Patents by Inventor Ashraf B. Islam

Ashraf B. Islam 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).

  • Publication number: 20230307043
    Abstract: Techniques for current biasing for memory cells are disclosed. In the illustrative embodiment, a source follower sets a voltage on a bitline of a memory cell. The current through the source follower is limited by a current mirror in series with the source follower. When additional current is required that the source follower cannot supply, a feedback transistor is activated to provide additional current. Additionally, in some embodiments, the current through the feedback transistor is copied to a current mirror, and the copied current is used to sense the state of the memory cell.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 24, 2022
    Publication date: September 28, 2023
    Applicant: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Jonathan Y. Wang, Yasir Mohsin Husain, Ashraf B. Islam
  • Publication number: 20220180905
    Abstract: A method, apparatus and system. The method includes: generating a feedback voltage VFB in a feedback circuit coupled to one of a bitline node (BL) or a wordline node (WL) of each of a plurality of memory cells of a memory array, the feedback voltage to, in a thresholded state of said each of the memory cells, counteract a decrease in an absolute value of a voltage Vvdm at said one of the BL or WL; generating, in a reference circuit, one of a reference voltage VREF to track a feedback voltage of the feedback circuit or a mirror current IMFBmirror to track a current Icell through said each of the memory cells; and providing one of values for both VFB and VREF, or for an output voltage Vapsout corresponding to IMFBmirror, to a sense circuitry, the sense circuitry to determine a logic state of said each of the memory cells based on a comparison of VFB with VREF or based on Vapsout.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 7, 2020
    Publication date: June 9, 2022
    Applicant: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Ashraf B. Islam, Jaydip Bharatkumar Patel, Yasir Mohsin Husain, Balaji Srinivasan, Nicolas L. Irizarry
  • Patent number: 11139027
    Abstract: A method, apparatus and system. The method includes: generating, during a read operation of a memory cell, a mirror current iMir1 at one of a WL node or a BL node of the memory cell opposite, respectively, one of a BL side or a WL side of the memory cell to which a current mode sense circuitry is connected, the iMir1 to reduce a value of the read voltage from VDM1 to VDM2, wherein the read voltage is between the WL node and the BL node; and sensing, using the current mode sense circuitry, a logic state of the memory cell at VDM2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2021
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Ashraf B. Islam, Kevin E. Arendt
  • Patent number: 11139026
    Abstract: A variable reference based sensing scheme is described. In one example, performance of a memory command to access a crosspoint memory device such as a memory read or memory write command involves a sensing operation. In one example, a memory read operation involves applying a voltage across the memory cell and sensing current through the cell. The current through the memory cell is compared with one of multiple reference currents to determine the state of the memory cell. The reference current is selected based on the voltage applied across the memory for the sensing operation. Different reference currents may be used for different types of operations. For example, different reference currents may be selected for a write sensing operation than for a read sensing operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2021
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventor: Ashraf B. Islam
  • Publication number: 20210241829
    Abstract: A variable reference based sensing scheme is described. In one example, performance of a memory command to access a crosspoint memory device such as a memory read or memory write command involves a sensing operation. In one example, a memory read operation involves applying a voltage across the memory cell and sensing current through the cell. The current through the memory cell is compared with one of multiple reference currents to determine the state of the memory cell. The reference current is selected based on the voltage applied across the memory for the sensing operation. Different reference currents may be used for different types of operations. For example, different reference currents may be selected for a write sensing operation than for a read sensing operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 5, 2020
    Publication date: August 5, 2021
    Inventor: Ashraf B. ISLAM
  • Patent number: 10878899
    Abstract: A sensing circuit for sensing an analog signal includes a level shifter that shifts the analog signal from a high voltage domain to a low voltage domain. The signal originates from the high voltage domain, and is passed to the low voltage domain through the level shifter. A source line provides the analog signal, which can be selectively switched into a sense amplifier circuit. The sense amplifier is in the low voltage domain and generates a digital output to represent the sensed analog signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2020
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Ashraf B. Islam, Jaydip B. Patel, Balaji Srinivasan