BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The features and advantages of the present invention will be clear from the following detailed description of a practical embodiment illustrated by way of non-limitative example in the attached drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a diagram of a regulating system according to the prior art;
FIG. 2 shows a circuit for obtaining a signal present in the circuit in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 shows a typical initial diagram of the ramp generating circuit used for the EEPROM cells;
FIG. 4 shows a part of the integrated control circuit of a charge pump according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 shows another part of the integrated control circuit of a charge pump according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 shows the integrated control circuit of a charge pump according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 7 shows an integrated control circuit of a charge pump according to a variation of the embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8 shows an integrated control circuit of a charge pump according to another version of the embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 9 shows an operating simulation of the control circuit in FIG. 6.
DETAIL DESCRIPTION
With reference to FIG. 4 there is shown a part of the integrated control circuit for a charge pump according to the present invention. The circuit in FIG. 4 is suitable for regulating the output voltage Vout from a charge pump. The circuit in FIG. 4 comprises a first circuit block 10 comprising an operational amplifier 11 at the inverting terminal of which there is present the voltage Vbg and at the non-inverting terminal of which there is present the voltage Vbgref at the heads of a resistance Rvbg arranged between the ground GND and the drain terminal of a PMOS transistor P1 having the source terminal connected to a reference voltage Vdd and the gate terminal connected to the output voltage Vpref from the operational amplifier 11; in this way there is obtained a current Ivbgref=Vbg/Rvbg that by means of another PMOS transistor P2, which is mirror-connected to the transistor P1, is taken to another transistor N1 forming part of a mirror N1, N2. The dimension of the NMOS transistor N2 is N times greater than the dimension of the transistor N1 so as to produce a current Ireg at a value selected on the basis of the value of the voltage Vout. The circuit branch comprising the transistor N2 also comprises a resistance R connected to the source terminal of the transistor N2 and to the voltage Vout. An operational amplifier 12 makes the voltage VR=Vbg; as Vout=Vbg+R*Ireg and Ireg=N*Ivbg=N*Vbg/Rvbg, there is obtained Vout=Vbg*(I+RN/Rvbg), i.e. the output voltage of the charge pump Vout depends exclusively on the bandgap voltage Vbg, which is a voltage that is stable with respect to temperature and voltage variations; each variation of a physical or technological nature to the value of the resistances is insignificant as the resistances appear in the form of a ratio. The transistors P1 and P2 are part of a block 112.
In order to obtain a voltage ramp it is necessary to use another circuit, as shown in FIG. 5. Another transistor block 113, comprising a PMOS mirror, enables a current Iramp to be taken to a current mirror M10-M11 that enables the current Iramp to be mirrored on a circuit branch comprising a capacitor C11 connected to the voltage Vout and to the drain terminal of the transistor M11. The voltage Vramp on the drain terminal of the transistor M11 is an input to the non-inverting terminal of an operational amplifier 11 having the voltage Vbg on the inverting terminal. The capacitor C11 is charged with a direct current Iramp provided by the mirror M10-M11. The voltage increases on a ramp given by Iramp/C.
In FIG. 6 there is shown the circuit according to the invention that comprises the circuits of FIGS. 4 and 5 where the outputs Reg12 and Reg11 of the respective amplifiers 11 and 12 are inputs to an OR gate 13 having the output signal Reg13; said signal is an inlet signal to the charge pump 1 that provides the output voltage Vout. The circuit according to the invention preferably comprises a logic circuitry 111 that acts on blocks 112 and 113 formed respectively by PMOS transistors, that are suitable for carrying the current to the mirrors M10-M11 and N1-N2, to activate them and change the current to be taken to the ramp generator in FIG. 5 and to the regulator in FIG. 4. The operation of the circuit is as follows and is visible in FIG. 9.
In the initial phase A when the charge pump is at the lower regulating level Vlow polarized by means of an appropriate of value Ireg set by the circuitry 111, the current Iramp is nil; in this condition VR=Vbg, Reg13=Reg12, Vramp=0 and Reg11=0.
Subsequently, in phase B, the circuitry 111 activates the ramp generator by means of a precharge phase in which the node Vramp is taken to the value Vbg.
Subsequently, in the phase C, the circuitry 111 takes the current Ireg to a value that is compatible with the upper regulating value Vhigh, and in this case the capacitor branch is active and after a transition Vramp=Vbg is obtained whilst Vr<<Vbg as the regulating voltage is below the final value. In this phase, Reg11=Reg13 and Reg12=0.
Subsequently, in the phase D, when the voltage Vr becomes the same as the voltage Vbg, the voltage Vramp is discharged to ground and Reg12=Reg13 is obtained. The capacitive branch switches off and only the non-capacitive branch controls the charge pump.
The charge pump used in the case of EEPROM memories is of the reconfigurable type, i.e. it is made to operate with identical modules arranged parallel with low voltage levels, for example for reading the memory cells, or arranged in series when on the other hand a high voltage level is required, i.e. in the case of programming or deletion. In order for the reconfiguration after the formation of a voltage ramp and the subsequent discharge to be effective, i.e. so that the pump starts operating again with the modules arranged parallel rapidly without load dispersal, it is necessary for the pump to remain active during the discharge.
This involves having to dimension with attention the discharge current, which has to be greater than driving capability, but not excessively so as not to have a discharge that is so fast as not to allow redistribution of the charges.
In FIGS. 7 and 8 there are circuit alternatives comprising the circuit in FIG. 6 with two different circuit arrangements for discharging capacity.
In FIG. 7 the circuit arrangement comprises a PMOS transistor M15 having the source terminal connected to a supply voltage Vdd and the drain terminal connected to the voltage Vramp; by switching on the capacitive branch during the discharge of the capacitor C11 the latter is forced to evolve into a ramp. In fact if the PMOS transistor M15 is controlled by the signal Reg11, the ramp generator modulates through the output of the comparator 11 the descent of the voltage Vout. The transistor M15 has to have dimensions such as to ensure a certain tilt of the descent ramp in conditions of maximum charge. In this way, constant discharge time is ensured as the charge varies.
The circuit in FIG. 8 differs from the circuit in FIG. 7 through the addition of a filter 20-21. The filter comprises a first AND gate 20 having the input signals Reg12 and the negated signal Vdisch, where Vdisch is the discharge voltage of the transistor M15. The output signal from the AND gate 20 is the input signal to the OR gate. An AND gate 21 has the input signals Reg11 and Vdisch and the output pilots a transistor M16 the drain terminal of which is connected to the voltage Vout whilst the source terminal is connected to ground. Said filter is necessary so that the signal Reg11 does not interfere with the information provided by the capacitive branch.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures.
Patent Application
20080007321
