Signal transmission system for transmitting signals between LSI chips, receiver circuit for use in the signal transmission system, and semiconductor memory device applying the signal transmission system a signal transmission system having the response time of a signal transmission line set at roughly the length of a transmitted symbol or more than that
Abstract
A signal transmission system has a response time of a signal transmission line which is set approximately equal to or longer than the length of a transmitted symbol. More specifically, terminal resistance is set larger than the characteristic impedance of the signal transmission line, driver output resistance is set to a large value, or a damping resistor is provided in series with the signal transmission line. With this configuration, signal power can be reduced drastically.

Term
No projected expiry on record.
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163 claims: 157 independent, 6 dependent
- 1一種信號傳輸系統,其中一信號傳輸線之一反應時間被設定大約等於或大於一被傳輸字象之長度。
- 2依據申請專利範圍第1項之信號傳輸系統,其中在該信號傳輸線之一或兩端點所設的一終端電阻值被設定較大於該信號傳輸線之一特性阻抗。
- 3依據申請專利範圍第1項之信號傳輸系統,其中至少一電阻器被設置串聯於該信號傳輸線或該信號傳輸線被構建其本身即含有電阻值。
- 4依據申請專利範圍第1項之信號傳輸系統,其中信號在多個電路方塊之間傳輸。
- 5依據申請專利範圍第4項之信號傳輸系統,其中該等多個電路方塊中至少有一個具有一用以接收在該信號傳輸線上所傳輸之一信號的接收器電路,且該接收器電路包含有一用以偵測該信號陳示的一部分反應之部分反應偵測單元,及一用以在該信號上做一邏輯決定之信號邏輯決定單元。
- 6依據申請專利範圍第5項之信號傳輸系統,其中該部分反應偵測單元包含有一用以基於一先前接收到的信號而估計字象間干擾的字象間干擾估計單元及一用以從實際上目前接收到的一信號減去該被估計的字象間干擾的減法單元。
- 7依據申請專利範圍第6項之信號傳輸系統,其中該字象間干擾估計單元被構建以獲得先前決定值之線性加權的一總數。
- 8依據申請專利範圍第7項之信號傳輸系統,其中該字象間干擾估計單元包含有一用以保持先前位元資訊之移位記存器及一用以加權在該移位記存器中所保持之資料的加權單元。
- 9依據申請專利範圍第8項之信號傳輸系統,其中該加權單元是由多個電阻器所構建。
- 10依據申請專利範圍第8項之信號傳輸系統,其中該加權單元是由多個電容器和切換開關所構建。
- 11依據申請專利範圍第6項之信號傳輸系統,其中該字象間干擾估計單元被構建以獲得先前決定值之非線性加權。
- 12依據申請專利範圍第11項之信號傳輸系統,其中該字象間干擾估計單元包含有一用以保持先前的位元資訊之移位記存器及一用以儲存相關於在該移位記存器中所保持的資料之估計的記憶體單元。
- 13依據申請專利範圍第6項之信號傳輸系統,其中該字象間干擾估計單元包含有一用以累積該先前所接收的信號之一類比值的累積單元及一用以産生從該類比值來的字象間干擾之字象間干擾産生單元。
- 14依據申請專利範圍第13項之信號傳輸系統,其中該字象間干擾估計單元被構建以取用在一時信後所接收的一信號之一類比值與一固定參考類比值之一線性加權總和。
- 15依據申請專利範圍第14項之信號傳輸系統,其中該字象間干擾估計單元被設有多個切換開關單元和電容器單元。
- 16依據申請專利範圍第4項之信號傳輸系統,其中該多個電路方塊是半導體積體電路晶片,且該信號傳輸系統被組成如互相連接該多個半導體積體電路晶片的一匯流排系統。
- 17依據申請專利範圍第16項之信號傳輸系統,其中該信號傳輸線被組成如一雙向資料匯流排或資料信號線。
- 18依據申請專利範圍第16項之信號傳輸系統,其中該信號傳輸線被組成如一單向位址匯流排或位址信號線。
- 19依據申請專利範圍第16項之信號傳輸系統,其中該多個半導體積體電路晶片以一處理器或控制器和多個記憶體模組而被構建。
- 20一種接收器電路,為在一信號傳輸系統中使用,用以接收在一信號傳輸線上被傳輸的一信號,該接收器電路包含有一用以偵測該信號陳示的一部分反應的部分反應偵測單元,及一用以在該信號上做一邏輯決定的信號邏輯決定單元。
- 21依據申請專利範圍第20項之接收器電路,其中該部分反應偵測單元包含有一用以基於一先前接收到的信號而估計字象間干擾的字象間干擾估計單元及一用以從在效果上目前接收到的一信號減去該被估計的字象間干擾的減法單元。
- 22依據申請專利範圍第21項之接收器電路,其中該字象間干擾估計單元被構建以獲得先前決定值之線性加權的一總數。
- 23依據申請專利範圍第22項之接收器電路,其中該字象間干擾估計單元包含有一用以保持先前位元資訊之移位記存器及一用以加權在該移位記存器中所保持之資料的加權單元。
- 24依據申請專利範圍第23項之接收器電路,其中該加權單元是由多個電阻器所構建。
- 25依據申請專利範圍第23項之接收器電路,其中該加權單元是由多個電容器和切換開關所構建。
- 26依據申請專利範圍第21項之接收器電路,其中該字象間干擾估計單元被構建以獲得先前決定值之非線性加權。
- 27依據申請專利範圍第26項之接收器電路,其中該字象間干擾估計單元包含有一用以保持先前的位元資訊之移位記存器及一用以儲存相關於在該移位記存器中所保持的資料之估計的記憶體單元。
- 28依據申請專利範圍第25項之接收器電路,其中該字象間干擾估計單元包含有一用以累積該先前所接收的信號之一類比值的累積單元及一用以産生從該類比值來的字象間干擾之字象間干擾産生單元。
- 29依據申請專利範圍第28項之接收器電路,其中該字象間干擾估計單元被構建以取用在一時信後所接收的一信號之一類比值與一固定參考類比值之一線性加權總和。
- 30依據申請專利範圍第29項之接收器電路,其中該字象間干擾估計單元被設有多個切換開關單元和電容器單元。
- 31一種信號傳輸系統,用以經過一信號傳輸線而在多個電路方塊之間傳輸一信號,包含有:一用以經過一時信線而分配一時信到每一個該電路方塊之時信分配單元;一共同時序信號産生單元,用以基於以較短於為該信號傳播通過在該等電路方塊之間接線所需時間的一時間之正確性的該時信到每一個該等電路方塊而提供共同時序;及一用以與該共同時序同步地傳輸和接收該信號的單元。
- 32依據申請專利範圍第31項之信號傳輸系統,其中每一個該等電路方塊是一積體電路模組、一積體電路晶片、或設於單一晶片中的一構成電路。
- 33依據申請專利範圍第31項之信號傳輸系統,其中該信號傳輸線之最大長度並不較大於該信號以一位元時間沿著該信號傳輸線所傳播的距離。
- 34依據申請專利範圍第33項之信號傳輸系統,其中該信號傳輸線之最大長度並不較大於該信號以一位元時間沿著該信號傳輸線所傳播的距離的一半。
- 35依據申請專利範圍第33項之信號傳輸系統,其中在該信號傳輸線中插入有一緩衝器,用以給予該信號一等於該信號之一位元時間之一整數倍的延遲,並用以重新傳輸該被延遲的信號,因此該緩衝器致動了該信號使其被傳輸越過超過該信號傳輸線之該最大長度的一距離。
- 36依據申請專利範圍第35項之信號傳輸系統,其中該緩衝器輸出一為該等其它之電路方塊有需要的時信到經過該緩衝器而連接的其它電路方塊以産生共同時序。
- 37依據申請專利範圍第31項之信號傳輸系統,其中該信號傳輸線是一共同信號線型式之一匯流排,且被設於有一具有大約等於或大於該匯流排之該特性阻抗的電阻值之終端電阻器的該匯流排之一端點或兩端點。
- 38依據申請專利範圍第31項之信號傳輸系統,其中用以驅動該信號傳輸線的一驅動器電路具有較該信號傳輸線之該特性阻抗為大之一輸出阻抗。
- 39依據申請專利範圍第38項之信號傳輸系統,其中該驅動器電路産生一定電流驅動輸出。
- 40依據申請專利範圍第31項之信號傳輸系統,其中該共同時序信號産生單元捕獲沿著在一向前段落和一向後段落之間被摺疊的一時信線而傳播的時信,且藉著取用在被每一電路方塊所捕獲之該向前和向後傳播時信之該上升時序之間的一時序中繼而産生該共同時序。
- 41依據申請專利範圍第40項之信號傳輸系統,其中該共同時序信號産生單元包含有一線性總和産生單元用以在該被摺疊的時信線之該向前和向後段落上産生正弦的時信之一線性總和,及一波形成形單元用以波形成形被該線性總和産生單元所獲得之該正弦波。
- 42依據申請專利範圍第40項之信號傳輸系統,其中該共同時序信號産生單元包含有一相位內插器,用以捕獲在該被摺疊的時信線上之該向前和向後傳播之時信,且用以産生具有在該向前和向後傳播時信之間的一相位中繼的一時信。
- 43依據申請專利範圍第31項之信號傳輸系統,其中該共同時序信號産生單元沿著該時信線而産生一駐波,且每一個該等電路方塊從沿著該時信線而産生之駐波而捕獲該時信。
- 44依據申請專利範圍第43項之信號傳輸系統,其中用以沿著該時信線而産生該駐波的一産生單元包括有一産製單元,用以在一時信驅動電路或一時信終端電路或兩者中活性地産製該時信之一被反射的信號,因而調整了該時信線之一電性長度。
- 45依據申請專利範圍第31項之信號傳輸系統,其中被使用以産生該共同時序的該時信之週期是較長於兩倍之沿著該信號傳輸線而傳輸的該信號之一位元時間的長度。
- 46依據申請專利範圍第31項之信號傳輸系統,其中該時信線具有一與該信號傳輸線在實質上不同的傳輸特性,且相較於該信號傳輸線該時信線亦設有對抗一外界環境的被增大之電氣遮蔽。
- 47依據申請專利範圍第31項之信號傳輸系統,其中至少一個之該電路方塊被設在有一用以從該信號清除字象間干擾之接收器電路的一接收端,且經過該信號傳輸線而接收該被傳輸之信號。
- 48依據申請專利範圍第47項之信號傳輸系統,其中該接收器電路包含有一用以偵測該信號所示之一部分反應的部分反應偵測單元,及一用以在該信號上做一邏輯決定的信號邏輯決定單元。
- 49依據申請專利範圍第48項之信號傳輸系統,其中該部分反應偵測單元包含有一用以基於一先前所接收的信號而估計字象間干擾的字象間干擾估計單元及一用以從在效果上目前所接收的一信號而減去該被估計的字象間干擾的減法單元。
- 50依據申請專利範圍第49項之信號傳輸系統,其中該字象間干擾估計單元被構建以獲得先前決定值之線性加權的一總數。
- 51依據申請專利範圍第50項之信號傳輸系統,其中該字象間干擾估計單元包含有一用以保持先前位元資訊之移位記存器及一用以加權在該移位記存器中所保持之資料的加權單元。
- 52依據申請專利範圍第51項之信號傳輸系統,其中該加權單元是由多個電阻器所構建。
- 53依據申請專利範圍第51項之信號傳輸系統,其中該加權單元是由多個電容器和切換開關所構建。
- 54依據申請專利範圍第49項之信號傳輸系統,其中該字象間干擾估計單元被構建以獲得先前決定值之非線性加權。
- 55依據申請專利範圍第54項之信號傳輸系統,其中該字象間干擾估計單元包含有一用以保持先前的位元資訊之移位記存器及一用以儲存相關於在該移位記存器中所保持的資料之估計的記憶體單元。
- 56依據申請專利範圍第53項之信號傳輸系統,其中該字象間干擾估計單元包含有一用以累積該先前所接收的信號之一類比值的累積單元及一用以産生從該類比值來的字象間干擾之字象間干擾産生單元。
- 57依據申請專利範圍第56項之信號傳輸系統,其中該字象間干擾估計單元被構建以取用在一時信後所接收的一信號之一類比值與一固定參考類比值之一線性加權總和。
- 58依據申請專利範圍第57項之信號傳輸系統,其中該字象間干擾估計單元被設有多個切換開關單元和電容器單元。
- 59依據申請專利範圍第31項之信號傳輸系統,其中該共同時序信號産生單元捕獲沿著一向前時信線和一向後時信線而傳播之一向前時信和一向後時信,並藉著取用在被每一電路方塊所捕獲的該向前和向後傳播之時信的該上升或下降時序之間的一時序中繼而産生該共同時序。
- 60依據申請專利範圍第59項之信號傳輸系統,其中至少一對之含有一向前時信産生電路和一向後時信産生電路之時信産生電路被設置於每一含有該向前時信線和該向後時信線的時信線對偶,且該向前時信和向後時信産生電路調整該向前和向後時信之該上升或下降邊緣之相位以設定該相位於預設的值。
- 61依據申請專利範圍第60項之信號傳輸系統,其中該向前時信産生電路包含有一單元用以同步化藉著抽取在該向前和向後時信之該上升或下降時序之間的一中繼點而獲得的一中繼相位信號之時序於一參考時信的該上升或下降時序、一用以偵測在該中繼相位信號和該供同時序信號之間的一相位差異的單元、及一用以調整該向前時信之相位使得該被偵測的相位差異變為零之單元。
- 62依據申請專利範圍第60項之信號傳輸系統,其中多個時信産生電路被設置於該每一向前/向後時信線對偶,且其中位在該向前/向後時信線對偶之每一端點之該時信産生電路只包含有一向前時信産生電路或一向後時信産生電路,且每一位在沿著該向前/向後的中繼位置之該時信産生電路包含有一向後時信産生電路,其基於從在該先前階段之該時信産生電路而接收的該向前時信而産生一共同時序信號和一向後時信、及一向前時信産生電路,其為在下一階段之該時信産生電路而産生一新的向前時信。
- 63依據申請專利範圍第62項之信號傳輸系統,其中每一該時信産生電路更包括一用以經過一信號線而驅動一被供應之信號的緩衝器。
- 64依據申請專利範圍第62項之信號傳輸系統,其中連接在該電路方塊之間的該信號線被點到點地連接,且該時信産生電路被設置為該等電路方塊之每一個或多重個。
- 65依據申請專利範圍第60項之信號傳輸系統,其中該向後時信産生電路從一回授迴路所構建,該迴路實施一相位調整以在該被接收的向前時信和向後時信之間維持一恆定相位差異。
- 66依據申請專利範圍第60項之信號傳輸系統,其中該向後時信産生電路以一可變延遲單元、一回授迴路用以在該可變延遲單元中同步化一延遲總量於一時信週期、及一單元用以給予該向前時信一以受制於該回授迴路而被控制的一延遲階級而成比例於該時信週期的一延遲總量,而被構建。
- 67依據申請專利範圍第66項之信號傳輸系統,其中該可變延遲總量包含有階梯式之多個可變延遲電路,該回授迴路控制在每一該可變延遲電路中以相同值的該延遲總量,且該向後時信從沿著該多個可變延遲電路之一被指定之節點而被取用。
- 68依據申請專利範圍第59項之信號傳輸系統,其中該向後時信之相位被控制使得在該向前時信和該向後時信之一反相樣式之間的該相位差異在任一接收該向前和向後時信的該電路方塊是落於±180度中。
- 69依據申請專利範圍第68項之信號傳輸系統,其中該向後時信之相位被控制使得在該向前時信和該向後時信之一反相樣式之間的該相位差異在任一接收該向前和向後時信的該電路方塊是落於±90度中。
- 70依據申請專利範圍第59項之信號傳輸系統,其中該向後時信是該向前時信之一反相之樣式。
- 71依據申請專利範圍第59項之信號傳輸系統,其中每一該向前和向後時信具有一波型其之上升和下降時間構成一時信週期之一重要部分。
- 72依據申請專利範圍第71項之信號傳輸系統,其中每一該向前和向後時信具有一正弦、三角的、或梯形的波形。
- 73依據申請專利範圍第71項之信號傳輸系統,其中該共同時序信號産生電路是一差分比較器,到其中該向前和向後時信被施用作差分的輸入。
- 74依據申請專利範圍第59項之信號傳輸系統,其中每一該向前和向後時信線之終端端點皆終止於一較大於該等向前和向後時信線之特性阻抗的阻抗。
- 75依據申請專利範圍第59項之信號傳輸系統,其中至少有一該向前和向後時信藉使用一差分信號傳輸方法而傳輸。
- 76依據申請專利範圍第75項之信號傳輸系統,其中該向前時信被傳輸作為互補性信號,且該向後時信藉差分地放大該互補性向前時信而從一被産製之信號而被産生。
- 77依據申請專利範圍第59項之信號傳輸系統,其中該向前和向後時信藉著引介被一由回授所控制之可變延遲電路所給予之一延遲總量成為在一自由運作狀態中之一參考時信而被産生。
- 78依據申請專利範圍第59項之信號傳輸系統,其中當該等向前和向後時信時,只要被輸出於一晶片之外的一信號再度被閂鎖入於該晶片作為該向前時信,基於其而産生該共同時序信號。
- 79一種信號傳輸系統,包含有:一信號傳輸線,藉著清除被前行資料所引進之一字象間干擾成分,而被組成以不需對每一位元做預充電地傳輸資料;及一用以清除經過該信號傳輸線而傳輸的一信號之一字象間干擾成分的單元。
- 80依據申請專利範圍第79項之信號傳輸系統,其中該信號傳輸線以一單端點組態而被構建。
- 81依據申請專利範圍第79項之信號傳輸系統,其中該信號傳輸被組成如互補性匯流排,且該信號傳輸系統包括有一互補性型式匯流排驅動器和一互補性型式匯流排放大器。
- 82依據申請專利範圍第81項之信號傳輸系統,其中更包含有一預充電電路,其在一資料傳輸期間中不對每一位元預充電該信號傳輸線,且其除了在該資料傳輸期間之外預充電該信號傳輸線至一預設之電位位準。
- 83依據申請專利範圍第82項之信號傳輸系統,其中該預充電電路只有在該資料傳輸期間之前和之後的一預設期間而預充電該信號傳輸線。
- 84依據申請專利範圍第82項之信號傳輸系統,其中該預充電電路在所有該資料傳輸期間之外的期間中而預充電該信號傳輸線。
- 85依據申請專利範圍第82項之信號傳輸系統,其中該預充電電路任意地從外界預充電該信號傳輸線。
- 86依據申請專利範圍第81項之信號傳輸系統,其中該互補性型式匯流排放大器包含一有為相關於每一之該互補性匯流排的一單端點線之一字象間干擾清除功能之放大器,及一設於有字象間干擾清除的該放大器之該下游端上的互補性型式差分放大器。
- 87依據申請專利範圍第86項之信號傳輸系統,其中該互補性型式差分放大器被組成如一閂鎖型式差分放大器。
- 88依據申請專利範圍第87項之信號傳輸系統,其中該閂鎖型式差分放大器被組成如一閘接收差分放大器。
- 89依據申請專利範圍第86項之信號傳輸系統,其中該互補性型式差分放大器被組成如一電流鏡型式差分放大器。
- 90依據申請專利範圍第81項之信號傳輸系統,其中該互補性型式匯流排放大器包含有:一具有第一和第二閘接收互補性輸入的差分放大器;一設於該差分放大器之每一該第一和第二輸入的放大器預充電電路,用於以強化該差分放大器之敏感度之方式作預充電;及兩組設於該差分放大器之該第一和第二輸入的第一和第二電容器,其中該差分放大器之該第一和第二輸入經由該等第一和第二電容器而被耦合於該等互補性匯流排,且在電容器之每一組中該第一電容器總是被耦合於該等互補性匯流排之一,然而該第二電容器是選擇性地藉一切換開關單元而被耦合於該等互補性匯流排之一或另一個。
- 91依據申請專利範圍第90項之信號傳輸系統,其中在每一組之電容器中,在一字象間干擾估計操作中,該第二電容器被耦合於相對於被耦合於被連接於該相同差分輸入的該第一電容器的該匯流排的該匯流排,且在一資料決定操作中,其被耦合於被耦合於被連接於該相同差分輸入的該第一電容器的該相同的匯流排,因而達成互補性字象間干擾成分的清除。
- 92依據申請專利範圍第90項之信號傳輸系統,其中當以C10註明該第一電容器之值且以C20註明該第二電容器之值時,則該第一和第二電容器之值被選取以實質上滿足方程式C10/(C10+C20)=(1+exp(-T/τ))/2,其中τ是該匯流排之時間常數,且T是一位元之週期或出現在該匯流排上一位元資料的時間。
- 93依據申請專利範圍第90項之信號傳輸系統,其中該差分放大器被組成如一閂鎖型式之差分放大器。
- 94依據申請專利範圍第93項之信號傳輸系統,其中除了在一資料讀取期間之外,該差分放大器於其中設定一輸出節點於一高位準當一資料接收電晶體是一N-通道型式時,或於一低位準當該資料接收電晶體是一P-通道型式時,因而增大操作速度。
- 95依據申請專利範圍第93項之信號傳輸系統,其中當在一資料讀取期間中一差分放大器輸入節點預充電操作和一字象間干擾成分估計操作時,且除了在一資料傳送期間中之外,該差分放大器於其中設定一輸出節點於一高位準當一資料接收電晶體是一N-通道型式時,或於一低位準當該資料接收電晶體是一P-通道型式時,因而增大操作速度。
- 96依據申請專利範圍第90項之信號傳輸系統,其中該差分放大器被組成如一電流鏡型式之差分放大器。
- 97依據申請專利範圍第90項之信號傳輸系統,其中該差分放大器被組成使除了在一資料傳送期間之外不至於操作。
- 98依據申請專利範圍第81項之信號傳輸系統,其中該互補性型式匯流排放大器包含有每一皆具有一字象間干擾清除功能之第一和第二放大器方塊,且被組成使得當該第一放大器方塊正實施一字象間干擾估計操作時該第二放大器方塊則實施一資料決定操作,且在下一個時序,當該第一放大器方塊正實施一資料決定操作時該第二放大器方塊則實施一字象間干擾估計操作,且其中每一該第一和第二放大器方塊包含有:一具有第一和第二閘接收互補性輸入的差分放大器;一設於該差分放大器之每一該等第一和第二輸入的放大器預充電電路用以在一強化該差分放大器之該敏感度的方式作預充電;及兩組設於該差分放大器之該等第一和第二輸入的第一和第二電容器,其中該差分放大器之該等第一和第二輸入經由該等第一和第二電容器而被耦合於該等互補性匯流排,且在電容器之每一組中該第一電容器總是被耦合於該等互補性匯流排之一,然而該第二電容器是選擇性地藉一切換開關單元而被耦合於該等互補性匯流排之一或另一個。
- 99依據申請專利範圍第98項之信號傳輸系統,其中在每一組之電容器中,在一字象間干擾估計操作中,該第二電容器被耦合於相對於被耦合於被連接於該相同差分輸入的該第一電容器的該匯流排的該匯流排,且在一資料決定操作中,其被耦合於被耦合於被連接於該相同差分輸入的該第一電容器的該相同的匯流排,因而達成互補性字象間干擾成分的清除。
- 100依據申請專利範圍第98項之信號傳輸系統,其中當以C10註明該第一電容器之值且以C20註明該第二電容器之值時,則該第一和第二電容器之值被選取以實質上滿足方程式C10/(C10+C20)=(1+exp(-T/τ))/2,其中τ是該匯流排之時間常數,且T是一位元之週期或出現在該匯流排上一位元資料的時間。
- 101依據申請專利範圍第98項之信號傳輸系統,其中該差分放大器被組成如一閂鎖型式之差分放大器。
- 102依據申請專利範圍第101項之信號傳輸系統,其中除了在一資料讀取期間之外,該差分放大器於其中設定一輸出節點於一高位準當一資料接收電晶體是一N-通道型式時,或於一低位準當該資料接收電晶體是一P-通道型式時,因而增大操作速度。
- 103依據申請專利範圍第101項之信號傳輸系統,其中當在一資料讀取期間中一差分放大器輸入節點預充電操作和一字象間干擾成分估計操作時,且除了在一資料傳送期間中之外,該差分放大器於其中設定一輸出節點於一高位準當一資料接收電晶體是一N-通道型式時,或於一低位準當該資料接收電晶體是一P-通道型式時,因而增大操作速度。
- 104依據申請專利範圍第98項之信號傳輸系統,其中該差分放大器被組成如一電流鏡型式之差分放大器。
- 105依據申請專利範圍第98項之信號傳輸系統,其中該差分放大器被組成使除了在一資料傳送期間之外不至於操作。
- 106依據申請專利範圍第81項之信號傳輸系統,其中該互補性型式匯流排放大器包含有:一具有第一和第二閘接收互補性輸入的差分放大器;一設於該差分放大器之第一輸入的放大器預充電電路用以在一強化該差分放大器之該敏感度的方式作預充電;一用以控制在該差分放大器之第二輸入與該差分放大器之一輸出之間的電氣傳導的自動歸零電路;及兩組設於該差分放大器之該等第一和第二輸入的第一和第二電容器,其中該差分放大器之該第一和第二輸入經由該等第一和第二電容器而被耦合於該等互補性匯流排,且在電容器之每一組中該第一電容器總是被耦合於該等互補性匯流排之一,然而該第二電容器是選擇性地藉一切換開關單元而被耦合於該等互補性匯流排之一或另一個。
- 107依據申請專利範圍第106項之信號傳輸系統,其中在每一組之電容器中,在一字象間干擾估計操作中,該第二電容器被耦合於相對於被耦合於被連接於該相同差分輸入的該第一電容器的該匯流排的該匯流排,且在一資料決定操作中,其被耦合於被耦合於被連接於該相同差分輸入的該第一電容器的該相同的匯流排,因而達成互補性字象間干擾成分的清除。
- 108依據申請專利範圍第106項之信號傳輸系統,其中當以C10註明該第一電容器之值且以C20註明該第二電容器之值時,則該第一和第二電容器之值被選取以實質上滿足方程式C10/(C10+C20)=(1+exp(-T/τ))/2,其中τ是該匯流排之時間常數,且T是一位元之週期或出現在該匯流排上一位元資料的時間。
- 109依據申請專利範圍第106項之信號傳輸系統,其中該差分放大器被組成如一閂鎖型式之差分放大器。
- 110依據申請專利範圍第109項之信號傳輸系統,其中除了在一資料讀取期間之外,該差分放大器於其中設定一輸出節點於一高位準當一資料接收電晶體是一N-通道型式時,或於一低位準當該資料接收電晶體是一P-通道型式時,因而增大操作速度。
- 111依據申請專利範圍第109項之信號傳輸系統,其中當在一資料讀取期間中一差分放大器輸入節點預充電操作和一字象間干擾成分估計操作時,且除了在一資料傳送期間中之外,該差分放大器於其中設定一輸出節點於一高位準當一資料接收電晶體是一N-通道型式時,或於一低位準當該資料接收電晶體是一P-通道型式時,因而增大操作速度。
- 112依據申請專利範圍第106項之信號傳輸系統,其中該差分放大器被組成如一電流鏡型式之差分放大器。
- 113依據申請專利範圍第106項之信號傳輸系統,其中該差分放大器被組成使除了在一資料傳送期間之外不至於操作。
- 114依據申請專利範圍第81項之信號傳輸系統,其中該互補性型式匯流排放大器包含有每一皆具有一字象間干擾清除功能之第一和第二放大器方塊,且被組成使得當該第一放大器方塊正實施一字象間干擾估計操作時該第二放大器方塊則實施一資料決定操作,且在下一個時序,當該第一放大器方塊正實施一資料決定操作時該第二放大器方塊則實施一字象間干擾估計操作,且其中每一該第一和第二放大器方塊包含有:一具有第一和第二閘接收互補性輸入的差分放大器;一設於該差分放大器之該第一輸入的放大器預充電電路用以在一強化該差分放大器之該敏感度的方式作預充電;一用以控制在該差分放大器之第二輸入與該差分放大器之一輸出之間的電氣傳導的自動歸零電路;及兩組設於該差分放大器之該等第一和第二輸入的第一和第二電容器,其中該差分放大器之該第一和第二輸入經由該等第一和第二電容器而被耦合於該等互補性匯流排,且在電容器之每一組中該第一電容器總是被耦合於該等互補性匯流排之一,然而該第二電容器是選擇性地藉一切換開關單元而被耦合於該等互補性匯流排之一或另一個。
- 115依據申請專利範圍第114項之信號傳輸系統,其中在每一組之電容器中,在該字象間干擾估計操作中,該第二電容器被耦合於相對於被耦合於被連接於該相同差分輸入的該第一電容器的該匯流排的該匯流排,且在該資料決定操作中,其被耦合於被耦合於被連接於該相同差分輸入的該第一電容器的該相同的匯流排,因而達成互補性字象間干擾成分的清除。
- 116依據申請專利範圍第114項之信號傳輸系統,其中當以C10註明該第一電容器之值且以C20註明該第二電容器之值時,則該第一和第二電容器之值被選取以實質上滿足方程式C10/(C10+C20)=(1+exp(-T/τ))/2,其中τ是該匯流排之時間常數,且T是一位元之週期或出現在該匯流排上一位元資料的時間。
- 117依據申請專利範圍第114項之信號傳輸系統,其中該差分放大器被組成如一閂鎖型式之差分放、大器。
- 118依據申請專利範圍第117項之信號傳輸系統,其中除了在一資料讀取期間之外,該差分放大器於其中設定一輸出節點於一高位準當一資料接收電晶體是一N-通道型式時,或於一低位準當該資料接收電晶體是一P-通道型式時,因而增大操作速度。
- 119依據申請專利範圍第117項之信號傳輸系統,其中當在一資料讀取期間中一差分放大器輸入節點預充電操作和一字象間干擾成分估計操作時,且除了在一資料傳送期間中之外,該差分放大器於其中設定一輸出節點於一高位準當一資料接收電晶體是一N-通道型式時,或於一低位準當該資料接收電晶體是一P-通道型式時,因而增大操作速度。
- 120依據申請專利範圍第114項之信號傳輸系統,其中該差分放大器被組成如一電流鏡型式之差分放大器。
- 121依據申請專利範圍第114項之信號傳輸系統,其中該差分放大器被組成使除了在一資料傳送期間之外不至於操作。
- 122一種半導體記憶體裝置,包含有該互補性型式匯流排放大器、該互補性型式匯流排驅動器、及該等互補性匯流排,在申請專利範圍81中所描術的其分別作為一資料匯流排放大器、一感測放大器、及資料匯流排,其中該資料匯流排放大器移除被包含在經過該等資料匯流排而從該感測放大器所傳輸的資料中的一字象間干擾成分,且因而在資料傳輸中不預充電該等資料匯流排地實施不中斷的資料讀取。
- 123依據申請專利範圍第122項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中該半導體記憶體裝置是一動態隨機取用記憶體。
- 124依據申請專利範圍第123項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中該等資料匯流排以一承襲結構而被組織。
- 125依據申請專利範圍第124項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中該等資料匯流排包含有一在地資料匯流排用以傳輸經過一被選取之縱項傳送閘而從該感測放大器所輸出之資料,及一泛在資料匯流排用以傳輸經過一被選取之在地資料匯流排切換開關而從該在地資料匯流排所傳送之資料。
- 126依據申請專利範圍第123項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中該資料匯流排放大器藉著操作兩個平行設置且備有一字象間干擾清除功能的放大器方塊而以與一時信之該上升和下降時序或互補性時信之該等上升時序同步的一交織樣式而讀出資料。
- 127依據申請專利範圍第126項之半導體記憶體裝置,更包含有:一具有一縱項解碼器和一縱項選取信號産生電路的第一縱項選取信號産生單元用以從該時信之該上升時序而産生一縱項選取信號;及一具有一縱項解碼器和一縱項選取信號産生電路的第二縱項選取信號産生單元用以從該時信之該下降時序或一反相的時信之該上升時序而産生一縱項選取信號,且其中:該第一和該第二縱項選取信號産生單元以一交織的樣式被操作而以高速實施在該等縱項選取信號之間的切換。
- 128依據申請專利範圍第127項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中該第一和該第二縱項選取信號産生單元以一重疊的樣式而産生該等縱項選取信號。
- 129依據申請專利範圍第123項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中該資料匯流排放大器藉使用一備有一字象間干擾清除功能的單放大器方塊而讀出資料。
- 130依據申請專利範圍第129項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中備有一字象間干擾清除功能的該放大器方塊與一時信之該上升或下降時序同步地實施一字象間干擾成分估計操作,且與該時信之該下降或上升時序同步地實施一資料選取操作。
- 131依據申請專利範圍第122項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中該半導體裝置包括一為該等資料匯流排而設的負載。
- 132依據申請專利範圍第131項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中如果在不設該負載中該等資料匯流排傾向於漸漸地移向一低的位準端,則該負載被構建有一大小恰足以壓制該等資料匯流排之移位之一P-通道MOS電晶體,且該等互補性匯流排通過該P-通道MOS電晶體而分別被拉至一高位準,且其中除了在資料傳輸之外,該P-通道MOS電晶體被關閉以阻停該負載的動作。
- 133依據申請專利範圍第131項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中如果在不設該負載中該等資料匯流排傾向於漸漸地移向一低的位準端,則該負載被構建有一大小恰足以壓制該等資料匯流排之移位之一N-通道MOS電晶體,且該等互補性匯流排通過該N-通道MOS電晶體而分別被拉至一高位準,且其中除了在資料傳輸之外,該N-通道MOS電晶體被關閉以阻停該負載的動作。
- 134依據申請專利範圍第131項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中如果在不設該負載中該等資料匯流排傾向於漸漸地移向一低的位準端,則該負載被構建有一電阻器,且該電阻器經過一電晶體而被連接於一高位準,且其中除了在資料傳輸之外,該電晶體被關閉以阻停該負載的動作。
- 135依據申請專利範圍第131項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中如果在不設該負載中該等資料匯流排傾向於漸漸地移向一低的位準端,則該負載被構建有交叉耦合的P-通道MOS電晶體,且該交叉耦合的P-通道MOS電晶體經過一控制電晶體而被連接於一高位準使得傳輸高位準資料的一匯流排被拉至一比該其它傳輸低位準資料的匯流排為較高的位準,且其中除了在資料傳輸之外,該控制電晶體被關閉以阻停該負載的動作。
- 136依據申請專利範圍第131項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中如果在不設該負載中該等資料匯流排傾向於漸漸地移向一高的位準端,則該負載被構建有一大小恰足以壓制該等資料匯流排之移位之一N-通道MOS電晶體,且該等互補性匯流排通過該N-通道MOS電晶體而分別被拉至一低位準,且其中除了在資料傳輸之外,該N-通道MOS電晶體被關閉以阻停該負載的動作。
- 137依據申請專利範圍第131項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中如果在不設該負載中該等資料匯流排傾向於漸漸地移向一高的位準端,則該負載被構建有一大小恰足以壓制該等資料匯流排之移位之一P-通道MOS電晶體,且該等互補性匯流排通過該P-通道MOS電晶體而分別被拉至一低位準,且其中除了在資料傳輸之外,該P-通道MOS電晶體被關閉以阻停該負載的動作。
- 138依據申請專利範圍第131項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中如果在不設該負載中該等資料匯流排傾向於漸漸地移向一高的位準端,則該負載被構建有一電阻器,且該電阻器經過一電晶體而被連接於一低位準,且其中除了在資料傳輸之外,該電晶體被關閉以阻停該負載的動作。
- 139依據申請專利範圍第131項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中如果在不設該負載中該等資料匯流排傾向於漸漸地移向一高的位準端,則該負載被構建有交叉耦合的N-通道MOS電晶體,且該交叉耦合的N-通道MOS電晶體經過一控制電晶體而被連接於一低位準使得傳輸低位準資料的一匯流排被拉至一比該其它傳輸高位準資料的匯流排為較低的位準,且其中除了在資料傳輸之外,該控制電晶體被關閉以阻停該負載的動作。
- 140依據申請專利範圍第131項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中該負載只被設於該泛在資料匯流排上之一位置。
- 141依據申請專利範圍第131項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中多重該負載被彼此隔開地設在沿著該泛在資料匯流排之多個位置。
- 142依據申請專利範圍第131項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中該負載只被設於該在地資料匯流排上。
- 143依據申請專利範圍第131項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中多重該負載被彼此隔開地設在沿著該泛在資料匯流排和該在地資料匯流排之多個位置。
- 144依據申請專利範圍第122項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中該感測放大器被組成如一CMOS電晶體交叉耦合對偶。
- 145依據申請專利範圍第122項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中該感測放大器以一閘而接收在一位元線上的一差分電位,且在該位元線被完全打開之前傳送資料於該等資料匯流排上,因而阻止了在該感測放大器中的資料不被該等資料匯流排之該差分電位所反相。
- 146依據申請專利範圍第145項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中該感測放大器被組成如一P-通道或N-通道MOS電晶體閘接收放大器。
- 147依據申請專利範圍第145項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中該感測放大器被組成如一CMOS電晶體閘接收放大器。
- 148依據申請專利範圍第122項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中該半導體記憶體裝置補償一歪斜其從産生用以選取一感測放大器的縱項選取信號之一時間到從該被選取的感測放大器所輸出的到達的資料之一時間而被決定由於該被選取的感測放大器的位置,且以該到達的資料為有效之一正確的時序而決定在該資料匯流排放大器中所使用的控制信號,被在從一縱項選取信號産生電路到該被選取的感測放大器的一第一長度與從該被選取的感測放大器到該資料匯流排放大器之間經過該資料匯流排而被引發之該歪斜。
- 149依據申請專利範圍第148項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中該半導體記憶體裝置在為位置較近於該縱項選取信號産生電路和該資料匯流排放大器的感測放大器之較後時序及在位置較遠於該縱項選取信號産生電路和該資料匯流排放大器的感測放大器之較早時序而産生該縱項選取信號,因而不相關於每一該等感測放大器的位置地保持資料到達該匯流排放大器的時序實質上是恆定的。
- 150依據申請專利範圍第149項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中該半導體記憶體裝置被分成多個橫越直接連接於該資料匯流排放大器的該資料匯流排之經度方向的記憶體方塊,一用以選取該記憶體方塊的方塊選取位址被輸入於該縱項選取信號産生電路,一在該縱項選取信號産生電路中的延遲總量被該方塊選取位址所控制,且因而不相關於每一該等感測放大器的位置地資料到達該匯流排放大器的時序實質上是恆定的。
- 151依據申請專利範圍第148項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中該半導體記憶體裝置供應一列項方塊選取位址於一縱項選取信號産生電路,且一在該縱項選取信號産生電路中的延遲總量被該方塊選取位址以如此一方式所控制,即對該縱項選取信號的該産生時序對位置較遠離該匯流排放大器的方塊是被提前的且對位置較近於該匯流排放大器的方塊是被延遲的。
- 152依據申請專利範圍第151項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中在該縱項選取信號産生電路中的該延遲總量被一傳送閘和增加的電容量所形成,該增加的電容量之值對於位置較近於該匯流排放大器的方塊被做得較大。
- 153依據申請專利範圍第151項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中在該縱項選取信號産生電路中的該延遲總量被一包括多個階梯式延遲階段的一延遲線所形成,該延遲線對於位置較近於該匯流排放大器的方塊提供可被通過的一大數目的延遲階段。
- 154依據申請專利範圍第153項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中每一該延遲階段包含有第一和第二NAND閘及一反相器。
- 155依據申請專利範圍第148項之半導體記憶體裝置,其中該半導體記憶體裝置在為位置較近於該縱項選取信號産生電路和該資料匯流排放大器的感測放大器之較早時序及在位置較遠於該縱項選取信號産生電路和該資料匯流排放大器的感測放大器之較後時序而産生在該資料匯流排放大器中所使用的控制信號,且在該到達的資料是有效的一正確的時序而決定在該資料匯流排放大器中所使用的該等控制信號。
- 156一種接收器電路,用以使用在一信號傳輸系統中其經過互補性匯流排而傳輸資料,且其藉清除由前行資料所引介的字象間干擾成分而偵測該資料,該接收器電路包含有:一具有第一和第二閘接收互補性輸入的差分放大器;一設於該差分放大器之每一該等第一和第二輸入的放大器預充電電路用以在一強化該差分放大器之該敏感度的方式作預充電;及兩組設於該差分放大器之該等第一和第二輸入的第一和第二電容器,其中該差分放大器之該第一和第二輸入經由該等第一和第二電容器而被耦合於該等互補性匯流排,且在電容器之每一組中該第一電容器總是被耦合於該等互補性匯流排之一,然而該第二電容器是選擇性地藉一切換開關單元而被耦合於該等互補性匯流排之一或另一個。
- 157依據申請專利範圍第156項之接收器電路,其中在每一組之電容器中,在該字象間干擾估計操作中,該第二電容器被耦合於相對於被耦合於被連接於該相同差分輸入的該第一電容器的該匯流排的該匯流排,且在該資料決定操作中,其被耦合於被耦合於被連接於該相同差分輸入的該第一電容器的該相同的匯流排,因而達成互補性字象間干擾成分的清除。
- 158依據申請專利範圍第156項之接收器電路,其中當以C10註明該第一電容器之值且以C20註明該第二電容器之值時,則該第一和第二電容器之值被選取以實質上滿足方程式C10/(C10+C20)=(1+exp(-T/τ))/2,其中τ是該匯流排之時間常數,且T是一位元之週期或出現在該匯流排上一位元資料的時間。
- 159依據申請專利範圍第156項之接收器電路,其中該差分放大器被組成如一閂鎖型式之差分放大器。
- 160依據申請專利範圍第159項之接收器電路,其中除了在一資料讀取期間之外,該差分放大器於其中設定一輸出節點於一高位準當一資料接收電晶體是一N-通道型式時,或於一低位準當該資料接收電晶體是一P-通道型式時,因而增大操作速度。
- 161依據申請專利範圍第159項之接收器電路,其中當在一資料讀取期間中一差分放大器輸入節點預充電操作和一字象間干擾成分估計操作時,且除了在一資料傳送期間中之外,該差分放大器於其中設定一輸出節點於一高位準當一資料接收電晶體是一N-通道型式時,或於一低位準當該資料接收電晶體是一P-通道型式時,因而增大操作速度。
- 162依據申請專利範圍第156項之接收器電路,其中該差分放大器被組成如一電流鏡型式之差分放大器。
- 163依據申請專利範圍第156項之接收器電路,其中該差分放大器被組成使除了在一資料傳送期間之外不至於操作。
Independent claims163
536 paragraphs, as filed
<u style="single">Background of the invention</u>
The present invention relates to a signal transmission system and a receiving circuit used in a signal transmission system, and more particularly, to a signal transmission system for transmitting signals between an LSI chip and a receiving circuit used for the same use.
Recently, the functions of DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) and the processor have been greatly improved, and more particularly, the speed of the processor has been improved rapidly, and the improvement of DRAM function is mainly in the large storage capacity; However, the improvement in the operating speed of DRAM is not as great as the increase in storage capacity. As a result, the speed gap between the DRAM and the processor has expanded, and in recent years this speed gap has become an increase. A bottleneck in computer functions.
For the signal transmission system of the signal transmission between the processor and DRAMs (DRAM module) in the known conventional technology, and in the next few years, it is expected to find a wide range of users as SSTL (serial connection block terminal) Logic) and other low-amplitude signal standards; in the SSTL (or a similar low-amplitude signal system), a signal transmission line (then the transmission line) is finally a resistance value close to the characteristic impedance of the transmission line, so it is suppressed in Its terminal reflects and achieves high signal transmission speed; even by using low-amplitude signals, the power required to charge and discharge the transmission line is reduced, making low-power transmission possible in high-speed operation.
In a bus (signal transmission system) using the SSTL, high-speed signal transmission is possible due to the matched terminal (end point resistance) and blocking resistance, and compared to the traditional system due to the use of low-amplitude signals The power consumption is also reduced; however, in order to maintain the power consumption of the device at the current level, or reduce it below the current level, while increasing the bandwidth of the signal transmission between the DRAM and the processor, it is necessary to Signal transmission system with lower power consumption.
Moreover, for example, in a Rambus channel, a DRAM controller and multiple DRAM chips are connected to each other by a common signal transmission line (bus); for the transmission and reception of high-speed signals, precise timing must be transmitted in the signal Between the receiver and the receiver; in the Rambus channel, as long as the one-time signal line and a signal transmission line are the same in both the path and the electrical characteristics, the correct timing can be established for both reception and transmission; that is, , The Ram-bus channel requires the time signal line and the signal transmission line to be formed along the same path and have the same electrical characteristics between them.
However, the characteristics of the load are inevitably different between the signal line and the signal transmission line at this time; this is because when the signal transmission line allows the use of a latch circuit that operates in synchronization with the reception timing to achieve high sensitivity reception , The time signal line requires the use of a differential amplifier because a latch cannot be used; because the nature of the load is different between a latch circuit and a differential amplifier and the like, the electrical characteristics of the line (for example, per unit The delay of the distance), and so on, thus become different between the time signal line and the signal transmission line.
The known and related techniques, and their combined problems will be described in detail later with reference to the accompanying drawings.
One object of the present invention is to provide a signal transmission system in which the response time of a signal transmission line is set to be approximately equal to or longer than the length of a transmitted character image; another object of the present invention is to provide a signal transmission system, which The timing signal can be generated without requiring symmetry between the time signal line and the signal transmission line (bus bar), and it can minimize the gap in switching from one transmission device to another.
According to the present invention, it provides a signal transmission system in which the response time of a signal transmission line is set to be approximately equal to or longer than the length of a transmitted character image.
A terminal resistance provided at one or both ends of the signal transmission line can be set to be larger than the characteristic impedance of the signal transmission line; at least one resistor can be provided in series with the signal transmission line, or the signal transmission line can be constructed to It contains the resistance value in itself.
Signals can be transmitted between multiple circuit blocks; at least one of the multiple circuit blocks can have a receiving circuit to receive a signal transmitted on the signal transmission line, and the receiving circuit can include a part of response detection The unit detects a partial response of the signal presentation, and a signal logic dependent unit to make a logical decision on the signal; the partial response detection unit may include an inter-character interference estimation unit to estimate based on a previous The inter-image interference of the received signal and a subtraction unit are used to subtract the estimated inter-image interference from the currently received signal in effect.
The inter-character-image interference estimation unit can be constructed to obtain a linear weighted sum of the previous decision value; the inter-character interference estimation unit can include a shift register to retain the previous bit information and a weighting unit to The data retained in the shift register is weighted; the weighting unit can be constructed from multiple resistors; the weighting unit can be constructed from multiple capacitors and switches.
The inter-character-image interference estimation unit may be constructed to obtain a non-linear weight of a previous decision value; the inter-character-image interference estimation unit may include a shift register to retain the previous bit information and a memory unit to Store estimates related to the data retained in the shift register.
The inter-character-image interference estimation unit may include an accumulation unit to accumulate an analog ratio of the previously received signal, and an inter-character-image interference generating unit to generate inter-character-image interference from the analog signal; the inter-character-image interference The interference estimation unit can be constructed to obtain a linear weighted sum of an analog value of a signal received by a previous time signal and a fixed reference analog value; the inter-character-image interference estimation unit can be provided with multiple Switching unit and capacitor unit.
The plurality of circuit blocks may be semiconductor integrated circuit chips, and the signal transmission system may be constituted as a bus system interconnected with the plurality of semiconductor integrated circuit chips; the signal transmission line may be constituted as a bidirectional data Bus or data signal line; the signal transmission line can be composed as a unidirectional address bus or address signal line; the plurality of semiconductor integrated circuit chips can be composed of a processor or a controller and a plurality of memories Body module.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, a signal transmission system is provided to transmit a signal between a plurality of circuit blocks through a signal transmission line, and it includes a time signal distribution unit to distribute a time signal to each one through a time signal line In the circuit block, a common timing signal generating unit provides a common timing based on the time signal input to each circuit block, which has a shorter time than the time required for the signal passing through the connection between the circuit blocks The correctness of the time, and a unit for transmitting and receiving the signal synchronously with the common timing.
Each of the circuit blocks can be an integrated circuit module, an integrated circuit chip, or a fabricated circuit in a single chip; the maximum length of the signal transmission line may not be greater than the signal edge in one bit time It depends on the distance that the signal transmission line transmits; the maximum length of the signal transmission line may not be more than half of the distance the signal is transmitted along the signal transmission line in one bit time.
A buffer can be embedded in the signal transmission line to give the signal a delay equal to an integer multiple of one bit time of the signal, and to retransmit the delayed signal. The buffer thus activates the signal and is The transmission crosses a distance exceeding the maximum length of the signal transmission line; the buffer can be output to other circuit blocks, which is connected to a time signal required by the other circuit blocks through the buffer to generate a common timing.
The signal transmission line may be a bus bar of a common signal line type, and a terminal resistor having a resistance value approximately equal to or greater than the characteristic impedance of the bus bar may be provided at one end or both ends of the bus bar A driver circuit for driving the signal transmission line can have an output impedance larger than the characteristic impedance of the signal transmission line; the driver circuit can generate a constant current drive output.
The common timing signal generation unit can capture the time signal transmitted along a time signal line when folded between a forward paragraph and a backward paragraph, and can obtain a forward signal captured by each circuit block. The common timing is generated by the timing relay between the climbing timing of the time signal transmitted backward and the timing signal; the common timing signal generating unit may include a linear total generating unit to generate the forward and backward of the signal line when the signal is folded The linear total of the sine time signal in the paragraph above, and a waveform forming unit to form the sine wave obtained by the linear total generating unit; the common timing signal generating unit may include a phase complementer to capture the time signal when it is folded The time information transmitted forward and backward on the line is used to generate a phase relay with the time information transmitted between the forward and backward transmission.
The common timing signal generating unit can generate a standing wave along the time signal line, and each of the circuit blocks can capture the time signal from the standing wave generated along the time signal line; The unit for generating the standing wave by the time signal line may include a production unit to actively produce a time signal driving circuit or a time signal termination circuit or both of the reflected signals of the time signal, thus adjusting the time The electrical length of one of the letter lines.
The period of the time signal used to generate the common timing may be twice longer than the length of one bit time of the signal transmitted along the signal transmission line; the time signal line may have a substantially different time from the signal transmission line Transmission characteristics, and compared to the signal transmission line, it can provide electrical shielding against the increase of the external environment.
At least one of the circuit blocks can be provided with a receiving circuit on one of its receiving surfaces to eliminate inter-character and image interference from the signal, and can receive the signal transmitted through the signal transmission line.
In addition, according to the present invention, it also provides a receiving circuit used in a signal transmission system to receive a signal transmitted on a signal transmission line. The receiving circuit includes a part of a response detection unit to detect a signal. Part of the response shown, and a signal logic dependent unit to make a logical decision on the signal.
The partial response detection unit may include an inter-image interference estimation unit to estimate inter-image interference based on a previously received signal and a subtraction unit to subtract the estimated signal from the currently received signal in effect. Inter-character and image interference; the inter-character-image interference estimation unit can be constructed to obtain a linear weighted sum of the previous decision value; the inter-character interference estimation unit can include a shift register to retain the previous bit information And a weighting unit to weight the data retained in the shift register; the weighting unit can be constructed from a plurality of resistors; the weighting unit can be constructed from a plurality of capacitors and switches.
The inter-character-image interference estimation unit may be constructed to obtain a non-linear weight of a previous decision value; the inter-character-image interference estimation unit may include a shift register to retain the previous bit information and a memory unit to Store estimates related to the data retained in the shift register.
The inter-character-image interference estimation unit may include an accumulation unit to accumulate an analog ratio of the previously received signal, and an inter-character-image interference generating unit to generate inter-character-image interference from the analog signal; the inter-character-image interference The interference estimation unit can be constructed to obtain a linear weighted sum of an analog value of a signal received by a previous time signal and a fixed reference analog value; the inter-character-image interference estimation unit can be provided with multiple Switching unit and capacitor unit.
The common timing signal generating unit can capture a forward time signal and a backward time signal transmitted along a forward time signal line and a backward time signal line, and can obtain a signal captured by each circuit block. The timing relay between the climbing or falling timings of the forward and backward transmission of the time signal generates the common timing; at least one pair includes a forward time signal generation circuit and a backward time signal generation circuit. The time signal generation circuit can be paired Each time signal line pair including the forward time signal line and the backward time signal line is provided, and the forward time signal and the backward time signal generating circuit can adjust the phase of the climbing or landing edge of the forward and backward time signals In order to set the phase at a predetermined value; the forward time signal generating circuit may include a unit for synchronously extracting a relay point between the climbing or falling timings of the forward and backward time signals. The timing of the relay phase signal is at the climb or fall timing of a reference time signal, a unit is used to detect a phase difference between the relay phase signal and the common timing signal, and a unit is used to adjust the forward The phase of the time signal makes the detected phase difference become zero.
One or more time signal generation circuits can be provided for each forward/backward time signal line pair, and the time signal generation circuit at each end of the forward/backward time signal line pair may include only one direction A forward time signal generation circuit or a backward time signal generation circuit, and each time signal generation circuit located along the forward/backward relay position may include a backward time signal generation circuit based on the previous stage The forward time signal received by the time signal generation circuit generates a common time sequence signal and a backward time signal, and a forward time signal generation circuit generates a new forward time signal for the time signal generation circuit in the next stage ; Each time signal generation circuit can further drive a signal supplied through a signal line and include a buffer; the signal line between the connection circuit blocks can be connected point-to-point, and the time signal generation circuit can be Only one is provided for each one or more of the circuit blocks.
The backward time signal generation circuit can be constructed from a feedback loop that implements a phase adjustment to maintain a constant phase difference between the received forward time signal and the backward time signal; the backward time signal generation circuit can be constructed with a A variable delay unit, a feedback loop for synchronizing a total amount of delay in the variable delay unit in a tick cycle, and a unit for giving by a delay phase that is attached to the feedback loop and controlled The forward time signal is proportional to the total amount of delay of the time signal period; the variable delay unit may include a plurality of stepped variable delay circuits, and the feedback loop can be controlled by the same value at each variable The total amount of delay in the delay circuit, and the backward time signal can be obtained from a designated node along the plurality of variable delay circuits.
The phase of the backward time signal can be controlled so that the phase difference between the forward time signal and an inverted type of the backward time signal falls within ±180 or ±90 degrees in any circuit that receives the forward and backward time signals Square.
The backward time signal can be an inverted type of the forward time signal; each of the forward and backward time signals can have a waveform whose climb and fall times constitute an important part of the time signal cycle; each forward and The backward time signal can have a sinusoidal, triangular or trapezoidal waveform; the common timing signal generating circuit can be a differential comparator, to which the forward and backward time signals are used as differential inputs.
The terminal end points of the forward and backward time signal lines may all have an impedance which is greater than the characteristic impedance of the forward and backward time signal lines; at least one of the forward and backward time signals can be transmitted using a differential signal transmission method ; The forward time signal can be transmitted as a complementary signal, and the backward time signal can be generated from a signal produced by differentially amplifying the complementary forward time signal.
The forward and backward time signals can be generated by introducing a total amount of delay given by a variable delay circuit controlled by a feedback into a reference time signal in a free-running state; when capturing the forward and backward In the time signal, as long as a signal is output outside a chip, the signal can be latched into the chip again as the forward time signal, based on which common timing signal is generated.
According to the present invention, it provides a signal transmission system including a signal transmission line that is composed of a signal transmission line that transmits data by eliminating an inter-character-image interference component introduced by previous data without pre-charging each bit, and A unit is used to eliminate a ZigZag interference component that transmits a signal through the signal transmission line.
The signal transmission line can be constructed in a single-ended configuration; the signal transmission line can be composed as a complementary bus, and the signal transmission system can include a complementary type of bus driver and a complementary type of bus amplifier.
The signal transmission system may further include a precharge circuit which does not precharge the signal transmission line for each bit during a data transmission period, and charges the signal transmission line to a predetermined level of potential except during the data transmission period; The pre-charging circuit can pre-charge the signal transmission line only during a predetermined period before and after the data transmission period; the pre-charging circuit can pre-charge the signal transmission line during all periods other than the data transmission period; the pre-charging circuit can Arbitrarily precharge the signal transmission line from the outside.
The complementary type of bus amplifier may include an amplifier with an inter-image interference cancellation function for a single-terminal line related to each of the complementary types of buses, and an amplifier provided with the inter-image interference cancellation function The complementary type differential amplifier on the lower row of the amplifier; the complementary type differential amplifier can be composed as a latch type differential amplifier; the latch type differential amplifier can be composed as a gate receiving differential amplifier; the complementary type differential amplifier can be composed Such as a current mirror type differential amplifier.
The complementary type of bus amplifier may include a differential amplifier with first and second gates to receive complementary inputs, and an amplifier precharge circuit at each of the first and second inputs of the differential amplifier for an enhanced The sensitivity of the differential amplifier is precharged, and two sets of first and second capacitors are located at the first and second inputs of the differential amplifier. The first and second inputs of the differential amplifier can pass through the first and second capacitors. A and a second capacitor are coupled to the complementary bus, and in each group of capacitors, the first capacitor can always be coupled to one of the complementary bus, and the second capacitor can be switched by a switching device. It is selectively coupled to one or the other complementary bus.
In each set of capacitors, the second capacitor can be coupled to the bus that is opposite to the bus coupled to the first capacitor connected to the same differential input during the inter-image interference estimation operation, and can be A data decision operation is coupled to the same bus, which is coupled to the first capacitor connected to the same differential input, thereby achieving the elimination of complementary inter-character interference components; the complementary type of bus amplifier can Each of the included first and second amplifier blocks has an inter-image interference cancellation function, and can be composed such that the second amplifier block implements a data determination operation and the first amplifier block implements an inter-image estimation operation, And at the next timing, an inter-character-image estimation operation is performed and the first amplifier block performs a data determination operation, and wherein the first and second amplifier blocks may each include a first and second gate receiving complementarity Input differential amplifier, an amplifier pre-charging circuit located at each of the first and second inputs of the differential amplifier for pre-charging in a situation where the sensitivity of the differential amplifier is enhanced, and two sets located in the differential amplifier The first and second capacitors of the first and second inputs, wherein the first and second inputs of the differential amplifier can be coupled to the complementary bus by the first and second capacitors, and in each The first capacitor in the group of capacitors can always be coupled to one of the complementary busbars, and the second capacitor can be selectively coupled to one or the other of the complementary busbars by a switching unit.
The complementary type bus amplifier may include a differential amplifier having first and second gates to receive complementary inputs, and an amplifier pre-charging circuit at the first input of the differential amplifier to enhance the sensitivity of the differential amplifier. In this case, it is precharged, an auto-zero circuit is used to control the electrical conduction between the second input of the differential amplifier and one of the output of the differential amplifier, and two sets of the first and second inputs of the differential amplifier are located A and a second capacitor, wherein the first and second inputs of the differential amplifier can be coupled to the complementary bus by passing through the first and second capacitors, and the first capacitor in each set of capacitors can be Is always coupled to one of the complementary busbars, and the second capacitor can be selectively coupled to one or the other of the complementary busbars by a switching unit; in each group of capacitors, the second capacitor The capacitor can be coupled to the bus opposite to the bus coupled to the first capacitor connected to the same differential input during the inter-image interference estimation operation, and can be coupled to the same bus during a data determination operation The bus bar is coupled to the first capacitor connected to the same differential input, thus achieving the elimination of complementary inter-image interference components.
The complementary type bus amplifier may include first and second amplifier blocks each having an inter-image interference cancellation function, and can be composed such that the second amplifier block performs a data determination operation and the first amplifier block Perform an inter-character-image estimation operation, and in the next timing, perform an inter-character-image estimation operation and the first amplifier block implements a data determination operation, and wherein the first and second amplifier blocks may each include a One and second gates receive a differential amplifier with complementary inputs, and an amplifier pre-charging circuit at the first input of the differential amplifier is used for pre-charging in a way to enhance the sensitivity of the differential amplifier, and an auto-zeroing The circuit is used to control the electrical conduction between the second input of the differential amplifier and the output of one of the differential amplifiers, and two sets of first and second capacitors located at the first and second inputs of the differential amplifier, wherein the differential amplifier The first and second inputs can be coupled to the complementary bus by passing through the first and second capacitors, and the first capacitor in each group of capacitors can always be coupled to the complementary bus One, and the second capacitor can be selectively coupled to one or the other of the complementary bus by a switching device.
In each set of capacitors, the second capacitor can be coupled to the bus that is opposite to the bus coupled to the first capacitor connected to the same differential input during the inter-image interference estimation operation, and can be A data decision operation is coupled to the same bus, which is coupled to the first capacitor connected to the same differential input, thus achieving the elimination of complementary inter-character-image interference components; when the value of the first capacitor is changed When the value of the second capacitor is indicated by C10 and the value of the second capacitor is indicated by C20, the values of the first and second capacitors can be selected to substantially satisfy the equation C10/(C10+C20)=(1+exp(-T/τ ))/2, where τ is the time constant of the bus, and T is the period of one bit or the time for one bit of data to appear on the bus.
The differential amplifier can be composed as a latch type differential amplifier; except during a data reading period, when a data receiving transistor is an N-channel type, the differential amplifier can set an output node at a high When the data receiving transistor is a P-channel type, the differential amplifier can set an output node at a low level, thereby increasing the operating speed; a differential amplifier input node pre-charge operation and a During a data reading period, the inter-character-image interference component estimation operation, and in addition to a data transmission period, when a data receiving transistor is an N-channel type, the differential amplifier can set an output node at a High level, and when the data receiving transistor is a P-channel type, the differential amplifier can set an output node at a low level, thus increasing the operating speed; the differential amplifier can be formed as a current mirror Type differential amplifier; the differential amplifier can be composed so that it does not operate except during a data transmission period.
The complementary type bus amplifier may be a data bus amplifier, the complementary type bus driver may be a sense amplifier, and the complementary bus may be a data bus. Correspondingly, the data bus amplifier is removable It removes an inter-character interference component contained in the data transmitted from the sense amplifier of the data bus, and thus can implement uninterrupted data reading during data transmission without precharging the data bus.
The semiconductor memory device can be a dynamic random access memory; the data bus can be organized in a inherited structure; the data bus can include a local data bus for transmission through a selected vertical item The data output from the sense amplifier and a ubiquitous data bus are transmitted through a selected local data bus switch to transmit the data transmitted from the local data bus through a selected local data bus switch.
The data bus amplifier can read data by operating two amplifier blocks located in parallel and equipped with an inter-image interference cancellation function, in an insert pattern that is synchronized with the time sequence of the climb and landing or the complementary time sequence of the time signal; The semiconductor memory device may further include a first vertical term selection signal generating unit having a vertical term decoder and a vertical term selection signal generating circuit for generating a vertical term selection signal from the climbing timing of the time letter, and a A second vertical term selection signal generating unit having a vertical term decoder and a vertical term selection signal generating circuit is used to generate a vertical term selection signal from a falling timing of the timing signal or the climbing timing of a reverse timing signal, and The first and the second vertical item selection signal generating units can insert patterns and be operated to switch between the vertical item selection signals at high speed; the first and the second vertical item selection signal generating units may overlap patterns And the vertical item selection signal is generated.
The data bus amplifier can read data by using a single amplifier block equipped with an inter-image interference cancellation function; the amplifier block equipped with an inter-image interference cancellation function can be implemented synchronously with the timing of the climb or fall of the time letter The inter-character interference component estimation operation is performed, and a data determination operation is implemented in synchronization with the landing or climbing timing of the time letter.
The semiconductor device may include a load provided to the data bus; if the data bus tends to gradually move to a low level when there is no load, the load may be constructed with a P-channel MOS transistor of the right size It is sufficient to suppress the shift of the data bus, and the complementary bus can pass through the P-channel MOS transistor to be pulled to a high level respectively, and in addition to the data transmission, the P- The channel MOS transistor can be turned off to stop the action of the load; if the data bus tends to gradually move to a low level when there is no load, the load can be constructed with an N-channel MOS transistor of the right size It is sufficient to suppress the displacement of the data bus, and the complementary bus can pass through the N-channel MOS transistor to be pulled to a high level respectively, and in addition to the data transmission, the N- The channel MOS transistor can be turned off to stop the action of the load.
If the data bus tends to gradually move to a low-level end when there is no load, the load can be constructed with a resistor, and the resistor can be connected to a high-level through a transistor. In addition to transmission, the transistor can be turned off to stop the action of the load; if the data bus tends to gradually move to a low level when there is no load, the load can be constructed with a cross-coupled P-channel MOS transistors, and the cross-coupled P-channel MOS transistors can be connected to a high level through a control transistor so that a bus that transmits high-level data can be pulled to a lower level of data. The bus is at a high level, and in addition to data transmission, the control transistor can be turned off to stop the action of the load; if there is no load, the data bus tends to gradually move to a high level end , The load can be constructed with an N-channel MOS transistor whose size is just enough to suppress the displacement of the data bus, and the complementary bus can pass through the N-channel MOS transistor to be pulled toward one, respectively High level, and in addition to data transmission, the N-channel MOS transistor can be turned off to stop the action of the load.
If the data bus tends to gradually move to a higher level when there is no load, the load can be constructed with a P-channel MOS transistor whose size is just enough to suppress the shift of the data bus, and the complementary bus Rows can pass through the P-channel MOS transistors to be pulled to a low level respectively, and except for data transmission, the P-channel MOS transistors can be turned off to stop the action of the load; If the data bus tends to gradually move to a high level when there is no load, the load can be constructed with a resistor, and the resistor can be connected to a low level through a transistor, and except for the data In addition to transmission, the transistor can be turned off to stop the action of the load; if the data bus tends to gradually move to a higher level when there is no load, the load can be constructed with a cross-coupled N-channel MOS transistors, and the cross-coupled N-channel MOS transistors can be connected to a low level through a control transistor so that a bus that transmits low-level data can be pulled to a higher level than that of high-level data The bus is at a low level, and except for data transmission, the control transistor can be turned off to stop the action of the load.
The load may be provided only at one position on the ubiquitous data bus; multiple loads may be provided at intervals along multiple positions of the ubiquitous data bus; the load may only be provided at On the local data bus; multiple loads can be provided along the multiple locations of the ubiquitous data bus and the local data bus and spaced apart from each other; the sense amplifier can be formed as a CMOS transistor Cross-coupled dual; the sense amplifier can be a switch to receive a differential potential on the bit line, and can transmit data on the data bus before the bit line is fully opened, thus preventing the The data in the sense amplifier is inverted by the differential potential of the data bus.
The sense amplifier can be constituted as a P-channel or N-channel MOS transistor-gate receiving amplifier; the sense amplifier can be constituted as a CMOS transistor-gate receiving amplifier; the semiconductor memory device can compensate for a skew. One is determined from the time when a sense amplifier is selected to generate a vertical selection signal to the time when the output data from the selected sense amplifier in the bus amplifier is reached, because the selected sense A position of the amplifier, and can determine a control signal used in the data bus amplifier where the arriving data is valid and an appropriate timing. The skew is determined by an intervening signal generating circuit from a vertical term to the It is caused by the difference between the first length of the selected sense amplifier and a second length from the selected sense amplifier to the data bus amplifier through the data bus.
The semiconductor memory device can generate the vertical item selection signal at a position closer to the vertical item selection signal generating circuit and the data bus amplifier in the later sequence of the sense amplifier, and at a position farther than the vertical item The earlier timings of the signal generating circuit and the sense amplifier of the data bus amplifier are selected, so that the timing of data reaching the bus amplifier is kept substantially constant regardless of the position of each sense amplifier; the semiconductor memory The body device can be divided into a plurality of memory blocks that traverse the longitude direction of the data bus directly connected to the data bus amplifier, and a block selection address for selecting the memory block can be input In the vertical selection signal generating circuit, a total amount of delay in the vertical selection signal generating circuit can be controlled by the block selection address, and therefore the timing of data reaching the bus amplifier may not be related to each sensor The location of the test amplifier is essentially constant.
The semiconductor memory device can supply a row item block selection address to a vertical item selection signal generating circuit, and the total amount of delay in the vertical item selection signal generating circuit can be controlled by the block selection address in such a way The generation timing of the vertical selection signal is advanced for the block located farther than the bus amplifier, and delayed for the block located closer to the bus amplifier; the delay in the vertical selection signal generating circuit The total amount can be formed by a transmission gate and the added capacitance. The value of the added capacitance is made larger for the block located closer to the bus amplifier; in the vertical selection signal generating circuit The total amount of delay can be formed by a delay line that includes a plurality of stepped delay stages. The delay line provides a large number of delay stages for the block closer to the bus amplifier to be passed; each delay stage It can include first and second NAND gates and an inverter.
The semiconductor memory device can generate the control signal used in the data bus amplifier at an earlier timing for the position closer to the vertical term selection signal generating circuit and the sense amplifier of the data bus amplifier, and for The position is farther than the later timing of the vertical selection signal generating circuit and the sense amplifier of the data bus amplifier, and it can be determined that the control signal used in the data bus amplifier is valid for the arriving data Appropriate timing.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, it provides a receiving circuit used in a signal transmission system that transmits data through a complementary bus, and the signal transmission system eliminates an inter-character-image interference component introduced by previous data To detect the data, the signal transmission system includes a differential amplifier with first and second gates to receive complementary inputs, and an amplifier pre-charging circuit at each of the first and second inputs of the differential amplifier. A way to enhance the sensitivity of the differential amplifier is precharge, and two sets of first and second capacitors located at the first and second inputs of the differential amplifier, wherein the first and second inputs of the differential amplifier can be borrowed It is coupled to the complementary bus through the first and second capacitors, and in each group of capacitors, the first capacitor can always be coupled to one of the complementary bus, and the second capacitor can be A switching unit is selectively coupled to one or the other complementary bus bars.
<p>*101, 1, 201, 301, 612, 614, 624, 634-636, 644, 6512, 6053, 6054, 6054', 634", 662, 672, 686, 695, 696, 781, 1101, 1102, 2100 , 2100'drive</p><p>*102, 2, 202 (221-226), 215, 302 (321-325), 615, 616, 654', 903, 703, 703', 2200, 2200'Signal transmission line</p><p>*103, 104, 3, 4, 203, 204, 303, 304, 901, 902, 701, 702, 701', 1501, 1502Terminal resistor</p><p>*704,904Shixin line terminal resistor</p><p>*151-153, 51-53, 250-254, 351-354, 770-774Slice-slice battery pack</p><p>*161, 61, 310, 601, 603, 603', 603", 606, 608Processor/controller</p><p>*162, 163, 62, 63, 216, 261-264, 361-364, 602, 604a-604dMemory (DRAM module)</p><p>*7,207,307Amplitude reducing resistor</p><p>*8, 613, 622, 623, 632, 633, 642, 643, 6522, 6052 632', 663, 673, 682, 692, 782, 2300a, 2300b, 2301, 2301f', 2301f"Partial reaction detection Test circuit</p><p>*81, 82Auto-zero comparator</p><p>*83, 6511, 6521, 661, 671, 681, 691, 790-793, 1300a, 1300bDLL (delay lock loop) circuit</p><p>*84, 2330a, 2330b, 2330c, 2330d, 2330f, 2330gSelection circuit (MUX)</p><p>*815, 816, 213, 44', 45', 451'-454', 514, 515, 544, 551-554, 7111, 7112, 792, 793, 1234Capacitor</p><p>*818, 818', 7814, 7818CMOS inverter</p><p>*811-814, 817, 461-464, 47, 511-513, 561-564, 545Toggle switch</p><p>*211, 311, 7811, 7812, 7113, 7114, 721, 722, 726, 771-784, 1401, 1402, 1451-1453, 1380-1384P-channel MOS transistor</p><p>*212, 312, 7815, 7816, 7115, 7116, 723-725, 727, 785-791, 1403, 1404, 1454-1456, 1385-1389N-channel MOS transistor</p><p>*214Inductor</p><p>*41, 541, 8181, 664, 674, 684, 694, 2303, 2303a, 2303b, 2303c, 2303d, 2303eDifferential amplifier</p><p>*42,542Deciding the circuit</p><p>*43,543Shift register</p><p>*44, 451-454, 1233Resistor</p><p>*45Resistor ladder circuit</p><p>*48,607,609Memory</p><p>*49D/A converter</p><p>*810, 812, 8182, 740, 750, 1235, 1205, 1391-1393Inverter</p><p>*611, 621, 631, 641, 6051Multi-phase delay lock line</p><p>*651, 652, 605'Logic chip</p><p>*637, 653, 654One-way address bus</p><p>*638, 654', 665 two-way address bus</p><p>*605,605'Processor/Plotter</p><p>*6052',632"Receiver</p><p>*905,705,2123Time signal generator</p><p>*906, 706, 706', 1004 hour letter line</p><p>*9-0, 7-0, 10-0Controller (DRAM controller)</p><p>*9-1 to 9-n, 7-1 to 7-n, 7-1' to 7-n', 10-1 to 10-ndevice (DRAM chip)</p><p>*P901, P921, P922, P9n2, P9n1, P912, P902, P911, P913, P923, P9n3, P712, P713, P7n2, P7n3, P1010, P1100, P1200 points</p><p>*783Equalizer</p><p>*708, 780-78m, 1390, 1263Buffer</p><p>*7813, 7817, 7118, 7119current source</p><p>*711, 1300, 1103, 1300Common timing generation circuit</p><p>*712, 1301, 1302, 1305, 1106, 1231, 1241-1244, 1272, 1273Variable delay circuit</p><p>*1201, 1201Delay circuit</p><p>*713, 1303, 1306, 1104, 1236, 1245Phase comparator</p><p>*714NAND gate</p><p>*715Real drive</p><p>*716Fake driver</p><p>*761,762Active Terminator</p><p>*7611Delay unit</p><p>*7612Control power supply unit</p><p>*7117Resistor</p><p>*7118,7119Voltage source</p><p>*720, 730, 794Comparator</p><p>*7061Masking</p><p>*7062Shixin duality (twisted duality)</p><p>*1001Forward time letter line</p><p>*1002back time letter line</p><p>*1100Forward signal generation circuit</p><p>*1200Backward time signal generating circuit</p><p>*1003Signal transmission path</p><p>*1304, 1307, 1105, 1237, 1246, 1270Control circuit</p><p>*1341UP/DOWN counter</p><p>*1342Decoder</p><p>*1310Delay line</p><p>*1011, 1021, 1012, 1022Timeline paragraph</p><p>*1120-1122Buffer dual</p><p>*1031, 1032Data line</p><p>*12111, 1212, 1213Time signal generating circuit</p><p>*1232Operational amplifier</p><p>*1400Sine wave generating circuit</p><p>*1405Non-linear amplifier</p><p>*1308,1261Differential comparator</p><p>*1001a, 1001bDifferential transmission line</p><p>*1262Backward Time Signal Generator</p><p>*1281-1283Cushion body</p><p>*2001Memory cell array</p><p>*2002Character Decoder</p><p>*2003, 2002a, 2100, 2002bSensing amplifier</p><p>*2004, 2005, 2201, 2202Data bus</p><p>*2006Data Bus Amplifier</p><p>*2007, 2008, 2401, 2402Data bus pre-charging circuit</p><p>*2009Bus switch</p><p>*2010Write amplifier</p><p>*2031, 2330, 2340e, 2101Latch type amplifier</p><p>*2032, 2102Vertical transmission gate</p><p>*2033,2103Bit line short circuit/precharge circuit</p><p>*2034,2104Bit line transmission gate</p><p>*2300, 2300', 2310, 2320, 2300", 2310a, 2320a, 2300b, 2310b, 2320b, 2300c, 2310c, 2320c, 2310d, 2320d, 2300d, 2300e, 2310e, 2300f, 2310f, 2320f, 2310f', 2320f' , 2310f", 2320f", 2300g, 2310g, 2320gPRD type bus amplifier</p><p>*2400,2400'Pre-charge circuit</p><p>*2500,2500',2413Load</p><p>*2340,2303gCurrent mirror type amplifier</p><p>*2302, 2302dAmplifier pre-charging circuit</p><p>*2331, 2332AND gate</p><p>*2011Sensing amplifier driver</p><p>*2012, 2120, 2120a, 2120bVertical Decoder</p><p>*2121a,2121bVertical item precoder</p><p>*2122a, 2122b, 2122a', 2122b'Vertical selection line control pulse generator</p><p>*2105,2105'Reading control circuit</p><p>*2106Write control circuit</p><p>*2107Latch circuit</p>
The present invention can be more clearly understood from the following description of the preferred embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings. Among them, the first figure is a circuit diagram showing a signal transmission system according to the prior art. A block diagram of an example; the second diagram is a block diagram showing the basic functional configuration of a signal transmission system used in the present invention; the third diagram is a block diagram showing a typical signal transmission system of conventional techniques A diagram showing the relationship between the length of the character image and the response time; the fourth A and diagram B are diagrams showing the relationship between the length of the character image and the response time in a signal transmission system of the present invention; the fifth diagram A is A block diagram showing a configuration example of a receiver circuit in the signal transmission system according to the present invention; Fig. 5B is a circuit diagram shown in the receiver circuit of Fig. 5A A diagram of the configuration of an auto-zero comparator; diagrams 6A and 6B are diagrams used to explain the operation of the receiver circuit of diagram 5A; diagram 7 is a diagram showing the use of the present invention A block circuit diagram of an embodiment of a signal transmission system; the eighth diagram is a diagram showing a signal waveform in each memory block in the signal transmission system of the seventh diagram; the ninth diagram is a diagram showing a A block diagram of a first embodiment of a signal transmission system according to a first mode of the present invention; Figure 10 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of a signal transmission system according to a first mode of the present invention; Figure 11 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of a signal transmission system according to a first mode of the present invention; Figure 12 is a block diagram showing a signal in a second mode according to the present invention A block diagram of the first embodiment of the receiving circuit in a transmission system; Figure 13 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the receiving circuit in a signal transmission system according to a second mode of the present invention Figure; Figure 14 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the receiving circuit in a signal transmission system according to a second mode of the present invention; Figure 15 is a block diagram showing one in accordance with the present invention One of the inventions is the block diagram of the fourth embodiment of the receiving circuit in the signal transmission system of the second mode; Fig. 16 is a diagram showing the auto-zero comparator in the receiver circuit of Fig. 5A A circuit diagram of an example; Figure 17 is a circuit diagram of another example of the auto-zero comparator shown in the receiver circuit of Figure 5A; Figure 18 is a circuit diagram of another example of the receiver shown in Figure 5A A circuit diagram of another example of the auto-zero comparator in the circuit; Figure 19 is a block diagram showing a first example of a signal transmission system used in the present invention; Figure twentieth is a diagram Shows a block diagram of a second example of a signal transmission system used in the present invention; Figure 21 is a block diagram showing the use of the present inventionA block circuit diagram of a third example of a signal transmission system; Figure 22 is a block circuit diagram of a fourth example of a signal transmission system used in the present invention; Figure 23 is a block circuit diagram of a fourth example of a signal transmission system used in the present invention Fig. 24 is a block circuit diagram showing a fifth example of a signal transmission system used in the present invention; Fig. 24 is a block circuit diagram showing a sixth example of a signal transmission system used in the present invention; Figure 25 is a block diagram showing another example of a signal transmission system according to one of the known techniques in the form of a circuit diagram; Figure 26 is a block diagram showing a signal according to a third mode of the present invention The block diagram of the basic functional configuration of the transmission system; Figure 27 is a diagram used to explain the operation of the signal transmission system in Figure 26 (Part 1); 28A and 28B The figure is a diagram for explaining the operation of the signal transmission system in Figure 26 (part 2); Figure 29 is a diagram showing a first implementation of a signal transmission system according to a third mode of the present invention Example block diagram; Figure 30 is a diagram showing a modified example of the signal transmission system of Figure 29; Figure 31 is a diagram showing a signal in the third mode according to the present invention A block diagram of a configuration example of an essential part of each device in the transmission system; Figure 32 shows another essential part of each device in the signal transmission system according to the third mode of the present invention Part of the block diagram of the configuration example; Figure 33 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the third mode of the present invention; Figure 34 is a block diagram showing one A block diagram of the third embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the third mode of the present invention; Figure 35 is a diagram showing a modified example of the signal transmission system of Figure 34; 30 Figure 6 is a block diagram showing a fourth embodiment of a signal transmission system according to the third mode of the present invention; Figure 37 is a block diagram showing an example of signals in the third mode according to the present invention A circuit diagram of a driver circuit in the transmission system; Fig. 38 is a block diagram showing a fifth embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the third mode of the present invention; 39A and 39 Figure B is a block diagram showing a sixth embodiment of a signal transmission system according to the third mode of the present invention; Figures 40A and forty B are showing a signal according to the third mode of the present invention The block diagram of the seventh embodiment of the transmission system; Figure 41 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a common timing signal generating circuit in the signal transmission system of the third mode according to the present invention; forty-second The figure shows another example of the common timing signal generation circuit in the signal transmission system according to the third mode of the present invention.Circuit diagram of the circuit; Figure 43 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a comparator in the common timing signal generating circuit of Figure 42; Figure 44 is a circuit diagram showing the basis of another example The circuit diagram of the common timing signal generating circuit in the signal transmission system of the third mode of the present invention; Figure 45 is a diagram showing an eighth embodiment of the signal transmission system of the third mode of the present invention Block diagram; Figure 46 is a diagram showing an example of a time signal distribution transmission line in the third mode of the signal transmission system according to the present invention; Figure 47 is a diagram showing the transmission line according to the present invention A block diagram of the basic functional configuration of a signal transmission system in the fourth mode; Fig. 48 is a timing diagram for explaining the operation of the signal transmission system in Fig. 47; Fig. 49 is A block diagram showing a first embodiment of a signal transmission system according to the fourth mode of the present invention; Fig. 50 shows an example of the signal transmission system suitable for use in the signal transmission system of Fig. 49 A block diagram using a common timing signal generating circuit; Figure 51 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a forward signal generating circuit suitable for use in the signal transmission system of Figure 49; Figure 52 is a block diagram showing another example of the common timing signal generating circuit suitable for use in the signal transmission system of Figure 49 (part 1); Figure 53 is a diagram Shows another example of a block diagram (part 2) of the common timing signal generating circuit suitable for use in the signal transmission system of Fig. 49; Figure 19 is a block diagram of a backward time signal generating circuit suitable for use in the signal transmission system of Figure 19; Figure 55 shows an example of a signal suitable for use in the signal transmission system of Figure 49 A circuit diagram of a phase comparator; Fig. 56 is a block diagram showing an example of a control circuit suitable for use in the common timing signal generating circuit in the signal transmission system of Fig. 49 Fig. 57 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a variable delay circuit suitable for use in the common timing signal generating circuit in the signal transmission system of Fig. 49; Fig. 58 Is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of a signal transmission system according to the fourth mode of the present invention; Figure 59 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fourth mode of the present invention Block diagram of the third embodiment; Fig. 60 is a block diagram showing an example of a forward clock signal generating circuit used in a signal transmission system of a fourth embodiment according to the fourth mode of the present invention Figure; Figure sixty-first is a presentation of an exampleAs a block diagram of a backward time signal generating circuit suitable for use in a signal transmission system according to a fifth embodiment of the fourth mode of the present invention; Fig. 62 is a diagram showing another example A block diagram of a backward time signal generating circuit suitable for use in a signal transmission system according to a sixth embodiment of the fourth mode of the present invention; Figure 63 is a basis for explanation A diagram of the backward time signal generating circuit suitable for use in the signal transmission system of the seventh embodiment of the fourth mode of the present invention; the sixty-fourth diagram is a representation of another example according to the present invention The fourth mode is a block diagram of a backward time signal generating circuit suitable for use in the signal transmission system of the eighth embodiment; Fig. 65 is a diagram showing an example of the signal transmission system according to the present invention The fourth mode is a block diagram of a sine wave generating circuit suitable for use in the signal transmission system of the ninth embodiment; Figure 66 is an example of the sine wave in Figure 65 A circuit diagram of a non-linear amplifier in the generating circuit; Fig. 67 shows an example of a signal transmission system suitable for use in a tenth embodiment according to the fourth mode of the present invention The block diagram of the common timing signal generating circuit; Fig. 68 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a differential comparator in the common timing signal generating circuit of Fig. 67; Fig. 69 is a circuit diagram of a differential comparator in the common timing signal generating circuit of Fig. 67 An example is presented as a block diagram of the terminal resistance value in a signal transmission system according to the eleventh embodiment of the fourth mode of the present invention; the seventieth figure is a block diagram for explaining a method A block diagram of a forward signal in a signal transmission system according to a twelfth embodiment of the fourth mode of the present invention; the seventy-first figure is a representation of the fourth mode according to the present invention A block diagram of the essential part of a signal transmission system implemented on the printed circuit board of the thirteenth embodiment; Fig. 72 is a representation as a first of the fourth mode according to the present invention A block diagram of the essential part of a signal transmission system implemented in the semiconductor integrated circuit of the fourteenth embodiment; Figure 73 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the fourth mode of the present invention A block diagram of a conventional semiconductor memory device; Figure 74 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a sense amplifier in the semiconductor memory device of Figure 73; Figure 75 is a circuit diagram of a sense amplifier in the semiconductor memory device of Figure 73 A circuit diagram showing an example of a data bus amplifier in the semiconductor memory device in Fig. 73; Fig. 76 shows an example of the semiconductor memory in Fig. 73 A data bus in the external device is shorted/prechargedCircuit diagram of the electrical circuit; Figure 77 is a waveform diagram for explaining an example of a data read sequence in the semiconductor memory device in Figure 73; Figure 78 is a presentation A block diagram of a first principle configuration of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention; Fig. 79 is a waveform diagram for explaining the operation of the signal transmission system of Fig. 78 ; Figure eighty is a block diagram showing the configuration of a second principle of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention; Figure eighty-first is a block diagram for explaining the eighty figure A waveform diagram of the operation of the signal transmission system; Figure 82 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a third principle of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention; Figure 83 is a first A waveform diagram for explaining the operation of the signal transmission system in Figure 82 (part 1); Figure 84 is a waveform diagram for explaining the operation of the signal transmission system in Figure 82 (part 2); Figure eighty-fifth is a block diagram showing an example of a semiconductor memory device used in the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention in the form of a circuit diagram; Figure eighty-sixth A block diagram showing an essential part of a first embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention in the form of a circuit diagram; Figs. 87A and 87B are presented The circuit diagram of a configuration example of a driver in the signal transmission system in Fig. 86; Fig. 87C shows an example of a bus in the signal transmission system in Fig. 86 A diagram of the amplifier; the eighty-eighth diagram is a diagram showing an example of the signal waveforms used to operate the bus amplifier of diagram 87C; the eighty-ninth diagram is a diagram showing an example in the eighty Figure 6 is a diagram of the operating waveform of a bus in the signal transmission system; Figure 90 is a circuit diagram showing a second implementation of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention A block diagram of the essential part of the example; Figure 91 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a precharge circuit in the signal transmission system of Figure 90; Figure 92 is a circuit diagram showing an example of use A diagram of a signal waveform driving a bus and a bus amplifier in the signal transmission system shown in Fig. 90; Fig. 93 shows an example of the signal transmission system shown in Fig. 90 The operating waveform of the bus in Figure; Figure 94 is a block diagram showing the essential part of a third embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention in the form of a circuit diagram Figure; Ninety-fifth A and Ninety-five B are circuit diagrams showing a configuration example of a driver in the signal transmission system shown in Figure 94;Figure 95C is a diagram showing an example of the bus amplifier in the signal transmission system in Figure 94; Figure 96A is a diagram showing an example in 95C Fig. 96B is a circuit diagram of a PRD amplifier in the bus amplifier; Fig. 96B is a circuit diagram showing an example of a latch-type amplifier in the bus amplifier in Fig. 95C; Ninth Figure 17 is a diagram showing an example of a signal waveform used to operate the bus amplifier in Figure 95C; Figure 98 is a diagram showing an example of the signal in Figure 94 A diagram of an operating waveform of the bus bar and the bus amplifier in the transmission system; the ninety-ninth diagram is a circuit diagram showing a first of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention The block diagram of the essential part of the fourth embodiment; Fig. 100A is a circuit diagram showing an example of a precharge circuit in the signal transmission system of Fig. 99; Fig. 100B is a circuit diagram showing an example An example is a diagram of the bus amplifier in the signal transmission system in Figure 94; Figure 101A is an example of a PRD in the bus amplifier in Figure 100B The circuit diagram of the amplifier; Figure 101B is a circuit diagram showing an example of a current mirror type amplifier in the bus amplifier of Figure 100B; Figure 102 is a circuit diagram showing an example of A diagram of a signal waveform used to operate the bus amplifier in Figure 100B; Figure 103 is an example of the bus and the signal transmission system in the signal transmission system in Figure 99 A diagram of an operating waveform of the bus amplifier; FIG. 104 is a block diagram showing the essential part of a fifth embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention in the form of a circuit diagram Figure; Figure 105 is a block circuit diagram showing one example of the bus amplifier in the signal transmission system in Figure 104; One hundred six A, one hundred six B and one Figure 106C is a waveform diagram showing the relationship between the time constant of the bus and the period of one unit cell; Figures 107A and 107B are used to explain Figure 105 The diagram of the operation of the bus amplifier; Figure 108 is a diagram showing another example of the bus amplifier in the signal transmission system of Figure 104; Figure 109 A circuit diagram showing an example of a PRD amplifier in the bus amplifier in Fig. 108; Fig. 110 shows an example of the bus amplifier in Fig. 108 A circuit diagram of a multiplexer in Figure; Figure one hundred and eleven shows an example of a signal wave used to operate the bus amplifier of Figure 108The one hundred and twelfth figure is a diagram showing an example of the operating waveform of the bus and the bus amplifier in the signal transmission system of figure 104; one hundred and one Figure 13 is a diagram showing an example of a bus amplifier in the signal transmission system as the sixth embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention; one hundred and fourteen Figure is a circuit diagram showing an example of a PRD amplifier configuration in the bus amplifier in Figure 113; Figure 115 is a circuit diagram showing another example in Figure 110 Figure 3 is a circuit diagram of the PRD amplifier configuration in the bus amplifier; Figure one hundred and sixteen shows an example of a multiplexer in the bus amplifier of Figure 113 Circuit diagram; Figure one hundred and seventeen is an example of a sixth embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention of the bus and the operating waveform of the bus amplifier Figure; One hundred and eighteenth figure is a diagram showing an example of a bus amplifier in the signal transmission system as the seventh embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention; Figure 119 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a PRD amplifier configuration in the bus amplifier of Figure 118; Figure 120 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the configuration Fig. 118 is a circuit diagram of a multiplexer in the bus amplifier; Fig. 121 is an example of a circuit diagram for operating the bus amplifier of Fig. 118 A diagram of signal waveforms; the one-hundred and twenty-second diagram is an example of the bus bar and the bus amplifier in the seventh embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention A diagram of operating waveforms; the one-hundred and twenty-third diagram is an example of a bus amplifier in the signal transmission system as the eighth embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention The figure; the one hundred and twenty-fourth figure is a circuit diagram showing an example of a PRD amplifier configuration in the bus amplifier of figure one hundred and twenty-third; Figure 15B is a diagram used to explain the operation of the bus amplifier in Figure 124; Figure 126 is an example of the bus in Figure 123 A circuit diagram of a multiplexer in the amplifier; Fig. 127 is a diagram showing an example of a signal waveform used to operate the bus amplifier of Fig. 123; Fig. 120 The eight diagram is an illustration of an example of the bus bar and the bus amplifier in the eighth embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present inventionA diagram of the operating waveform; Figure one hundred and twenty-ninth shows an example of a confluence in the signal transmission system as the ninth embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention Figure of a row amplifier; Figure 130 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a PRD amplifier configuration in the bus amplifier of Figure 129; Figure 131 is a circuit diagram Shows an example of a circuit diagram of a latch in the bus amplifier of Figure 129; Figure 132 is an example of a circuit diagram for operating the bus of Figure 129 A diagram of a signal waveform of a row amplifier; the 133rd diagram is an example of the bus and the bus in the ninth embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention A diagram of the operating waveform of the row amplifier; the one hundred and thirty-fourth diagram shows an example of the signal transmission system as the tenth embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention A diagram of a bus amplifier; Figure 135A is a circuit diagram showing an example of a PRD amplifier configuration in the bus amplifier of Figure 134; Figure 135 Figure B is a circuit diagram showing another example of a PRD amplifier configuration in the bus amplifier of Figure 134; Figure 136 shows another example of a circuit diagram in the first hundred Figure 34 is a circuit diagram of the PRD amplifier configuration in the bus amplifier; Figure 137 shows an example of a multiplex in the bus amplifier in Figure 134 The circuit diagram of the device; the one hundred and thirty-eighth diagram is a diagram showing an example of a signal waveform used to operate the bus amplifier of the 134th diagram; the one hundred and thirty-ninth diagram is a diagram showing an example An example of a diagram of the operation waveforms of the bus bar and the bus amplifier in the tenth embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention; the one hundred and fortieth diagram is a circuit diagram The form presents an example of a block diagram of a semiconductor memory device of the eleventh embodiment in which the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention is used; A diagram showing an example of a bus amplifier in the semiconductor memory device in Fig. 140; Fig. 142 is a diagram showing an example of the bus in Fig. 141 A circuit diagram of a PRD amplifier configuration in the amplifier; Fig. 143 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a multiplexer in the bus amplifier in Fig. 141; Fig. 144 Fig. 14 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a sense amplifier in the semiconductor memory device of Fig. 140; Fig. 100The forty-five figure is a diagram showing an example of the operation waveforms of the bus and the bus amplifier in the semiconductor memory device of the one hundred and fortieth figure; the one hundred and forty-sixth figure is a diagram The circuit diagram shows an example of a block diagram of a semiconductor memory device of the twelfth embodiment in which the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention is used; the one hundred and forty-seventh figure is A block diagram showing a configuration example of a vertical decoder system in the semiconductor memory device in Fig. 146; Fig. 148 is a block diagram showing an example in the first Figure 146 is a diagram of the operating waveforms of a bus and a bus amplifier in the semiconductor memory device; Figure 149 is a circuit diagram showing an example as a basis A block diagram of a semiconductor memory device in the thirteenth embodiment in which the signal transmission system of the fifth mode of the present invention is used; One hundred and forty-nine figures show how the semiconductor memory device changes by the presence or absence of a load; figures one hundred and fifty-one A to one hundred and fifty-one I show an example in the one hundredth The diagram of the load in the semiconductor memory device of Figure 49; Figure 152 is a diagram showing an example of the tenth that is used in the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention A diagram of the mounting position of the load in a semiconductor memory device of the third embodiment; FIG. 153 is a diagram showing another example in which the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention is A diagram of the mounting position of the load in a semiconductor memory device of the thirteenth embodiment in which the signal transmission system of the fifth mode is used in the thirteenth embodiment; Figure 154 A diagram showing yet another example of the mounting position of the load in a semiconductor memory device of the thirteenth embodiment in which the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention is used; one hundred Figure fifty-five is a block diagram in a semiconductor memory device of the fourteenth embodiment in which the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention is used as a circuit diagram illustrating an example; The one hundred and fifty-sixth figure is a representation when the load is based on the waveform of the data bus provided in the thirteenth and fourteenth embodiments of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention. Comparison diagram; diagram 157 is a diagram showing a modified example of the load suitable for use in the semiconductor memory device of diagram 155; diagram 158 The figure shows an example in the form of a circuit diagram as a signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present inventionA block diagram of a semiconductor memory device of the fifteenth embodiment used; FIG. 159 is a diagram showing an example suitable for use in the semiconductor memory device of FIG. 158 A circuit diagram of a sense amplifier; Fig. 160 is a waveform diagram for explaining an example of the operation of the semiconductor memory device in Fig. 158; Fig. 161 is a A waveform diagram for explaining another example of the operation of the semiconductor memory device in Figure 158; Figure 162 is a representation of the signal according to the fifth mode of the present invention A circuit diagram of a configuration of an essential part of a semiconductor memory device of the sixteenth embodiment in which the transmission system is used; Fig. 163 is a circuit diagram showing an example as an example according to the present invention A block diagram of a semiconductor memory device of the seventeenth embodiment in which the signal transmission system of the fifth mode is used; A diagram of the operating waveforms of a bus and a bus amplifier in a semiconductor memory device; Figure 165 is a diagram showing another example in the semiconductor memory device of Figure 163 A diagram of the operating waveforms of a bus and a bus amplifier; the one hundred and sixty-sixth diagram is a circuit diagram which is presented as a signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention to be used A block diagram of the configuration of an essential part of a semiconductor memory device of the eighteenth embodiment; FIG. 167 shows an example in the semiconductor memory device of FIG. 166 A diagram of a bus amplifier in Figure; Figure 168 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the configuration of a PRD amplifier in the bus amplifier in Figure 167; Figure 169 Figure is a circuit diagram showing an example of a multiplexer in the bus amplifier in Figure 167; Figure 190 is a circuit diagram showing in the fifth mode according to the present invention A block diagram of a configuration example of a vertical decoding system in a semiconductor memory device of the eighteenth embodiment in which the signal transmission system is used; Figure 171 is a block diagram showing another example in the first A diagram of a CL pulse generating circuit in Fig. one hundred and seventy; Fig. 172 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the CL pulse generating circuit in Fig. 171; Figure 3 is a diagram showing another example of a bus amplifier in the semiconductor memory device in Figure 166; Figure 174 is a diagram showing another example in Figure 167 Figure 13 is a circuit diagram of the PRD amplifier configuration of one of the bus amplifiers; Figure 175 is an illustration of an example in the one hundred and seventhFigure 13 is a circuit diagram of a latch in the bus amplifier; Figure 176 is a diagram showing the eighteenth embodiment in which the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention is used The block diagram of another configuration example of the vertical item decoding system in the semiconductor memory device; the one hundred and seventy-seventh figure is a circuit diagram which is presented as the fifth mode according to the present invention A block diagram of the configuration of an essential part of a semiconductor memory device of the nineteenth embodiment in which the signal transmission system is used; A diagram of a CL pulse generation circuit suitable for use in the semiconductor memory device;
Before describing the preferred embodiments of the signal transmission system and the receiving circuit in the signal transmission system according to the present invention, the problems in conjunction with the prior art will be explained with reference to related drawings.
The first figure is a circuit diagram showing an example of a signal transmission system based on the prior art; which shows an example of a bus system in which SSTL is used; in the first figure, the reference number 101 is a driver , 102 is a signal transmission line, 103 and 104 are terminal resistors (R<sub>t</sub>), 151 to 153 are cut chip resistors (R<sub>3</sub>), 161 is a processor (a controller), and 162 and 163 are DRAM modules; moreover, reference symbol V<sub>tt</sub>Specify a supply voltage V<sub>cc</sub>And ground voltage V<sub>ss</sub>A relay potential (power supply line) between.
As shown in the first figure, in the conventional bus system, the terminal resistors 103 and 104 are respectively located at the two end points (terminal points) of the transmission line and are connected to the power supply line V of the relay potential.<sub>tt</sub>On the contrary, the processor 161 and the DRAM modules 162, 163 are connected to the transmission line 102 through the chip-disconnectors 151 and 152, 153, respectively, at the relay point along the transmission line 102.
Here, the characteristic impedance of the transmission line 102 is approximately 50 Ohms, and the resistance values of the terminating resistors 103 and 104 are set equal to the characteristic impedance Z of the line<sub>o</sub>That is, the terminal resistors 103 and 104 are set as such, this arrangement provides a total parallel resistance value of 25 Ohms at both ends, and the driver drives this resistance value to generate a signal voltage; here, The output impedance of the driver 101 is selected to be small to provide a large driving capability, that is, the transistor that composes the driver 101 is constructed with a large-sized transistor.
More specifically, for example, when considering a bus system using the SSTL, because a minimum signal amplitude of 400 mA is required, the driver is required to output a current of about 16 mA, and if the system is designed with a margin, The required current is doubled to approximately 32 mA.
As described above, for example, in a bus system (signal transmission system) using the SSTL, because the mating terminal (terminal resistor R<sub>t</sub>) And chip resistors (R<sub>3</sub>) Therefore, high-speed signal transmission is possible, and because of the use of low-amplitude signals, compared to traditional systems, power consumption is also reduced; however, the signal transmission frequency bandwidth between the DRAM and the processor is required It should be increased in the future, and the overall power consumption of the device should be maintained at the current level or reduced below the current level, and therefore, the need for a signal transmission system with lower power consumption is increased; that is, For example, when the bus width is increased to 64 bits or 128 bits in the future, a current of 32 mA per bit becomes unacceptable.
The preferred embodiment of the signal transmission system and the receiver circuit used in the signal transmission system will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The second figure is a block diagram showing the basic functional configuration of a signal transmission system (bus system) in the first mode of the present invention; in the second figure, reference number 1 is a driver and 2 is a signal Transmission line, 3 and 4 are terminating resistors (R<sub>t</sub>), 51 and 53 are cut chip resistors (R<sub>s</sub>), 61 is a processor (a controller), 62 and 63 are DRAM modules, and 7 is a dampening resistor (R<sub>d</sub>); Even worse, reference symbol V<sub>tt</sub>Specify a supply voltage V<sub>cc</sub>And ground voltage V<sub>ss</sub>A relay potential (power supply line) between.
As shown in the second figure, in the busbar system of the first mode of the present invention, the terminal resistors 3 and 4 are respectively located at the two end points (terminal points) of the transmission line and are connected to the relay potential The power supply line V<sub>tt</sub>; Here, the resistance value R of the end resistors 3 and 4<sub>t</sub>Are set to be greater than the characteristic impedance Z of the transmission line 2<sub>o</sub> (R<sub>t</sub>>Z<sub>o</sub>); Moreover, the output impedance of the driver 1 is selected to be large, that is, the transistors that make up the driver 1 are constructed with a small-sized transistor.
On the contrary, the processor 61 and the DRAM modules 62, 63 are connected to the transmission line 2 through the chip circuit breakers 51 and 52, 53 respectively, and are located at the relay point along the transmission line 2; The multiple damping resistors 7 are inserted in the transmission line 2.
More specifically, the bus system (signal transmission system) according to the first mode of the present invention sets the end resistance value R by (1)<sub>t</sub>At a characteristic impedance Z greater than the transmission line<sub>o</sub>, (2) increase the output impedance of the driver, and/or (3) insert one or more damping resistors R as required<sub>d</sub>It is connected in series with the transmission line to reduce power consumption (low power configuration); here, when the end point resistance is R<sub>t</sub>If it is set larger, the power consumed at the terminal point for the same signal amplitude will decrease, and when the output impedance of the driver increases, when the power required to drive the driver is reduced, the signal current will decrease; Instead of inserting the damping resistor R<sub>d</sub>Connected in series to the transmission line, the transmission line itself can be constructed with a material with a resistance value.
However, in the above-mentioned low-power configuration, the frequency characteristics of the transmission line are degraded, and the self-generated response time of a voltage signal on the transmission line becomes longer; as a result, not only in the period of the character image length T The signal voltage cannot reach its expected full amplitude value. At the same time, large inter-character and image interference may occur, making it impossible to detect the signal by a traditional method.
In a second mode of the present invention, in order to illustrate this problem, a device for predicting inter-character interference from previous signals is used in the receiver (the receiver circuit in the signal transmission system), and The signal is composed so that a part of the response can be detected by subtracting the predicted inter-picture interference from the currently received signal voltage.
The third diagram is a diagram showing the relationship between the length of the character image and the response time in a typical signal transmission system in the conventional art.
As shown in the third figure, in the typical bus system (signal transmission system) of the prior art, for example, because of multiple reflections of the signal occurring in the transmission line (bus), a preset time It is required for the signal to reach its expected full amplitude value; here, the response time τ is defined as the time required for a signal voltage to increase to 90% of its full amplitude value. In the typical bus, in order to determine reliable signal transmission along the transmission line, the response time τ is set to be sufficiently shorter than the length of the transmitted character image (a data period) T, that is, the character image The length T is set to be sufficiently longer than the reaction time τ (T>τ); more particularly, in the typical bus of the conventional art, for example, the character image length T is set to two to three times the reaction time The length of the time τ (T2 to 3τ), and if the response time τ is long, high-speed signal transmission is impossible.
By comparison, in the second mode of the present invention, the response time τ is set to be approximately equal to or longer than the length of the transmitted character image (a data period) T, that is, the character image length T is set to approximately It is equal to or shorter than the response time τ (Tτ: for example, T0.3τ) of the signal transmission line, and part of the response reported by the transmitted signal during the period of the character image length T is detected; Therefore, in this second mode of the present invention, signal transmission can be performed at high speed.
The fourth diagrams A and 4B are diagrams showing the relationship between the length of the character image and the response time in the signal transmission system of the present invention.
For example, as shown in the fourth A and fourth B diagrams, when the character image data is transmitted during the period P<sub>n-2</sub>, P<sub>n-1</sub>, And P<sub>n+1</sub>Is "0" and for period P<sub>n</sub>And P<sub>n+2</sub>The data is changed to "1". For example, in the present invention, the transmitted character image length T is set to be shorter than the response time τ; therefore, during the period P<sub>n</sub>The data "1" in the signal is not detected after the response time τ when the signal voltage has fully climbed, but is detected at the time T when the signal voltage is still changing (climbing) ; Here, as can be seen from the fourth A and fourth B diagrams, when the data after the continuation of a 0s changes to the signal voltage of "1" (in the period P<sub>n</sub>The change in) is different from the signal voltage when the data changes to "1" after changing from a 1 to a 0 (in the period P<sub>n+2</sub>However, in the present invention, the true change of the signal voltage (data signal) on the transmission line (bus) is detected by eliminating the effect of the previous data change regardless of the continuous change of the data. Measured.
Thus, in the second mode of the present invention, the signal transmission speed is determined by setting the transmitted character and image length T to be approximately equal to or shorter than the response time τ (Tτ), and by detecting the character and image During the period of length T, a part of the signal reported by the transmitted signal increases in response.
When the circuit response is linear, as will be explained later, the inter-character-image interference prediction (removal of the effect of changes in the previous data using a part of the response detector (PRD)) can be based on the previously received signal. The "or "0" bit determines the weight increase of the result (using a linear decision feedback equalizer (DFE) to determine the feedback) (please see Figures 12 and 13) to complete; on the contrary, when there is a non-linearity In the case of character image interference, the prediction of the interference item can be completed by pre-recording the interference magnitude in the memory and reading the memory by using the previously received signal series as a bit address (see 14th and 10th) Five pictures).
The above-mentioned ZigZag interference prediction can also be implemented by using an analog value of the signal voltage received after a time signal; when the signal voltage response is expressed by a first-order lagging system, this technology provides the best Prediction.
That is, in the first-order lagging system, when n=0, ±1, ±2,. . . When, the signal voltage V(nT) is expressed as v(nT)=xV<sub>tt</sub>+(1-x)V((n-1)T)+x(V<sub>inf</sub>-V<sub>tt</sub>) (1) Here, the relation x=1-exp(-T/τ) is used.
In the above equation, τ is the time constant (reaction time) of the circuit, and V<sub>inf</sub>Is the signal voltage (full amplitude) when the data "1" or "0" is transmitted for a sufficiently long time, and V<sub>tt</sub>Is the reference voltage; when a symmetrical CMOS driver is used, the reference voltage V<sub>tt</sub>Is V<sub>cc</sub>/2。
In the above equation (1), the first and second terms indicate the inter-character-image interference, and the third term indicates the nature of the signal; that is, the equation (1) states that the inter-character interference is stored for a while The signal voltage after the letter is obtained by using the linear sum of the signal voltage after the one-time letter and the fixed reference voltage; the linear sum of the stored analog voltage and the fixed voltage can be obtained by using the following description Capacitors are easily produced by a circuit.
Fig. 5A is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the receiver circuit (partial response detection circuit) in the signal transmission system according to the present invention, and Fig. 5B is a circuit diagram type And a diagram showing the configuration of an auto-zero comparator in the receiver circuit in Figure 5A; moreover, Figures 6A and 6B are used to explain the receiving circuit in Figure 5A ( A diagram showing the operation of the partial response detection circuit). Figure 6A is a diagram showing the timing of each signal used in the partial response detection circuit, and Figure 6B is a diagram showing an example. How the voltage (signal voltage) is changed on the transmission line where the data is changed.
As shown in Figure 5A, the part of the reaction detection circuit 8 includes auto-zero comparators 81 and 82, a DLL (delay lock loop) circuit 83, and a selection circuit (MUX) 84; The auto-zero comparators 81 and 82 are both supplied with the reference voltage V<sub>tt</sub> (V<sub>cc</sub>/2), the input voltage (signal voltage) Vin, and the control signal output from the DLL circuit 83<img file="TW366453B_D0001.tif" />1 and<img file="TW366453B_D0002.tif" />2; The selection circuit 84 selects one of the output signals of the auto-zero comparator 81 or 82 at a preset timing and outputs the selected signal (data output).
As shown in Figure 5B, the auto-zero comparator 81 (82) includes two capacitors 815 and 816, a CMOS inverter 818, and switch switches 811 to 814 and 817; by using this control Signal<img file="TW366453B_D0003.tif" />1 and<img file="TW366453B_D0004.tif" />2. The switching switches 811 to 814 are controlled to control the applied voltage (reference voltage V<sub>tt</sub>Or signal voltage Vin) and the connection of the capacitors 815 and 816; the switch 817 is provided in parallel with the inverter 818 and is controlled by the control signal<img file="TW366453B_D0005.tif" />1 is controlled on or off; as can be seen from Figure 6A, the control signal<img file="TW366453B_D0006.tif" />1 and<img file="TW366453B_D0007.tif" />2 is a signal that temporarily climbs to a high level synchronized with the timing of the landing and climbing of the time signal CLK; for example, the switches 811 to 814 and 817 can all be switched from a transmission gate containing two transistors or from a single switch Composed of transistors.
In operation, the auto-zero comparator 81 (82) stores the signal voltage V((n-1)T) and V<sub>tt</sub>The control signal<img file="TW366453B_D0008.tif" />1 (in the system signal<img file="TW366453B_D0009.tif" />1 rise timing) on the capacitors 815 and 816 to implement an auto-zero operation, and at the same time connect the input and output of the inverter 818 together; according to the auto-zero operation, the inverter The input node of 818 is set to Von (when the input and output of the inverter are short-circuited and represents the voltage obtained when the inverter output changes from "0" to the threshold voltage of "1") ; Therefore, the charges Q1 and Q2 stored on the capacitors 815 and 816 are Q1=(V((n-1)T)-Von)C1
Q2=(V<sub>tt</sub>-Von) C2 where C1 and C2 are the capacities of capacitors 815 and 816, respectively.
Next, in the control signal<img file="TW366453B_D0010.tif" />After 1 is reduced, the capacitors 815 and 816 are controlled by the control signal<img file="TW366453B_D0011.tif" />2 (in the signal<img file="TW366453B_D0012.tif" />2) and connected in parallel to couple the input V(nT) to the input node of the inverter 818; at this time, the voltage V at the input node of the inverter 818 is V= V(nT)-(Q1+Q2)/(C1+C2)=V(nT)-(1-x)V((n-1)T)-xV<sub>tt</sub>+Von)=x(V<sub>inf</sub>-V<sub>tt</sub>)+Von (2)
The right-hand side of equation (2) is equal to the previously given equation (1) minus the inter-character-image interference term (only the signal essence remains) and the voltage Von is added; this means that the output of the inverter 818 depends on Since the nature of the signal is positive or negative, it is inverted, and therefore only the nature of the signal can be checked to make a correct decision; more specifically, even when the data as presented in Figure 6B is Change, the data signal can be correctly detected by using the analog value of the signal voltage received after a time signal and the effect of clearing (estimating) the previous data change.
In the partial response detection circuit 8 in Fig. 5A, the outputs (OUTs) of the two auto-zero comparators 81 and 82 are alternately selected by the selection circuit 84, because the input signal (Vin The above-mentioned determination processing of) is implemented in the interval of 2T, and therefore the two auto-zero comparators operate in an interleaved pattern so that the determination processing can be implemented for every 1T; based on the control signal<img file="TW366453B_D0013.tif" />1 and based on the control signal<img file="TW366453B_D0014.tif" />2 The operation (processing) implemented is exchanged between an auto-zero comparator 81 and another auto-zero comparator 82.
The seventh figure is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the signal transmission system in which the present invention is used, and the eighth figure is a block diagram showing each of the memory blocks in the signal transmission system in the seventh figure Figure of the result of the simulation of the signal waveform.
In the seventh figure, reference number 201 is a driver, 202 (221 to 226) is a signal transmission line, 250 to 254 are chip resistors (R<sub>s</sub>), 261 to 264 are memories (DRAM modules), and 207 is a dampening resistor (R<sub>d</sub>); The transmission lines 221 and 226 both have a characteristic impedance of 70 Ω and a length of 10 mm, and the transmission lines 222 and 225 both have a characteristic impedance of 70 Ω and a length of 12.5 mm; the chip resistor 250 to 254 has a resistance value of 25Ω, and each damping resistor 207 has a resistance value of 7Ω; here, because various circuits (memory 216 to 264, etc.) are connected to the transmission line, each transmission line The characteristic impedance of 222 to 225 (215) is set at 70Ω, and the effective characteristic impedance becomes about 50Ω due to the parasitic capacitance effect on the transmission line and other effects.
The driver 201 includes a P-channel MOS transistor 211, an N-channel MOS transistor 212, a capacitor 213, an inductor 214, and a transmission line 215; here, the capacitance of the capacitor 213 is 4pF, and the inductor The inductance of the device 214 is 2.5nH, and the transmission line 215 has a characteristic impedance of 70Ω and a length of 15mm; by setting the gate width of each of the transistors 211 and 212 to be as small as ten micrometers (for example, 60 μm Crystal 211 and 30μm to transistor 212), it is possible that the response of the circuit is similar to a first-order lagging system in effect, so that the inter-character-image interference can be eliminated by using the previously given equation (1) Furthermore, by inserting a resistor (a damping resistor 207) in parallel with the transmission line, the oscillation behavior of the signal voltage can be suppressed and the inter-character-image interference can be more accurately removed (estimated).
The eighth figure shows the results of the simulation performed using the above conditions. As can be seen from the results, the signal voltage (data "1" in memory "2" (262) and memory "4" (264) ) Can be fully approximated by the equation V=pOexp(O-td).
Moreover, the terminating resistors 203 and 204 (R<sub>t</sub>) Can be located at the two ends of the signal transmission line 202, as shown in brackets in the seventh figure; for example, here, it is better to set the impedance of the transmission line to 70Ω, and set the terminal resistance value R<sub>t</sub>Set at R<sub>t</sub>In the range of 200Ω, the resistance value R will be reduced<sub>d</sub>Set at 7ΩR<sub>d</sub>>0Ω, and the resistance value of the cut-off piece R<sub>3</sub>Set to about 25Ω.
As described above, in the signal transmission system according to the first mode of the present invention, by setting the terminal resistance value to a value larger than the characteristic impedance of the signal transmission line, increasing the driver output resistance value, or inserting A damping resistor connected in parallel to the signal transmission line can significantly reduce the power of the signal; more specifically, for example, according to circuit simulation, the power consumption of the SSTL can be reduced by a factor of about 4; In the receiver circuit in the signal transmission system of the second mode of the invention, the inter-image interference that occurs in the above-mentioned signal transmission system is predicted and eliminated from the previous signal, so that the correct data is received at a high-speed operation (Transmission) is possible.
The ninth figure is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the first mode of the present invention; in the ninth figure, reference numeral 301 is a driver, and 302 (321 to 325) is A signal transmission line, 303 and 304 are terminal resistors (R<sub>t</sub>), 351 to 354 are cut chip resistors (R<sub>s</sub>), 361 to 364 are memory modules (DRAM modules), and 310 is a processor or controller (DRAM controller).
For example, to connect (terminal) the end of the transmission line 302 to the power supply line V<sub>tt</sub>The terminating resistors 303 and 304 are set to a resistance value of 200Ω which is sufficiently larger than the characteristic impedance (about 50Ω) of the transmission line 302; moreover, the memory modules 361 to 364 respectively pass through the chip resistors 351 to 354 are connected to the transmission line; here, for example, the power supply line V<sub>tt</sub>The potential of is set at a voltage between the power supply voltage V<sub>cc</sub>And the ground voltage V<sub>ss</sub>Relay value between (V<sub>cc</sub>/2)。
The driver 301 is constructed as a CMOS inverter including a P-channel MOS transistor 311 and an N-channel MOS transistor 312; here, for example, the gate width of the transistor 311 is set to 60 μm, and for example, the transistor The gate width of the crystal 312 is set to 30 μm; that is, for example, the gate width of each driver transistor in this embodiment is set to be one compared with the transistor used in the low output impedance driver of the prior art. A factor of about 7 to 8 is reduced; as a result, the output impedance of the driver circuit increases.
According to the results of a special simulation performed in the first embodiment, even at a transmission rate as high as 533MHz, the power consumption per bit is about 12mW, compared to 50mW or more per bit in the SSTL Power consumption has been reduced by a factor of more than four.
Figure 10 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the first mode of the present invention.
In the second embodiment of the signal transmission system shown in the tenth figure, the terminal resistors 303 and 304 are omitted and a damping resistor 307 (R<sub>d</sub>) Is inserted in series on each of the transmission lines 321 to 325 (302) and is different from the first embodiment in the ninth figure; here, the damping resistor 307 inserted in series on each of the transmission lines 302 is selected In order to provide a total resistance of 70Ω; with the addition of the damping resistor 307, it is possible to approximate the response of the signal transmission system to a first-order lagging system with good accuracy, and correct signal reception It is possible to remove the inter-character and image interference by using a receiver circuit that uses capacitive coupling.
The unique effect of this second embodiment is that because there is no terminal resistance value (open circuit), the dc power consumption is zero, so for a signal that only allows a data value of "1" or "0" most of the time, the power consumption can be The effect is reduced to zero.
Figure eleven is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the first mode of the present invention.
A third embodiment of the signal transmission system shown in Figure eleven is a damping resistor 307 (R<sub>d</sub>) Is inserted in series on each of the transmission lines 321 to 325 (302) and is different from the first embodiment of the ninth figure; here, the damping resistor 307 inserted in series on each of the transmission lines 302 is selected To provide a total resistance value of 30Ω, and the terminating resistors 303 and 304 are set to a resistance value of about 300Ω.
That is, in the third embodiment, it provides a terminating resistor of about 300 Ω each and a damping resistor of about 30 Ω in total; with this configuration, when the attenuation of the signal transmitted through the transmission line is prevented , The oscillating behavior of the waveform is almost completely suppressed, and therefore the stability of signal transmission is strengthened.
Figure 12 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the receiver circuit in the signal transmission system according to the second mode of the present invention; in Figure 12, reference number 41 is a The differential amplifier, 42 is a decision circuit, 43 is a shift register, 44 is a resistor, and 45 is a resistor ladder circuit.
It is shown that the first embodiment of the receiver circuit in Figure 12 is provided with a predictor for predicting inter-picture interference, and the predictor output (reference voltage Vref) is used at its signal input terminal. The reference voltage side (-) of the differential amplifier 41 coupled to the signal voltage Vin; as the predictor, a so-called decision feedback type (decision feedback equalizer (DFE)) is used, in which a digital signal is preceded by Four bits (d4 to d1) are retained in the shift register 43, and inter-character interference is generated through the resistor ladder circuit 45 (non-linear weighted AD converter).
More specifically, the shift register 43 retains the data d4 after four bits, the data d3 after three bits, the data d2 after two bits, and the immediately preceding data d1 (after one bit). The resistors 454 to 451 of the resistance value of the effect of the previous bit (four bits after the data of the immediately previous data) are used for the reference voltage terminal of the differential amplifier 41; here, because four bits The effect of the post-metaphase data is small, so the resistor 454 is selected to have a large resistance value, but the effect of the immediately preceding data is large, so the resistor 451 is selected to have a small resistance value.
The differential amplifier 41 differentially amplifies the signal voltage Vin of the reference voltage Vref, and the output of the differential amplifier 41 is evaluated in the decision circuit 42 to make a decision on the transmitted data (signal voltage Vin).
According to the first embodiment of the receiver circuit shown in Figure 12, by storing a sufficiently long sequence of the previously received signal, it is possible not only for a first-order lagging system, but also for Various reactions make a correct prediction of inter-character-image interference (in order to remove the effect of changing the previous data), and the correct data can be output.
FIG. 13 is a block circuit diagram showing a second embodiment of the receiver circuit in the signal transmission system according to the second mode of the present invention.
The receiver circuit of the second embodiment shown in Figure 13 is replaced by capacitive coupling implemented by capacitors 44' and 45' on the resistor 44 and the resistor ladder circuit 45 Different from the previous first embodiment; that is, in the second embodiment, the nonlinear weighted A/D converter is implemented by capacitive coupling, compared to the first implementation using the resistor ladder For example, it has the benefit of reducing power consumption; the capacitors 451' to 454' are connected to the switching switches 461 to 464 to be at the ground potential (v<sub>ss</sub>) And the four-bit post-data retained in the shift register 43 to the immediate pre-data for selection; a switch is connected to the reference voltage terminal (-) of the differential amplifier.
In the receiver circuit in Figure 13, when the start, the switch switches 461 to 464 are connected to the ground potential, and the switch 47 is placed in the ON state; in the next step, in the switch 47 After being placed in the OFF state, the switch switches 461 to 464 are switched to the output terminal of the shift register, so that the immediately preceding data retained in the shift register is after the four bits The data (d1 to d4) are used for the corresponding slices of the related capacitors 451' to 454'; the other slices of the capacitors 451' to 454' are commonly connected to the reference voltage of the differential amplifier 41 Side; because the effect of the data after the four bits is small, the capacitor 454' related to the data after the four bits is selected to have a small capacitance, but the effect of the immediately preceding data is large Therefore, the capacitor 451' is selected to have a small capacitance.
Fig. 14 is a block circuit diagram showing a third embodiment of the receiver circuit in the signal transmission system according to the second mode of the present invention; in Fig. 14, reference number 48 is a Memory, and 49 is a D/A converter.
In the third embodiment of the receiver circuit shown in Figure 14, as in the first embodiment, the first four bits (d4 to d1) of a digital signal are retained in the shift register The contents of the memory 48 in the device 43 and the memory 48 are read by using the previously received digital signal sequence as an address; that is, an output related to the signal retained in the shift register 43 is read from the The memory 48 is read; the output from the memory 48 is used as the reference voltage Vref through the D/A converter 49 to the reference voltage of the differential amplifier 41, and used in the differential amplifier 41 The signal voltage Vin of the signal input terminal (+) is differentially amplified together, and then the output of the differential amplifier 41 is evaluated in the decision circuit 42 to make a decision on the transmitted data (signal voltage Vin).
Thus, according to the third embodiment shown in Figure 14, even when the inter-character-image interference is due to effects such as transistors, diodes, etc., a memory containing the nonlinear component is stored in the memory In 48, it becomes non-linear, and a correct prediction value (that is, a correct decision for the transmission data) can still be obtained, which is one of the benefits provided by the third embodiment.
Fig. 15 is a block circuit diagram showing a fourth embodiment of the receiver circuit in the signal transmission system according to the second mode of the present invention.
The fourth embodiment of the receiver circuit shown in Figure 15 essentially includes the configuration of Figure 5A, which uses a combination of capacitors/switches and uses the signal received after the tick. The analog value of the voltage is used to remove the effect of the previous data change and the configuration of the decision feedback predictor in Figure 13 of the use of a capacitor; in the circuit including the capacitor/switch combination, the display is shown in the previous It is assumed that the inter-character-image interference in equation (1) is subtracted from the input signal, and in the decision feedback predictor, the remaining error is obtained by using the input applied to the reference terminal of the differential amplifier Remove; The fourth embodiment has the advantage of being able to remove the interference between characters and images with high accuracy and using a memory stage that is less than the traditional decision feedback predictor.
More specifically, in the receiver circuit of Figure 15, first the switch 511 is placed in the OFF state, and the switch switches 512 and 513 are placed in the ON state to use (store) a traverse The difference voltage between the voltage Vb of a capacitor 514 and the signal voltage Vin, and a voltage Vb and voltage V across a capacitor 515<sub>tt</sub>The difference voltage between the two; at this time, the switches 561 to 564 are connected to the ground potential V<sub>ss</sub>; Here, the voltage Vb is a bias voltage used to determine the reliable operation of the differential amplifier 541; even, in the state of the switch 545 is turned ON, an automatic return to zero for the differential amplifier 541 The operation is implemented.
Secondly, the switching switches 512 to 514 are placed in the OFF state, and the switching switch 511 is placed in the ON state, so the capacitors 514 and 515 are connected in parallel as the signal input terminals of the differential amplifier 541 The previous node; at this time, the switches 561 to 564 are controlled so as to select the previous bit information retained in the shift register 543 (the data after the four bits to the immediately previous data ); In this state, the potential (Vref) of the node on the reference voltage terminal (-) of the differential amplifier 541 changes based on the previous bit information; a capacitor 544 is placed on the reference voltage terminal of the differential amplifier 541 And the voltage (power supply line) V<sub>tt</sub>In this configuration, as in the configuration previously described with reference to Figure 13, for example, the predicted value based on the inter-image interference on the first four bits is used as the differential amplifier 541 The reference voltage Vref, in which the signal applied to the signal input terminal is differentially amplified by using the reference voltage Vref; then, the output of the differential amplifier 541 is evaluated in the decision circuit 542 to be used in the transmitted data ( The decision is made on the signal voltage Vin).
Here, for the same reason as previously described, the capacitor 554 related to the data after the four bits is selected to have a small capacitance, and the capacitor 551 related to the data immediately preceding the bit is selected to have a Large capacitance; the predictor used to predict the inter-character-image interference is not limited to the above-mentioned configuration including capacitors and switching switches, and preferably, for example, the predictor can use the resistor ladder in Figure 12 or The memory in the fourteenth picture is constructed.
Fig. 16 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the auto-zero comparator in the receiver circuit of Fig. 5A, and Fig. 17 is a circuit diagram showing another example of the auto-zero comparator in Fig. 5A The circuit diagram of the auto-zero comparator in the receiver circuit.
More specifically, in the auto-zero comparator shown in Fig. 16, the switches 811 to 814 and 817 in the circuit of Fig. 5B are constructed from N-channel MOS transistors.
In contrast, in the auto-zero comparator shown in Figure 17, the switches 811 to 814 and 817 in the circuit of Figure 5B each contain an N-channel MOS circuit. The transmission gate of the crystal and a P-channel MOS transistor is constructed; in the seventeenth figure, inverters 810 and 820 are set to generate the control signal respectively<img file="TW366453B_D0015.tif" />2 and<img file="TW366453B_D0016.tif" />1, and therefore each transmission gate can be driven by complementary signals.
Figure 18 is a circuit diagram showing yet another example of the auto-zero comparator in the receiver circuit of Figure 5A.
In the auto-zero comparator shown in Figure 18, the inverter 818 in the circuit of Figure 17 is a circuit (818') including a differential amplifier 8181 and an inverter 8182 Replaced; as shown in Figure 18, the switch (transmission gate) 817 is inserted between the signal input terminal of the differential amplifier 8181 and the output of the inverter 8182, and the automatic zero processing is used This switch is implemented; the reference voltage terminal of the differential amplifier 8181 is supplied with the reference voltage Vr; even more, the operating state of the differential amplifier 8181 is controlled by the actuation signal CMe, when the actuation signal CMe is at a high level The differential amplifier 8181 is activated on time for operation.
Figures nineteenth to twenty-fourth are block diagrams each showing an example in which the signal transmission system of the present invention is used.
In the nineteenth figure, reference number 601 is a controller (memory controller or processor), and 602 is a memory (DRAM); the controller 601 includes a control signal capable of outputting multiple different phases ( Time signal) multiple phase delay lock line (MP-DLL) 611, a part of response detector (PRD) 613, and drivers 612 and 614; the memory 602 includes an MP-DLL 621, PRDs 622 and 623, And a driver 624.
The controller 601 and the memory 602 are connected by a one-way address signal line (signal transmission line, address bus) pointing from the controller to the ni-bit of the memory and a nj-bit two-way data The signal lines (signal transmission line, data bus) 616 are connected to each other; as mentioned above, the drivers 612, 614, and 624 are of high output impedance type, and the outputs of the drivers 612, 614, and 624 are respectively coupled to The equivalent PRDs 622, 623, and 613 are used as part of the response detection; here, the configuration and operation of the PRDs 622, 623, and 613 are the same as those in reference to fifth A, fifth B, sixth A, sixth B, and ten The descriptions in the second to fifteenth drawings are the same, and the configuration of the signal transmission lines 615 and 616 are the same as those described in the second, seventh, and eleventh drawings; at the same time, the second is given below. In Figures 10 to 24, the configuration described with reference to the above drawings can also be applied to the signal transmission lines (address bus and data bus), drivers, receiver circuits (PRDs), etc.
As can be seen from Figure 19, in the controller 601, the control signal (time signal) from the synchronously controlled MP-DLL 611 is supplied to the PRD 613 and the drivers 612 and 614 When in the memory 602, the control signal from the synchronously controlled MP-DLL 621 is supplied to the PRDs 622 and 623 and the driver 624; in the illustrated application example, the time information The signal CLK is supplied to each circuit block (controller and memory) by using a conventional transmission line (eg, SSTL: Serial Chip Terminal Logic).
In the twentieth figure, reference number 603 is a controller (or a processor or a chipset), 604a to 604d are memories, and 651 and 652 are logic chips; the controller 603 includes an MP-DLL 631 , PRDs 632 and 633, and drivers 634, 635, and 636; the memories 604a to 604d have the same configuration, for example, the memory 604a contains an MP-DLL 641, PRDs 642 and 643, and a driver 644 Furthermore, the logic chip 651 includes a DLL 6511 and a driver 6512, and the logic chip 652 includes a DLL 6521 and a PRD 6522.
The controller 603 and the memories 604a to 604d are connected by a one-way address bus 637 pointing from the controller to the ni-bits of the memories and an nj-bit two-way data bus 638 Connected to each other; these buses 637 and 638 are all formed into a 1:4 bus, but it will be recognized that the number of memory is not limited to four but can be changed in various ways.
The controller 603 and the logic chip 651 are connected by a unidirectional data signal line (data bus A) 653 from the logic chip 651 to the np-bit of the controller 603 and a single direction data signal line (data bus A) 653 from the controller 603 to the logic chip 651. One of the nq-bit unidirectional data signal lines (data bus B) 654 of one of the chips 652 is connected to each other; that is, the configuration of the signal transmission line in the signal transmission system of the present invention (the signal transmission line of the present invention) It is applied to the one-way signal transmission lines 637, 653, and 654, and the two-way signal transmission line 638.
The drivers 634, 635, 636, 644, and 6512 have a high output impedance type, and the outputs of the drivers 634, 635, 636, 644, and 6512 are respectively coupled to the equivalent PRDs 6522, 642, 643, 633 , And 632, as partial response detection; that is, the configuration of the receiver circuit in the signal transmission system of the present invention (the receiver circuit of the present invention) is applied to the PRDs 6522, 642, 643, 633, and 632; On the contrary, the configuration of the driver in the signal transmission system of the present invention (the receiver circuit of the present invention (the driver of the present invention) is applied to the drivers 634, 635, 636, 644, and 6512.
As can be seen from the twentieth figure, in the controller 603, the control signal from the synchronously controlled MP-DLL 631 is supplied to the PRD 632 and 633 and the drivers 634 to 636. When the memory 604a (604a to 604d) is in the memory, the control signal from the MP-DLL 641 is supplied to the PRDs 642 and 643 and the driver 644; moreover, in the logic chip 651, from the DLL 6511 The incoming control signal is supplied to the driver 6512, and in the logic chip 652, the control signal from the DLL 6521 is supplied to the PRD 6522.
The signal transmission system shown in Figure 21 is a modified example of the signal transmission system in Figure 20, in which the logic chips 651 and 652 are replaced by a processor (or a plotter) 605 ; Reference number 603' designates a controller (or one of the logic chips).
The processor 605 includes an MP-DLL 6051, a PRD 6052, and drivers 6053 and 6054; it becomes clear from the comparison of the twentieth and twenty-first figures. In this application example, the The one-way data signal line 654 is composed as a two-way data signal line 654', and relatedly, a PRD 632' is set in the controller 603'; that is, the configuration of the signal transmission line of the present invention is applied to The one-way signal transmission lines 637 and 653 and the two-way signal transmission lines 638 and 654', and the configuration of the receiver circuit of the present invention is applied to the PRDs 6052, 642, 643, 633, 632, and 632', and The configuration of the driver of the present invention is applied to the drivers 634, 635, 636, 644, 6053, and 6054.
The signal transmission system shown in Figure 22 is also a modification of the signal transmission system in Figure 21, in which the processor 605 is replaced by a logic chip 605', and the present invention is applied The signal transmission line 654' in the signal transmission system in FIG. 21 is replaced by a conventional SSTL signal line.
More specifically, the nq-bit bidirectional signal line connected between the logic chip 605' and the controller 603" is composed of an SSTL signal line, and the drivers 6054' and 634" and the receivers 6052' and 632" It is composed for use with SSTL; thus, the configuration of the signal transmission line of the present invention is applied to the one-way signal transmission lines 637 and 653 and the two-way signal transmission line 638, and the configuration of the receiver circuit of the present invention is applied to The PRDs 642, 643, 633, and 632, and the configuration of the driver of the present invention are applied to the drivers 635, 636, 644, and 6053.
In Figure 23, reference number 606 is a controller (or a processor), 607 is a memory, and 664 and 674 are differential amplifiers; in Figure 23, the signal transmission system is It is constructed to supply the time signal CLK as the complementary signal CLK, /CLK to the DLLs 661 and 671 through the differential amplifiers 664 and 674.
More specifically, the complementary signals CLK, /CLK are supplied to the controller 606 and the memory 607, where they are used by the related differential amplifiers 664 and 674 before being applied to the related DLLs 661 and 671. Differentially amplified; the output (control signal) of the DLL 661 is supplied to a driver 662 and PRD 663, and the output of the DLL 671 is supplied to a driver 672 and PRD 673; with this configuration, the application of the description The example achieves high-speed and low-power time signal transmission; here, the configuration of the signal transmission line of the present invention is applied to the bidirectional signal transmission line 665, and the configuration of the receiver circuit of the present invention is applied to the PRDs 663, and 673, and the configuration of the driver of the present invention are applied to the drivers 662, and 672.
In the twenty-fourth figure, reference number 608 is a controller (or a processor), 609 is a memory, 684 and 694 are differential amplifiers, and 685, 686, 695, and 696 are drivers; in the second In the signal transmission system shown in Figure 14, the time signal CLK is supplied by using a traditional signal line, and instead, DLLs 681 and 691 are composed to output complementary flashes synchronized with data output timing Signals ST-B, /ST-B and ST-A, /ST-A; these flash signals ST-B, /ST-B and ST-A, /ST-A are applied to the differential amplifiers 694 and 684 And at the relevant signal receiving end, and PRDs 692 and 682 are controlled by these relevant DLLs 691 and 681.
With this configuration, in the above application example, the same delay as the delay through the signal transmission line is offset by the delay of the flash signals ST-B, /ST-B and ST-A, /ST-A Therefore, it is possible to achieve precise synchronization of signals; here, the configuration of the signal transmission line of the present invention is applied to a bidirectional signal transmission line 687, and the configuration of the receiver circuit of the present invention is applied to the PRDs 683 , And 693, and the configuration of the driver of the present invention is applied to the drivers 682, and 692.
As described above, the signal transmission line of the present invention is not limited to a bus system interconnected with a plurality of semiconductor chips (LSI chips), but can also be applied to a signal line connecting various circuit blocks.
As described in detail above, according to the signal transmission system of the second mode of the present invention, by setting the terminal resistance value to a value larger than the characteristic impedance of the signal transmission line, by increasing the output resistance of the driver, or by Inserting a damping resistor connected in parallel to the signal transmission line, the signal power can be significantly reduced; moreover, according to the receiver circuit in the signal transmission system of the present invention, the zigzag generated in the signal transmission system Interference can be predicted and removed from the previous signal, thus making correct data reception (transmission) possible in high-speed operation.
Before describing a signal transmission system according to a third mode of the present invention, the problems related to the signal transmission system of a conventional art will be described with reference to FIG. 25.
Figure 25 is a block diagram showing another example of a signal transmission system (Rambus channel) based on customs and skills in the form of a circuit diagram; in Figure 25, reference numbers 901 and 902 are terminal resistors 903 is a signal transmission line (bus), 904 is a time signal line terminating resistor, 905 is a time signal generator, and 906 is a time signal line; even, reference number 9-0 is a controller (DRAM controller ), and 9-1 to 9-n are devices (DRAM chips); in some configurations, the DRAM chips 9-1 to 9-n can be constructed as component circuits formed in a single chip or as A DRAM module with DIMMs (dual-line memory modules) with multiple DRAM chips installed on it.
As shown in Figure 25, in the Rambus channel, the DRAM controller 9-0 and the plurality of DRAM chips 9-1, 9-2,. . . , 9-n are connected to each other by a common signal transmission line (bus bar).
For the transmission and reception of high-speed signals, precise timing must be established between the signal transmitter and receiver; in order to achieve this, in the Rambus channel, a time signal CLK (CLKs, CLKr) is sent to the folded time signal On line 906, and the DRAM controller 9-0 fetches the time signal at a point close to the turning point; based on the time signal, the DRAM controller 9-0 determines the timing for receiving and sending signals.
Conversely, when a signal is sent to the DRAM controller 9-0, each of the DRAM chips (DRAM modules) 9-1 to 9-n takes out the section of the signal line 906 that goes toward the folding time of the DRAM controller The previous signal, and a signal transmission sequence synchronized with the time signal is generated; when a signal is received from the DRAM controller 9-0, each of the DRAM modules (DRAMs) 9-1 to 9-n is taken out The time signal (CLKr) from the DRAM controller generates a receiving timing.
In a particular example, consider a situation where data is read from a DRAM chip for transmission to the DRAM controller 9-0; in the case of the DRAM chip 9-1, from the time signal generator 905 The time signal CLKs output by the time signal line 906 is captured at the point P912 on the time signal line 906, and the read data is transmitted to the DRAM control via the points P911 and P901 on the signal transmission line 903Device9-0; In the case of the DRAM chip 9-2, the time signal CLKs is captured at a point P922 on the time signal line 906, and the read data passes through a point P921 and a point on the signal transmission line 903 P901 is transmitted to the DRAM controller 9-0; even in the case of the DRAM chip 9-n, the time signal CLKs is captured at the point P9n2 on the time signal line 906, and the read data It is transmitted to the DRAM controller 9-0 through points P9n1 and P901 on the signal transmission line 903.
Here, between the DRAM chip 9-1 and the DRAM controller 9-0, the CLKs undergoes a time shift (delay ), but because this displacement is related to points P911 and P901 on the signal transmission line 903 that occur when the signal (read data) is sent from the DRAM chip 9-1 to the DRAM controller 9-0 The time shift (delay) between the distances is compensated, so the DRAM controller 9-0 can receive signals with precise (synchronized) timing.
Similarly, in the case of the DRAM chip 9-2, the time shift related to the distance between the point P922 and the point P902 on the time signal line 906 is related to the point P921 and the point on the signal transmission line 903 The time shift of the distance between points P901 is offset, and in the case of the DRAM chip 9-n, the time shift related to the distance between the point P9n2 and the point P902 on the time line 906 is related to The time shift of the distance between the point P9n1 and the point P901 on the signal transmission line 903 is offset, so the DRAM controller 9-0 is activated to receive the signal with precise synchronization timing.
Conversely, when transmitting a signal from the DRAM controller 9-0 to a DRAM chip, the DRAM controller 9-0 captures the time signal CLKr (CLKs) at the point P902 on the time signal line 906, and passes the point P901 sends the signal to the signal transmission line 903; in a special example, when a signal (write data) is transmitted to the DRAM chip 9-1, the write data is related to the signal transmission line 903 The time of the distance between point P901 and point P911 is shifted (delayed); however, because the time signal CLKr transmitted to the DRAM chip 9-1 is also related to the point P902 and the point on the time signal line The distance between P913 is shifted by time, and the displacement of the signal (write data) is compensated so that the DRAM chip 9-1 can receive the write data with precise (synchronized) timing to perform a write operation.
Similarly, in the case of the DRAM chip 9-2, the time shift of the written data related to the distance between the point P901 and the point P921 on the signal transmission line 903 is related to the time shift on the time signal line 906 The distance between the point P902 and the point P923 is offset by the time shift of the time signal CLKr, and in the case of the DRAM chip 9-n, the correlation is related to the point P901 and the point P9n1 on the signal transmission line 903 The time displacement of the written data at the distance between the time signals is offset by the time displacement of the time signal CLKr related to the distance between the point P902 and the point P9n3 on the time signal line 906, thus activating each DRAM chip A write operation is completed with precise timing.
In this way, in the signal transmission system (Rambus channel) shown in Figure 25, the correct timing can be established for both reception and transmission, as long as the signal line 906 and the signal transmission line 903 are in the path and in the electrical The characteristics of the two are the same; that is, the signal transmission system shown in FIG. 25 requires that the time signal line 906 and the signal transmission line 903 be formed along the same path and have the same difference between them. Electrical characteristics.
However, the characteristics of the load are inevitably different from the time signal line 906 and the signal transmission line (bus) 903; this is because when the signal transmission line 903 allows the use of a latch circuit that operates synchronously with the reception timing to achieve When receiving with high sensitivity, the time signal line 906 cannot use a latch and requires the use of a differential amplifier, etc.; because the nature of the load is different from a latch circuit and a differential amplifier and the like, the electrical characteristics of the line (such as , The delay per unit distance), etc. tend to become different from the signal line and the signal transmission line at that time; even if the characteristics of the load are exactly the same between them, when considering the actual path of the wiring on the circuit board It is still impossible to arrange the time signal line exactly along the same path as the signal transmission line; as a result, at higher frequencies, it becomes more difficult. In the signal transmission system shown in Figure 25 To generate the correct timing.
What's more, in the current commercial signal transmission system, including one shown in Figure 25, the signal transmission source is constantly switched from one device to another on the bus (signal transmission line). In the application of a device, it is necessary to provide a gap (time margin) between signals; this gap has been provided to prevent signal overlap that may cause erroneous reception; in order to eliminate or minimize this gap, transmission/reception is required The timing is extremely precise control, but as the frequency increases, this becomes more difficult.
Therefore, there is a need for a signal transmission system that can generate timing signals without requiring symmetry between the signal line and the signal line (signal transmission line: bus) at that time, and when switching from one transmission device to another One time it minimizes the gap.
Hereinafter, a brief description will be given of one of the characteristics of the third mode of the present invention, and then a detailed description of the signal transmission system according to the third mode of the present invention will be given.
In the third mode of the present invention, the common timing is generated with the accuracy of a time that is sufficiently shorter than the maximum time required for a signal to pass through the signal transmission line, and all components (devices, LSI chips, etc.) ) Is composed to operate with this common timing; here, the common timing is synthesized from the time information propagating in the opposite direction on the time signal line; moreover, the receiver is provided with a function to remove the word image Inter-interference (using a PRD, etc., see the fourth A, fourth B, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen diagrams), and all components are composed to operate with this common timing.
The time for a signal from a component to reach a receiving component (for example, the controller) varies according to the propagation time of the signal; when switching from one transmission component to another transmission component, because the reception uses the common The timing is implemented with the above-mentioned time difference, so the inter-character-image interference increases; however, by using the inter-character-image interference removal device at the receiving end, the signal from any transmission element (device, LSI chip, etc.) can be Receiving by using the common timing, moreover, in order to adjust the receiving/transmitting timing for each element, because when using the inter-character interference elimination device, strict timing adjustment is not required, so a low-cost one can be used. Circuit.
More specifically, the third mode of the present invention is characterized in that all devices (chip configuration circuits, DRAM chips, or DRAM modules, etc.) use a common reference time (hereinafter sometimes referred to as GMT: Ubiquitous Average Time) ) As the common time reference, the previously mentioned receiving system (the receiver circuit in the signal transmission system according to the second mode of the present invention), which is composed to eliminate inter-character interference, is also used as Receive, and a push-pull driver (a certain current or a high output resistance push-pull driver) is used as the driver circuit; as a result, gapless transmission becomes possible when read/write operations are performed on different devices Furthermore, the transmission characteristics of the data time signal line (time signal line) that extends along the previously described data line (transmission signal line) does not need to be the same as that of the data line, and can be removed It is used to control (Rumbus channel, vernier, etc.) the needs of the transmission time signal (CLKs) and the reception time signal (CLKr).
Figure 26 is a block diagram showing the basic functional configuration of the signal transmission system according to the third mode of the present invention; in Figure 26, reference numbers 701 and 702 are terminal resistors, 703 It is a signal transmission line (bus), 704 is a time signal line terminating resistor, 705 is a time signal generator, and 706 is a time signal line; moreover, reference number 7-0 is a controller (DRAM controller), And 7-1 to 7-n are devices (DRAM chips); alternatively, the DRAM chips 7-1 to 7-n can be constructed as constituent circuits formed in a single chip or as DRAM modules of DIMMs with multiple DRAM chips, and the DRAMs can be replaced by EPROMs (erasable programmable read-only memory) or flash EEPROMs (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory); The controller (7-0) can be constructed from an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit), a graphics controller, or a microprocessor or the like.
The twenty-seventh figure is a figure for explaining the operation of the signal transmission system of figure twenty-six (part one).
As shown in the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh figures, the common reference time (common Timing) GMT is generated by using the folded time signal line 706; more particularly, in the third mode of the present invention, the transmission time signal CLKs and the reception time signal CLKr are not used, and the common time signal GMT is borrowed A relay time letter between the forward and backward propagation time letter on the folded time letter 706 is generated.
More specifically, the DRAM chip 7-1 captures the forward propagation time signal CLK at the point P712 on the time signal line 706 and the backward propagation time signal CLK at the point P713 on the time signal line 706, and by Take one of the relay time signals (relay phase) between the two time signals to generate the common reference time GMT as the common time signal; similarly, the DRAM chip 7-2 is respectively captured on the time signal line 706 Point P712 and point P713 propagate forward and backward time signals CLKs, and generate the common reference time GMT as the common time signal by taking their relay timing, and the DRAM chip 7-n is captured in the Points P7n2 and P7n3 on the time signal line 706 propagate forward and backward time signals CLKs, and generate the common reference time GMT as the common time signal by taking their relay timing; For each DRAM location on the signal line 706, the common time signal (common reference time GMT) can be correctly obtained for each cycle TT.
In this case, the forward and backward paragraphs of the time signal line 706 must follow the same path (route) exactly along the line, but if the transmission characteristics of the time signal line 706 itself are substantially different from the signal transmission line (data line) ) 703, there will be no problem; whats more, the folded time signal line 706 can follow a path different from the data line 703; that is, the common timing GMT can only be selected in these directions It is generated by the relay phase between the time signals propagating forward and backward; for the common reference time GMT that is uniquely determined, there is an upper limit on the length of the time signal line 706, but in practice, because the time signal line The length limit of 706 can be increased by n times (such as four times) by dividing n by the time signal CLK (such as 4) and using the result time signal with four times the period (1/4 of the frequency), the common timing GMT can be allocated to a distance that does not cause actual problems. In this case, the DRAM controller 7-0 and the DRAM chips 7-1 to 7-n are equipped with an operation that performs a multiplication by n (such as multiplying by n). Four, that is, a PLL circuit or a DLL circuit that multiplies the frequency by four to restore the original time whose period is increased by a factor of n (for example, 4).
In this way, the common timing can be generated by using the folding time signal line 706 and generating a signal with a phase that propagates forward and backward, but here please note that what is needed is along the The time signal propagates in the opposite direction of the route and does not need to be folded back. For example, as will be described later, the forward and backward time signals can be set on a single time signal line at the same time (This situation is equivalent to generating a standing wave along the time signal line); when the length of the time signal line is equal to half the wavelength, a given point on a standing wave can always be obtained with the same phase Time letter; this proves that the common timing can be allocated by using a standing wave.
Next, a receiver circuit exemplified by the previously described partial response detector (PRD) (see Figures A, B, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, and Fifteen) is used It is a circuit for receiving signals; here, in order to use the PRD, a restriction is imposed on the length L of the data line (bus) 703; in the example of this description, it is necessary for a wave to propagate back and forth The condition that the time (the back and forth propagation time) should not exceed the signal bit time is imposed; in practice, this condition can be looser.
Figures 28A and 28B are diagrams for explaining the operation of the signal transmission system in Figure 26 (Part 2): Figure 28A shows a DRAM chip 7-1 to The unit pulse signal transmitted by 7-n, and Figure 28B shows the waveform when the signal transmitted from the DRAM chips 7-1 to 7-n is received by the DRAM controller 7-0 .
As shown in Figure 28B, if the signal is received at the receiving end (the DRAM controller 7-0) with the common timing (t=TT) by clearing the inter-character interference, and If an upper limit on the delay from each device (DRAM chip) is determined so that any device can generate a sufficient signal length, all the devices can perform transmission and reception by using the common timing; here, Each device transmits a new signal synchronized with the start of the bit time and receives a signal synchronized with the end of the bit time; the transmission and reception timing can be shifted slightly forward or backward for optimization Signal length, but the time reference is always the common timing TT.
Each driver circuit is constructed as a push-pull driver (a constant current or a high output resistance push-pull driver); a high output resistance driver means an output with a characteristic impedance higher than that of the signal line The impedance driver, although it does not have to be as high as a certain current driver; in particular, for example, such a driver is constructed by correctly reducing the size of an output transistor in a CMOS driver.
With this configuration, if any of the driver circuits (the DRAM controller 7-0 and the DRAM chips 7-1 to 7-n) drive the bus 703 (or none of the driver circuits drive the bus), Then the time constant of the bus (more precisely, the reaction function) is constant and independent of time; that is, the system becomes a "linear time invariance system", and therefore, the received signal is obtained as One of the unit pulse response h(t) is superimposed.
If h(t) is obtained under the worst case, that is, when the round-trip propagation time is exactly equal to the signal bit time T, h(nT) is normalized by the final value of the step response Is 0, 1-s**2, (1-s**2)S**2, (1-s**2)S**4,. . . For n=0, 1, 2,. . . .
Here, S is a coefficient of the voltage reflection at the end of a line. It is assumed that both ends of the line have the same resistance value; when Exp(-T/τ)=S**2, this is only a power level reaction.
It can be seen that if S**2 is set to about 0.5, the signal can be received without any problem by using the PRD; when converted to the terminal resistance R<sub>t</sub>(701, 702), the reflection coefficient is 5.8 times the characteristic impedance, this value is equal to a terminal resistance value of 290 ohms in a 50-ohm system, which means that if the terminal resistance value is due to interference between characters If it is reduced and slightly reduced, the reception can be made easier.
In the next step, for example, if the value of the driver current is assumed to be io=3.5 mA, the final value of the step response is io x Rt/2, which is approximately equal to 500 mV; multiply this by 1-s**2 , We obtain a net signal size of 250 mV; this proves that reception by this PRD is possible even in the worst case; therefore, even when the signal source is switched from one chip to another (7- 1 to 7-n), because the magnitude of the transient voltage wave on the bus is attenuated by a factor of s**2 for each T, the inter-character-image interference can be eliminated by the PRD without any problem Reception is possible; therefore, gapless transmission can be achieved.
It is now possible to receive in the worst case. All devices (chips) only need to send or receive signals at the timing of the common reference time GMT; this means that there is no need to use a vernier or a signal in the Rambus channel. PLL (Phase Locked Loop) or synchronized DLL to transmit and receive time information.
In this way, in the signal transmission system according to the third mode of the present invention, because the inter-character-image interference is eliminated in the receiver circuit, all the devices can use the common timing signal with a predetermined accuracy ; The given correctness mentioned here is based on the premise that a certain degree of timing error is allowed as long as the size of the error does not make the elimination of inter-character interference impossible, which means a time The correctness is sufficiently shorter than (for example, about 10 climbing lines) the time required for a signal to be broadcast (propagated) through the signal line; in particular, the generation of the common timing signal only needs to be along the time The signal line is reserved for the time signal propagating in the opposite direction (forward and backward), and there is no need to make the electrical characteristics or the route of the time signal line coincide with the signal line; this provides the time signal line There are no limited benefits in the arrangement and configuration.
Various embodiments in the signal transmission system of the third mode according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The twenty-ninth figure is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of a signal transmission system according to the third mode of the present invention; in the twenty-ninth figure, reference numbers 701 and 702 are terminal resistors, 703 is a signal transmission line (bus bar), 704 is a time signal line terminating resistor, 705 is a time signal generator, 706 is a time signal line, and 770 to 774 are chip resistors; moreover, reference number 7-0 It is a controller (DRAM controller), and 7-1 to 7-4 are devices (DRAM chips).
As explained with reference to Figures 26 and 27, the DRAM controller 7-0 and the DRAM chips 7-1 to 7-4 are all formed into a forward direction captured on the folding signal line 706 And the time signal propagated backward, and the relay phase signal is generated as the common timing signal (common reference time GMT); the DRAM controller 7-0 and the DRAM chips 7-1 to 7-4 are combined with the common timing signal (GMT) to implement signal transmission and reception synchronously; here, for example, the terminal resistors 701 and 702 are formed from a 250-ohm resistor, and for example, the chip resistors 770 to 774 are formed from a resistor of 250-ohm. It is formed by 25-ohm resistor.
Thus, according to the first embodiment of the signal transmission system in the third mode of the present invention, the common timing signal (GMT) can be obtained as the forward and backward propagation on the signal line 706 at the time of folding A relay sequence between time signals; that is, regardless of the location of each DRAM chip on the time signal line 706, a common time signal can be obtained by providing a correct common time signal.
Figure 30 is a block diagram showing a modified example of the signal transmission system of Figure 29; this example shows a multi-processor system; in Figure 30, reference numbers 7-1 to 7-4 indicates the processor element.
As shown in Fig. 30, the third mode of the present invention is not limited to being applied to a signal transmission using a bus (signal transmission system) 703 as shown in Fig. 29 The system can also be applied to a multi-processor system in which the processors are connected in a one-to-one manner.
Figure 31 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an essential part of each device in the signal transmission system of the third mode according to the present invention; in Figure 31, reference number 781 Is a driver circuit, and 782 is a PRD (Partial Response Detector).
As shown in Figure 30, the DRAM chip 7-1 (each of the DRAM chips 7-2 to 7-4 or the DRAM controller 7-0) is installed together with the PRD 782 to remove the The effect of inter-character-image interference, and is composed to implement data reception by reducing the effect of inter-character-image interference in the received waveform as shown in the twenty-eighth figure to implement data reception with the common timing TT ; In this way, when the PRD 782 (please see the fifth A and sixteenth to eighteenth figure B) including an auto-zero comparator is used as the receiver circuit, a simple circuit can be used to clear large words Interference between the elephants.
Figure 32 is a block diagram showing another configuration example of an essential part of each device in the signal transmission system of the third mode according to the present invention; in Figure 32, reference number 781 is a driver circuit, and 783 is an equalizer.
As shown in the thirty-second figure, the DRAM chip 7-1 (each of the DRAM chips 7-2 to 7-4 or the DRAM controller 7-0) is installed together with the equalizer 783 to Minimize the effect of the inter-character-image interference; that is, in the illustrated configuration, as in the receiver circuit, the equalizer is used to replace the PRD 782 in Figure 31, and by reducing the The data reception and the common timing TT are implemented as the effect of the inter-character-image interference in the received waveform as shown in FIG. 28B.
FIG. 33 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the signal transmission system of the third mode according to the present invention.
As shown in Fig. 33, in the second embodiment of the third mode, the length of the signal transmission line (signal line) 703 is limited by the fact that a signal can be used in one bit time T Or a length of the back and forth propagation of the signal line; more specifically, the signal line 703 is marked with v<sub>o</sub>Indicate the broadcast speed of the wave, indicate the length of the signal line 703 with L, and indicate the bit time (one bit length) with T, a limit can be 2L/v<sub>o</sub>T; this makes it easier to keep the inter-character-image interference at a minimum, and whats more, all devices (the DRAM controller and the DRAM chip) can generate a signal with the forward and backward propagation time The common timing signal (GMT) is generated by a phase relay signal between the phases.
Figure 34 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment in the signal transmission system of the third mode according to the present invention; in Figure 34, reference numbers 701, 701', and 702 are Terminating resistors, 703 and 703' are signal transmission lines (bus bars), 706 is a time signal line, 7-0 is a controller (DRAM controller), 7-1 to 7-n and 7-1'. . . Is a device (DRAM chip), and 708 is a buffer.
As shown in Fig. 34, in the third embodiment of the third mode, the buffer 708 is inserted between the signal transmission lines (signal lines) 703 and 703'; that is, for example, When the length of the signal line exceeds the above limit 2L/v<sub>o</sub>When T, the buffer 708 is inserted as needed.
Here, the buffer 708 has the function of delaying a signal (transmitted through the signal line 703) and retransmitting the signal by a time equal to an integer multiple of the bit time T; because the buffer delay time is An integer multiple of T, so the buffer and the devices (DRAM chips, etc.) connected to it are allowed to operate with the current common timing signal; of course, the signal reception and transmission in the buffer 708 are based on the common timing signal. Implemented in time sequence.
Figure 35 is a block diagram showing a modification of the signal transmission system of Figure 34.
As shown in Fig. 35, this modification is different from the third embodiment shown in Fig. 34 in that the buffer 708 is not only provided for transmission along the signal line 703. The signal is also for the time signal transmitted along the time signal line 706 (706'); more specifically, the buffer 708 includes a function for supplying the time signal to other devices (DRAM chip 7) connected to the buffer 708 -1',...) device.
The provision of the buffer causes the signal transmission path to be extended, but if the time signal distribution line becomes longer, the common time signal may not be able to generate a time signal that has a time signal that propagates forward and backward. One of the relay phases between signals is uniquely determined; this modification raises this problem; that is, the buffer 708 generates a waveform traveling in the same phase at an angle relative to the common time signal, And by using a DLL or PLL to generate a phase-delayed waveform at the same angle, and output the time signal of the result, and then the devices (DRAM chip 7-1',... ) May have the same common timing as the buffer 708.
Figure 36 is a block diagram showing a fourth embodiment of the signal transmission system of the third mode according to the present invention; in Figure 36, reference numbers 780 to 78m are buffers, and 703 are A bus (signal line), 7-1 to 7-n are devices (DRAM chips).
As shown in the thirty-sixth figure, in the fourth embodiment of the third mode, each of the buffers 780 to 78m is connected to a plurality of bus line groups 703; the buffers 780 to 78m This arrangement enables signals to be transmitted to and from a large number of devices (DRAM chips) 7-1 to 7-n in a tree structure; the extension of the signal line 703 using the buffer 780 to 78 m can be recognized. The map is not limited to the tree structure, but various other topology maps, such as a star topology map and a ring topology map are possible.
Figure 37 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the driver circuit in the signal transmission system of the third mode of the present invention; for example, this figure considers the display in Figures 31 and 32 The driver circuit 781.
As shown in Figure 37, the driver circuit for driving the signal line (signal transmission line 703) includes P-channel MOS transistors 7811 and 7812, N-channel MOS transistors 7815 and 7816, and current source 7813. And 7817, and CMOS inverters 7814 and 7818; here, the transistor 7812 is connected to the transistor 7811 in a current mirror arrangement, and the transistor 7816 is also connected to the transistor 7811 in a current mirror arrangement Transistor 7815; The driver circuit uses a configuration such that the sources of the transistors 7812 and 7816 in the symmetrical current mirror constant current drive circuit are driven by the CMOS inverters 7814 and 7818 respectively, thus switching the constant current; That is, the driver circuit shown in Figure 37 is composed as a symmetrical constant current drive push-pull driver.
With this configuration, the driver circuit provides a high output impedance so that regardless of the switching action of any driver in any circuit block (DRAM chip, etc.), the response function of the signal line system is constant, which strengthens the character The effect of eliminating inter-image interference, and thus achieving signal transmission with increased accuracy; an additional benefit is that even when an error occurs between the common timing signals generated by the related block circuit, resulting in When multiple driver circuits drive the signal line at the same time, the constant current driving method can avoid the problem of breakdown current.
Figure 38 is a block diagram showing a fifth embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the third mode of the present invention; in Figure 38, reference numeral 711 is a common timing signal generating circuit 712 is a variable delay circuit, 713 is a phase comparator, 714 is a NAND gate, 715 is a driver circuit (real driver), and 716 is a dummy driver circuit; here, the variable delay circuit 712 Both the phase comparator 713 and the phase comparator 713 form a DLL (delay locked loop) circuit; the configuration of the dummy driver 716 is the same as the real driver 715 (both drivers have the same delay time), the configuration Is to make the output of the dummy driver 716 feedback to the phase comparator 713 to remove the delay in the real driver 715; one of the inputs of the NAND gate 714 is coupled to the output data so that the output data is variable according to the The output (timing signal) of the delay circuit 712 is supplied to the real driver 715.
That is, in the fifth embodiment of the third mode, the phase comparator 713, the variable delay circuit 712, and the false assistant working together to remove the delay in the driver circuit (real driver) 715 The driver 716 is provided in addition to the common timing signal generating circuit 711 that captures the timing signal propagating through the timing line folded between the forward and backward paragraphs as described with reference to FIG. 27, and borrows A common timing is generated by taking a timing of the relay point between the rising timing of the forward and backward propagation of the time signal; the total amount of delay in the variable delay circuit 712 is controlled to compensate for the real driver The delay and variation of the delay in 715, and thus the signal transmission is achieved with increased accuracy; for example, similar control implemented using the DLL can also be used to control the input timing.
Figures 39A and 39B are block diagrams illustrating a sixth embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the third mode of the present invention.
As shown in Figure 39A, in the sixth embodiment of the third mode, the time signal line 706 is constructed as a single time signal line, rather than a back-and-forth propagation type time signal line; To directly ground one end of the signal time signal line 706, that is, by removing the time signal line terminal resistor 704 shown in Figure 26 and shorting the end point, a standing wave (Please see Figure 39B) is generated along the time line 706, and the standing wave is used as the common timing (GMT).
Therefore, the sixth embodiment of the third mode uses the phenomenon that when a standing wave is generated along the time signal line 706, one of the same phases can be obtained along an area equal to the length of half the wavelength. Voltage amplitude; the advantage of this method is that the time signal line only needs half the length of the back and forth propagation type time signal line, and because the time signal propagates forward and backward along a single line, the characteristics of the forward path are completely Those that fit the backward path thus increase the accuracy of the common timing.
Figures fortieth A and forty B are block diagrams illustrating a seventh embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the third mode of the present invention; in figure fortieth A, reference numbers 761 and 762 are active Terminator, and in Figure 40B, reference number 7611 is a delay unit, and 7612 is a control power supply unit.
In the sixth embodiment shown in figures 39A and 39B, one end of the time signal line 706 is short-circuited. Conversely, in the seventh embodiment of the third mode , Both ends of the time signal line terminate at the active terminators 761 and 762; the active terminators 761 and 762 are controlled to achieve a situation equivalent to short-circuiting the line at one point, and at that point The reflected wave generated by each end point has propagated from the end point a distance equal to, for example, 1/16 wavelength; for example, the active terminator 761 (762) includes the delay element as shown in Figure 40B 7611 and the control power supply unit 7612, and by monitoring the voltage at the termination terminal and by generating a current signal with a constant phase relationship with respect to the voltage and feeding it back to the termination terminal (from the control power The supply unit 7612) is achieved; this active terminator can be easily implemented by using a known PLL circuit or DLL circuit and a certain current drive circuit, etc.; the seventh embodiment of the third mode has the advantage among them A standing wave can be generated along the time signal line 706, and the amplitude of the time signal along the time signal line 706 is constant, and does not have to match the length of the time signal line to the time signal frequency.
Figure 41 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the common timing signal generator (711) used in the signal transmission system according to the third mode of the present invention; in Figure 41, reference number 7111 and 7112 are capacitors, 7113 and 7114 are P-channel MOS transistors, 7115 and 7116 are N-channel MOS transistors, 7117 is a resistor, 7118 and 7119 are voltage sources, and 7120 is a current source; a sine The time signal is used as the time signal CLK propagating through the time signal line 706.
The common timing signal generation circuit 711 shown in Figure 41 uses this characteristic, in which when a sine time signal is used as the time signal CLK, a first sine wave (forward propagation time signal) s1 and a first The sum of the two sine waves (backward propagation time signal) s2 produces a sine wave (common timing signal) s3 whose phase is exactly in the center between them; by means of the capacitive coupling to the two capacitors 7111 and 7112, The two time signals (s1 and s2) are supplied to a differential amplifier type comparator to generate the common timing signal (s3); this method has the benefit of reducing the circuit to generate the common timing signal.
Figure 42 is a circuit diagram showing another example of the common timing signal generating circuit used in the signal transmission system according to the third mode of the present invention; in this circuit, similarly, a sinusoidal timing signal is It is used as the time signal CLK propagating through the time signal line 706.
The common timing signal generating circuit 711 shown in Figure 42 includes two comparators 720 and 730 and two inverters 740 and 750; here, the forward propagation time signal s1 and a reverse For example, the backward propagation time signal s2 generates a time signal/s2 is used as the input to each comparator 720 (730) to generate a time signal with a phase between the forward and backward propagation time signals This is followed by the common timing signal s3.
Fig. 43 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the comparator used in the common timing signal generating circuit of Fig. 42; as shown in Fig. 43, the comparator 720 (730) Contains multiple P-channel MOS transistors 721, 722, and 726, and multiple N-channel MOS transistors 723, 724, 725, and 727.
FIG. 44 is a circuit diagram showing yet another example of the common timing signal generating circuit used in the signal transmission system according to the third mode of the present invention.
The common timing signal generating circuit shown in Figure 44 is constructed from a conventional phase interpolator; by using this phase interpolator, the common timing signal generating circuit 711 can be constructed to capture The forward and backward propagating time signals on the folded time signal line and generating a time signal having a phase relay between the forward and backward propagating time signals.
As shown in Figure 44, the phase interpolator (common timing signal generating circuit) 711 includes a plurality of P-channel MOS transistors 771 to 784, and a plurality of N-channel MOS transistors 785 to 791. , Capacitors 792 and 793, and a comparator 794.
Constructing the common timing signal generating circuit 711 from a phase interpolator as shown in Fig. 44 provides the benefit in which a square wave driven by a conventional CMOS driver can be used as the timing signal, and The common timing signal generation circuit can be constructed with fewer circuits than using a normal DLL or a PLL; needless to say, various configurations different from those shown in the forty-fourth figure are for the phase interpolator. Construction is also possible.
The forty-fifth figure is a circuit diagram showing an eighth embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the third mode of the present invention; in the forty-fifth figure, reference numbers 790 to 793 are DLL circuits.
As shown in the forty-fifth figure, in the eighth embodiment of the third mode, the time signal CLK' having the period of n times (for example, four times) the normal time signal CLK is supplied to the Time letter line 706.
More specifically, in the eighth embodiment of the third mode, the time signal period is increased (eg, a factor of 4) to increase the upper limit on the length of the time signal line 706, the time signal line 706 The common timing signal can be generated by generating a signal with a relay phase between the forward and backward propagation time signals; when using the back and forth propagation type time signal line method (also known as the use of the standing wave time signal Method), when the round-trip propagation delay becomes longer than the time signal period, a 180-degree phase ambiguity occurs in the common timing, but is increased as in the eighth embodiment of the third mode The time signal period, along which the blurring occurs, can be increased.
As shown in the forty-fifth figure, in the DRAM controller 7-0 and the DRAM chips 7-1 to 7-3, the DLL circuits 790 to 793 are provided to perform a multiplication by n operation, respectively (Decrease the period or increase the frequency by a factor of n, such as an operation of multiplying by 4) to restore the original time signal whose period has been increased by a factor of n (eg, 4); here, The PLL circuit can be used to replace the DLL circuits 790 to 793.
The forty-sixth figure is a diagram showing an example of the time signal distribution transmission line used in the signal transmission system according to the third mode of the present invention; in the forty-sixth figure, the reference number 7061 is a shield , And 7062 are the antithesis (twisted antithesis).
As shown in Figure 46, the transmission line (time signal line 706) for distributing the time signal CLK is removed from both sides by using a predetermined period and monitoring pattern with ground level. The differential pair of shielding (7061) (twisting the pair 7062) is constructed; although the signal line 706 in this structure can understandably have a transmission characteristic different from that of the signal line, because this system allows the signal line 703 and The different transmission characteristics between the time signal lines 706 will not cause any problems; this has the benefit of reducing the time signal effect noise by using sufficient shielding on the signal line when subject to stable voltage changes; There is no problem if there is a big difference in the transmission characteristics between the time information system and the signal system, so it is of course possible to construct the time information system only by using a coaxial cable or optical fiber, for example.
Thus, according to the signal transmission system of the third mode of the present invention, a signal transmission system can be constructed which provides greater freedom in designing the time signal system and signal system, and can be easily minimized when switching devices. This gap has low power consumption.
As described above, the signal transmission system of the present invention is not limited to being used in a bus system with a plurality of semiconductor chips (LSI chips) connected to each other, but can also be used in a signal line connecting various circuit blocks.
According to the signal transmission system of the third mode of the present invention, the timing signal can be generated without symmetry between the time signal line and the signal line (signal transmission line), and can be switched between transmission devices. Minimize this gap.
In the next step, a signal transmission system according to a fourth mode of the present invention will be described in detail; at the beginning, the basic function configuration of the fourth mode of the present invention will refer to Figures 47 and 48. Described; in the aforementioned third mode, the forward and backward propagation time information is supplied to the DRAM chip etc. by using the folded time signal line (706), and conversely, in the fourth mode In, the time letter is separately provided to the time letter lines of the forward and backward propagation time letter (forward and backward time letter lines 1001 and 1002) by use and is separately provided to the forward and backward time letter by use The time signal generation circuit of the signal (forward and backward time signal generation circuits 1100 and 1200) is supplied.
Fig. 47 is a block diagram showing the basic functional configuration of the signal transmission system according to the fourth mode of the present invention, and Fig. 48 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of Fig. 47 The timing chart of the operation of the signal transmission system; in the 47th figure, the reference numbers 10-1 to 10-n are devices such as DRAM chips (DRAM modules) or DRAM controllers, and 1100 is the forward time signal generation Circuit, and 1200 is the backward time signal generation circuit; the forty-eighth figure is related to the aforementioned third mode of the present invention and is related to the twenty-seventh figure previously shown.
In the signal transmission system of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 47, the forward time signal generating circuit 1100 and the backward time signal generating circuit 1200 (one or Multiple pairs of such circuits) are provided on a pair of signal lines (time signal lines) 1001 and 1002; the devices 10-1 to 10-n that transmit and receive signals receive the forward time signal from the forward time signal generation circuit 1100 letter<img file="TW366453B_D0017.tif" />1 and the backward time signal is received from the backward time signal generating circuit 1200<img file="TW366453B_D0018.tif" />2, and borrow from these time letters<img file="TW366453B_D0019.tif" />1 and<img file="TW366453B_D0020.tif" />A relay timing between the rising and falling edges of 2 generates a relay phase signal (common timing signal GMT-ubiquitous average time).
More specifically, as shown in the forty-eighth figure, the device 10-1 generates the common timing signal GMT as a signal having the forward timing signal supplied through the timing line 1001<img file="TW366453B_D0021.tif" />1-1 and the backward time letter supplied through the time letter line 1002<img file="TW366453B_D0022.tif" />Signal of the relay phase between 2-1; similarly, the device 10-n generates the common timing signal GMT as a signal having the forward timing signal supplied through the timing line 1001<img file="TW366453B_D0023.tif" />1-n and the backward time letter supplied through the time letter line 1002<img file="TW366453B_D0024.tif" />The signal of the relay phase between 2-n.
Here, the backward time signal generation circuit 1200 must generate a time signal (<img file="TW366453B_D0025.tif" />2) Faith when it is time to go forward<img file="TW366453B_D0026.tif" />1 and backward time letter<img file="TW366453B_D0027.tif" />The relay (relay phase) timing between 2 is uniquely extracted; more specifically, the phase difference between the forward and backward time signals on the signal lines (time signal lines) 1001 and 1002 (more accurate Ground, in the forward and backward time information carrying timing information<img file="TW366453B_D0028.tif" />1 and<img file="TW366453B_D0029.tif" />The phase difference between the edges of 2) is selected to fall within the preset limit (maximum within ±180 degrees); even more, it is necessary for the backward time signal generation circuit 1200 to be composed to generate the backward time signal<img file="TW366453B_D0030.tif" />2 enables the relay timing extraction to be implemented by using as simple a circuit as possible, as will be described later.
According to the signal transmission system (signal transmission method) of the present invention, it is possible to achieve a predetermined correctness for all components by eliminating the interference between the characters and images in each receiving circuit (each of the devices 10-1 to 10-n) The common timing signal (GMT) is shared to a certain degree; here, the accuracy of the predetermined is derived from a convention, which is not too large to make the elimination of inter-character interference impossible, and a timing error is allowed, And in practice, it is sufficiently shorter (for example, about 10 crawling lines) than the time required for a signal to be transmitted through the signal line. The correctness will be sufficient; moreover, in order to generate the common timing signal GMT , Only the time signal (1001 and 1002) propagating in the opposite direction along the time signal line, and unlike the previously described signal transmission system of the prior art shown in Figure 25 Because there is no need to make the time signal line and the data line (signal transmission line) the same in route and electrical characteristics, there is no special restriction on the design and arrangement of the time signal line.
The embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fourth mode of the present invention will now be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The forty-ninth figure is a block diagram showing the first embodiment of the signal transmission system of the present invention; in the forty-ninth figure, the reference number 10-0 is a chip like a DRAM controller, 10- 1 to 10-4 are chips like DRAMs, 1100 is a forward time signal generation circuit, and 1200 is a backward time signal generation circuit; moreover, reference number 1001 is a forward time signal generation circuit<img file="TW366453B_D0031.tif" />1 time letter line, 1002 is one for backward time letter<img file="TW366453B_D0032.tif" />2 time signal line, 1003 is a signal transmission path (including multiple parallel signal lines, such as 16 data lines), and 1004 is a time signal line for reference time signal clk.
As shown in the forty-ninth figure, the DRAM controller 10-0, the forward time signal generation circuit 1100, and the backward time signal generation circuit 1200 are composed to respectively receive signals passing through the reference time signal line 1004 The reference time signal (free operation time signal) of the terminals P1010, P1100, and P1200 on the upper side, and the DRAM chips 10-1 to 10-4 are all composed to receive the signals passing through the forward and backward time signal lines 1001 and 1002 Time to believe forward and backward<img file="TW366453B_D0033.tif" />1 and<img file="TW366453B_D0034.tif" />2, and generate the relay phase signal as the common timing signal GMT (universal mean time); in the forty-ninth figure, it shows that the DRAM controller 10-0 is supplied with the signal at the reference time The reference time signal clk of the terminal P1010 on the line 1004; instead, the DRAM controller 10-0 may be composed like the DRAM chips 10-1 to 10-4 to receive the forward time signal<img file="TW366453B_D0035.tif" />1 and backward time letter<img file="TW366453B_D0036.tif" />2. The common timing signal GMT is generated by generating the relay phase signal.
Fig. 50 is a block diagram showing an example of a common timing signal generating circuit 1300 used in the signal transmission system of Fig. 49; for example, the common timing signal generating circuit 1300 is provided in every One of these DRAM chips 10-1 to 10-4; moreover, the reference symbol T designates the time signal period, and τ designates the delay time (the total amount of delay).
As shown in FIG. 50, the common timing signal generating circuit 1300 includes a signal receiving the forward timing signal<img file="TW366453B_D0037.tif" />1 and provide a first variable delay circuit 1301 with a delay of +τ, once receiving the backward time signal<img file="TW366453B_D0038.tif" />2 and provide a second variable delay circuit 1302 with a delay of -τ, a phase comparator 1303 that compares the phases of the output signals of the first and second variable delay circuits 1301 and 1302, and a control according to the The comparison result of the phase comparator 1303 is in the first and second variable delay circuits 1301 and 1302 (so that the phase difference between the output signals of the first and second variable delay circuits 1301 and 1302 becomes Zero) of the total delay (+τ and -τ) of the control circuit 1304; here, the first and second variable delay circuits 1301 and 1302 are implemented in a stepwise manner from a plurality of delay stages (delay units) Is constructed and composed to provide the total amount of delay up to the delay stage specified by the control circuit 1304, as will be described later; the total amount of delay τ controlled by the control circuit 1304 is added to the The time signal period T (T+τ) in the first variable delay circuit 1301, and subtract (T-τ) from the time signal period T in the second variable delay circuit 1302; The output signal (T+τ) from the variable delay circuit 1302 is used as the common timing signal GMT.
As described above, the control circuit 1304 controls the total delay τ (-τ-<T/2) so that the phase difference between the output signals of the first and second variable delay circuits 1301 and 1302 becomes zero Here, it is noted that the output signal (GMT) of the first variable delay circuit 1301 is t1, and the output signal of the second variable delay circuit 1302 is t2, then t1+(T+τ)=t2+(T-τ ) From it, τ=(t2-t1)/2 can be obtained, so t1+(T+τ)=(t2+t1)/2+T, so the relay timing can be obtained.
The fifty-first figure is a block diagram showing an example of the forward time signal generating circuit 1100 that can be used as the signal transmission system of the forty-ninth figure.
As shown in the fifty-fifty figure, used to generate the forward time letter<img file="TW366453B_D0039.tif" />The forward time signal generation circuit 1100 of 1 can be constructed from a driver 1101 that receives the reference time signal (free-running time signal) clk supplied through the terminal P1100 at its input terminal.
Figures 52 and 53 are block diagrams showing another example of a common timing signal generating circuit that can be used in the signal transmission system of Figure 49; Figure 52 shows The main DLL (Digital Locked Loop) section 1300a of the common timing signal generating circuit 1300, and the fifty-third figure shows the secondary DLL section 1300b of the common timing signal generating circuit 1300.
First, as shown in Figure 52, the main DLL segment 1300a receives the forward time information<img file="TW366453B_D0040.tif" />1 (or the backward time letter<img file="TW366453B_D0041.tif" />2), and should believe in the forward<img file="TW366453B_D0042.tif" />The phase of 1 itself and its delayed variable output from a variable delay circuit 1305 are compared in a phase comparator 1306, and then a control circuit implements control so that the phase difference between the two signals changes Is zero (that is, a delay of one period T is intervened); in this way, an equivalent time letter can be obtained (<img file="TW366453B_D0043.tif" />1, <img file="TW366453B_D0044.tif" />2) A one-cycle delay T.
Moreover, by using the delay T of one cycle (equivalent to the number of delay stages of one cycle T) obtained by using the main DLL section 1300a of Figure 52, the time τ is added in the sub-DLL section 1300b Or minus so that the forward tense letter<img file="TW366453B_D0045.tif" />1 and backward time letter<img file="TW366453B_D0046.tif" />2 are substantially in phase.
More specifically, as shown in the fifty-third figure, for this forward time letter<img file="TW366453B_D0047.tif" />1 The first variable delay circuit 1301 adds the delay τ to the delay T (T+τ) of one cycle, and for the backward time signal<img file="TW366453B_D0048.tif" />2 The second variable delay circuit 1302 subtracts the delay τ (T-τ) from the delay T of one cycle; then, as in the common timing signal generating circuit described earlier in Figure 50, the phase comparison The device 1303 compares the phases of the output signal (T+τ) of the first variable delay circuit 1301 and the output signal (T-τ) of the second variable delay circuit, and the control circuit 1304 selects the correct delay The phase makes the phase difference between these signals (T+τ and T-τ) zero.
Fig. 54 is a block diagram showing an example of the backward time signal generating circuit 1200 that can be used in the signal transmission system of Fig. 49.
As shown in the fifty-fourth figure, used to generate the backward time letter<img file="TW366453B_D0049.tif" />The backward time signal generating circuit 1200 of 2 can receive the reference time signal (free-running time signal) clk supplied through the terminal P1100 at its input terminal and provide a delay circuit 1201 with a preset amount of delay. Is constructed; here, by being provided by the delay circuit 1201 and setting the delay amount (delay time) at an appropriate value, the forward and backward time on the time signal line (1001 and 1002) letter(<img file="TW366453B_D0050.tif" />1 and<img file="TW366453B_D0051.tif" />2) The phase difference between can be brought into ±90 degrees (and preferably in ±45 degrees).
The fifty-fifth figure shows an example of the phase comparator that can be used as the common timing signal generating circuit in the signal transmission system of the forty-ninth figure (between figures fifty and fifty-third Circuit diagrams of the phase comparator 1303 and the phase comparator 1306 in Figure 52).
As shown in the fifty-fourth figure, for example, the phase comparator 1303 includes a function to divide the frequency of the first and second input signals (T+τ and T-τ) by 2 respectively. Frequency divider, multiple P-channel MOS transistors, multiple N-channel MOS transistors, multiple inverters, multiple NAND gates, and multiple NOR gates; the configuration is based on the first input Signal<img file="TW366453B_D0052.tif" />1(T+τ) and the second input signal<img file="TW366453B_D0053.tif" />The phase difference between 2(T-τ) generates an output signal (/DOWN or /UP) to control the delay time of the first and second variable delay circuits 1301 and 1302 through the control circuit 1304 τ causes the phase difference between the first and second input signals to be removed.
The fifty-sixth figure is an example of the control circuit that can be used as the common timing signal generating circuit in the signal transmission system of figure 49 (the fifty and fifty-third figures Block diagrams of the control circuit 1304 and the control circuit 1307 in Figure 52).
As shown in Figure 56, for example, the control circuit 1304 includes an UP/DOWN counter (U/D counter) 1341 which receives the control signals (/DOWN and /UP) from the phase comparator 1303, And a decoder 1342 which receives an output signal from the U/D counter 1341, wherein the decoder 1342 is selected according to the control signal (/DOWN and /UP) from the phase comparator 1303, which will be described later The designated delay stage in the variable delay circuit in Figure 57.
The fifty-seventh figure shows an example of the variable delay circuit that can be used as the common timing signal generating circuit in the signal transmission system of figure 49 (fifty and fifty-third figures The circuit diagrams of the first and second variable delay circuits 1301 and 1302 and the variable delay circuit 1305 in Figure 52).
As shown in Figure 56, the first variable delay circuit 1301 (the second variable delay circuit 1302) includes a plurality of delay stages (delay units) DUs; each delay unit DU includes an inverting And two NAND gates, and are generally connected to a delay line 1310; the configuration is as defined by any delay unit DU selected by the decoder 1342. The delay amount is given as the variable The total amount of delay provided by the delay circuit; here, please recognize that various known DLL circuit technologies can be used as the above configuration.
Fig. 58 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fourth mode of the present invention.
In the fourth mode of the present invention, the common timing signal GMT is borrowed and used in the forward and backward timing signals (<img file="TW366453B_D0054.tif" />1 and<img file="TW366453B_D0055.tif" />2) The relay timing between is generated. Here, in order to uniquely generate the common timing signal GMT, the phase difference between the forward and backward timing signals must be brought into certain restrictions; However, when the time signal line (1001 and 1002) becomes longer, it becomes difficult to bring the phase difference between the forward and backward time signal signals along the entire length of the time signal line into the certain To illustrate this, in the second embodiment described hereafter, the forward and backward time lines are divided into shorter paragraphs (1011, 1021, 1012, 1022) and one can determine the common The unique delivery length of the timing signal GMT makes it possible to generate the common timing signal GMT even when the entire length of the signal line is long.
More specifically, comparing the second embodiment shown in the fifty-eighth figure with the first embodiment shown in the forty-ninth figure, the time signal generating circuit/data buffer pairs 1120, 1121, and 1122 is set in equally spaced intervals to transmit forward time signals along the forward time signal lines 1011, 1021 and backward time signal lines 1012, 1022, respectively.<img file="TW366453B_D0056.tif" />11、<img file="TW366453B_D0057.tif" />12 and backward time letter<img file="TW366453B_D0058.tif" />12、<img file="TW366453B_D0059.tif" />22. And send data of sufficient amplitude on data lines 1031 and 1032.
Here, the time signal generating circuit/data buffer pairs 1120, 1121, and 1122 are all composed to generate the common timing signal GMT based on the time signal received from the preceding block, and to generate the common timing signal based on the generated common timing signal The forward time of GMT is believed to be in the next block (and the backward time is believed to be in the forward block).
Fig. 59 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fourth mode of the present invention.
In the third embodiment shown in Fig. 59, the data lines connected to the bus bar shown in Fig. 58 are all connected point-to-point; in this case, it is used to generate the forward The time information generating circuits 1211, 1212, and 1213 of the backward time information are provided in each multiple device (for DRAM chips 10-11, 10-21, and 10-31), and the other devices (10-1m, 10-31) 2m, etc.) are composed to borrow the forward time information supplied by the relevant time information generation circuit<img file="TW366453B_D0060.tif" />11 or<img file="TW366453B_D0061.tif" />21 and this backward time letter<img file="TW366453B_D0062.tif" />12 or<img file="TW366453B_D0063.tif" />22 and generate the common timing signal GMT to transmit and receive signals; because the signal transmission path is not a bus, the third embodiment does not reflect the signal branching, so it is suitable for high-speed signal transmission.
The sixtieth figure is a block diagram showing an example of the forward time signal generating circuit used in the signal transmission system according to a fourth embodiment of the fourth mode of the present invention; in the sixtieth In the figure, reference number 1102 is a driver, 1103 is a common timing signal generating circuit, 1104 is a phase comparator, 1105 is a controller, and 1106 is a variable delay circuit.
As shown in the sixtieth figure, in the fourth embodiment, the forward time signal generating circuit 1100 is not constructed by the signal driver 1101 as shown in the fifty-first figure, but is composed As a result, an output signal from the variable delay circuit 1106 that provides a preset delay by receiving the reference time signal clk is sent as the forward time signal through the driver 1102<img file="TW366453B_D0064.tif" />1, and the common timing signal (relay phase signal) GMT is borrowed from the output signal of the driver (<img file="TW366453B_D0065.tif" />1) and this backward time letter<img file="TW366453B_D0066.tif" />2 is generated by the common timing signal generating circuit 1103, and then the phase of the common timing signal and the reference timing signal clk are compared in the phase comparator 1104 to control the variable delay circuit 1106 through the control circuit 1105 The total amount of delay (the number of delay phases) in.
Therefore, in the fourth embodiment, feedback is implemented so that the common timing signal GMT is synchronized with the rise of the reference timing signal clk, thus determining if the characteristics of the timing signal driver 1102 or the variable delay circuit 1106 are due to The difference in manufacturing, environmental temperature changes, etc., can obtain a stable phase backward time signal.<img file="TW366453B_D0067.tif" />2. It is also determined that the common timing signal GMT generated by a device on the signal line (such as a DRAM chip) has the same timing as the reference timing signal clk; the reference timing signal clk is referenced to being supplied to a special The time signal of the chip (such as the DRAM controller 10-0).
Fig. 61 is a block diagram showing an example of the use of the backward time signal generating circuit used in the signal transmission system according to a fifth embodiment of the fourth mode of the present invention; In the figure 61, reference number 1231 is a variable delay circuit, 1232 is an operational amplifier, 1233 and 1234 are a resistor and a capacitor, respectively, and 1235 is an inverting input signal used to invert and output. Driver, 1236 is a phase comparator, and 1237 is a control circuit.
As shown in the sixty-first figure, in the fifth embodiment, the backward time signal generation circuit 1200 is not constructed by a single delay circuit 1201 as shown in the fifty-fourth figure, but by Composition makes the backward time letter<img file="TW366453B_D0068.tif" />2 is derived as an output signal of the variable delay circuit 1231 that accepts the reference time signal clk and provides a preset delay, and passes the output signal of the variable delay circuit 1231 of the operational amplifier 1232 and the inverting driver 1235 Signal(<img file="TW366453B_D0069.tif" />2) is compared with the forward time signal in the phase comparator 1236<img file="TW366453B_D0070.tif" />The phase of 1 is compared; then, based on the result of the phase comparison, the total amount of delay (the number of delay stages) in the variable delay circuit 1231 is controlled by the control circuit 1237; thus, the backward time signal<img file="TW366453B_D0071.tif" />2 is output as a signal whose phase is relative to the forward time signal<img file="TW366453B_D0072.tif" />The phase of 1 is shifted by 90 degrees (forward movement).
Therefore, according to the backward time signal generation circuit 1200 of the fifth embodiment, feedback control is implemented so that the received forward time signal<img file="TW366453B_D0073.tif" />1 and this backward time letter<img file="TW366453B_D0074.tif" />The phase difference between 2 is maintained at a constant value (that is, the backward time signal<img file="TW366453B_D0075.tif" />2 Relative to the forward tense letter<img file="TW366453B_D0076.tif" />1 It is 90 degrees forward in phase). As a result, even if the characteristics of the time signal driver (the inverting driver 1235), the variable delay circuit (1231), etc. are due to differences in manufacturing and changes in ambient temperature , And so on, the backward time signal of a stable phase can still be obtained<img file="TW366453B_D0077.tif" />2; The backward time signal generating circuit 1200 constructed by the analog circuit as shown in the sixteenth figure is better when the time signal (<img file="TW366453B_D0078.tif" />2) When the variable range is narrow, because the amount of the circuit can be reduced.
Fig. 62 is a block diagram showing another example of the use of the backward time signal generating circuit as used in the signal transmission system according to the sixth embodiment of the fourth mode of the present invention; In the 62nd figure, reference numbers 1241 to 1244 are variable delay circuits, 1245 is a phase comparator, and 1246 is a control circuit; here, the four variable delay circuits 1241 to 1244 are controlled by the control circuit 1246 Controlled so as to provide this amount of delay.
As shown in Figure 62, in the sixth embodiment, the phase comparator 1245 is implemented in the forward time signal<img file="TW366453B_D0079.tif" />1 and the forward time signal that the borrow delay passes through the four variable delay circuits 1241 to 1244<img file="TW366453B_D0080.tif" />1 The phase comparison between the obtained signals, because the four variable delay circuits 1241 to 1244 are controlled by the control circuit 1246 so as to provide the same amount of delay, a signal relative to the forward time<img file="TW366453B_D0081.tif" />1 and a backward time signal with a phase shift of 270 degrees (minus 90 degrees)<img file="TW366453B_D0082.tif" />2, that is, it is relative to the forward tense letter<img file="TW366453B_D0083.tif" />1. With the phase advance of 90 degrees, the output signal of the third-stage variable delay circuit 1243 is used as the backward time signal.<img file="TW366453B_D0084.tif" />2 is produced; in this way, its phase is not affected by manufacturing differences, temperature changes, etc. The backward time belief<img file="TW366453B_D0085.tif" />2 can be obtained; even when it is believed (<img file="TW366453B_D0086.tif" />2) When the variable range of 2) is wide, the backward time signal generating circuit 1200 constructed by the DLL circuit shown in Fig. 62 can also be used.
The sixty-third figure is a diagram for explaining the operation (function) of the backward time signal generating circuit 1200 used as a seventh embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fourth mode of the present invention Figure; Here, the vertical axis θ represents the phase difference and the horizontal axis x represents the position on the time line (1001, 1002); the reference symbol L indicates the total length of the time line.
As shown in the sixty-third figure, in the seventh embodiment, when the forward time<img file="TW366453B_D0087.tif" />1 and this backward time letter /<img file="TW366453B_D0088.tif" />2(Time letter<img file="TW366453B_D0089.tif" />The phase difference between the inverted signal of 2) is maintained at ±90 degrees in any device (DRAM chips 10-1 to 10-n) that receives the time signal; more particularly, in this embodiment, the Backward time letter<img file="TW366453B_D0090.tif" />2 is by giving it a phase that is just enough to compensate for the phase delay along the time signal line (1002) before the received forward time signal<img file="TW366453B_D0091.tif" />1 is generated by inversion; for example, this function can be implemented by inverting the output of the feedback loop in the backward time signal generating circuit shown in Figure 61.
Thus, according to the seventh embodiment, because it is guaranteed that the signal is signaled in the forward and backward time<img file="TW366453B_D0092.tif" />1 and<img file="TW366453B_D0093.tif" />The phase difference between 2 falls within the predetermined limit, so the common timing signal GMT can be generated with high accuracy. What's more, the forward and backward time signals are received by a differential receiving circuit<img file="TW366453B_D0094.tif" />1 and<img file="TW366453B_D0095.tif" />2. The influence of phase noise can be reduced.
Fig. 64 is a block diagram showing yet another example of the use as the backward time signal generating circuit used in the signal transmission system according to the eighth embodiment of the fourth mode of the present invention.
As shown in Figure 64, in the eighth embodiment, the backward time signal generation circuit 1200 is used to output an input signal (forward time signal<img file="TW366453B_D0096.tif" />1) An inverting inverter 1205 is constructed.
That is, in the case of a short signal line, the time signal (<img file="TW366453B_D0097.tif" />1, <img file="TW366453B_D0098.tif" />2) There is no problem with the phase delay. The backward time signal generation circuit 1200 can be constructed from the inverting driver 1205; this simplifies the circuit configuration of the backward time signal generation circuit 1200.
The sixty-fifth figure is a block diagram showing an example of use as a sine wave generating circuit used in the signal transmission system according to a ninth embodiment of the fourth mode of the present invention; the ninth The embodiment uses a sine wave (quasi-sine wave) as the time signal, that is, the sine wave generating circuit 1400 generates a sine wave time signal from a pulse wave (square wave) time signal (reference time signal) clk.
As shown in FIG. 65, in the sine wave generating circuit 1400, a triangular wave time signal is obtained from the square wave time signal clk by a circuit containing P-channel MOS transistors 1401, 1402 and N-channel MOS transistors. The crystals 1403 and 1404 are generated by the full-scale CMOS circuit, and then the sine time signal (quasi-sine time signal) is generated by a non-linear amplifier 1405.
Instead of a sine wave, one of the other waveforms is like a triangle wave or a trapezoidal wave, and its rise and fall times constitute a part of the time signal cycle, which can be used; because it contains a waveform that is more than a square wave. In order to reduce the harmonic components, such a time signal waveform (sinusoidal time signal waveform) has the advantage of being able to reduce the cross-interference with other signal lines; an even more advantage lies in this in each device (similar to the DRAM chip) The common timing signal generating circuit 1300 can be constructed from a differential comparator as shown in FIG. 67.
Fig. 66 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the non-linear amplifier 1405 in the sine wave generating circuit of Fig. 65.
As shown in Figure 66, the nonlinear amplifier 1405 can be constructed with P-channel MOS transistors 1451 to 1453 and N-channel MOS transistors 1454 to 1456; here, each transistor has an appropriate size To form, for example, it is preferable that the gate lengths of the transistors 1451 and 1452 are set to be approximately twice that of the transistors 1454 and 1455, and the gate lengths of the transistors 1452 and 1455 are respectively made It is larger than the transistors 1451 and 1454; moreover, the transistors 1453 and 1456 are selected according to the load to be driven, and are usually constructed from large-sized transistors.
FIG. 67 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the use as a common timing signal generating circuit 1300 used in the signal transmission system according to a tenth embodiment of the fourth mode of the present invention.
As described above, for example, when a sine or similar waveform time signal is used, the common timing signal generation circuit 1300 provided in each device (DRAM chip or the like) can be constructed from a differential comparator 1308 , The time to believe forward and backward<img file="TW366453B_D0099.tif" />1 and<img file="TW366453B_D0100.tif" />2 (/<img file="TW366453B_D0101.tif" />2) It is supplied as the input of the differential comparator 1308.
The reason why the common timing signal (relay timing) GMT can be generated by the differential comparator 1308 is as follows;<img file="TW366453B_D0102.tif" />1 and the reversed backward time letter/<img file="TW366453B_D0103.tif" />2 is expressed as<img file="TW366453B_D0104.tif" />1=A. sinθ1 and /<img file="TW366453B_D0105.tif" />2=A. sinθ2, then<img file="TW366453B_D0106.tif" />1-/<img file="TW366453B_D0107.tif" />2=2A. cos((θ1-θ2)/2). sin((θ1+θ2)/2) From this, it can be seen that if the value of (θ1-θ2)/2 is within ±90 degrees, then the common timing signal GMT (related to the relay phase (θ1+θ2) /2) can be derived by processing the above-mentioned signal passing through the comparator.
Fig. 68 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the differential comparator 1308 in the common timing signal generating circuit of Fig. 67.
As shown in Figure 68, the differential comparator includes: a first differential amplifier stage containing P-channel MOS transistors 1380 and 1381 and N-channel MOS transistors 1385 to 1387, where N-channel Transistors 1385 and 1386 act as its input, a second differential amplifier stage containing P-channel MOS transistors 1382 to 1384 and N-channel MOS transistors 1388 and 1389, among which P-channel transistors 1383 and 1384 act as Its input, and a buffered stage 1390; here, the buffered stage includes inverters 1391 to 1393 connected in a ladder manner.
In this way, the common timing signal generating circuit 1300 can be constructed by using the differential comparator 1308 with a simple circuit, instead of using a DLL circuit that requires a large power circuit.
Fig. 69 is a block diagram showing an example of the terminal resistance value in the signal transmission system according to the eleventh embodiment of the fourth mode of the present invention.
In the eleventh embodiment, it uses the forward and backward time signals of the sinusoidal waveform<img file="TW366453B_D0108.tif" />1 and<img file="TW366453B_D0109.tif" />2. Carrying the forward time letter<img file="TW366453B_D0110.tif" />The terminal end of the time signal line 1001 of 1 is terminated by a terminal resistor 1501 having a resistance value (e.g., 200 ohms) greater than the characteristic impedance (e.g., 50 or 70 ohms) of the time signal line, and Similarly, with the forward tense letter<img file="TW366453B_D0111.tif" />The terminal end of the time signal line 1002 of 2 is terminated by a terminal resistor 1502 having a resistance value (eg, 200 ohms) greater than the characteristic impedance (eg, 50 or 70 ohms) of the time signal line.
In the eleventh embodiment, the resistance values of the terminating resistors 1501 and 1502 are made larger than the characteristic impedance of the corresponding time signal lines 1001 and 1002, but because of the forward and backward time signals<img file="TW366453B_D0112.tif" />1 and<img file="TW366453B_D0113.tif" />2 is a sinusoidal time signal, so if the terminating resistors 1501 and 1502 are substantially moved away from the characteristic impedance, the time signal waveform is still sinusoidal; even more, due to the reflection on the line, the wave (forward and Backward time letter<img file="TW366453B_D0114.tif" />1 and<img file="TW366453B_D0115.tif" />2) The broadcast characteristics become different from those of the signal lines (time signal lines 1001 and 1002), but when the relay timing between the forward and backward time signals (for the common timing signal GMT) is extracted, this is not the case. There is no problem; whats more, by setting the resistance value of the terminating resistors 1501 and 1502 to be larger than the characteristic impedance of the signal lines 1001 and 1002 at that time, the power consumed by the terminating resistors 1501 and 1502 (The power consumption in the time information system) can be reduced.
The seventieth figure is a block diagram for explaining a method of supplying the forward time information in the signal transmission system according to the twelfth embodiment of the fourth mode of the present invention.
In the twelfth embodiment, the forward time signal line composed as a differential transmission line (1001a and 1001b) is used as a complementary forward time signal<img file="TW366453B_D0116.tif" />1 and /<img file="TW366453B_D0117.tif" />The transmission of 1, so that the backward signal generating circuit 1200 can generate the backward time signal by reducing the influence of the phase noise involved in the forward time signal<img file="TW366453B_D0118.tif" />2; More specifically, the backward signal generating circuit 1200 is based on a complementary forward time signal<img file="TW366453B_D0119.tif" />1 and /<img file="TW366453B_D0120.tif" />1 is input into the differential comparator 1261, and a backward time signal generator 1262 (plus a buffer 1263) constructed.
Here, the common timing signal generating circuit 1300 provided in each device (DRAM chip or the like) can be constructed from the differential comparator 1308 previously shown in FIG. 67 to generate the common timing signal. Timing signal GMT; in this case, the differential comparator 1308 is supplied with the complementary forward time signal at its input<img file="TW366453B_D0121.tif" />1 and /<img file="TW366453B_D0122.tif" />1 (the real signal<img file="TW366453B_D0123.tif" />1) and this backward time letter<img file="TW366453B_D0124.tif" />One of 2, also in this case, the influence of the phase noise can be reduced.
The seventy-first figure is a block diagram showing an essential part of the signal transmission system implemented on a printed circuit board according to a thirteenth embodiment of the fourth mode of the present invention.
As shown in the seventy-first figure, in the thirteenth embodiment, a plurality of signal generating circuits (forward time signal generating circuit 1100 and backward time signal generating circuit 1200) 1270 are mounted on the printed circuit board , And these signal generating circuits 1270 generate the forward time signal by using the reference time signal (free-running time signal) clk broadcast on the printed circuit board<img file="TW366453B_D0125.tif" />1 and backward time letter<img file="TW366453B_D0126.tif" />2; More specifically, each signal generating circuit 1270 includes a variable delay circuit 1273 for the forward time signal, a variable delay circuit 1272 for the backward time signal, and a control circuit 1270, wherein Time to believe<img file="TW366453B_D0127.tif" />1 and backward time letter<img file="TW366453B_D0128.tif" />2 is generated by delaying the reference time signal clk by the corresponding variable delay circuit 1273 under the control of the control circuit 1270.
When in the previous stage of the time letter (<img file="TW366453B_D0129.tif" />1, <img file="TW366453B_D0130.tif" />2) The time signal that is used is essentially generated as a secondary stage. As in the second embodiment shown in Figure 58, when the number of stages increases, the jitter also increases through the delay stage. On the contrary, For the many signal generating circuits 1270 mounted on the printed circuit board, the accumulation of jitter can be prevented by using the configuration of the thirteenth embodiment shown in Fig. 71.
FIG. 72 is a block diagram showing an essential part of the signal transmission system implemented in a semiconductor integrated circuit according to a fourteenth embodiment of the fourth mode of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 72, in the implementation of the semiconductor integrated circuit (semiconductor chip) of the fourteenth embodiment, it is supplied to the common timing signal generating circuit 1300 for generating the common timing signal GMT The signal (the forward time letter<img file="TW366453B_D0131.tif" />1 and backward time letter<img file="TW366453B_D0132.tif" />2) It is not captured directly from the forward time signal generating circuit (time signal driver) 1100, but the forward time signal is output through a pad 1281<img file="TW366453B_D0133.tif" />1 Enter the common timing signal generating circuit 1300 through a pad body 1282 to be captured, and then combine it with the backward timing signal supplied through a pad body 1283<img file="TW366453B_D0134.tif" />2 For comparison, for the time information (<img file="TW366453B_D0135.tif" />1) The phase shift is compensated, and the common timing signal GMT is generated; here, as for the forward time signal output through the pad 1281<img file="TW366453B_D0136.tif" />The node (IPO) of 1 is captured through the cushion body 1282, and the time signal (<img file="TW366453B_D0137.tif" />1) The output can be captured into the chip (circuit) through another external pin and through the pad body 1282, but this requires an extra external pin specifically for this purpose; to avoid this, the node can borrow It is formed using only connecting wires or the like so that the time signal can be captured without increasing the number of external pins.
As described above, according to the signal transmission system of the fourth mode of the present invention, a signal transmission system can be constructed which provides a greater degree of freedom in designing the time signal system and the signal system, and serves as a switching device The gap can be easily minimized, and it has low power consumption.
In the next step, a fifth mode of the present invention will be explained in detail, but before that, the knowledge related to the fifth mode of the present invention and the problems related to the knowledge will be referred to the drawings. describe.
Figure 73 is a block diagram of the prior art semiconductor memory device related to the fifth mode of the present invention in the form of a circuit diagram showing an example; in Figure 73, the reference number 2001 is A memory cell array, 2002 is a character decoder (character decoder array), 2003 is a sense amplifier (sensing amplifier array), 2004 is a local data bus, 2005 is a ubiquitous data Bus, 2006 is a data bus amplifier, 2007 is a local data bus pre-charging circuit, 2008 is a ubiquitous data bus pre-charging circuit, 2009 is a local bus switching switch, and 2010 is a writing Into the amplifier.
As shown in Figure 73, the prior art semiconductor memory device (a segment of a DRAM memory cell array) includes a plurality of memory arrays 2001, character decoders (character decoder arrays) 2002, Sense Amplifier (Sense Amplifier Array) 2003, Local Data Bus 2004, and Ubiquitous Data Bus 2005; The prior art semiconductor memory also includes a data bus amplifier 2006 for reading data Enlarge the data on the ubiquitous data bus 2005, the local data bus pre-charging circuit 2007 is used to pre-charge the local data bus 2004, and the ubiquitous data bus pre-charging circuit 2008 is used to pre-charge the ubiquitous The data bus 2005, the local bus switch 2009 are used to control the ubiquitous data bus 2005 and the local data bus 2004, and the write amplifier 2010 is used to write data in the memory unit.
FIG. 74 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the sense amplifier 2003 in the semiconductor memory device of FIG. 73.
As shown in Figure 73, the sense amplifier 2003 includes a latch type amplifier (latch type sense amplifier stage) 2031, a vertical transmission gate 2032, and a bit line short circuit/precharge circuit 2033 , And a bit line transmission gate 2034; here, the reference symbol BL/BL designates the bit line, and CL indicates the vertical selection line.
The seventy-fifth figure shows an example of the circuit diagram of the data bus amplifier 2006 in the semiconductor memory device of figure 73, and the seventy-sixth figure shows an example of the circuit diagram of the seventieth Figure 3 is a circuit diagram of the data bus short circuit/precharge circuit (ubiquitous data bus precharge circuit 2008 and local data bus precharge circuit 2007) in the semiconductor memory device.
As shown in Figures 75 and 76, the data bus amplifier 2006 and the ubiquitous data bus precharge circuit 2008 (local data bus precharge circuit 2007) both use multiple P- Channel MOS transistor and N-channel MOS transistor; here, reference symbols DB and /DB designate the data bus, PRE and /PRE designate the precharge control signal, Vpr designate the precharge reference voltage, and ES Specify the actuation signal.
Figure 77 is a waveform diagram for explaining an example of a data read (burst read) sequence in the semiconductor memory device of Figure 73; Figure 77 shows the situation The output is set to a high level "H" when the data bus amplifier 2006 is stopped; for example, the burst read here is a technique used for synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), where The data in the memory cell connected to the same word line is read out at an uninterrupted time.
As shown in FIG. 77, when a burst read operation is performed in the prior art semiconductor memory device, for example, on the complementary data bus DB, /DB and complementary bit line BL ,/BL (BL0, /BL0 to BL3, /BL3), the bit line BL, /BL and the data bus DB, /DB are first precharged to a predetermined level (precharge reference voltage Vpr), In particular, each complementary bit line or complementary data bus is precharged to the same potential as the other of the complementary pair.
Moreover, as shown in Figures 74 and 77, in a data read operation, when data is on the bit line pair BL, /BL (BL0, /BL0 to BL3, /BL3) When it appears, the differential potential occurs on the bit line pair BL,/BL that is initially precharged to the same potential, and the differential potential is amplified by the sense amplifier (latch-type sense amplifier stage 2031) to After a certain level, the vertical transfer gate 2032 corresponding to the selected vertical address is opened; that is, by serially using vertical selection signals CL0 to CL3, each bit line is paired The potential on BL0, /BL0 to BL3, /BL3 is transmitted to the local data bus pair DB, /DB that was initially precharged to the same potential; then the differential potential passes through the local data bus switch 2009 and was sent to the ubiquitous data bus dual DB, /DB (2005), which was initially precharged to the equal potential, and was amplified by the ubiquitous data bus amplifier (data bus amplifier 2006), and passed A buffer, another amplifier, etc. are output as read data (read data).
When the next data is read, the local data bus (dual) 2004 and the ubiquitous data bus (dual) 2005 are pre-charged to start the system with the sense amplifier 2003 kept active, and then the vertical item The transmission gate 2032 is opened, and the resultant differential potential is transmitted to the local data bus 2004 and the ubiquitous data bus 2005, and is amplified by the ubiquitous data bus amplifier 2006, and is the same as the above The mode is output as read data.
Here, in the memory (semiconductor memory device) operation, the bus precharge operation, that is, the initial operation, must be performed for each data read operation as shown in Figure 77 Implementation; however, when operating data in synchronization with the time signal, the bus usually has a large capacity and is slowly precharged, for example, the precharge period occupies about half of the time signal cycle.
The fifth mode of the present invention eliminates the precharge time and exceeds twice the data transfer rate; if the data transfer speed is increased only depending on the development of the device processing technology, it will take several years to double the time. In contrast, the fifth mode of the present invention aims to increase the data transfer rate by eliminating the precharge time that is indispensable in the conventional system.
Therefore, the fifth mode of the present invention improves the signal transmission system (including the data bus driving method, the ubiquitous data bus amplifier system, etc.) in a semiconductor memory device, and therefore basically changes the semiconductor The read sequence of the memory device increases the data transfer rate by removing the bus precharge time from the read cycle; moreover, when the prior art strictly requires the selection of the vertical transfer gate The time needs to be completely separated from each other. The fifth mode of the present invention allows the overlap of the selected time of the vertical transmission gate; with these improvements, the precharge time is reduced to zero, which is added to the overlap of the vertical transmission gate Select to achieve a huge increase in memory data reading speed.
For this purpose, the previously described PRD (Partial Response Detection) method is used as data transmission on the data bus; for PRD, please refer to H. Tamura, M. Saito, K. Gotoh, S. Wakayama , J. Ogawa, Y. Kato, M. Taguchi, "Partial response detection technology for driver power reduction in high-speed memory-to-processor communication", ISSCC 97, Abstract of Technical Paper, pp. 342-343 , Which describes an interface system for high-speed data transmission between chips.
Here, if an attempt is made to transmit a signal with a bandwidth larger than that of the transmission line on an inter-band limited transmission line, the signal will be disturbed because of the inter-character-image interference component of the signal; the PRD method is used to remove the The technique of recovering the original signal from the disturbed signal by using the inter-character-image interference component; because the PRD method not only removes the inter-character interference, but also generates a reference level during the process of removing the inter-character interference. It is possible to transfer data without pre-charging the transmission line, which is a hidden feature of the PRD method; therefore, the feature of activating data transmission without pre-charging is used to remove the data stream from the data read cycle Schedule pre-charge time.
What's more, when using the PRD method, if the data in the previous cycle remains on the transmission line, as long as the next data arrives at the receiving endpoint after the previous data arrives, a certain degree is allowed Data overlap; that is, when this feature is used in a memory bus, it also allows a certain degree of overlap selected by the vertical transmission gate; moreover, the PRD method reduces the bus amplitude, and theoretically The need for pre-charging can be eliminated (although the pre-charging does not necessarily have to be removed), as a result, the charging and discharging of the bus can also reduce power consumption; in addition, with the PRD method, it is possible to use appropriate The circuit is designed to increase the data rate, and there is no need to make major modifications to the core components of the traditional memory (sense amplifier, memory cell array, character decoder, etc.).
The seventy-eighth figure is a block diagram showing a first principle configuration of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention, and the seventy-ninth figure is a block diagram for explaining the seventy-eighth figure The waveform diagram of the operation of the signal transmission system; Figure 78 shows a signal transmission system that uses PRD and does not require precharging.
In the 78th figure, reference number 2100 is a driver, 2200 is a floating bus (signal transmission line), and 2300 is a PRD type bus amplifier (PRD type data bus amplifier); in the PRD method , Because the bus 2200 does not need to be driven by its full amplitude, the driving capability of the driver 2100 can be made sufficiently small, and in the case of the first principle (the first principle of the fifth mode) , The signal waveform is as shown in the seventy-ninth figure; in the seventy-ninth figure, the reference symbol A is the waveform of an output signal from the driver 2100, and B is the PRD type bus amplifier 2300 is the waveform of the input signal, and C is the waveform of the output signal from the PRD type bus amplifier 2300.
As shown in Figure 79, because the drive capability of the driver 2100 is made small, the waveform (B) input to the PRD-type bus amplifier 2300 is disturbed, but because of the PRD-type bus The amplifier 2300 uses the PRD method, so the copied output waveform (C) correctly represents the output waveform (A) of the driver 2100.
Therefore, according to the first principle, it has been shown that it is not necessary to cause the data output from the driver 2100 to swing at its full amplitude, even when it is not displayed at the receiving end (the PRD type bus amplifier 2300) Transitioning to a high and a low level related to a certain threshold level, the data can still be correctly copied by the PRD type bus amplifier 2300; in the first principle, because no pre-charge is provided Circuit, the state at the end of the last data transmission is retained until the next data transmission (signal transmission) starts, and after the data transmission, the level of the bus 2200 is kept at the end of the data transmission Point of the state.
Figure eighty is a block diagram showing a second principle configuration of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention, and figure eighty-first is a block diagram for explaining the eighty figure Waveform diagram of the operation of the signal transmission system; the second principle shown in Figure 80 includes a precharge circuit 2400 and the signal transmission of the first principle shown in Figure 78 The system is different.
As mentioned earlier, there is no need to perform pre-charging in the PRD method, but for example, when the bus is not in operation, it is better to keep the bus 2200 fixed at a predetermined level instead of losing it. At an indeterminate level; therefore, in the second principle, when the bus 2200 is not in operation, before it starts its operation, or after its operation is completed as shown in the eighty-first figure Then, the precharge circuit 2400 is provided to set the bus 2200 at a predetermined level (precharge level).
The eighty-second figure is a block diagram showing the configuration of a third principle of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention, and the eighty-third and eighty-fourth figures are used to explain the eighth Figure 12 is a waveform diagram of the operation of the signal transmission system; the third principle shown in Figure 82 includes a load 2500 and is different from the second principle shown in Figure 80 The signal transmission system is different.
In the third principle, the load 2500 is set to prevent the level of the bus 2200 from gradually moving to the low level "L" end or the high level "H" end during operation, for example, When the output driving capability of the driver is asymmetric between the high level "H" and the low level "L", or for some other reasons.
The eighty-third figure shows when the load 2500 is not provided and the level of the bus 2200 (the level of the input signal B to the level of the PRD type bus amplifier 2300) has moved to the low level "L" end. The waveform and the eighty-fourth graph show the waveform when the shift is suppressed by the setting of the load 2500 according to the third principle.
When the PRD method is used, even when the signal has been moved to a certain level and the retention is fixed at that level, no actual problem occurs in data reading, but it is added as in the third principle. With the load 2500, it is possible to increase the operating margin of the PRD type bus amplifier 2300 when the bus 2200 has been fixed at a certain level.
The eighty-fifth figure is a block diagram showing an example of a semiconductor memory device using the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention in the form of a circuit diagram; in figure eighty-fifth, reference number 2001 is a memory cell array, 2002 is a character decoder (character decoder array), 2100 is a sense amplifier (sensing amplifier array), 2201 is a local data bus, 2202 is a pan In the data bus, 2300 is a PRD type bus amplifier, 2401 is a local data bus pre-charging circuit, 2402 is a ubiquitous data bus pre-charging circuit, 2009 is a local bus switch switch, 2010 is A write amplifier, and 2500 is a load.
As shown in FIG. 85, the semiconductor memory device (a section of the memory cell array of a DRAM) in which the fifth mode of the present invention is used includes a plurality of memory cell arrays 2001, Meta decoder (character decoder array) 2002, sense amplifier (sense amplifier array) 2100, local data bus 2201, and ubiquitous data bus 2202; the semiconductor memory device further includes a PRD type bus The amplifier 2300 is used to amplify the data on the ubiquitous data bus 2202 when reading output data, the local data bus pre-charging circuit 2401 is used to pre-charge the local data bus 2201, and the ubiquitous data bus pre-charging The charging circuit 2402 is used to pre-charge the ubiquitous data bus 2202, the local data bus switch 2009 is used to control the connection between the ubiquitous data bus 2202 and the local data bus 2201, and the write amplifier 2010 is used to write data into the memory cell and load 2500. The local data bus 2201 and ubiquitous data bus 2202 shown in the eighty-fifth figure are equivalent to the previous one in the seventy-third figure The local data bus 2004 and the ubiquitous data bus 2005 shown in Fig. 1, and the local data bus precharge circuit 2401 and the ubiquitous data bus precharge circuit 2402 shown in Figure 85 It is equivalent to the local data bus pre-charging circuit 2007 and the ubiquitous data bus pre-charging circuit 2008 shown in Fig. 73; moreover, in the semiconductor memory device of Fig. 85 , The data bus amplifier 2006 in FIG. 73 is constituted as the PRD type data bus amplifier 2300, and the load 2500 is added to the ubiquitous data bus 2202.
In the eighty-fifth figure and the principle of the fifth mode (the seventy-eighth, eighty, and eighty-two) described earlier, the sense amplifier 2100 acts like the driver and the local data The bus 2201 and the ubiquitous data bus 2202 are equivalent to the bus, and the ubiquitous data bus amplifier (PRD type data bus amplifier) 2300 is equivalent to the PRD type data bus amplifier; in this specification (No. Figure 85, etc.), the bus is classified into the local data bus and the ubiquitous data bus, but please note that identifying the bus with different names does not constitute an essential feature of the present invention; In the eighty-fifth figure, the pre-charge circuit (the local data bus pre-charge circuit 2401 and the ubiquitous data bus pre-charge circuit 2402) and the load 2500 are based on what is shown in the eighty-second figure The third principle is set; with this configuration of the semiconductor memory device, the data reading can be implemented which does not require pre-charging during the read cycle as described earlier.
The eighty-sixth figure is a block diagram showing an essential part of the first embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention in the form of a circuit diagram; this embodiment is equivalent to the previous The first-principle configuration shown in Figure 78 (where neither the precharge circuit nor the load is provided).
In the eighty-sixth figure, the reference number 2100 is a driver (which is equivalent to the sense amplifier in the eighty-fifth figure), 2200 is a single-terminal bus (signal transmission line), and 2300 is a PRD Type data bus amplifier (which is equivalent to the PRD type data bus amplifier in Figure 85); even more, in Figure 86, reference symbol A designates one of the output signals from the driver 2100 For the waveform, B specifies the waveform of an input signal to the PRD type bus amplifier 2300, and C specifies the waveform of an output signal from the PRD type bus amplifier 2300.
Figures 87A and 87B are circuit diagrams of the configuration example of the driver (2100) in the signal transmission system shown in Figure 86, and Figure 87C is shown in Figure 86 The circuit example of the bus amplifier (PRD type bus amplifier 2300) in the signal transmission system in Figure 86.
The driver 2100 can be constructed from a simple inverter to invert and amplify the input data (Din) as shown in Figure 87A, but it is also possible as shown in Figure 87B It is shown as a circuit that exhibits a high-impedance state (high-Z state) by means of an actuation signal (/EN).
As shown in Figure 87C, the PRD type bus amplifier (quasi-PRD type bus amplifier) 2300 includes a plurality of transmission gates whose switching operation is controlled by a signal (<img file="TW366453B_D0138.tif" />1,/<img file="TW366453B_D0139.tif" />1;<img file="TW366453B_D0140.tif" />2,/<img file="TW366453B_D0141.tif" />2;<img file="TW366453B_D0142.tif" />1',/<img file="TW366453B_D0143.tif" />1';<img file="TW366453B_D0144.tif" />1",/<img file="TW366453B_D0145.tif" />1";<img file="TW366453B_D0146.tif" />2',/<img file="TW366453B_D0147.tif" />2';<img file="TW366453B_D0148.tif" />2",/<img file="TW366453B_D0149.tif" />2") controlled by multiple inverters, and multiple capacitors (C1a, C2a; C1b, C2b); more specifically, the PRD-type bus amplifier 2300 shown in Figure 87C is of this type. A pair of squares operates in an interlaced pattern and includes two PRD squares 2300a and 2300b.
The eighty-eighth figure is a diagram showing an example of the signal waveforms of the bus amplifier as the operation of figure 87C, and the eighty-ninth figure is a diagram showing an example of the signal waveforms in the eighty-sixth figure A diagram of this operation waveform in a signal transmission system.
The PRD type bus amplifier 2300 of Fig. 87C is driven by the signals shown in Fig. 88; here, the control signals<img file="TW366453B_D0150.tif" />1',<img file="TW366453B_D0151.tif" />1" and<img file="TW366453B_D0152.tif" />2',<img file="TW366453B_D0153.tif" />2 "substantially in the waveform and these control signals<img file="TW366453B_D0154.tif" />1 and<img file="TW366453B_D0155.tif" />2 is the same, and is output to be used to drive the PRD blocks 2300a and 2300b in an interleaved pattern with the alternate timing of the timing signal (the rising and falling timing of the timing signal CLK); that is, the group The state is such that when a PRD block (such as 2300a) is performing calculations to remove (estimate) the inter-image interference component for the data in the next time signal cycle, and another PRD block (such as 2300b) receives the data and delivers an output Signal; this operation is implemented alternately to copy data at high speed.
In the operation waveform diagram of the first embodiment (the first embodiment of the fifth mode) shown in FIG. 89, it shows the output signal (A) from the driver 2100 , The signal (B) received by the PRD type bus amplifier 2300, and the signal (C) output by the PRD type bus amplifier 2300; in particular, the figure shows an example of 500Mbps data transmission; As can be seen, according to the first embodiment, the data can be copied correctly by using the PRD type bus amplifier 2300 without causing the data output from the driver 2100 to swing at its full amplitude; In one embodiment, because the data bus (2200) is not pre-charged, the data bus is at a random level when not transmitting data. However, high-speed data transmission is possible; especially, what is more, Because data can be transmitted while reducing the total amount of bus level changes per data bit, the bus effectively acts like a low-amplitude bus, so that the power consumption of the bus can be reduced.
Figure ninety is a block diagram showing an essential part of a second embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention in the form of a circuit diagram; this embodiment includes a precharge circuit 2400 and It is different from the first embodiment shown in the eighty-sixth figure; and is equivalent to the second principle configuration (in which the pre-charge circuit is provided) shown in the previous eighty-figure.
In the second embodiment shown in Figure 90, when data transmission is not performed, precharge is performed by the precharge circuit 2400; in the second embodiment shown here, during data transmission Pre-charging is not implemented, but if there is enough time to implement the pre-charging, it can be composed by temporarily stopping the data transmission to be pre-charged by the pre-charging circuit 2400; however, as in the prior art From the point of view of data transmission efficiency, the pre-charging of each bit is not good.
In the second embodiment, because a data transmission starts at the precharge level and ends at the precharge level, the initial level of the bus 2200 is known, so that if it is in some other part of the system There is a design problem, which can be easily analyzed; whats more, when the entire level of the bus 2200 is gradually shifted to a certain level, because the level is in the data transmission The end point is reset to the precharge level, and the chance of the bus level being fixed at the certain level is reduced; here, the reduced chance means that there is a possibility if a data read operation For a very long time, the bus level may be fixed at the certain level, and in a normal read operation, this rarely presents a problem; even worse, if the bus 2200 is Fixed at a certain level, data transmission can be implemented as in the aforementioned first embodiment.
The ninety-first figure is a circuit diagram showing an example of the precharge circuit in the signal transmission system of the ninetieth figure; here, the driver 2100 and the same as those used in the first embodiment PRD type bus amplifier 2300 can also be used.
As shown in FIG. 91, the precharge circuit 2500 is constructed by a transmission gate, which precharges the bus bar according to the precharge control signals pre and /pre by using a precharge level (Vpr) 2200.
The ninety-second figure is a diagram showing an example of the signal waveforms used to drive the bus and the bus amplifier in the signal transmission system of figure ninety; here, in figure ninety-second In the signal transmission system, reference symbol (I) indicates a method in which the bus is pre-charged when no data is transmitted, and (II) indicates a method in which the bus is only at the beginning and end of a data transmission Is pre-charged; that is, the figure ninety-second (I) shows that the sequence is maintained by precharging when data transmission is not performed, and figure ninety-second (II) shows that the sequence is Precharging is carried out at the beginning and end of a data transmission, and during periods other than the data transmission and the precharging period, the bus bar is placed in a floating state.
Figure 93 is a diagram showing an example of the operating waveforms of the bus in the signal transmission system of Figure 90; as shown in Figure 93, according to the second embodiment, For example, at the beginning and end of a data, the level of the bus is reset to the precharge level (Vpr).
Fig. 94 is a block diagram showing an essential part of a third embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention in the form of a circuit diagram.
As is clear from the comparison between the ninety-fourth and eighty-sixth figures, the single-ended bus 2200 in the first embodiment shown in the eighty-sixth figure in the third embodiment is composed For example, the complementary bus 2200' (bus, /bus), and the signal transmission system uses a driver 2100' and a PRD type bus amplifier compatible with the complementary bus 2200' (PRD type complementary differential bus The row amplifier) 2300' is constructed.
Figures 95A and 95B show the circuit example of the driver (2100') in the signal transmission system in Figure 94, and Figure 95C is shown in Figure 94 The figure shows a circuit example of the PRD type bus amplifier (PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300') in the signal transmission system.
The driver 2100' can be constructed from a simple inverter pair as shown in Figure 95A to invert and amplify the complementary input data (Din, /Din), but it is also possible As shown in Figure 95B, it becomes a circuit that generates complementary output numbers A and /A from the input signal (positive logic input signal).
As shown in Figure 95C, the PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier (quasi-PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier) 2300' includes first and second PRD amplifiers 2310 and 2320 and a latch Type amplifier 2330; the first PRD amplifier 2310 receives a positive logic input signal B and supplies an output signal D to the latch type amplifier 2330, and the second PRD amplifier 2320 receives a negative logic input signal /B and supplies an output The signal E is given to the latch-type amplifier 2330.
Figure 96A shows an example of the PRD (first and second PRD amplifiers 2310 and 2320) in the bus amplifier (PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier) in Figure 95C And Figure 96B shows an example of a circuit of the latch-type amplifier (2330) in the bus amplifier in Figure 95C.
As is clear from the comparison between Figures 96A and 87C, the first PRD amplifier 2310 (the second PRD amplifier 2320) is configured for the single-terminal bus. The PRD-type bus amplifier 2300 in Figure 87C is the same; whats more, as shown in Figure 96B, the latch-type amplifier 2330 is composed to extract the data from the first and second PRDs. The amplifiers 2310 and 2320 receive the output signals D and E and output complementary signals C and /C; by constructing the data transmission system into a complementary type, it becomes possible to detect by reducing the influence of phase noise Measure even smaller signal changes; however, this configuration increases the circuit size of the PRD type complementary bus amplifier 2300', etc.
The circuits of the driver 2100' and the PRD-type complementary differential bus amplifier described above are only examples, and will be acceptable as long as they can generate complementary signals and other different circuits can also be used.
The ninety-seventh figure is a diagram showing an example of the signal waveforms used to operate the bus amplifier of figure 95C, and the ninety-eighth figure is a diagram showing an example of the signal waveforms in figure 94 Diagram of the operating waveforms of the bus and the bus amplifier in the signal transmission system.
As shown in Figure 97, the control signals<img file="TW366453B_D0156.tif" />1 and<img file="TW366453B_D0157.tif" />2(<img file="TW366453B_D0158.tif" />1'and<img file="TW366453B_D0159.tif" />2';<img file="TW366453B_D0160.tif" />1" and<img file="TW366453B_D0161.tif" />2") In synchronization with the time signal CLK is output with alternating timing, and the PRD blocks 2300a and 2300b are driven in an interleaved pattern, as shown in the previous figure 88.
Then, as shown in FIG. 98, in the third embodiment, it obtains the output signal (A, /A) of the driver 2100', which is used by the PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300 'The received signal (B, /B), and the signal (C, /C) output by the PRD-type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300', which are all shown in the eighty-ninth figure The complementarity of the signal waveform of the first embodiment is equal; as can be seen, according to the third mode, the data can be copied correctly by using the PRD-type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300' without causing slave The data output by the driver 2100' swings at its full amplitude.
Fig. 99 is a block diagram showing an essential part of a fourth embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention in the form of a circuit diagram.
In the fourth embodiment shown in Figure 99, a precharge circuit 2400' is added, and the PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300" is composed to output only the positive logic signal (C), and It is different from the third embodiment shown in Figure 94.
Figure 100A shows a circuit example of the precharge circuit (2400') in the signal transmission system in Figure 99, and Figure 100B shows the signal in Figure 99 A circuit example of the bus amplifier (the PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300") in the transmission system.
As shown in Figure 100A, the pre-charging circuit 2500' is constructed with multiple transistors, and the complementary bus bus and /bus (2200') are short-circuited by using the control signal PRE, /PRE And use a precharge level (Vpr).
As shown in Figure 100B, the PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier (quasi-PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier) 2300" includes first and second PRD amplifiers 2310 and 2320 and a current mirror type Amplifier 2340; the first PRD amplifier 2310 receives a positive logic input signal B and supplies an output signal D to the current mirror type amplifier 2340, and the second PRD amplifier 2320 receives a negative logic input signal /B and supplies an output signal E is given to the current mirror type amplifier 2340.
Figure 101A shows one of the PRD amplifiers (the first and second PRD amplifiers 2310 and 2320) in the bus amplifier (PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier) in Figure 100B Circuit example, and Figure 101B shows a circuit example of the current mirror type amplifier (2340) in the bus amplifier in Figure 100B.
As is clear from the comparison between Figure 101A and Figure 87C, the first PRD amplifier 2310 (the second PRD amplifier 2320) is configured for the single-ended bus It is the same as the PRD-type bus amplifier 2300 in Figure 87C; moreover, as shown in Figure 101B, the current-mirror-type amplifier 2340 is composed so as to obtain from the first and second Two PRD amplifiers 2310 and 2320 receive the output signals D and E and output a signal (positive logic signal) C; here, the unison signal (en) is applied to the control transistor in the current mirror type amplifier 2340.
By using the complementary current mirror type amplifier 2340, it becomes possible to detect even smaller signal changes by reducing the influence of phase noise; however, in this case it increases the current mirror type amplifier The circuit size of 2340.
Figure 102 shows an example of the signal waveform used to operate the bus amplifier of Figure 100B.
As shown in Figure 102, the control signals<img file="TW366453B_D0162.tif" />1 and<img file="TW366453B_D0163.tif" />2(<img file="TW366453B_D0164.tif" />1'and<img file="TW366453B_D0165.tif" />2';<img file="TW366453B_D0166.tif" />1" and<img file="TW366453B_D0167.tif" />2") In synchronization with the time signal CLK is output with alternate timings, and the PRD blocks 2300a and 2300b are driven in an interleaved pattern, as shown in the previous eighty-eighth figure; when the bus 2200' is operating In the period outside the time (data being transmitted) period, the precharge control signal PRE is maintained at a high level "H" (/PRE is maintained at a low level "L") to precharge the bus 2200'; Also, during the data transmission period, the actuation signal en supplied to the current mirror type amplifier 2340 is maintained at a high level "H" (/en is maintained at a low level "L") to activate the current mirror The type amplifier 2340 thus outputs data (C).
Fig. 103 is a diagram showing an example of the operation waveforms of the bus and the bus amplifier in the signal transmission system of Fig. 99.
As shown in Figure 103, according to the fourth embodiment, the complementary signal (A, /A) output from the driver 2100' is transmitted along the complementary bus 2200', And the PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300" receives the complementary signal (B, /B) and outputs the signal (positive logic signal) C; in the fourth embodiment, because the precharge circuit is provided 2400', the input signal (B, /B) to the PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300' is maintained at a predetermined level (precharge level Vpr) before and after the data transmission.
The fourth embodiment (the fourth embodiment of the fifth mode) consumes more power than the aforementioned third embodiment, but achieves higher-speed operation; moreover, in the third and fourth embodiments Because the inter-character-image interference component is removed by the buffer of the single-terminal type PRD amplifier, and a certain degree of amplification is also implemented, an input offset that is one of the disadvantages of a complementary type amplifier will be It is not a problem; the complementary input differential current mirror type amplifiers are not limited to the configuration shown in Figure 101, as long as they can amplify other configurations with different differential inputs can also be used.
Fig. 104 is a block diagram showing an essential part of a fifth embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention in the form of a circuit diagram; the basic configuration is the same as the previous first The four embodiments are the same, the only difference is that the fifth embodiment specifically uses the configuration of the PRD-type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300".
Fig. 105 is a block circuit diagram of an essential part of an example of the bus amplifier of the signal transmission system shown in Fig. 104. The PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier is shown here. A circuit example of 2300".
In the PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300' in the aforementioned third and fourth embodiments, first the input is fed into the single-ended PRD type bus amplifier and then its output is supplied as input to the complementary In contrast, the PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300" of the fifth embodiment includes a differential amplifier 2303 and an amplifier precharge circuit 2302 for precharging the input node of the differential amplifier 2303. There is a PRD function block 2301 containing capacitors (capacitors C10a, C20a; C10b, C20b); this PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300" also borrows between two amplifier sections (this means that there are two main amplifier sections) For switching, copy and enlarge data at high speed.
Here, when the capacitors use C10 to indicate the values of C10a and C10b, and C20 to indicate the values of C20a and C20b, in theory, if the values of these capacitors C10 and C20 are determined to satisfy the formula C10/(C10+C20 )=(1+exp(-T/τ))/2, the inter-character-image interference can be completely eliminated; but this is an ideal situation. In fact, due to the existence of parasitic capacitances, these capacitances are Select to provide a capacitance value ratio that approximates the value that satisfies the above equation; in the equation, τ is the time constant of the bus 2200', and T is the period of one bit or a bit that appears in the bus The time of the data.
Diagrams 106A to 106C are waveform diagrams showing the relationship between the time constant of the bus and the one-bit period: Diagram 106A is a diagram showing the original waveform (Data 1-1-0) picture, picture 106B is a picture used to explain the time T when one-bit data appears on the bus 2200', and picture 106C It is a graph showing the one-bit period (T).
When transmitting the original waveform (data 1-1-0) as shown in Figure 106A, the period of a high-impedance state (high-Z state) can be in one-bit data such as in the hundredth It is provided after appearing on the bus 2200' as shown in Figure 06B, or the data can be transmitted across the entire bit period T as shown in Figure 106C; That is, with the waveforms of the 106B or 106C, the original data shown in the 106A can be used by the PRD-type bus amplifier (the PRD-type complementary The differential bus amplifier 2300") detects correctly.
Figures 107A and 107B are diagrams for explaining the operation of the bus amplifier in Figure 105.
By controlling the control signal<img file="TW366453B_D0168.tif" />1 and<img file="TW366453B_D0169.tif" />2. The PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300" alternately implements the operations shown in Figures One Hundred Seven A and One Hundred Seven B.
That is, when the control signal<img file="TW366453B_D0170.tif" />1 is a high level "H" (/<img file="TW366453B_D0171.tif" />1 is a low level "L"), and the control signal<img file="TW366453B_D0172.tif" />2 is a low level "L" (/<img file="TW366453B_D0173.tif" />2 is a high level "H"), as shown in Figure 107A, an inter-image interference component estimation operation is implemented, and when the control signal<img file="TW366453B_D0174.tif" />1 is a low level "L", and the control signal<img file="TW366453B_D0175.tif" />2 is at a high level "H", a signal determination operation as shown in Figure 107B is implemented; here, the amplifier precharge circuit during the period of the inter-character-image interference component estimation 2302 precharges the input node of the differential amplifier 2303.
In the third and fourth embodiments of the foregoing, the bus amplifier (the PRD complementary differential bus amplifier Type 2300 ") by the first method PRD complementary bus from the row 2200 'to accept the signal, and then amplified Their differential voltage, instead of receiving the weak complementary signal in a complementary form, this only means that the inter-character-image interference component in the complementary signal is roughly eliminated, although compared to a simple single-ended signal In this case, the sensitivity is increased; in this case, an erroneous operation may occur depending on the magnitude of the signal.
By comparison, the PRD-type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300" of the fifth embodiment is literally a PRD-type bus amplifier for complementary signals, and ideally, it can be derived from complementary signals Completely eliminate the inter-character-image interference components; therefore, compared with the third and fourth embodiments (quasi-PRD type bus amplifier), the sensitivity can be greatly increased, in other words, the operating margin can be huge The ground is enlarged.
Figure 108 is a diagram showing another example of the bus amplifier in the signal transmission system of Figure 104, and Figure 109 is a diagram showing another example of the bus amplifier in the signal transmission system of Figure 104. Fig. 08 is a circuit diagram of the PRD amplifier configuration in the bus amplifier, and Fig. 110 is an example of a multiplexer in the bus amplifier of Fig. 108 Circuit diagram.
The bus amplifier (the PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300a) includes the bus amplifier (the PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300") whose configuration is similar to that of Figure 105 One and second PRD amplifiers 2310a and 2320a, and a multiplexer (MUX) 2330a; the bus amplifier shown in the 108th figure achieves high-speed data transmission by implementing interleaving operations, so that it can be used as another PRD When the amplifier (the second PRD amplifier 2320a) makes a decision on the data, a PRD amplifier (the first amplifier 2310a) estimates (clears) the inter-character-image interference, and in the next sequence, when another PRD amplifier (the second PRD amplifier 2302a) When estimating the inter-image interference, a PRD amplifier (the first amplifier 2310a) makes a decision on the data.
Here, in the PRD amplifier that is performing the ICI estimation operation, precharging the same PRD amplifier is also performed at the same time; because this precharging is performed in the background of the interleaved data reading period, the precharging is performed The charging time does not affect the data transmission cycle; moreover, the capacitor used for PRD is inserted in the main section of the bus 2200' and the bus amplifier (the PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300a: amplifier) Between the input nodes, the bus is isolated from the input node of the main section of the amplifier, and also because the potential difference between the bus and the input node of the amplifier is not particularly affected in the PRD method Therefore, the level of the input node at the beginning of the operation of the amplifier is set by precharging at such a point so that the sensitivity of the complementary type amplifier is mostly strengthened; by doing so, even when the same The sensitivity of the complementary type amplifier used in the main section can also be greatly increased.
In the above-mentioned circuit, the complementary transfer gate is used as a switch, but other devices with switching functions can also be used. For example, the switch can use only NMOS transistors (NMOS transfer gate) or only PMOS In the fifth embodiment, the differential amplifier 2303 is constituted as an NMOS gate receiving type, but whether it should be constituted as an NMOS or PMOS gate receiving type depends on technology, etc., and any suitable one can be Is selected; moreover, in the fifth embodiment, a gate receiving latch is used as the differential amplifier 2303, but the differential amplifier is not limited to this special type; the differential amplifier used in the fifth embodiment The amplifier 2303 is composed so that by using the activation signals en and /en, its operation can be blocked when data transmission is not performed.
As shown in Figure 109, the first PRD amplifier 2310a (the second PRD amplifier 2320a is similar in configuration to the PRD type complementary differential bus shown in Figure 105 The amplifier 2300" includes the PRD function block 2301, an amplifier pre-charge circuit 2302, and a differential amplifier 2303; here, the differential amplifier 2303 is constituted as a gate receiving latch type differential amplifier; even more, the amplifier pre-charge circuit 2302 The precharge operation is controlled signal<img file="TW366453B_D0176.tif" />1(/<img file="TW366453B_D0177.tif" />1) Controlled, and the operation of the differential amplifier 2303 is controlled by the actuation signal en.
As shown in the one-hundred and tenth figure, the MUX (multiplexer) 2330a responds to the control signals<img file="TW366453B_D0178.tif" />1'(/<img file="TW366453B_D0179.tif" />1') and<img file="TW366453B_D0180.tif" />2'(/<img file="TW366453B_D0181.tif" />2') and select the output signal (D) of the first PRD amplifier 2310a or the output signal (E) of the second PRD amplifier 2320a, and output the selected signal as the bus amplifier (the PRD type is complementary The output signal (C) of the linear differential bus amplifier 2300a).
The one-hundred and eleventh figure is a diagram showing an example of a signal waveform used to operate the bus amplifier of the one-hundred eighth figure, and the one-hundred and twelfth figure is a diagram showing an example of Fig. 104 is a diagram of the operating waveforms of the bus and the bus amplifier in the signal transmission system.
As shown in figure one hundred and eleven, by using this control signal<img file="TW366453B_D0182.tif" />1 and<img file="TW366453B_D0183.tif" />2. The interleaving operation is implemented so that when another PRD amplifier (the second PRD amplifier 2320a) makes a decision on the data, a PRD amplifier (the first amplifier 2310a) estimates the inter-image interference, and at the next timing, when When another PRD amplifier (the second PRD amplifier 2302a) estimates the inter-image interference, a PRD amplifier (the first amplifier 2310a) makes a decision on the data; In this PRD amplifier, precharge is also performed at the same time.
As shown in Figure 112, according to the fifth embodiment, the complementary signal (A, /A) output from the driver 2100' is transmitted along the complementary bus 2200' , And the PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300" receives the complementary signal (B, /B) and outputs the signal (positive logic signal) C.
The one hundred and thirteenth figure is a diagram showing an example of a bus amplifier in the signal transmission system such as a sixth embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention; the first The sixth embodiment also concerns the complementary bus example, and the block diagram itself is the same as that of the above-mentioned one hundred and eighth figure.
More specifically, the bus amplifier (the PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300b) as shown in Figure 113 includes first and second PRD amplifiers 2310b and 2320b and a multiplexer (MUX) 2330b.
Fig. 114 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the PRD amplifier configuration (the first and second PRD amplifiers 2310b and 2320b) in the bus amplifier of Fig. 113.
As can be clearly seen from the comparison between the 114th and 109th figures, the PRD amplifier (2310b and 2320b) in the sixth embodiment differs from the configuration of the differential amplifier 2303a in the configuration of the differential amplifier 2303a. The PRD amplifiers (2310a and 2320a) of the fifth embodiment shown in Fig. 109 are different.
As shown in Fig. 114, the differential amplifier 2303a of the sixth embodiment includes AND gates 2331 and 2332, which is different from the differential amplifier 2303 of Fig. 109; more particularly Ground, when the actuation signal (en) is directly applied to the gate of the control transistor in the differential amplifier 2303 in Fig. 109, the first shown in Fig. 114 The actuation signal en and the control signal in the differential amplifier 2303a of the sixth embodiment<img file="TW366453B_D0184.tif" />1 is input to the AND gates 2331 and 2332 as logic operations, and the output signals of these gates 2331 and 2332 are used to control the switching of the control transistors; thus, the differential amplifier 2303a is switched on (actuated). The minimum time required to reduce power consumption.
In the sixth embodiment, as in the foregoing fifth embodiment, the differential amplifier 2303a is formed as a gate receiving latch type; in the sixth embodiment, the differential amplifier 2303a is formed as an NMOS gate receiving type , But whether it should be composed as an NMOS or PMOS gate receiving type depends on the technology, etc., whichever is suitable can be selected; the operation sequence is the same as that of the fifth embodiment shown in the one-hundred and eleventh figure it's the same.
In Figure 114, when the bus amplifier is precharged, the nodes N1a and N1b of the differential amplifier 2330a are precharged to the high level "H". Therefore, as in the sixth embodiment By adopting the NMOS gate receiving configuration, the operating speed of the amplifier can be increased; for example, in the configuration shown in Figure 108, the control signals are used in the sixth embodiment<img file="TW366453B_D0185.tif" />1 and<img file="TW366453B_D0186.tif" />2 The interleaving operation can achieve high-speed data transmission, so that when another PRD amplifier (the second PRD amplifier 2320b) makes a decision on the data, one PRD amplifier (the first amplifier 2310b) estimates the inter-image interference, And in the next sequence, when another PRD amplifier clears the inter-word interference, one PRD amplifier makes a decision on the data.
Fig. 115 is a circuit diagram showing another example of the PRD amplifier configuration in the bus amplifier of Fig. 113.
The differential amplifier 2303b shown in Figure 115 is formed by adding the AND gates 2331 and 2332 to the differential amplifier (2303c) shown in Figure 119 to be given later. ; As in the differential amplifier 2303a in the one hundred and fourteenth figure, the actuation signal en and the control signal in the differential amplifier 2303b in the one-hundred and fifteenth figure<img file="TW366453B_D0187.tif" />1 is input to the AND gates 2331 and 2332 as logic operations, and the output signals of these gates 2331 and 2332 are used to control the switching of the control transistors; thus, the differential amplifier 2303a is actuated with a minimum required Time to reduce power consumption.
Fig. 116 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the multiplexer in the bus amplifier of Fig. 113.
As shown in figure 116, the MUX (multiplexer) 2330b is based on the control signals<img file="TW366453B_D0188.tif" />1'(/<img file="TW366453B_D0189.tif" />1') and<img file="TW366453B_D0190.tif" />2'(/<img file="TW366453B_D0191.tif" />2') and select the output signal (D) of the first PRD amplifier 2310b or the output signal (E) of the second PRD amplifier 2320b, and invert it with an inverter to maintain the integrity of the logic The selected signal is output as the output signal (C) of the bus amplifier (the PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier 2330b); The PRD amplifier (differential amplifier 2303a) shown in Figure 14 is used together; when the PRD amplifier (differential amplifier 2303b) shown in Figure 115 is used, it is used in the 110th The MUX 2330a shown in the figure should be used; needless to say, the signal logic can be changed as needed.
Fig. 117 is a diagram showing an example of the operation waveforms of the bus bar and the bus amplifier in the sixth embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 117, according to the sixth embodiment, the complementary signal (A, /A) output from the driver 2100' is transmitted along the complementary bus 2200' , And the PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300b receives the complementary signal (B, /B) and outputs the signal (positive logic signal) C; in the one hundred and seventeenth figure, it is also shown The output signal D of the first PRD amplifier 2310b and the output signal E of the second PRD amplifier 2320b.
Fig. 118 is a diagram showing an example of a bus amplifier in the signal transmission system according to a seventh embodiment of the signal transmission system of the fifth mode of the present invention; the first The sixth embodiment also concerns the complementary bus example, and the block diagram itself is the same as the above-mentioned 108 and 113 diagrams.
More specifically, as shown in Figure 118, the bus amplifier (the PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300c) includes first and second PRD amplifiers 2310c and 2320c and a multiplexer (MUX) 2330c.
Figure 119 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the PRD amplifier configuration in the bus amplifier of Figure 118.
As described earlier, the differential amplifier 2303c in the PRD amplifier 2310c (2320c) in the one-hundred and nineteenth figure omits the AND gates 2331 and 2332 and is different from that in the one-hundred and fifteenth figure. The differential amplifier 2303b shown in is different.
As shown in Fig. 119, the differential amplifier 2303c of the seventh embodiment is constituted as a current mirror amplifier; this type of amplifier has a higher sensitivity and can be more like a latch type The differential amplifier operates at a higher speed; however, since the dynamic range of a current mirror type amplifier is generally small, it is better to optimize the input level so that the characteristics of the current mirror type differential amplifier 2303c can be maximized Use; Although this amplifier is a complementary type amplifier, compared to the fifth embodiment, so the sensitivity can be greatly increased; as in the previous embodiment, the seventh embodiment also uses interleaving operation Achieve high-speed data transmission.
Fig. 120 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the multiplexer in the bus amplifier of Fig. 118.
As shown in the one hundred and twentieth figure, the MUX (multiplexer) 2330c is configured the same as the MUX 2330b shown in the one hundred and sixteenth figure; that is, the MUX 2330c based on these control signals<img file="TW366453B_D0192.tif" />1'(/<img file="TW366453B_D0193.tif" />1') and<img file="TW366453B_D0194.tif" />2'(/<img file="TW366453B_D0195.tif" />2') and select the output signal (D) of the first PRD amplifier 2310c or the output signal (E) of the second PRD amplifier 2320c, and invert it with an inverter to maintain the integrity of the logic The selected signal is output as the output signal (C) of the bus amplifier (the PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier 2330b).
The one hundred and twenty-first figure is a diagram showing an example of the signal waveforms used to operate the bus amplifier of the one hundred and eighteenth figure; A diagram of the operating waveforms of the bus bar and the bus amplifier in the seventh embodiment of the signal transmission system of the fifth mode of the invention.
As can be clearly seen from the comparison between the one-hundred and one-hundred-first and one-two-two diagrams and the one-hundred-first and one-hundred-two diagrams, the bus amplifier (the PRD type complementary differential bus The operation of the amplifier 2330c) and the signal transmission system in the seventh embodiment is the same as that described in the fifth embodiment.
The one hundred and twenty-third figure is a diagram showing an example of a bus amplifier in the signal transmission system as an eighth embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention; the first The eighth embodiment also relates to the complementary bus example, and the block diagram itself is the same as the one-hundred-eighth etc. mentioned above.
The eighth embodiment is about the configuration for compensating the input offset of the differential amplifier stage, which can become a problem as in the fifth to seventh embodiments; that is, the eighth embodiment is tried to Compensate the input offset of the differential amplifier; more particularly, the differential amplifier 2303d of the eighth embodiment has a function to compensate the input offset.
Figure 124 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the PRD amplifier configuration in the bus amplifier of Figure 123.
As is clear from the comparison between the one hundred and twenty-fourth and one hundred and nineteenth figures, in the eighth embodiment, the precharge circuit 2302d is only set at one of the inputs of the current mirror type differential amplifier 2303d, and the The other input is switched by the control signal<img file="TW366453B_D0196.tif" />1(/<img file="TW366453B_D0197.tif" />1) A controlled transmission gate is connected to the output.
Figures 125A and 125B are diagrams used to explain the operation of the bus amplifier in Figure 124: Figure 125A shows a character image room Interference elimination preparation and automatic zeroing operation, and the one hundred and twenty-fifth figure B shows a signal to determine the operation.
First, as shown in Figure 125A, the inter-character-image interference removal operation is implemented at timing 1, and the operation is implemented at the same time to electrically short-circuit an input to the output of the differential amplifier 2303d. The input offset of the differential amplifier itself is cleared; at the same time, the other input of the differential amplifier 2303d is precharged by the precharge circuit 2302d to a level (Vpr) that enhances the sensitivity of the differential amplifier.
Secondly, as shown in the one hundred and twenty-fifth figure B, the data determination operation is implemented at time sequence 2; at this time, the short circuit between the input and the output of the differential amplifier 2303d is opened and is precharged The pre-charging of circuit 2302d is also blocked.
As described, in the eighth embodiment, it adds a function (auto-zero function) to remove the input offset which is a disadvantage of a complementary type differential amplifier; moreover, the PRD function block The configuration is made the same as the seventh embodiment, and unlike the third and fourth embodiments, ideally the inter-character-image interference component can be completely removed; that is, the eighth The embodiment can remove the input offset by the auto-zero function of the complementary amplifier, and by removing the input offset, it becomes possible to detect, copy, and amplify weaker signals.
Generally, a complementary type amplifier with an auto-zero function needs to be provided with a capacitor as input offset compensation, but in the eighth embodiment, because the offset is stored in the estimation used as the inter-character interference component In the capacitor, there is no need to provide another capacitor for offset compensation; as a result, the auto-zero function can be added without increasing the area.
In the eighth embodiment, the two PRD amplifiers (bus amplifiers) 2310d and 2320d operate in an interleaved pattern and alternately implement signal replication and amplification, thereby achieving high-speed signal transmission.
The one hundred and twenty-sixth figure is an example of the circuit diagram of the multiplexer (MUX) 2330d in the bus amplifier of the one hundred and twenty-third figure; The MUX 2330c in the seventh embodiment shown in the figure is the same.
The one hundred and twenty-seventh figure is a diagram showing an example of the signal waveforms used to operate the bus amplifier of the one hundred and twenty-third figure, and the one hundred and twenty-eighth figure is a showing the basis of one example A diagram of the operating waveforms of the bus bar and the bus amplifier in the eighth embodiment of the signal transmission system of the fifth mode of the present invention.
As shown in Figure 127, in the eighth embodiment, similarly, high-speed data transmission uses these control signals<img file="TW366453B_D0198.tif" />1 and<img file="TW366453B_D0199.tif" />2 The interleaving operation is implemented, so that when another PRD amplifier (the second PRD amplifier 2320d) makes a decision on the data, one PRD amplifier (the first amplifier 2310d) clears the inter-character-image interference, and the next Timing, when another PRD amplifier clears the inter-image interference, a PRD amplifier makes a decision on the data; in the amplifier that implements the inter-image interference estimation operation, the input offset removal (auto-zero operation) and amplifier preconditioning Charging is carried out simultaneously as described previously; (please see the point indicated by the arrow in the one hundred and twenty-eighth figure) so, in the eighth embodiment, due to the bus amplifier (the PRD type complementarity) The differential bus amplifier 2300d) is equipped with an auto-zero function, so weaker changes in potential can be detected.
Here, since the auto-zero and pre-charge operations are implemented in the background of the interleaved data reading period, these operations do not affect the data transmission cycle (so it does not take an extra time); Moreover, as shown in the one hundred and twenty-seventh figure, the actuation signal en2(/en2) supplied to the second PRD amplifier 2320d is a slave supplied to the first PRD amplifier 2310d. The activation signal en1 (/en1) is output at a delayed timing to prevent an unnecessary signal from being output from the MUX 2330d.
In other respects, the configuration of the eighth embodiment is the same as the other embodiments described so far; that is, the capacitors used for the PRD are inserted in the bus bars and the bus amplifier (the PRD type is complementary The input nodes of the main section of the differential bus amplifier 2300d) are isolated from the input nodes of the main section of the amplifier, and it is also because the buses are separated from the input nodes of the amplifier. The potential difference between is not particularly limited in the PRD method, so the level of the input nodes at the beginning of the amplifier operation can be set by precharging at this point to maximize the complementarity type The sensitivity of the amplifier; by doing so, the sensitivity can be greatly increased even when the same complementary type amplifier is used in the main paragraph.
Moreover, in the above-mentioned circuit, the complementary transmission gate is used as a switch, but other devices with switching functions can also be used. It is constructed using PMOS transmission gate; in the eighth embodiment, the differential amplifier 2303d is configured as an NMOS gate reception type, but whether it should be configured as an NMOS or PMOS gate reception type depends on technology, etc., and whichever is appropriate Can be selected; the differential amplifier 2303d used in the eighth embodiment is composed so that its operation can be blocked by the actuation signals en1 and /en1 (en2 and /en2) when data transmission is not performed.
The one hundred and twenty-ninth figure is a diagram showing an example of a bus amplifier 2300e in the signal transmission system as a ninth embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention, and Fig. 130 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the configuration of a PRD amplifier 2310e in the bus amplifier of Fig. 129; the ninth embodiment also relates to the complementary bus example , But different from the eighth embodiment shown in Figure 123, for example, the PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300e is constructed by using a single PRD amplifier 2310e and a latch 2340e; Therefore, the PRD amplifier 2310e shown in the one hundred and thirtieth figure is the same in configuration as the PRD amplifier 2310d (2320d) previously shown in the one hundred and twenty-fourth figure.
That is, in the ninth embodiment, instead of using two PRD amplifiers in an interleaved pattern, one PRD amplifier 2310e is used to sacrifice some data transfer rate (transfer speed) to reduce the area occupied by the bus amplifier ( In this case, too, because there is no need to precharge the bus, the data can be transmitted at a higher speed than when the bus is precharged for each bit; the reason is that The CR of the part of the amplifier that is charged to remove the inter-character interference is much smaller than the CR of the bus, so the preparation time for inter-character interference removal is smaller than the pre-charging time of the bus.
Figure 131 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of the latch 2340e in the bus amplifier 2300e of Figure 129.
As shown in Figure 131, the latch 2340e includes a first latch segment whose data latch operation is controlled by the control signals<img file="TW366453B_D0200.tif" />1 and /<img file="TW366453B_D0201.tif" />1 is controlled, and the data latch operation of a second latch section is controlled by these control signals<img file="TW366453B_D0202.tif" />2 and /<img file="TW366453B_D0203.tif" />2 controlled; alternatively, the latch 2340e can be constructed from only one or another of the latch segments.
Figure 132 is a diagram showing an example of the signal waveforms used to operate the bus amplifier of Figure 129, and Figure 133 is a diagram showing the basis of an example A diagram of the operating waveforms of the bus bar and the bus bar amplifier in the ninth embodiment of the signal transmission system of the fifth mode of the present invention.
The ninth embodiment is suitable for applications where the high transfer rate does not need to be achieved by using two PRD amplifiers in an interleaved pattern, but the area of the bus amplifier needs to be reduced; the same is true in the ninth embodiment Therefore, it is possible to operate at a higher speed than the conventional technique that requires bus pre-charging for each bit, and in particular, because the complementary type of automatic reset function is set, it is possible to achieve a higher speed. Generally used for complementary bus amplifiers to have higher sensitivity; whats more, the capacitors used for PRD are inserted between the buses and the input nodes of the main section of the complementary amplifier so that the buses and the The input nodes of the main section of the amplifier are isolated, and because the potential difference between the busbars and the input nodes of the amplifier is not specifically limited in the PRD method, the amplifier is operated The initial levels of the input nodes can be set at such a point to maximize the sensitivity of the complementary amplifier; therefore, even when the same complementary type amplifier is used in the main section, the Sensitivity.
That is, the ninth embodiment reduces the area of the bus amplifier by not adopting the interleaved bus amplifier configuration of the eighth embodiment (by using only one PRD amplifier), and by using only one PRD amplifier The effect of reducing the area of the bus amplifier can be extended to various other bus amplifiers; even in the ninth embodiment, the complementary transmission gate is used as a switch, but has Other devices for switching functions can also be used. For example, the switches can be constructed by using only NMOS transistors (NMOS transfer gates) or only PMOS transfer gates; in the ninth embodiment, the differential amplifier 2303e is The composition is like an NMOS gate receiving type, but whether it should be constituted as an NMOS or PMOS gate receiving type depends on technology, etc., and whichever is appropriate can be selected; the differential amplifier 2303e used in the ninth embodiment is composed so that When data transmission is not implemented, its operation can be blocked by the activation signals en1 and /en1 (en2 and /en2).
The 134th figure is a diagram showing an example of a bus amplifier in the signal transmission system as a tenth embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention; this implementation The example concerns a quasi-PRD type bus amplifier; however, the block diagram in Figure 134 is the same as that of the eighth embodiment shown in Figure 123.
As shown in Figure 134, the bus amplifier (the PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300f) includes first and second PRD amplifiers 2310f and 2320f and a multiplexer (MUX) 2330f .
Figure 135A is a circuit diagram showing an example of the PRD amplifier configuration in the bus amplifier in Figure 134, and Figure 135B is a circuit diagram showing another example. An example of the circuit diagram of the PRD amplifier configuration in the bus amplifier in Figure 134, and Figure 136 shows another example of the circuit in Figure 134 Circuit diagram of the PRD amplifier configuration in the bus amplifier.
In the PRD amplifier 2310f (2320f) of the tenth embodiment, as can be seen from the configuration of the PRD function block 2301f shown in Figure 135A, it is used as precharging the amplifier The capacitors connected to other bus bars are omitted from the PRD function block 2301 in the PRD amplifier 2310d of the eighth embodiment shown in Figure 124; The charging circuit 2302f and the differential amplifier 2303f are the same as those used in the eighth embodiment shown in the one hundred and twenty-fourth figure.
In the PRD amplifier 2310f' (2320f') shown in Figure 135B, the PRD amplifier 2310f shown in Figure 135A is modified into a PRD function block 2301f', The switching operations of the capacitors C30a and C30b are received by the control signals<img file="TW366453B_D0204.tif" />1, <img file="TW366453B_D0205.tif" />2,(/<img file="TW366453B_D0206.tif" />1,/<img file="TW366453B_D0207.tif" />2) Controlled by a logic circuit (OR and AND gate).
In the PRD amplifier 2310f" (2320f") shown in figure 136, as can be seen from the configuration of the PRD function block 2301f" shown in figure 136, The transmission gate used to control the connection between the busbars (B, /B) and the capacitors (C30a, C30b) is taken from the PRD amplifier shown in Figure 135A Omitted; when the time constant of the bus is small, or when the time the data is output on the bus is shorter than the cycle time of each bit, the bus rank level can be as in the hundredth The change shown in Figure 06B, when the data bus has such a stable level, is used to control the connection between the bus (B, /B) and the capacitors (C30a, C30b) The transfer gate may be omitted as shown in the one hundred and thirty-sixth figure.
The above-mentioned PRD amplifier is composed so that its operation can be blocked by the actuation signal en when data transmission is not performed.
In the PRD method (quasi-PRD method) used in the tenth embodiment, unlike the real PRD method, a one-bit decision is made on the current bit relative to the value after one bit. "Or "1"; therefore, the operating margin is small compared to the eighth embodiment; alternatively, the area occupied by the bus amplifier (the PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300f) can be Decrease; in the tenth embodiment, similarly, as in the fifth embodiment, a complementary bus is used. For example, operating the two PRD amplifiers 2310f and 2320f in an interleaved pattern increases the data transmission speed.
Fig. 137 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the multiplexer 2330f in the bus amplifier shown in Fig. 134.
As shown in the one hundred and thirty-seventh figure, for example, the multiplexer (MUX) 2330f in the configuration and the MUX 2330b of the sixth embodiment shown in the one-hundred sixteenth figure are made Must be the same, and according to these control signals<img file="TW366453B_D0208.tif" />1'and<img file="TW366453B_D0209.tif" />2'(/<img file="TW366453B_D0210.tif" />1'/<img file="TW366453B_D0211.tif" />2') is constructed to alternately select the outputs of the PRD amplifiers 2310f and 2320f as the output.
Here, in the PRD method, in order to remove the inter-character-image interference, the period for sampling the inter-character-image interference component needs to be alternately implemented with the period for correctly sampling the data. Therefore, the interleaving pattern is used for By operating a pair of PRD amplifiers, data transmission can be performed without interruption; moreover, in the case of the first to fourth embodiments and the eighth and ninth embodiments of the fifth mode according to the present invention, by Therefore, the amplifier's auto-zero operation can be implemented in the period for sampling (estimating) the inter-image interference component to increase the sensitivity of the amplifier; similarly in the tenth embodiment, by using the two The PRD amplifier is a pair, a quasi-character-image interference component (corresponding to the data after the bit) is sampled, and the amplifier auto-zero period and the period for correctly sampling the data are alternately implemented.
The 138th figure is a diagram showing an example of the signal waveform used to operate the bus amplifier of the 134th figure, and the 139th figure is a showing the basis of an example A diagram of the operating waveforms of the bus bar and the bus amplifier in the tenth embodiment of the signal transmission system of the fifth mode of the present invention.
Similarly in the tenth embodiment, the two PRD amplifiers 2310f and 2320f are used to sample a quasi-character-image interference component (corresponding to the data after one bit) and to precharge the amplifier The period and the period for correctly sampling the data are alternately implemented; because the precharge is implemented in the background of the interleaved data reading period, the precharge time does not affect the data transmission period; In the tenth embodiment, the two PRD amplifiers are paired and operated in an interleaving pattern to achieve high-speed data transmission, but it can be composed so that only one PRD amplifier is used and no interleaving is performed, as in the group of the ninth embodiment In this case, the transfer rate is reduced, but the area occupied by the bus amplifier can be reduced even more.
Moreover, as shown in FIG. 138, the actuation signal en2(/en2) supplied to the second PRD amplifier 2320f is supplied to the first PRD amplifier 2310f by a slave. The activation signal en1 (/en1) is output at a delayed timing to prevent an unnecessary signal from being output from the MUX 2330f.
FIG. one hundred and forty is a block diagram of a semiconductor memory device in the form of a circuit diagram illustrating an example of the eleventh embodiment of the signal transmission system applied according to the fifth mode of the present invention; In the one hundred and fortieth figure, the reference number 2001 is a memory cell array, 2002 is a character decoder (character decoder array), 2100 is a sense amplifier (sensing amplifier array), and 2201 is A local data bus, 2202 is a ubiquitous data bus, 2300g is a PRD type data bus amplifier (PRD type complementary ubiquitous data bus amplifier), 2401 is a local data bus precharge circuit, 2402 is a ubiquitous data bus precharge circuit, 2009 is a local data bus switch switch, 2010 is a write amplifier, 2011 is a sense amplifier driver, and 2012 is a vertical decoder (vertical decoding Array).
As shown in the one hundred and fortieth figure, the semiconductor memory device of the eleventh embodiment (a memory cell array section of a DRAM) includes a plurality of memory cell arrays 2001 and a character decoder 2002. The sense amplifier 2100, the local data bus 2201, and the ubiquitous data bus 2202; the semiconductor memory device of the eleventh embodiment further includes a device for amplifying the ubiquitous data when reading data The PRD type data bus amplifier 2300g for the data on the data bus 2202, the local data bus precharging circuit 2401, which is used to precharge the local data bus 2201, and the local data bus precharging circuit 2401, which is used to precharge the ubiquitous data bus 2202. The ubiquitous data bus pre-charging circuit 2402 is used to control the local data bus switch 2009 of the connection between the ubiquitous data bus 2202 and the local data bus 2201, and to write data in The write amplifier 2010 of the single memory; whats more, the semiconductor memory device of the eleventh embodiment includes a vertical decoder 2012 for selecting vertical transfer gates as will be described later , And a sense amplifier driver for driving the sense amplifier 2100; here, for example, each of the local data bus switching switches 2009 is constructed from an NMOS or PMOS complementary transfer gate.
Fig. 141 is a diagram showing an example of the bus amplifier in the semiconductor memory device in Fig. 140; here, the ground in Fig. 140 The data bus 2201 and the ubiquitous data bus 2202 are equivalent to the complementary buses 2200' (B,/B) in Figure 141.
As shown in Figure 141, the bus amplifier (the PRD type data bus amplifier 2300g) of the eleventh embodiment is composed as a complementary type differential bus amplifier, and includes the first And the second PRD amplifier 2310g and 2320g and a multiplexer (MUX) 2330g.
Figure 142 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the PRD amplifier configuration in the bus amplifier of Figure 141, and Figure 143 is a circuit diagram showing an example of The circuit diagram of the multiplexer in the bus amplifier in Figure 141.
As is clear from the comparison between the one-hundred and forty-second figure and the one-hundred and twenty-fourth figure of the eighth embodiment described previously, the PRD amplifier in the eleventh embodiment (the The first and second PRD amplifiers 2310g and 2320g) except that the source of the PMOS transistor (P-channel MOS transistor) controlled by the actuation signal en is maintained at a preset potential Vpr', instead of a Except for the high-level supply voltage Vcc (Vii), the configuration is basically the same as that of the PRD amplifier in the eighth embodiment.
At the same time, as can be clearly seen from the comparison between the one hundred and forty-third figure and the one hundred and twenty-sixth figure of the eighth embodiment described previously, the MUX 2330g in the eleventh embodiment The configuration is the same as the MUX 2330d in the eighth embodiment, and is constructed to be based on the control signals<img file="TW366453B_D0212.tif" />1'(/<img file="TW366453B_D0213.tif" />1') and<img file="TW366453B_D0214.tif" />2'(/<img file="TW366453B_D0215.tif" />2') and select the output signal D of the first PRD amplifier 2310g or the output signal E of the second PRD amplifier 2320g and output the selected signal as the bus amplifier (the PRD type complementary differential bus amplifier 2300g) output signal C; here, the control signals<img file="TW366453B_D0216.tif" />1'(/<img file="TW366453B_D0217.tif" />1') and<img file="TW366453B_D0218.tif" />2'(/<img file="TW366453B_D0219.tif" />2') Substantially related to these control signals<img file="TW366453B_D0220.tif" />1(/<img file="TW366453B_D0221.tif" />1) and<img file="TW366453B_D0222.tif" />2(/<img file="TW366453B_D0223.tif" />2) It is the same, although the timing is somewhat different.
Fig. 144 is a circuit diagram of the sense amplifier in the semiconductor memory device shown in Fig. 140, showing an example.
The sense amplifier 2100 used in the semiconductor memory device of the eleventh embodiment is, for example, the same as the sense amplifier used in the prior art semiconductor memory device shown in FIG. 2003 is the same, and includes a latch-type sense amplifier (complementary PMOS/NMOS latch-type sense amplifier stage) 2101, a vertical transmission gate 2101 constructed by an NMOS transistor to output the sensor The data amplified by the test amplifier is placed on the local data bus, a bit line short-circuit/precharge circuit 2103 for short-circuiting and precharging the bit line, and a bit line constructed by an NMOS transistor The cell line transfer gate 2104 supports a common sense amplifier method; here, the reference symbols BL and /BL designate the bit lines, and CL indicates the vertical selection line.
The vertical transmission gate 2102 is selected by the vertical decoder 2012 in the one hundred and fortieth figure, and the data from the selected sense amplifier 2100 is output to the data bus (2001, 2202: 2200') on; that is, except for the PRD type data bus amplifier 2300g, the basic configuration is the same as an ordinary DRAM, and although there is no special presentation here, it should be clear that this method Can be applied to similar DRAMs; examples include a DRAM in which the data buses (2200') are not separated between the local data bus 2201 and the ubiquitous data bus 2202.
Figure 145 is a diagram showing an example of the operating waveforms of the bus and the bus amplifier in the semiconductor memory device of Figure 140; here is an example of A read operation with a burst length of 8 (in an 8-bit block: CL0 to CL7).
As shown in Figure 145, by sequentially outputting the vertical selection signals CL0 to CL7, the read data can be obtained by the control signals in an interleaved pattern.<img file="TW366453B_D0224.tif" />1 and<img file="TW366453B_D0225.tif" />2(<img file="TW366453B_D0226.tif" />1'and<img file="TW366453B_D0227.tif" />2') One of the outputs of the MUX 2330g of the PRD amplifiers 2310g and 2320g operated (the output C of the data bus amplifier).
In the eleventh embodiment, where there is no data on the data buses bus and /bus, the data buses are pre-charged, but preferably as in the first embodiment, in any case A configuration that does not implement bus pre-charging is also possible. In this case, the local data bus short-circuit/pre-charge switch (2009), ubiquitous data bus short-circuit/pre-charge switch can be removed in this case , Etc.; it is also possible to selectively implement pre-charging, for example, when the next read operation is expected to start immediately, pre-charging is not implemented, or pre-charging is implemented by supplying a bus pre-charging command from the outside, Or, pre-charging is performed only before a write operation to determine the smooth operation of the write amplifier 2100.
What's more, because the bus amplifier 2300g (the PRD amplifiers 2310g and 2320g) of the eleventh embodiment has an auto-zero function, even when the voltage change appearing on the data line is very small, it can still be detected. Measure and amplify data; whats more, because the capacitor is inserted between the bus bars and the input of the current mirror amplifier (2303g) in the bus amplifier, the input of the amplifier can be set at such a level so that Can maximize the sensitivity of the current mirror amplifier; this makes it possible to amplify smaller voltage changes; here, if the buses are directly connected to the inputs, the inputs are often kept at the bus's Level, and the amplifier cannot always be operated in a range where the current mirror amplifier has a high sensitivity; in the eleventh embodiment, it is substantially the same as the bus amplifier used in the eighth embodiment Is used as the data bus amplifier (2300g), but alternatively, any of the previously described bus and bus amplifier configurations (including the single-end bus) can be used in the first Eleven examples.
FIG. 146 is a block diagram of a semiconductor memory device in the twelfth embodiment of the signal transmission system applied according to the fifth mode of the present invention, showing an example in the form of a circuit diagram .
The semiconductor memory device of the twelfth embodiment shown in FIG. 146 is basically the same as the semiconductor memory device of the eleventh embodiment shown in FIG. 140 The only difference is the configuration of the vertical decoder (vertical decoder array) 2120; the vertical decoder 2012 in the semiconductor memory device described earlier is just like in ordinary DRAMs , Is composed not to select the vertical transmission gate in overlapping style.
More specifically, on a bus, a vertical transfer gate is selected and opened, and the data from the sense amplifier 2100 is output on the local data bus and the ubiquitous data bus and is The data bus amplifier 2300g is amplified; after that, the bus pre-charging is implemented, but before that time, all the vertical transmission gates must be closed; the reason is that pre-charging the bus (2202) requires a limited time. If the vertical transmission gates are not closed during the pre-charging period, the data in the sense amplifier 2100 will be destroyed.
However, when the PRD method is used, because the precharge period itself is eliminated, there is no need to provide a time during which all the vertical transmission gates are closed; what's more, the PRD method by its nature allows the The previous data overlaps the next data. Therefore, before the transmission gate in the previous cycle is closed, the next transmission gate can be opened to output the next data on the data bus without closing the pair one. The vertical transmission gate after the bit; in the twelfth embodiment, the above benefits are fully used to construct the vertical decoder 2120.
Figure 147 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the vertical decoder system in the semiconductor memory device of Figure 146, and Figure 148 A diagram showing an example of the operating waveforms of the bus and the bus amplifier in the semiconductor memory device shown in FIG. 146.
In the one-hundred and forty-seventh figure, reference numbers 2120a and 2120b are two groups of vertical items (even-coded and odd-coded vertical items) vertical item decoders (A and B), 2121a and 2121b are two groups of vertical items. The vertical term precoders (A and B) of the vertical term of the group, and 2122a and 2122b are the line control pulse generators (CL pulse generators A and B) for the vertical term of the two groups; reference number 2123 indicates a time signal generator (sharp one).
As shown in Figure 147, the vertical decoder system (the vertical decoder array 2120) of the twelfth embodiment is driven by two time signals (CLK and /CLK), For example, the first plurality of vertical decoders A (2120a) driven by the positive logic time signal CLK and the second plurality of vertical decoders B ( 2120b) is operated by the longitudinal precoders 2121a and 2121b in an interleaved pattern, and drives the longitudinal transmission gate at a high speed when it is allowed to overlap to a certain extent from one transmission gate to the next; here, the vertical transmission gate The item precoder 2121a is supplied with a vertical address signal and a time signal CLK for the even-coded vertical items, and the vertical precoder 2121b is supplied with a vertical address signal for the odd-coded vertical items And time signal /CLK; in the example shown in the one hundred and forty-seventh figure, the complementary time signal CLK and /CLK are directly supplied from the outside, however, for example, if a PLL or the like is used The time signal generator 2123 is provided as shown by a dotted line, and the harder time signal CLK and /CLK are generated internally by the time signal CLK' to achieve a higher-speed operation.
By allowing the selection of the vertical transfer gate in the overlapping pattern as described above, it is possible to switch from one vertical transfer gate to the next one in a shorter interval. As a result, the precharge time is simply removed than when It can realize higher-speed data transmission; whats more, if the system is not specially designed to allow the overlap selection of the vertical transmission gate, because the PRD method allows overlap by its nature without any problems, it can be compared. The large timing margins design the system for the vertical transmission selection signal (CL).
As shown in Fig. 148, by sequentially outputting the vertical selection signals CL0 to CL7, the read data can be obtained as an interleaved pattern by the control signals<img file="TW366453B_D0228.tif" />1 and<img file="TW366453B_D0229.tif" />2(<img file="TW366453B_D0230.tif" />1'and<img file="TW366453B_D0231.tif" />2') One of the outputs of the MUX 2330g of the PRD amplifiers 2310g and 2320g driven (the output C of the data bus amplifier).
Here, in the twelfth embodiment, if the time for opening each vertical transfer gate is set to be longer, the potential appearing on the data buses (2201 and 2202) can be increased to increase Larger the operating margin; if the time for opening the vertical transmission gate is set to be approximately equal to that in the eleventh embodiment, the higher-speed data transmission can be increased.
The one hundred and forty-ninth figure is a circuit diagram showing an example of a block of a semiconductor memory device as a thirteenth embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention. picture.
The semiconductor memory device of the thirteenth embodiment shown in FIG. 149, except that in the thirteenth embodiment, a PMOS (P-channel MOS transistor) load 2413 is provided in the pan Except for the data bus (2202), it is substantially the same in configuration as the semiconductor memory device of the twelfth embodiment shown in Figure 146; more particularly, it is A PMOS transistor pulled to the high voltage supply (Vcc) terminal is provided on each of the bus and /bus (the ubiquitous data bus 2202); here, a preset load control signal V1L is The gate applied to each PMOS transistor allows the load to be turned on only when the data bus is used, for example.
The thirteenth embodiment handles the situation where if nothing is done, for example, because of the characteristics of the NMOS transistor of the vertical transmission gate, or because the ability to drive the sense amplifier 2100 into the high-level terminal is low Therefore, the entire bus potential (both of the complementary bus) falls to the low level end; that is, in the case of a traditional bus system, because each bit is precharged, If the potential of the entire bus bar falls to the low level end, the potential will immediately return to the precharge level (relay level). On the contrary, in the PRD method, because it is not implemented for every bit The bus bar is precharged, for example, the entire bus bar potential tends to fall to the low level end; in the PRD method, in fact, even if, for example, the bus bar is kept fixed at the low level, the data is still Can be rebuilt, but the operating margin is slightly reduced.
The one hundred and fifty-fifty figure is used to explain how the data bus waveform changes according to the presence or absence of the load in the semiconductor memory device in figure 149; the top part of the figure shows whether The waveform of the data bus (2202) when the load is set, and the other part shows the waveform of the data bus when the load 2413 is set.
As can be seen from Figure 150, when the load is not provided, the entire potential of the bus (the ubiquitous data bus 2202) falls to the low level end, but when the load is provided At 2413, the entire potential of the bus (the ubiquitous data bus 2202) is maintained at the relay level.
Here, the load 2413 is about the same as the PMOS (P-channel MOS transistor) used in the latch (2101) in the sense amplifier 2100 (please see figure 144) Therefore, it involves a negligible increase in the area; thus, the setting of the load 2413 serves as an increase in the operating margin of the bus amplifier 2300g (2300).
Figures 151A to 151I are diagrams showing various examples of the load in the semiconductor memory device in Figure 149; as can be seen, it is not only the PMOS type And other configurations as shown in the 151A to 151I diagrams can be used as the load 2413.
Figure 151A is about a configuration in which, as the load 2413, the NMOS transistor pulled to the high voltage supply (Vcc) terminal is set as the complementary bus bus and /bus( The ubiquitous data bus 2202), and a preset load voltage (high level voltage) V2L is applied to the gate of each NMOS transistor; Figure 151B shows a configuration, where The resistors of the load 2413 connected to the high voltage supply are set on the bus and /bus, and Figure 151C illustrates a configuration in which its gate is supplied with the A PMOS transistor that activates the signal /en is inserted between the resistors shown in Figure 151B and the high-level voltage supply.
More specifically, in the configuration of Figure 151A, the NMOS transistors pulled at the high voltage supply (Vcc) end are set as the complementary bus and /bus (the pan The load 2413 in the data bus 2202), and the preset load control signal (actuation signal) V2L is applied to the gate of each NMOS transistor so that the load is only used when the data bus is used Open (connected); In the configuration shown in Figure 151B, the resistors connected to the high-level voltage supply are set as the load of the bus bus and /bus 2413, and in the configuration of Figure 151C, the PMOS transistor whose gate is supplied with the actuation signal /en is inserted in the configuration shown in Figure 151B Between the resistors and the high-level voltage supply; that is, when a PMOS or NMOS transistor is used as the load 2413, the load can be composed so that it is turned on only when the data bus is used, Conversely, when the resistor is used, a transistor whose switching operation is controlled by a control signal (PMOS in the illustrated example) should be as shown in Figure 151C. set up.
Each of the 151D to 151F diagrams deals with the situation, where if nothing is done, the entire bus potential (for both of the complementary buses) is raised to the High-level terminal; in Figure 151D, the NMOS transistor pulled at the low-level voltage supply (Vss) terminal is set as the load 2413 of the complementary bus and /bus, And a preset load control signal (actuation signal) V3L is applied to the gate of each NMOS transistor so that the load is turned on (connected) only when the data bus is used; in the 150th In Figure 11E, the resistor connected to the low-level voltage supply is set as the load 2413 of the bus and /bus, and in Figure 151F, in Figure 151 The NMOS transistor in Figure 51D is replaced by a PMOS transistor; here, a predetermined load control signal (actuation signal) V4L is applied to the gate of each PMOS.
One hundred and fifty-one G to one hundred and fifty-one I show examples in which the load is pulled to a potential (Vtt) instead of the high-level voltage supply and low-level voltage supply; in the one hundred and fifty-first In figure G, the PMOS transistor pulled to the preset potential (Vtt) is set as the load 2413 of the complementary bus and /bus. In figure 151, the PMOS transistor Provide NMOS transistors, and in the 151st I figure, it provides transmission gates constructed by PMOS and NMOS; here, V5L to V7L (/V7L) designate control signals (actuation signals), by The load is turned on (connected) only when the data bus is used.
Figures 152 to 154 show the load in a semiconductor memory device of a thirteenth embodiment applied to the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention Examples of installation locations.
In addition to the configuration shown in Figure 149 for one of each ubiquitous data bus 2202, various other configurations are also possible, that is, multiple Such loads can be placed at intervals along the ubiquitous data bus 2202 (see figure 152), or can be placed at the end of the local data bus 2201 (see figure 150) Figure 13), or the loads can be set for both the ubiquitous data bus 2202 and the local data bus 2201 (please see Figure 154).
The one hundred and fifty-fifth figure is a circuit diagram showing an example of a block of a semiconductor memory device according to the fourteenth embodiment of the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention. Figure; Except that the load 2413 is formed from a pair of cross-coupled PMOS transistors corresponding to the bus bars, the fourteenth embodiment is basically the same as the aforementioned thirteenth embodiment.
As shown in the one hundred and fifty-fifth figure, when the load 2413 is formed from a pair of cross-coupled PMOS transistors corresponding to the complementary buses bus and /bus, in the complementary The total amount of movement in the direction of the high level in the bus bar becomes larger than when a simple load is used as in the thirteenth embodiment; even more, in the case of the thirteenth embodiment (first Figure 149), the bus bar potential, whether it is a high level or a low level, increases in the direction of the high potential (high level) at the same speed, but in the case of the fourteenth embodiment , The total amount of movement in the direction of the high level is reduced for the data bus moving in the direction of the low potential (low level); more particularly, the fourteenth embodiment not only prevents the data bus (2202) ) Is not kept fixed at a certain potential, and an amplification effect is provided to enrich the bus driving capability of the sense amplifier (2100); therefore, the operating margin can be further increased.
The one hundred and fifty-sixth figure shows the waveform of the data bus when the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention is applied to provide the load according to the thirteenth and fourteenth embodiments One comparison one picture.
As is clear from the comparison between the waveform of the thirteenth embodiment shown in the uppermost part of the one hundred and fifty-sixth figure and the waveform of the fourteenth embodiment shown in other parts, the The fourteenth embodiment can achieve an even greater increase in the operating margin of the bus amplifier (the PRD type data bus amplifier 2300).
In the example shown in Figure 155, please note that an additional PMOS transistor whose gate is supplied with an actuation signal /en is set to turn off when the data bus is not used The load is 2413.
Fig. 157 is a diagram showing a modified example applicable to the load used in the semiconductor memory device of Fig. 155.
In the fourteenth embodiment, if the data bus tends to move to the high potential (high level) end, the NMOS cross-coupled pair forming the load in Figure 155 should be crossed by an NMOS The coupling pair is replaced, and the NMOS cross-coupling pair should be pulled to the low potential (low level) end as shown in Figure 157; Please note that in Figure 157 In this modified example, an additional NMOS transistor whose gate is supplied with an actuation signal en is set so that the load 2413 is turned off when the data bus is not used.
As for the installation position of the load 2413, in the fourteenth embodiment, only one such load can be set for the ubiquitous data bus 2202, or a plurality of such loads can be set along the ubiquitous data bus 2202. The data bus 2202 is provided separately. Alternatively, as described previously with reference to Figures 152 to 154, the load or loads may be provided only in the local data bus The end of the row 2201 may be located at both the ubiquitous data bus 2202 and the local data bus 2201.
The one hundred and fifty-eighth figure is a block diagram of a semiconductor memory device of the fifteenth embodiment applied to the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention in the form of a circuit diagram. ; The semiconductor memory device of the fifteenth embodiment is basically the same as the thirteenth embodiment shown in Fig. 149 or the fourteenth embodiment shown in Fig. 153 The examples are the same, the only difference lies in the configuration of the sense amplifier 2100; more specifically, in the fifteenth embodiment, the sense amplifier 2100 is constituted as a direct sense amplifier (gate-received sense amplifier) It directly amplifies the levels of the bit lines and outputs them on the read data bus (RDB, /RDB).
The one hundred and fifty-ninth figure shows an example of a circuit diagram of the sense amplifier used in the semiconductor memory device of the one hundred and fifty-eighth figure; in the one hundred and fifty-ninth figure, refer to Number 2103 is a bit line precharge circuit, 2104 is a bit line transfer gate, 2105 is a read control circuit (sense amplifier stage), 2106 is a write control circuit, and 2107 is a latch circuit; What's more, the reference symbol BTE is a bit line transmission actuation signal, RDB and /RDB are read data bus, WDB and /WDB are write data bus, WE is a write actuation signal, PLE And NLE are PMOS and NMOS latch actuation signals, Vpr is a bit line precharge level, and PRE is a bit line precharge signal.
In the sense amplifier shown in Figure 159, unlike the traditional latch type (such as that shown in Figure 144), the read control circuit 2105 uses The gates receive the read data and directly output the data on the read data bus RDB and /RDB; with this arrangement, the data access time can be reduced; when the data access time is reduced It feels that it is no different from the traditional gate-receiving sensing type, but what needs to be noted here is that a greater reduction in the access time is at the stage of the sense amplifier that can use the gate-receiving sensing type (The read control circuit 2105) instead of using the traditional latch-type sense amplifier in combination with the PRD-type bus (for example, the one shown in Figure 144).
In a bus system using the PRD method, when the potentials of the complementary buses are completely at a high level "H" and a low level "L", if the data in the sense amplifier and the The data on the bus is the opposite. In the worst case, a danger may occur, that is, if the vertical transmission gate is opened for a longer time than a certain time, the data in the sense amplifier may be inverted. (Destroyed); This is to set a limit on the time that the vertical transmission gate can be opened when the traditional latch type sense amplifier is used; of course, it is possible to optimize the latch type in the latch type. Designed to avoid this problem, but if the gate is used to receive the sensing type sense amplifier (direct sense amplifier) as in the fifteenth embodiment, it is difficult for the data in the sense amplifier to be affected by the data. Affected by the potential of the bus (RDB, /RDB), not only can higher speeds be achieved, but also the margins of the operation and design can be greatly increased; for the example of the direct sense amplifier, please refer to G . Kitsukawa et al., "A 23-ns 1-Mb BiCMOS DR AM," IEEE Journal of solid-state circuits, Vol. 25, No. 5, October 1990.
The one hundred and sixtieth diagram is a waveform diagram for explaining the operation of the semiconductor memory device in the one hundred and fifty-eighth diagram of an example.
The waveform diagram of the one hundred and sixtieth figure relates to a read operation with a burst length of 8 (in 8-bit squares: CL0 to CL7), showing the pre-determination of the bus (RDB, /RDB) The charging level (Vpr) is set at a high level "H" (Vcc); by increasing the bus precharge level as shown, the bus of the NMOS gate receiving sense amplifier can be increased Drive capacity; in this case, it is better to use a smaller load.
Fig. 161 is a waveform diagram for explaining another example of the operation of the semiconductor memory device in Fig. 158.
The waveform diagram of Figure 161 relates to a read operation with a burst length of 16 (in a 16-bit block: CL0 to CL7), showing that the bus precharge level is set to one Between the high level "H" (Vcc) and the low level "L" but closer to the relay level of the high level; in this case, compared to the one hundred and sixtieth figure The load capacity is improved.
In the fifteenth embodiment, it uses an NMOS gate receiving sense amplifier, but alternatively, it can also use a PMOS gate receiving sense amplifier.
FIG. 162 is a circuit diagram showing the configuration of an essential part of a semiconductor memory device of a sixteenth embodiment as applied to the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention .
As shown in Figure 162, in the sixteenth embodiment, the NMOS gate receiving sense amplifier stage of the fifteenth embodiment shown in Figure 159 ( The read control circuit 2105) is replaced by a CMOS gate receiving sense amplifier stage (read control circuit 2105'); otherwise, the configuration is the same as that of the fifteenth embodiment; when combined with the PRD method When using the direct sense amplifier, from the viewpoint of operation, although the required circuit area is increased, the CMOS configuration is better for the read control circuit 2105'.
The one hundred and sixty-third diagram is a block diagram of a semiconductor memory device according to a seventeenth embodiment applied to the signal transmission system of the fifth mode of the present invention in the form of a circuit diagram. .
Except that the buses are not separated between the local data bus 2201 and the ubiquitous data bus 2202, and the write amplifier 2010 and the bus amplifier (PRD type data bus amplifier) 2300 are set For each data bus 2200, unlike the fourteenth embodiment, the seventeenth embodiment is basically the same in configuration as the fourteenth embodiment described in Figure 155 Moreover, the load 2413 and the data bus pre-charging circuit 2402 are also set to each data bus 2200.
More specifically, each PRD type bus amplifier 2300 directly receives and amplifies the data transmitted from the vertical transmission gate; the PRD type data bus amplifier 2300 used here is the same as that used in the fourteenth embodiment Those are the same.
Figure 164 is a diagram showing an example of the operating waveforms of the bus and the bus amplifier in the semiconductor memory device of Figure 163, and one hundred and sixty-fifth The figure is a diagram showing another example of the operating waveforms of the bus bar and the bus amplifier in the semiconductor memory device of Fig. 163.
As shown in Figure 164, in the seventeenth embodiment, because the data bus 2200 is not formed like the local and ubiquitous data buses (2201 and 2202) A long bus, that is, because the length of the data bus 2200 is made short, the amplitude of the bus can be set larger and the operating margin can be increased accordingly; this means that if the The vertical term selection cycle time is reduced, and the bus amplitude level is set to be approximately equal to that in the fourteenth embodiment shown in Figure 165, a higher transmission rate can be achieved .
Because the buses separated between the local data bus (2201) and the ubiquitous data bus (2202) are combined into a data bus, the effect of the seventeenth embodiment cannot be obtained; and Yes, it will be easily recognized that even in the case of a data bus organized in an inherited manner, if the length of the total bus is reduced to reduce the time constant of the bus, a time constant can be obtained. Similar effects.
Generally, in a semiconductor memory device, whether it is a PRD type or another type, the data from the sense amplifier is output on the local data bus and the ubiquitous data bus (in some configurations) , There is no local data bus) and is fed into the data bus amplifier at the end of the memory array (memory monomer array) for amplification; if the unit size of the memory array is large According to the position of the sense amplifier, the difference in the distance from the sense amplifier to the bus amplifier becomes obvious; as a result, a difference occurs from the time the vertical transfer gate is opened until the data reaches the bus amplifier In particular, in high-speed operation where the difference in the time required for data to reach the bus amplifier is large in relation to the data transfer rate, there is an error operation in the case of the PRD method A danger that can occur because the bus amplifier is operated by the time signal; therefore, if the data skew shift due to the position of the sense amplifier can be eliminated, the high operating frequency achieved by the PRD method It can be enlarged; according to this, the eighteenth embodiment described hereafter relates to the configuration and the operation of a memory array (semiconductor memory device) that compensates for the data skew shift.
The one hundred and sixty-sixth figure is a circuit diagram showing the essential part of an eighteenth embodiment of the semiconductor memory device applied to the signal transmission system according to the fifth mode of the present invention A block diagram of the configuration; in the one hundred and sixty-sixth figure, the reference number 2002a is a main character decoder, 2002b is a sub-character decoder, 2100 is a sense amplifier array, and 2201 is a ground Data bus dual, 2202 is a ubiquitous data bus dual, and 2300 is a data bus amplifier (PRD type data bus amplifier).
The semiconductor memory device shown in Figure 166 is part of a 32-M-bit memory cell array (it shows a 16-M-bit memory cell array that forms half of the memory cell array). Bit (16M)); the 16M square is divided into eight smaller squares (2M for each square) in the column item direction (X direction: vertical direction); here, each 2M square includes a memory unit Volume array 2001, sub-character decoder array 2002b, sense amplifier array 2100, local data bus 2201, ubiquitous data bus 2202, etc., and a bus amplifier 2300 is provided for each ubiquitous data bus Row 2202; each data bus (2201, 2202) is a PRD type bus, and the data bus amplifier 2300 is also a PRD type bus amplifier.
Fig. 167 is a diagram showing an example of the bus amplifier in the semiconductor memory device of Fig. 166, and Fig. 168 is a diagram showing an example of the bus amplifier in the semiconductor memory device. Figure 167 is a circuit diagram of the PRD amplifier configuration in the bus amplifier, and Figure 169 shows an example of the configuration of the bus amplifier in Figure 167 A circuit diagram of a multiplexer; here, the diagrams from one hundred and sixty-seventh to one hundred and sixty-ninth are related to the one hundred and forty-first to one-hundred-fourth shown in connection with the eleventh embodiment. Thirteen pictures.
The one hundred and seventieth figure shows a configuration example of a vertical item decoding system in the semiconductor memory device of the eighteenth embodiment applied to the signal transmission system of the fifth mode of the present invention Of a block diagram.
In the one hundred and seventieth figure, the reference numbers 2120a and 2120b are the vertical term decoders (A and B) used for the vertical term of the two groups (the vertical term of the even number and the odd number), and 2121a and 2121b are the vertical term. The precoders (A and B) are used for the vertical items of the two groups, and 2122a' and 2122b' are vertical item selection line control pulse generation circuits with a delay adjustment function (CL pulse generation circuits with a delay adjustment function A and B) Used for the vertical items of the two groups; reference number 2123 indicates a time signal generator (sharp one).
As shown in the 170th figure, the vertical decoder system (the vertical decoder array 2120) of the eighteenth embodiment is driven by two time signals (CLK and /CLK), and The first plurality of vertical decoders A (2120a) driven by the positive logic time signal CLK and the second plurality of vertical decoders B (2120b) driven by the inverted logic time signal/CLK For example, the vertical precoders 2121a and 2121b are operated in an interleaved pattern to drive the vertical transmission gates at a high speed when allowing a certain degree of overlap from one vertical transmission gate to the next; here, The vertical precoder 2121a supplies a vertical address signal and time signal CLK for the even-coded vertical item, and the vertical precoder 2121b supplies a vertical address signal and time signal for the odd-coded vertical item. Letter/CLK.
More specifically, a signal with a vertical address decoded and a vertical pulse signal are supplied to the vertical decoders 2120a and 2120b, and after the address is established, its supply is synchronized with the operation of the vertical transfer gate A vertical pulse (vertical selection line control pulse CL); on the contrary, the time signal (CLK) and a RAS type column address (pre-decode address signal) are input to a delay adjustment function 2122a' And the CL pulse generation circuit of 2122b'; the pre-decoding address signal is a column item address signal (3-bit) specifying one of the eight blocks; in the illustrated example, a 3-bit The elementary pre-decoding signal is input as the column item address signal, but the column item address signal is not limited to this special type. The only requirement is to input a RAS type address signal that can select a block.
In the example shown in Fig. 170, the complementary time signals CLK and /CLK are directly supplied from the outside, but if, for example, a PLL or the like is used, the time signal generator 2123 is provided as follows: As shown in the line, the time signal CLK' can be used to internally generate more stringent time signal CLK and /CLK to achieve higher-speed operation.
Fig. 171 is a diagram illustrating an example of the CK pulse wave generating circuit (CL pulse wave generating circuit with delay adjustment functions 2122a' and 2122b') in Fig. 170.
As shown in Fig. 171, the CL pulse generating circuit with a delay adjustment function 2122a' (2122b') of the eighteenth embodiment is constructed so that the CL pulse generation circuit is located at the source terminal of each NMOS The capacitance of the capacitor changes according to the address of the RAS pre-decoding (C0>C1>...>C7) to generate a longitudinal pulse wave (the longitudinal term selection line control pulse wave CL) makes the data bus When the distance of the amplifier (2300) increases, the pulse rises earlier; that is, the CL pulse generating circuit 2122a' generates the longitudinal pulse CL such that the position is farther from the data bus amplifier to a longitudinal transmission gate Is activated earlier, in other words, so that when the distance from the array 2001 to the data bus amplifier 2300 increases, the timing of transmitting data from the sense amplifier 2100 to the data bus (2201, 2202) is changed in advance.
Here, when the CL pulse wave generating circuit is constructed to generate the CL pulse wave at the same timing regardless of the distance from the CL pulse wave generating circuit and the data bus amplifier, the one used in the data bus amplifier These control signals (<img file="TW366453B_D0232.tif" />1, <img file="TW366453B_D0233.tif" />2) It can be generated at an earlier timing to the sense amplifier of the vertical selection signal generating circuit and the data bus amplifier, and generated at a later timing to the vertical selection signal generating circuit. And the sense amplifier of the data bus amplifier, and the control signal can be determined at an appropriate timing where the arriving data is valid (for example, the later part of the bit time).
Fig. 172 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the CL pulse wave generating circuit (CL pulse wave generating circuit with a delay adjustment function) shown in Fig. 171.
Data (read data) travels along the local data bus 2201 and ubiquitous data bus 2202 and reaches the data bus amplifier 2300 (2300g); when the distance from the array to the data bus amplifier increases , The time required to read the data from an array (the memory cell array 2001) to reach the data bus amplifier also increases.
Therefore, the CL pulse generating circuit 2122a' (2122b') generates such a longitudinal pulse CL such that as shown in the 172nd figure, the position is farther from the memory of the data bus amplifier 2300 The array rises earlier, so it is determined that the data read from any array arrives at the data bus amplifier 2300 at the same time; more specifically, the CL pulse generated by a delay adjustment function 2122a' and 2122b' In the circuit, the pulse rising timing is controlled in a manner such as to compensate for the sum of the delay through the data bus and the delay through the signal line driving the vertical transfer gate; by doing so, data can be made Must always arrive at the data bus amplifier 2300 with the same timing and therefore always maintain a constant data decision period; because the PRD type bus amplifier is operated by the time signal, one of the amplifiers operating at high speed is wrong The operation can be prevented by ensuring that the data always arrives at the same timing; using this method, the PRD-type memory bus can be made to operate at a higher level at high speed.
In the above example, the 32M square is divided into eight squares in the direction of the column item, but of course, the number of these squares does not need to be limited to this special number, and the memory capacity is not limited to any special What's more, as an alternative method, the longitudinal pulse signal (CL) can be moved upwards according to the distance from the column block of the data bus amplifier, or as far as the distance from the data bus amplifier When the square is reduced, it can be delayed; in the above example, each local data bus is set to a length so as not to cause a skew displacement on the local data bus.
Fig. 173 is a diagram showing another example of the bus amplifier in the semiconductor memory device of Fig. 166, and Fig. 174 is a diagram showing another example. A circuit diagram of the PRD amplifier configuration in the bus amplifier in Figure 173, and Figure 175 shows an example in the bus amplifier in Figure 173 A circuit diagram of a latch; here, the one hundred and seventy-third to one hundred and seventy-fifth figures are related to the one hundred and twenty-ninth to one hundred and thirtieth figures previously connected to the ninth embodiment. One picture.
When the previously described configuration of the ninth embodiment is applied, although the transfer rate is lower than the case of the bus amplifier shown in the above 167 to 169 diagrams , It can still achieve higher speed data transmission than the conventional semiconductor memory device; on the contrary, when the bus amplifier (the PRD type) shown in the 173rd to 175th figure When the configuration of the data bus amplifier 2300e) is used, the advantage is that it can reduce the circuit compared to the bus amplifier (2300g) shown in the 167 to 169 diagrams. area.
The one hundred and seventy-sixth figure shows another one of a vertical decoder system in the semiconductor memory device of the eighteenth embodiment applied to the signal transmission system of the fifth mode of the present invention A block diagram of the configuration example.
As is clear from the comparison between the one hundred and seventy-sixth and one hundred and seventy pictures, the vertical decoder system shown in the 176th diagram does not involve interleaving, but the vertical decoder 2120 is operated by the time signal (the positive logic time signal CLK); as mentioned in the explanation of the one hundred and seventieth figure, the time signal generator using a PLL or similar is used, as in the one hundredth The dotted lines in the seventy-six figure can be set, and an even stricter time signal CLK can be generated internally from the time signal CLK'.
The one hundred and seventy-seventh figure is a circuit diagram showing the essential part of a semiconductor memory device according to the nineteenth embodiment of the signal transmission system of the fifth mode of the present invention. A block diagram of the configuration, and Fig. 178 is a diagram showing an example of the CL pulse generation circuit used in the semiconductor memory device of Fig. 177; here , The one hundred and seventy-seventh and one-hundred-seventh figures are equivalent to the one hundred and sixty-sixth and one hundred and seventy-first figures illustrating the eighteenth embodiment described above.
As shown in Figure 177, in the nineteenth embodiment, the 16M memory cell array (memory array) square is divided into four in the column item direction (X direction: vertical direction) Smaller block; otherwise, the configuration is the same as that of the eighteenth embodiment.
However, as shown in Figure 178, the delay value in the CL pulse generation circuit (CL pulse generation circuit with delay adjustment functions 2122a' and 2122b') is controlled, not by changing the setting The capacity of the capacitor at the source terminal of each NMOS transistor is determined by the number of delay stages (NAND gates/inverter delay cells) connected in steps, which are arranged to generate a longitudinal pulse (longitudinal). The item selection line control pulse CL) makes the pulse rise earlier for the memory array located far away from the data bus amplifier (2300); needless to say, the delay stage configuration can be modified in various ways.
Although each embodiment of the fifth mode of the present invention has been described as being applied to a semiconductor memory device (DRAM), it is preferable that the application of the signal transmission system of the present invention is not limited to a DRAM.
Many different embodiments of the present invention can be constructed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and please understand that the present invention is not limited to those defined in the scope of patent application in the appendix except for those defined in the appendix. This particular embodiment is described in this specification.
A signal transmission system used to transmit signals between LSI chips, its receiver circuit, and semiconductor memory devices using the system
5 sheets
Sheet 1 Sheet 2 Sheet 3 Sheet 4 Sheet 5
21 members in 5 offices
Priority claims12
| Document | Office | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26854496 | Japan | A | |
| 26854496 | Japan | A | |
| 1890797 | Japan | A | |
| 1890797 | Japan | A | |
| 26250797 | Japan | A | |
| 26250797 | Japan | A | |
| 19960018907 | – | – | – |
| 19960268544 | – | – | – |
| 19970262507 | – | – | – |
| JP19960268544 | – | – | – |
| JP19970018907 | – | – | – |
| JP19970262507 | – | – | – |
Members21
| Document | Office | Kind | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DE19744620A1 | Germany | A1 | |
| KR19980032701A | Republic of Korea | A | |
| JPH10275038A | Japan | A | |
| TW366453BThis record | Taiwan Province of China | B | |
| KR100266055B1 | Republic of Korea | B1 | |
| US6157688A | United States of America | A | |
| US6377638B1 | United States of America | B1 | |
| US2002080883A1 | United States of America | A1 | |
| US6493394B2 | United States of America | B2 | |
| DE19758672B4 | Germany | B4 | |
| JP2004355647A | Japan | A | |
| JP2005025768A | Japan | A | |
| DE19758675B4 | Germany | B4 | |
| DE19758674B4 | Germany | B4 | |
| JP4001591B2 | Japan | B2 | |
| JP4043459B2 | Japan | B2 | |
| JP2008033953A | Japan | A | |
| JP4052697B2 | Japan | B2 | |
| JP4425952B2 | Japan | B2 | |
| DE19744620B4 | Germany | B4 | |
| DE19758673B4 | Germany | B4 |
1 legal event, as the office reported them to INPADOC
Events
| Event | Code | |
|---|---|---|
| Annulment or lapse of patent due to non-payment of feesLapsedMM4A | MM4A |
Numbers
- Publication
- 366453
- Publication, DOCDB
- 366453
- Publication, EPODOC
- TW366453B
- Application
- 86114834
- Application, DOCDB
- 86114834
- Application, EPODOC
- TW199786114834
Titles4
- Chinese
- 用以在LSI晶片間傳輸信號之信號傳輸系統、其所用之接收器電路、及應用該系統之半導體記憶體元件
- English
- SIGNAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEM FOR TRANSMITTING SIGNALS BETWEEN LSI CHIPS, RECEIVER CIRCUIT FOR USE IN THE SIGNAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEM, AND SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE APPLYING THE SIGNAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEM
- Unlabeled
- 用以在LSI晶片間傳輸信號之信號傳輸系統、其所用之接收器電路、及應用該系統之半導體記憶體元件
- Unlabeled
- A signal transmission system used to transmit signals between LSI chips, its receiver circuit, and semiconductor memory devices using the system
Classification
- CPC, 10
- H04L25/0276
- G06F13/40
- G06F13/4243
- H04L25/0278
- H04L25/0282
- H04L25/0288
- H04L25/497
- Y02D10/00
- H04L5/14
- H04L12/52
- IPC, 9
- G06F3 00
- G06F13 00
- G06F1 10
- G06F12 00
- G06F13 16
- G06F13 42
- G11C11 401
- G11C11 407
- G11C11 409