Abstract: An on-chip reference voltage source is coupled to an on-chip integrated circuit such as a memory cell. The reference voltage is compared against internal signals generated by the on-chip integrated circuit in order to develop an output voltage representing the state of the integrated circuit. In memory applications the memory reference signal constitutes a threshold voltage which is compared against the internal voltage logic swing generated by one half of the memory cell for providing output signals indicative of the state of the memory cell. Selecting the impedance of the reference voltage source and the integrated circuit (one half the cell in memory applications) to be identical from an electrical and device standpoint allows lower threshold noise levels to be used despite the existence of process, impedance (AC and DC), temperature and input signal variations. This permits power savings, and increased densities.