Patents by Inventor Kazuhiro Kurihara

Kazuhiro Kurihara has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7903473
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes: a first sector (12) having data that are all to be erased and having flash memory cells; a second sector (14) having data that are all to be retained and having flash memory cells; a sector select circuit (16) selecting a pair of sectors from among sectors during erasing the data in the first sector, said pair of sectors being the first sector and the second sector; and an SRAM array (storage) (30) retaining the data of the second sector. The present invention can provide a semiconductor device in which a reduced number of sector select circuits is used so that the area of memory cell array can be reduced and provide a method of controlling the semiconductor device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2011
    Assignee: Spansion LLC
    Inventors: Hiroki Murakami, Kazuhiro Kurihara
  • Patent number: 7898879
    Abstract: The present invention is a semiconductor device including: a resistor R11 (first resistor part) and an FET 15 (second resistor part) connected in series between a power supply Vcc (first power supply) and ground (second power supply); an output node N11 provided between the resistor R11 and FET 15 and used for outputting a reference voltage; a feedback node N12 provided between the power supply Vcc and the ground; and a voltage control circuit (19) that maintains a voltage of the feedback node N12 at a constant level by using the reference voltage of the output node N11 and the voltage of the feedback node N12. The present invention can provide a semiconductor device having a reference voltage generating circuit capable of generating the reference voltage that does not greatly depend on a power supply voltage and its control method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2011
    Assignee: Spansion LLC
    Inventors: Hiroaki Wada, Kazuhiro Kurihara
  • Patent number: 7889577
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes: a first sector (12) having data that are all to be erased and having flash memory cells; a second sector (14) having data that are all to be retained and having flash memory cells; a sector select circuit (16) selecting a pair of sectors from among sectors during erasing the data in the first sector, said pair of sectors being the first sector and the second sector; and an SRAM array (storage) (30) retaining the data of the second sector. The present invention can provide a semiconductor device in which a reduced number of sector select circuits is used so that the area of memory cell array can be reduced and provide a method of controlling the semiconductor device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2011
    Assignee: Spansion LLC
    Inventors: Hiroki Murakami, Kazuhiro Kurihara
  • Patent number: 7821833
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes sectors having memory cells connected to local word lines, decoders selecting the sectors, and a circuit generating, in erasing of a selected sector, a control signal that causes a corresponding one of the decoders associated with the selected sector to be temporarily unselected. Each of the sectors includes a pull-up transistor that is driven by a corresponding one of the decoders via a corresponding one of global word lines connecting the sectors and drives one of the local word lines, and the pull-up transistor is kept OFF by the control signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2010
    Assignee: Spansion LLC
    Inventors: Yasuhiko Tanuma, Kazuhiro Kurihara
  • Patent number: 7729170
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes sectors having memory cells connected to local word lines, decoders selecting the sectors, and a circuit generating, in erasing of a selected sector, a control signal that causes a corresponding one of the decoders associated with the selected sector to be temporarily unselected. Each of the sectors includes a pull-up transistor that is driven by a corresponding one of the decoders via a corresponding one of global word lines connecting the sectors and drives one of the local word lines, and the pull-up transistor is kept OFF by the control signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2010
    Assignee: Spansion LLC
    Inventors: Yasuhiko Tanuma, Kazuhiro Kurihara
  • Publication number: 20100020214
    Abstract: The present invention is a semiconductor device including: a resistor R11 (first resistor part) and an FET 15 (second resistor part) connected in series between a power supply Vcc (first power supply) and ground (second power supply); an output node N11 provided between the resistor R11 and FET 15 and used for outputting a reference voltage; a feedback node N12 provided between the power supply Vcc and the ground; and a voltage control circuit (19) that maintains a voltage of the feedback node N12 at a constant level by using the reference voltage of the output node N11 and the voltage of the feedback node N12. The present invention can provide a semiconductor device having a reference voltage generating circuit capable of generating the reference voltage that does not greatly depend on a power supply voltage and its control method.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 6, 2009
    Publication date: January 28, 2010
    Inventors: Hiroaki WADA, Kazuhiro KURIHARA
  • Publication number: 20100020598
    Abstract: The present invention is a semiconductor device including: a resistor R11 (first resistor part) and an FET 15 (second resistor part) connected in series between a power supply Vcc (first power supply) and ground (second power supply); an output node N11 provided between the resistor R11 and FET 15 and used for outputting a reference voltage; a feedback node N12 provided between the power supply Vcc and the ground; and a voltage control circuit (19) that maintains a voltage of the feedback node N12 at a constant level by using the reference voltage of the output node N11 and the voltage of the feedback node N12. The present invention can provide a semiconductor device having a reference voltage generating circuit capable of generating the reference voltage that does not greatly depend on a power supply voltage and its control method.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 6, 2009
    Publication date: January 28, 2010
    Inventors: Hiroaki WADA, Kazuhiro KURIHARA
  • Patent number: 7643371
    Abstract: A semiconductor device and a method of controlling the semiconductor device, the semiconductor device including: a memory cell array; a terminal that inputs or outputs storage data stored in the memory cell array, and inputs address data indicating an address in the memory cell array at which the storage data is input or output, the terminal including: a first terminal that inputs a first part of the address data; and a second terminal that inputs a second part of the address data, wherein the second part of the address data is included of the entire remaining portion of the address data not including the first part of the address data; a first internal address line and a second internal address line to which the address data is supplied; and a switch that couples the first part of the address data to one of the first internal address line or the second internal address line in accordance with predetermined switch information, while coupling the second part of the address data to the other one of the first in
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 5, 2010
    Assignee: Spansion LLC
    Inventors: Kazuhiro Kurihara, Nobutaka Taniguchi
  • Publication number: 20090300275
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes: a first sector (12) having data that are all to be erased and having flash memory cells; a second sector (14) having data that are all to be retained and having flash memory cells; a sector select circuit (16) selecting a pair of sectors from among sectors during erasing the data in the first sector, said pair of sectors being the first sector and the second sector; and an SRAM array (storage) (30) retaining the data of the second sector. The present invention can provide a semiconductor device in which a reduced number of sector select circuits is used so that the area of memory cell array can be reduced and provide a method of controlling the semiconductor device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 25, 2009
    Publication date: December 3, 2009
    Inventors: Hiroki MURAKAMI, Kazuhiro KURIHARA
  • Publication number: 20090279358
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes: a first sector (12) having data that are all to be erased and having flash memory cells; a second sector (14) having data that are all to be retained and having flash memory cells; a sector select circuit (16) selecting a pair of sectors from among sectors during erasing the data in the first sector, said pair of sectors being the first sector and the second sector; and an SRAM array (storage) (30) retaining the data of the second sector. The present invention can provide a semiconductor device in which a reduced number of sector select circuits is used so that the area of memory cell array can be reduced and provide a method of controlling the semiconductor device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 23, 2009
    Publication date: November 12, 2009
    Inventors: Hiroki MURAKAMI, Kazuhiro KURIHARA
  • Patent number: 7606068
    Abstract: A core-based multi-bit memory (400) having a dual-bit dynamic referencing architecture (408, 410) fabricated on the memory core (401). A first reference array (408) and a second reference array (410) are fabricated on the memory core (401) such that a reference cell pair (185) comprising one cell (182) of the first reference array (408) and a corresponding cell (184) of the second reference array (410) are read and averaged to provide a reference voltage for reading a data array(s).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2009
    Assignee: Spansion LLC
    Inventors: Ming-Huei Shieh, Kazuhiro Kurihara
  • Patent number: 7606085
    Abstract: The present invention is a semiconductor device including: a resistor R11 (first resistor part) and an FET 15 (second resistor part) connected in series between a power supply Vcc (first power supply) and ground (second power supply); an output node N11 provided between the resistor R11 and FET 15 and used for outputting a reference voltage; a feedback node N12 provided between the power supply Vcc and the ground; and a voltage control circuit (19) that maintains a voltage of the feedback node N12 at a constant level by using the reference voltage of the output node N11 and the voltage of the feedback node N12. The present invention can provide a semiconductor device having a reference voltage generating circuit capable of generating the reference voltage that does not greatly depend on a power supply voltage and its control method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2009
    Assignee: Spansion LLC
    Inventors: Hiroaki Wada, Kazuhiro Kurihara
  • Patent number: 7573743
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes: a first sector (12) having data that are all to be erased and having flash memory cells; a second sector (14) having data that are all to be retained and having flash memory cells; a sector select circuit (16) selecting a pair of sectors from among sectors during erasing the data in the first sector, said pair of sectors being the first sector and the second sector; and an SRAM array (storage) (30) retaining the data of the second sector. The present invention can provide a semiconductor device in which a reduced number of sector select circuits is used so that the area of memory cell array can be reduced and provide a method of controlling the semiconductor device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2009
    Assignee: Spansion LLC
    Inventors: Hiroki Murakami, Kazuhiro Kurihara
  • Publication number: 20090034335
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes sectors having memory cells connected to local word lines, decoders selecting the sectors, and a circuit generating, in erasing of a selected sector, a control signal that causes a corresponding one of the decoders associated with the selected sector to be temporarily unselected. Each of the sectors includes a pull-up transistor that is driven by a corresponding one of the decoders via a corresponding one of global word lines connecting the sectors and drives one of the local word lines, and the pull-up transistor is kept OFF by the control signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2008
    Publication date: February 5, 2009
    Inventors: Yasuhiko Tanuma, Kazuhiro Kurihara
  • Publication number: 20090016109
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes sectors having memory cells connected to local word lines, decoders selecting the sectors, and a circuit generating, in erasing of a selected sector, a control signal that causes a corresponding one of the decoders associated with the selected sector to be temporarily unselected. Each of the sectors includes a pull-up transistor that is driven by a corresponding one of the decoders via a corresponding one of global word lines connecting the sectors and drives one of the local word lines, and the pull-up transistor is kept OFF by the control signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2008
    Publication date: January 15, 2009
    Inventors: Yasuhiko Tanuma, Kazuhiro Kurihara
  • Patent number: 7450434
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes sectors having memory cells connected to local word lines, decoders selecting the sectors, and a circuit generating, in erasing of a selected sector, a control signal that causes a corresponding one of the decoders associated with the selected sector to be temporarily unselected. Each of the sectors includes a pull-up transistor that is driven by a corresponding one of the decoders via a corresponding one of global word lines connecting the sectors and drives one of the local word lines, and the pull-up transistor is kept OFF by the control signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2008
    Assignee: Spansion LLC
    Inventors: Yasuhiko Tanuma, Kazuhiro Kurihara
  • Publication number: 20080159011
    Abstract: The present invention provides a semiconductor device and a method of controlling the semiconductor device, the semiconductor device comprising: a memory cell array; a terminal that inputs or outputs storage data stored in the memory cell array, and inputs address data indicating an address in the memory cell array at which the storage data is input or output, the terminal comprising: a first terminal that inputs a first part of the address data; and a second terminal that inputs a second part of the address data, wherein the second part of the address data is comprised of the entire remaining portion of the address data not comprising the first part of the address data; a first internal address line and a second internal address line to which the address data is supplied; and a switch that couples the first part of the address data to one of the first internal address line or the second internal address line in accordance with predetermined switch information, while coupling the second part of the address da
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 20, 2007
    Publication date: July 3, 2008
    Inventors: Kazuhiro Kurihara, Nobutaka Taniguchi
  • Publication number: 20080117678
    Abstract: A core-based multi-bit memory (400) having a dual-bit dynamic referencing architecture (408, 410) fabricated on the memory core (401). A first reference array (408) and a second reference array (410) are fabricated on the memory core (401) such that a reference cell pair (185) comprising one cell (182) of the first reference array (408) and a corresponding cell (184) of the second reference array (410) are read and averaged to provide a reference voltage for reading a data array(s).
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 22, 2008
    Publication date: May 22, 2008
    Applicant: Spansion LLC
    Inventors: Ming-Huei Shieh, Kazuhiro Kurihara
  • Patent number: 7324374
    Abstract: A core-based multi-bit memory (400) having a dual-bit dynamic referencing architecture (408, 410) fabricated on the memory core (401). A first reference array (408) and a second reference array (410) are fabricated on the memory core (401) such that a reference cell pair (185) comprising one cell (182) of the first reference array (408) and a corresponding cell (184) of the second reference array (410) are read and averaged to provide a reference voltage for reading a data array(s).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2008
    Assignee: Spansion LLC
    Inventors: Ming-Huei Shieh, Kazuhiro Kurihara
  • Patent number: 7307894
    Abstract: The semiconductor device includes a memory cell array that includes memory cells for storing data and is managed on a sector basis, a memory that stores the information determining the activation status, a latch circuit that latches the activation information according to the information stored in the memory, and a circuit that latches the activation information according to the information stored in the memory in the latch circuit. The activation information according to the memory state of the memory is latched at the time of inputting a given command after activation, and it is thus possible to read the information stored in the memory and set the information in the latch circuit certainly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2005
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2007
    Assignee: Spansion LLC
    Inventors: Kazunari Kido, Kazuhiro Kurihara, Minoru Yamashita