Claims
- 1. A magneto-resistive memory comprising:
two or more elongated magneto-resistive bits each having an axis along its length; two or more elongated word lines extending substantially parallel to one another, each of the elongated word lines having an axis along its length and extending adjacent a corresponding one of the magneto-resistive bits; an elongated digital line extending adjacent each of the magneto-resistive bits, the elongated digital line extending along an axis; the axis of the elongated digital line being offset relative to the axes of the elongated word lines such that the axis of the elongated digital line is not perpendicular to the axes of the elongated word lines; and the axis of each elongated magneto-resistive bit being substantially perpendicular to the axis of the corresponding elongated word line.
- 2. The magneto-resistive memory of claim 1 wherein the magneto-resistive bits are electrically connected in a string configuration to form a sense line.
- 3. The magneto-resistive memory of claim 2 further comprising:
sense current generating means for selectively providing a sense current to the magneto-resistive bits via the sense line; word line current generating means for selectively providing a word line current to a selected word line; digital line generating means for selectively providing a digital line current to the digital line; and a controller for controlling the sense current generating means, the word line current generating means and the digital line generating means.
- 4. The magneto-resistive memory of claim 3, wherein the controller has means for initiating a write to a selected magneto-resistive bit including:
means for causing the sense current generating means to provide a sense current to the sense line; means for causing the digital line current generating means to provide a digital line current to the digital line; and means for causing the word line current generating means to provide a word line current to the word line that extends adjacent the selected magneto-resistive bit.
- 5. The magneto-resistive memory of claim 2, further comprising:
a current generator to provide current selectively to the sense lines; a current generator to provide current selectively to the word lines; a current generator to provide current selectively to the digit lines; and a controller that directs current generators signals to select a particular magneto-resistive bit.
- 6. The magneto-resistive memory of claim 5 wherein the controller directs the current generator signals to write to a selected magneto-resistive bit.
- 7. The magneto-resistive memory of claim 5 wherein the controller directs the current generator signals to read a selected magneto-resistive bit.
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] The present application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/618,504 by Li et al., filed on Jul. 18, 2000.
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09618504 |
Jul 2000 |
US |
Child |
09964218 |
Sep 2001 |
US |