 122. NOR gate
122 has the other input supplied with an internal clock signal
.phi.W.alpha.2 used for writing into the A memory bank. NOR gate
122 provides an output signal WPLS.alpha.. On the other hand, the
other clocked inverter 114 is connected to a latch circuit 124
comprised of cross-coupled inverters 126 and 128. The output of
latch circuit 124 is connected to an input of a two-input NOR gate
130. NOR gate 130 has the other input supplied with an internal
clock signal .phi.W.beta.2 used for writing into the B memory bank.
NOR gate 130 provides an output signal WPLS.beta..
[0049] Let us now consider the case where memory cells M1 to M8 and
memory cells Mm to Mm+7 are subjected to data writing in the same
order as that in the above described data reading. As shown in FIG.
7, {overscore (RAS)} signal goes to "L" level and subsequently
{overscore (CAS)} signal goes to "L" level. In response to the
first low-going level transition of {overscore (CAS)} signal,
internal clock signal {overscore (.phi.A)} goes from "H" level to
"L" level, and clock signal {overscore (.phi.B)} is held at "H"
level. Under this situation, one of column address decoders 38a for
A memory bank 30a is selected in accordance with address data from
address controller 42 to specify, for example, column select line
CSLA1. If internal clock signals {overscore (.phi.A)} and
{overscore (.phi.B)} are switched in level, then one of column
address decoders 38b for B memory bank 30b is selected to specify,
for example, column select signal CSLB1. As a result, eight bit
memory cells of memory cells M1 to M4 and memory cells M5 to M8 are
accessed, which is fundamentally the same as that in the read
mode.
[0050] If {overscore (WE)} signal is at "L" level at the time of
the first low-going level transition of {overscore (CAS)} signal,
then write controller 68 becomes operative. In write controller 68,
internal clock signal .phi.W.alpha.1 goes to "L" level in response
to the first low-going level transition of {overscore (CAS)}
signal, thereby producing pulse .phi.W.alpha.2 as shown in FIG. 7.
Clock signal .phi.W.alpha.1 goes to "H" level in response to the
fourteenth toggling step (for reference, the toggling step Nos. of
{overscore (CAS)} signal are shown enclosed by circles in FIG. 7 as
well) of {overscore (CAS)} signal and returns to "L" level in
response to the seventeenth toggling step of {overscore (CAS)}
signal. Clock signal .phi.W.alpha.1 goes to "H" level in response
to the sixth toggling step of {overscore (CAS)} signal and returns
to "L" level in response to the ninth toggling step of {overscore
(CAS)} signal. Clock signal .phi.W.beta.2 is produced in
synchronization with the low-going level transition of clock signal
.phi.W.beta.2 as shown in FIG. 7.
[0051] When {overscore (WE)} signal is at "L" level, write
controller 68 causes this signal to be held by latch circuit 116 in
synchronization with the level transition of clock signal
.phi.W.alpha.2, producing output signal WPLS.alpha.. This signal
WPLS.alpha. is applied to input data buffer 54 and input shift
registers 62a and 62b for activation thereof. Data D1 to D4 entered
to terminal Din in serial manner are converted to parallel data by
data buffer 54 in synchronization with the first four toggling
steps of {overscore (CAS)} signal. The converted data is
transferred, through write gate circuit 58a which is now on, to
latch circuit array 60a to be held in latches L1'A, L2'A, L3'A and
L4'A. The data is transferred to lines DQA1, DQA2, DQA3 and DQA4 of
input/output line set 36a for A memory bank 30a. Since column
select line CSLA1 is specified at this point, data D1 to D4 on
input/output lines DQA1, DQA2, DQA3 and DQA4 are written into the
selected group of memory cells M1, M2, M3 and M4 of A memory bank
30a.
[0052] Next, when CSLA1 signal goes to "L" level and CSLB1 signal
goes to "H" level, another set of input data D5 to D8 are similarly
entered through input buffer 54 and transferred from data buffer
54, through write gate 58b which is now enabled, to the other latch
circuit array 60b to be held in latches L1'A, L2'A, L3'A and L4'A
in synchronization with the next four toggling steps (i.e., the
fifth to eighth toggling steps) of {overscore (CAS)} signal. The
data is transferred to lines DQB1, DQB2, DQB3 and DQB4 of
input/output line set 36b for B memory bank 30b. Since column
select line CSLB1 is specified at this point, data D5 to D8 on
those input/output lines are written into the selected group of
memory cells M5, M6, M7 and M8 of B memory bank 30b. During this
writing operation input/output lines DQA1, DQA2, DQA3 and DQA4 of A
memory bank 30a are precharged.
[0053] If {overscore (WE)} signal is at "L" level when clock signal
.phi.w.beta.1 goes to "H" level in response to the sixth toggling
step of {overscore (CAS)} signal as shown in FIG. 7, the succeeding
eight-bit memory access is also considered to be in a data write
cycle. Signal .phi.w.beta.1 goes to "L" level at the time of the
low-going level shift at the ninth toggling step of {overscore
(CAS)} signal, producing signal .phi.W.beta.2. Signal WPLS.beta.
goes to "H" level, activating input shift registers 62a and 62b
again. Therefore, the following input data Dm, Dm+1, Dm+2 and Dm+3
are written into memory cells Mm, Mm+1, Mm+2 and Mm+3 of a memory
cell unit associated with a column address select line specified
according to column addresses AOc to Anc, in synchronization with
the ninth to twelfth toggling steps of {overscore (CAS)} signal in
fundamentally the same manner as described above. During this
process input/output lines DQB1, DQB2, DQB3 and DQB4 connected to
memory cells M5 to M8 are precharged. Afterward, a memory subgroup
having memory cells Mm+4, Mm+5, Mm+6 and Mm+7 of the opposite
system memory bank 30a is written into similarly.
[0054] As in the data reading operation, memory accessing for data
write is also performed in unit of eight bit cells selected from
two memory subgroups, each of four memory cells, included in A
memory bank 30a and B memory banks 30b. In the midst of accessing
the latter four bit cells, that is, at the time of the sixth
toggling step of {overscore (CAS)} signal, preparation for
accessing of the next series of eight bit cells is initiated. At
this point, when {overscore (WE)} signal is at "L" level, the next
eight bit cells are put in the write mode so that memory accessing
for data write is successively performed commencing with one of A
memory bank 30a and B memory bank 30b that has already been
precharged.
[0055] Read/Write Alternate Execution Mode
[0056] In the midst of accessing of the first eight bit cells, that
is, at the time of the sixth toggling step of {overscore (CAS)}
signal, if {overscore (WE)} signal is at "H" level, then the next
eight bit cells are put in the read mode. Hence, memory accessing
for data read is performed commencing with a desired memory unit
(e.g., subgroup of memory cells Mm, Mm+1, Mm+2 and Mm+3) of one of
A memory bank 30a and B memory bank 30b that has already been
precharged. This operation mode is the "read/write alternate
execution mode."
[0057] In FIG. 8, there are illustrated waveforms of various
signals developed to continue writing input data D1' to D8' into
the next eight bit memory cells Mm to Mm+7 in response to
{overscore (CSA)} signal going to "L" level after readout of data
from a series of eight bit memory cells M1 to M8. The utility of
the DRAM can be increased because of the fact that accessing of
memory cells in unit of eight bit cells selected from A memory bank
30a and B memory bank 30b is freely decided between data reading
and data writing. Even though such different modes of operation are
repeated, any idle time interval will never be produced in
switching these modes because necessary preparation or
preprocessing (e.g., precharging of a memory bank access to which
has been terminated, etc) for executing the next specified mode of
operation is made in parallel in the midst of the previous
accessing.
[0058] According to the DRAM and the specific accessing
architecture, each unit of eight bit memory cells halves of which
are respectively selected from two memory banks 30a and 30b can be
accessed serially and continuously. Since there is no need for any
idle time between processes of accessing eight bit cells, the
overall operation can be speeded up. The sequence designating
constraints on memory accessing in the DRAM can be eliminated to
implement random designation. This means that access speed can be
improved while leaving merits of the random access. Accordingly,
the efficiency of data transfer between the cache memory and the
DRAM can be raised. Such features will lend themselves to future
DRAMS of higher packing density.
[0059] Although the invention has been described with reference to
a specific embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in
the art that numerous modifications may be made within the spirit
and scope of the invention.
[0060] For example, write controller 68 of FIG. 6 may be modified,
as shown in FIG. 9, such that clocked inverters 112 and 114 are
replaced with OR gates 140 and 142. {overscore (WE)} signal is
applied to inputs of OR gates 140 and 142 via an inverter 142.
Internal clock signals .phi.W.alpha.1 and .phi.W.beta.1 are applied
to the remaining inputs of OR gates 140 and 142. Output signals of
OR gates 140 and 142 are applied to latch circuits 116 and 124,
respectively. With such an arrangement, effective write control can
be implemented.
* * * * *