Claims
- 1. A DC voltage generator system for an integrated circuit, said generator system being operated by a supply voltage at or near one-volt and comprising:a negative voltage pump circuit comprising: first means for receiving a clock signal and alternatively outputting a high portion of said clock signal from a first pair of outputs; first means for switching between one of two inputs for alternatively receiving said high portion of said clock signal from said first pair of outputs and outputting an intermediate voltage and a first logic high output from one of two outputs, where each of said one of two inputs includes a switch connected in series with an inverter; second means for alternatively receiving said logic high output from said one of two outputs and outputting a second logic high output from a second pair of outputs; and second means for switching between one of two inputs for alternatively receiving said second logic high output from said second pair of outputs and outputting a negative output voltage.
- 2. The generator system according to claim 1, wherein said first means for receiving said clock signal and said second means for alternatively receiving said logic high output include NAND-type cross-over complementary clock driving circuits for generating non-overlapping clock signals.
- 3. The generator system according to claim 1, wherein said inverter of each of said one of two inputs includes an nMOS and a pMOS transistor.
- 4. The generator system according to claim, 1, wherein said second means for switching comprises:a first pull-up device connected to one of said second pair of outputs, the supply voltage, and a first boost capacitor; a second pull-up device connected to another of said second pair of outputs, the supply voltage, and a second boost capacitor; a first pair of discharge devices for the first boost capacitor; a second pair of discharge devices for the second boost capacitor; a first output diode connected to the first boost capacitor, the first pair of discharge devices, and one of the second pair of discharge devices; and a second output diode connected to the second boost capacitor, the second pair of discharge devices, and one of the first pair of discharge devices.
- 5. The generator system according to claim 4, further comprising a pair of charge capacitors connected in series with said first and second boost capacitors.
- 6. The generator system according to claim 1, wherein said intermediate voltage is a negative voltage.
- 7. The generator system according to claim 1, wherein said clock signal has an frequency in the range from 25 MHz to 50 MHz.
- 8. The generator system according to claim 1, wherein said first and second means for switching include low-threshold devices having threshold voltages less than 0.5 volt.
- 9. The generator system according to claim 8, wherein said threshold voltages are in the range from 0.3 to 0.45 volt.
- 10. The generator system according to claim 1, further comprising means for generating an operating voltage for a negative wordline charge pump circuit of at least one memory unit of said integrated circuit, means for generating an operating voltage for a substrate bias charge pump circuit of at least one memory unit of said integrated circuit, and means for generating an operating voltage for a boost wordline charge pump circuit of at least one memory unit of said integrated circuit, wherein said means for generating said operating voltage for said negative wordline charge pump circuit, said means for generating said operating voltage for said substrate bias charge pump circuit, and said means for generating said operating voltage for said boost wordline charge pump circuit are operated by said supply voltage.
- 11. The generator system according to claim 1, wherein said first means for receiving said clock signal and said second means for receiving said clock signal include NAND-type cross-over complementary clock driving circuits for generating non-overlapping clock signals.
- 12. The generator system according to claim 1, further comprising a reference generator for generating and providing a reference voltage being operated by said supply voltage.
- 13. The generator system according to claim 1, further comprising a cascaded pump arrangement including a first stage having at least two pump circuits and a second stage having at least one pump circuit, said cascaded pump arrangement being operated by said supply voltage.
- 14. The generator system according to claim 1, further comprising a pump circuit being operated by said supply voltage for outputting an output voltage via an output node, where said output voltage is greater than said supply voltage.
- 15. The generator system according to claim 1, wherein said supply voltage is in the range of 0.7 to 1.5 volts.
- 16. A DC voltage pump circuit in a DC voltage generator system for an integrated circuit, said generator system being operated by a supply voltage at or near one-volt and said DC voltage pump circuit being operated by said supply voltage for outputting an output voltage, comprising:means for receiving a clock signal; means for alternatively feeding said clock signal to a first logic circuit or a second logic circuit; means for alternatively receiving said clock signal from said first logic circuit by a first circuit or from said second logic circuit by a second circuit to increase the voltage level at a corresponding output node of said first or second circuit; means for increasing said output voltage by alternatively feeding said increased voltage level from said corresponding output node of said first or second circuit to said output node, where said output voltage is greater than said supply voltage; means for generating an operating voltage for a negative wordline charge pump circuit of at least one memory unit of said integrated circuit; means for generating an operating voltage for a substrate bias charge pump circuit of at least one memory unit of said integrated circuit; and means for generating an operating voltage for a boost wordline charge pump circuit of at least one memory unit of said integrated circuit, wherein said means for generating said operating voltage for said negative wordline charge pump circuit, said means for generating said operating voltage for said substrate bias charge pump circuit, and said means for generating said operating voltage for said boost wordline charge pump circuit are operated by said supply voltage.
- 17. A DC voltage pump circuit in a DC voltage generator system for an integrated circuit, said generator system being operated by a supply voltage at or near one-volt and said DC voltage pump circuit being operated by said supply voltage for outputting an output voltage, comprising:means for receiving a clock signal; means for alternatively feeding said clock signal to a first logic circuit or a second logic circuit; means for alternatively receiving said clock signal from said first logic circuit by a first circuit or from said second logic circuit by a second circuit to increase the voltage level at a corresponding output node of said first or second circuit; means for increasing said output voltage by alternatively feeding said increased voltage level from said corresponding output node of said first or second circuit to said output node, where said output voltage is greater than said supply voltage; and a negative voltage pump circuit comprising: first means for receiving a clock signal and alternatively outputting a high portion of said clock signal from a first pair of outputs; first means for switching between one of two inputs for alternatively receiving said high portion of said clock signal from said first pair of outputs and outputting an intermediate voltage and a first logic high output from one of two outputs; second means for alternatively receiving said high logic high output from said one of two outputs and outputting a second logic high output from a second pair of outputs; and second means for switching between one of two inputs for alternatively receiving said second logic high output from said second pair of outputs and outputting a negative output voltage.
- 18. A DC voltage generator system for an integrated circuit, said generator system being operated by a supply voltage at or near one-volt and comprising:a DC voltage pump circuit operated by said supply voltage for outputting an output voltage, said pump circuit comprising: means for receiving a clock signal; means for alternatively feeding said clock signal to a first logic circuit and a second logic circuit, an output of the first logic circuit forming a first node connecting the first logic circuit to the second logic circuit and an output of the second logic circuit forming a second node that connects the second logic circuit to the first logic circuit; means for alternatively receiving said clock signal from said first logic circuit by a first circuit and from said second logic circuit by a second circuit to increase the voltage level at a corresponding output node of said first or second circuit; and means for increasing said output voltage by alternatively feeding said increased voltage level from said corresponding output node of said first or second circuit to said output node, where said output voltage is greater than said supply voltage.
- 19. The generator system according to claim 18, wherein said DC voltage pump circuit is configured for stacking in parallel or serial with at least one other DC voltage pump circuit.
- 20. The generator system according to claim 18, wherein said DC voltage pump circuit is configured to have a two-dimensional size of approximately 40 um×60 um if at least one capacitor of said first and second circuits is a planar-type capacitor or a two-dimensional size of approximately 10 um×15 um if said at least one capacitor of said first and second circuits is a deep-trench capacitor.
- 21. The generator system according to claim 18, wherein each of said first and second circuits include a boost capacitor for increasing the voltage level at their corresponding output node.
- 22. The generator system according to claim 18, wherein said means for increasing alternatively feeds said increased voltage level to said output node via a first diode connected to said first circuit or a second diode connected to said second circuit.
- 23. The generator system according to claim 18, further comprising a capacitor connected to said output node.
- 24. The generator system according to claim 18, further comprising a reference generator for generating and providing a reference voltage being operated by said supply voltage.
- 25. The generator system according to claim 18, further comprising a cascaded pump arrangement including a first stage having at least two pump circuits and a second stage having at least one pump circuit, said cascaded pump arrangement being operated by said supply voltage.
- 26. The generator system according to claim 18, wherein said supply voltage is in the range of 0.7 to 1.5 volts.
Parent Case Info
This application is a divisional of Ser. No. 09/627,599 filed on Jul. 28, 2000 and now becomes U.S. Pat. No. 6,337,595.
US Referenced Citations (8)