Patents by Inventor Ku-Feng Lin

Ku-Feng Lin 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: 20230188159
    Abstract: An encoding system may be provided. The encoding system may comprise a first stage and a second stage. The first stage may be configured to receive a first input, decode the first input, and produce a first output comprising the decoded first input. The second stage may be configured to receive a second input, receive the first output from the first stage, and convert the first input and the second input from a first coding system to a second coding system based on the second input and the first output. The second stage may produce a second output comprising the converted first input and the converted second input.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 6, 2023
    Publication date: June 15, 2023
    Inventors: Win-San Khwa, Hiroki Noguchi, Ku-Feng Lin
  • Publication number: 20230179186
    Abstract: A sense amplifier including a first input transistor having a first input gate and a first drain/source terminal, a second input transistor having a second input gate and a second drain/source terminal, a latch circuit, and a first capacitor. The latch circuit includes a first latch transistor having a third drain/source terminal connected to the first drain/source terminal and a second latch transistor having a fourth drain/source terminal connected to the second drain/source terminal. The first capacitor is connected on one side to the first input gate and on another side to the fourth drain/source terminal to reduce a coupling effect in the sense amplifier.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 2, 2023
    Publication date: June 8, 2023
    Inventors: Ku-Feng Lin, Jui-Che Tsai, Perng-Fei Yuh, Yih Wang
  • Patent number: 11657873
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is an integrated circuit including multiple magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) cells coupled to a static random access memory (SRAM). In one aspect, the integrated circuit includes a SRAM having a first port and a second port, and a set of pass transistors coupled to the first port of the SRAM. In one aspect, the integrated circuit includes a set of MTJ cells, where each of the set of MTJ cells is coupled between a select line and a corresponding one of the set of pass transistors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2023
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Perng-Fei Yuh, Yih Wang, Ku-Feng Lin, Jui-Che Tsai, Hiroki Noguchi, Fu-An Wu
  • Publication number: 20230154533
    Abstract: A memory device is provided. The memory device includes several sense amplifiers and at least one reference cell. Each of the sense amplifiers has a first terminal and a second terminal. The first terminals of the sense amplifiers are coupled to a memory cell block, and the second terminals of the sense amplifiers are coupled together to transmit a read current. The at least one reference cell transmits the read current to a ground terminal. The at least one reference cell has a decreased resistance value when a number N of the sense amplifiers increases.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 19, 2023
    Publication date: May 18, 2023
    Applicant: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Hiroki NOGUCHI, Ku-Feng LIN
  • Publication number: 20230123830
    Abstract: A memory device that includes a first memory cell, a second memory cell and a sense amplifier. The sense amplifier includes a first branch and a second branch and are configured to output a first voltage and a second voltage to the first memory and the second memory, respectively in a trimming operation. A first clamp device of the sense amplifier includes a first clamp transistor and a plurality of first trimming transistors that are coupled to the first clamp transistor in parallel. The gate terminals of the first clamp transistor and the plurality of first trimming transistors are biased by a fixed clamp voltage. Each of the plurality of first trimming transistors is selectively conducted to compensate a mismatch between the first voltage and the second voltage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2022
    Publication date: April 20, 2023
    Applicant: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Ku-Feng Lin
  • Patent number: 11631440
    Abstract: A sensing amplifier, coupled to at least one memory cell, includes an output terminal and a reference terminal, a multiplexer circuit, and a plurality of reference cells having equal value. An output terminal of the multiplexer circuit is coupled to the reference terminal of the sensing amplifier. Each of the reference cell is coupled to each input node of the multiplexer circuit. The multiplexer circuit is controlled by a control signal to select one of the reference cells as a selected reference cell to couple to the reference terminal of the sensing amplifier when each read operation to the at least one memory cell is performed. The plurality of reference cells are selected sequentially and repeatedly, and the one of the reference cells is selected for one read operation to the at least one memory cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2023
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroki Noguchi, Ku-Feng Lin, Yih Wang
  • Patent number: 11601117
    Abstract: A sense amplifier including a first input transistor having a first input gate and a first drain/source terminal, a second input transistor having a second input gate and a second drain/source terminal, a latch circuit, and a first capacitor. The latch circuit includes a first latch transistor having a third drain/source terminal connected to the first drain/source terminal and a second latch transistor having a fourth drain/source terminal connected to the second drain/source terminal. The first capacitor is connected on one side to the first input gate and on another side to the fourth drain/source terminal to reduce a coupling effect in the sense amplifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Ku-Feng Lin, Jui-Che Tsai, Perng-Fei Yuh, Yih Wang
  • Publication number: 20230057357
    Abstract: A sense amplifier including a first input transistor having a first input gate and a first drain/source terminal, a second input transistor having a second input gate and a second drain/source terminal, a latch circuit, and a first capacitor. The latch circuit includes a first latch transistor having a third drain/source terminal connected to the first drain/source terminal and a second latch transistor having a fourth drain/source terminal connected to the second drain/source terminal. The first capacitor is connected on one side to the first input gate and on another side to the fourth drain/source terminal to reduce a coupling effect in the sense amplifier.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 20, 2021
    Publication date: February 23, 2023
    Inventors: Ku-Feng Lin, Jui-Che Tsai, Perng-Fei Yuh, Yih Wang
  • Publication number: 20230037696
    Abstract: In some aspects of the present disclosure, a memory circuit is disclosed. In some aspects, the memory circuit includes a first storage element coupled to a first bit line, a first transistor coupled between the first storage element and a center node, a second storage element coupled to a second bit line, a second transistor coupled between the second storage element and the center node, and a third transistor coupled between the center node and a reference node.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2022
    Publication date: February 9, 2023
    Applicant: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Ku-Feng Lin, Perng-Fei Yuh, Meng-Sheng Chang
  • Patent number: 11574676
    Abstract: A memory device is disclosed. The memory device includes at least one reference cell and multiple sense amplifiers. The at least one reference cell having a first terminal coupled to a ground. Each of the sense amplifiers has a first terminal and a second terminal. The first terminal is coupled to one of multiple first data lines, and the second terminal is coupled to a second terminal of the at least one reference cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2023
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Hiroki Noguchi, Ku-Feng Lin
  • Patent number: 11574657
    Abstract: A memory device that includes a first memory cell, a second memory cell and a sense amplifier. The sense amplifier includes a first branch and a second branch and are configured to output a first voltage and a second voltage to the first memory and the second memory, respectively in a trimming operation. A first clamp device of the sense amplifier includes a first clamp transistor and a plurality of first trimming transistors that are coupled to the first clamp transistor in parallel. The gate terminals of the first clamp transistor and the plurality of first trimming transistors are biased by a fixed clamp voltage. Each of the plurality of first trimming transistors is selectively conducted to compensate a mismatch between the first voltage and the second voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2023
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Ku-Feng Lin
  • Patent number: 11575387
    Abstract: An encode apparatus and an encode method may be provided. The encoding apparatus may comprise a first stage and a second stage. The first stage may be configured to receive a first input, decode the first input, and produce a first output comprising the decoded first input. The second stage may be configured to receive a second input, receive the first output from the first stage, and convert the first input and the second input from a first coding system to a second coding system based on the second input and the first output. The second stage may produce a second output comprising the converted first input and the converted second input.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2023
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Win-San Khwa, Hiroki Noguchi, Ku-Feng Lin
  • Publication number: 20220358973
    Abstract: A memory device includes a plurality of sense amplifiers, a plurality of memory cells, a plurality of data lines, a plurality of reference cells, and a connection line. The memory cells are coupled to a plurality of first inputs of the plurality of sense amplifiers respectively. The data lines are coupled to a plurality of second inputs of the plurality of sense amplifiers respectively. The reference cells are arranged in a plurality of columns respectively and coupled to the plurality of data line respectively. Each of the plurality of reference cells includes a plurality of resistive elements. The connection line is coupled to the plurality of data lines. In a read mode, one of the sense amplifiers is configured to access the plurality of resistive elements arranged in at least one of the plurality of columns.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 27, 2022
    Publication date: November 10, 2022
    Applicant: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Ku-Feng LIN, Hiroki NOGUCHI
  • Publication number: 20220336037
    Abstract: A memory device includes: a memory cell array comprising a plurality of memory cells, the plurality of memory cells comprising a plurality of data memory cells including a first data memory cell and a plurality of backup memory cells including a first backup memory cell; a storage storing an error table configured to record errors in the plurality of data memory cells, the error table including a plurality of error table entries, each error table entry corresponding to one of the plurality of data memory cell and having an address and a failure count; and a controller configured to replace the first data memory cell with the first backup memory cell based on the error table.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 1, 2022
    Publication date: October 20, 2022
    Inventors: Hiroki Noguchi, Ku-Feng Lin, Yih Wang
  • Patent number: 11450357
    Abstract: A memory device is provided and includes multiple memory cells, multiple reference cells, and multiple sense amplifiers. The memory cells are coupled to first inputs of the sense amplifiers, respectively. The reference cells are coupled to second inputs of the sense amplifiers, respectively. The reference cells are coupled to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Ku-Feng Lin, Hiroki Noguchi
  • Publication number: 20220293141
    Abstract: A sense amplifier includes a voltage comparator with offset compensation, a first clamping device and a second clamping device. The voltage comparator is coupled to a bit line and a reference bit line respectively, and configured to compare a first input voltage and a second input voltage to output a sensing signal. The first clamping circuit and the second clamping circuit trim a voltage corresponding to the bit line and a voltage corresponding to the reference bit line respectively to match the voltage corresponding to the reference bit line with the voltage corresponding to the bit line.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 31, 2022
    Publication date: September 15, 2022
    Applicant: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Ku-Feng Lin, Yu-Der Chih
  • Publication number: 20220285434
    Abstract: A semiconductor package includes a first semiconductor device and a second semiconductor device. The first semiconductor device includes a first semiconductor substrate, a first bonding structure and a memory cell. The second semiconductor device is stacked over the first semiconductor device. The second semiconductor device includes a second semiconductor substrate, a second bonding structure in a second dielectric layer and a peripheral circuit between the second semiconductor substrate and the second bonding structure. The first bonding structure and the second bonding structure are bonded and disposed between the memory cell and the peripheral circuit, and the memory cell and the peripheral circuit are electrically connected through the first bonding structure and the second bonding structure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 29, 2021
    Publication date: September 8, 2022
    Applicant: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hsiang-Ku Shen, Ku-Feng Lin, Liang-Wei Wang, Dian-Hau Chen
  • Publication number: 20220270681
    Abstract: A memory device is disclosed. The memory device includes at least one reference cell and multiple sense amplifiers. The at least one reference cell having a first terminal coupled to a ground. Each of the sense amplifiers has a first terminal and a second terminal. The first terminal is coupled to one of multiple first data lines, and the second terminal is coupled to a second terminal of the at least one reference cell.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 25, 2021
    Publication date: August 25, 2022
    Applicant: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Hiroki NOGUCHI, Ku-Feng LIN
  • Publication number: 20220262409
    Abstract: Circuits and methods for compensating mismatches in sense amplifiers are disclosed. In one example, a circuit is disclosed. The circuit includes: a first branch, a second branch, a first plurality of trimming transistors and a second plurality of trimming transistors. The first branch comprises a first transistor, a second transistor, and a first node coupled between the first transistor and the second transistor. The second branch comprises a third transistor, a fourth transistor, and a second node coupled between the third transistor and the fourth transistor. The first node is coupled to respective gates of the third transistor and the fourth transistor. The second node is coupled to respective gates of the first transistor and the second transistor. The first plurality of trimming transistors is coupled to the second transistor in parallel. The second plurality of trimming transistors is coupled to the fourth transistor in parallel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 5, 2022
    Publication date: August 18, 2022
    Inventors: Ku-Feng LIN, Yu-Der CHIH, Yi-Chun SHIH, Chia-Fu LEE
  • Publication number: 20220254386
    Abstract: A sensing amplifier, coupled to at least one memory cell, includes an output terminal and a reference terminal, a multiplexer circuit, and a plurality of reference cells having equal value. An output terminal of the multiplexer circuit is coupled to the reference terminal of the sensing amplifier. Each of the reference cell is coupled to each input node of the multiplexer circuit. The multiplexer circuit is controlled by a control signal to select one of the reference cells as a selected reference cell to couple to the reference terminal of the sensing amplifier when each read operation to the at least one memory cell is performed. The plurality of reference cells are selected sequentially and repeatedly, and the one of the reference cells is selected for one read operation to the at least one memory cell.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 27, 2022
    Publication date: August 11, 2022
    Applicant: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroki Noguchi, Ku-Feng Lin, Yih Wang