Patents by Inventor Richard C. Foss

Richard C. Foss 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: 5406523
    Abstract: A circuit for providing an output voltage for a DRAM word line which can be used to drive memory word lines which can be as high as 2V.sub.dd. Transistors in a boosting circuit are fully switched, eliminating the reduction of the boosting voltage by V.sub.tn as in the prior art. The boosting capacitors are charged by V.sub.dd, thus eliminating draft tracking problems associated with clock boosting sources and V.sub.dd. A regulator detects conduction current of a replica of a memory cell access transistor, shutting off the boosting circuit clock oscillator when the correct voltage to operate the access transistor has been reached.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 1993
    Date of Patent: April 11, 1995
    Assignee: Mosaid Technologies Incorporated
    Inventors: Richard C. Foss, Peter B. Gillingham, Robert F. Harland, Valerie L. Lines
  • Patent number: 5267201
    Abstract: A circuit for providing an output voltage for a DRAM word line which can be used to drive memory word lines which can be as high as 2V.sub.dd. Transistors in a boosting circuit are fully switched, eliminating the reduction of the boosting voltage by V.sub.tn as in the prior art. The boosting capacitors are charged by V.sub.dd, thus eliminating drift tracking problems associated with clock boosting sources and V.sub.dd. A regulator detects conduction current of a replica of a memory cell access transistor, shutting off the boosting circuit clock oscillator when the correct voltage to operate the access transistor has been reached.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 1991
    Date of Patent: November 30, 1993
    Assignee: Mosaid, Inc.
    Inventors: Richard C. Foss, Peter B. Gillingham, Robert F. Harland, Valerie L. Lines
  • Patent number: 5255232
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for precharging memory cell bit storage capacitors and bit lines of a DRAM from a single source. The storage capacitor reference plate is driven from a high impedance voltage divider, minimizing the effects of voltage supply noise, so that noise does not couple into the storage capacitor and turn on the associated capacitor access transistor. At the same time the bit line is driven from a low impedance drive, to enable it to maintain the bit line midpoint voltage. The bit line precharge voltage is referenced to the storage capacitor reference voltage providing good cell margin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 1991
    Date of Patent: October 19, 1993
    Assignee: Mosaid, Inc.
    Inventors: Richard C. Foss, Valerie L. Lines
  • Patent number: 5245576
    Abstract: A DRAM row or column decoder having a fused stage for disabling defective rows or columns. A fuse is placed within a stage preceding the final output stage of a multi-stage row or column decoder. Because the fuse is not placed within the output stage, it is not necessary to have one fuse for each individual row or column; a single fuse can disable several decoder outputs, and thus several rows or columns can be disabled at the same time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 1991
    Date of Patent: September 14, 1993
    Inventors: Richard C. Foss, Valerie L. Lines, Akira Yoneyama
  • Patent number: 5233560
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for precharging DRAM bit lines and data buses from the same voltage source, eliminating a separate bit line precharge source and the bit line precharge conduction paths. The precharge source for the data buses is coupled to the data buses and at the same time access transistors normally used to couple the bit line logic voltage to the data buses are enabled, in order to cause coupling of the precharge voltage source through the data buses and the access transistors to the bit lines during a precharge interval. This both precharges and equalizes the voltage on both complementary data buses and both complementary bit lines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 1991
    Date of Patent: August 3, 1993
    Inventors: Richard C. Foss, Akira Yoneyama
  • Patent number: 5093808
    Abstract: A folded bitline dynamic RAM circuit with reduced shared supply voltages comprised of circuitry for applying full logic high and low supply voltages to respective bitlines during successive active cycles of the RAM circuit, and circuitry for applying reduced supply voltages to the bitlines during successive precharge cycles. By applying reduced supply voltages to the bitlines during the precharge cycles voltage stress on cell access transistors and sense amplifiers of the RAM circuit are reduced. The time required to share the charge residing on the bitline halves at the start of the active cycle is also reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 1990
    Date of Patent: March 3, 1992
    Assignee: Mosaid, Inc.
    Inventor: Richard C. Foss
  • Patent number: 5042012
    Abstract: A dynamic random access memory having a serial access data port. A plurality of complimentary bitline pairs are provided for receiving data signals from a plurality of memory cells, and a plurality of latches are connected to respective ones of the bitline pairs for periodically sensing and restoring the data signals in the memory cells. Predetermined ones of the latches are connected together via a plurality of isolation transfer gates which are enabled according to a predetermined timing sequence for unidirectionally shifting the data signals therebetween according to a master-slave action.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 1990
    Date of Patent: August 20, 1991
    Assignee: Mosaid, Inc.
    Inventor: Richard C. Foss
  • Patent number: 5027329
    Abstract: A DRAM semiconductor memory chip comprised of a matrix of rows and columns having a bit storage cell at each location, means for receiving row and column address bits in multiplexed form on a single address bus, the multiplexing arrangement being such that the number of column address bits exceeds the number of row address bits, whereby a system using the DRAM memory chip has access to an enlarged page size.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 1989
    Date of Patent: June 25, 1991
    Assignee: Mosaid Inc.
    Inventor: Richard C. Foss
  • Patent number: 5014244
    Abstract: An integrated memory circuit in which memory cells are arranged in rows and columns, each column having a separate sense amplifier. The memory columns can be coupled to neighboring memory columns by additional transistors and the gain of the sense amplifiers in the even and the odd columns is adjustable. Consequently, information can also be serially shifted from one column to another, so that the information can be written and read not only in parallel but also serially.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 1989
    Date of Patent: May 7, 1991
    Assignee: U.S. Philips Corp.
    Inventors: Judocus A. M. Lammerts, Richard C. Foss, Roelof H. W. Salters
  • Patent number: 4980862
    Abstract: A folded bitline dynamic RAM circuit with reduced shared supply voltages comprised of circuitry for applying full logic high and low supply voltages to respective bitlines during successive active cycles of the RAM circuit, and circuitry for applying reduced supply voltages to the bitlines during successive precharge cycles. By applying reduced supply voltages to the bitlines during the precharge cycles voltage stress on cell access transistors and sense amplifiers of the RAM circuit are reduced. The time required to share the charge residing on the bitline halves at the start of the active cycle is also reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 1988
    Date of Patent: December 25, 1990
    Assignee: Mosaid, Inc.
    Inventor: Richard C. Foss
  • Patent number: 4789796
    Abstract: An integrated semiconductor circuit includes an output stage and a control circuit. The output stage comprises several (e.g. four) pull-down output transistors, which are sequentially switched on for pulling down the output node, whereby four small current steps are made instead of one high current step. As a result the package inductance generated power supply line noise will be substantially reduced (by at least a factor four). The same technique can be used for limiting the supply line noise due to the charge current for charging the output node via pull-up transistors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 1986
    Date of Patent: December 6, 1988
    Assignee: U.S. Philips Corporation
    Inventor: Richard C. Foss
  • Patent number: 4786830
    Abstract: A TTL to CMOS-input buffer has minimal sensitivity of threshold level variation with changes in device parameters. In particular, the design is insensitive to P-channel characteristics over very wide ranges of transistor threshold voltages and gain parameter spreads.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 1987
    Date of Patent: November 22, 1988
    Assignee: U.S. Philips Corporation
    Inventor: Richard C. Foss
  • Patent number: 4367420
    Abstract: The disclosure teaches various logic circuits operating with Dynamic Differential Logic (DDL). In a particular embodiment MOS transistors of n-channel type are used with circuits arranged to avoid any dc path from clock input to ground. The input capacitance of the active devices is used for temporary storage thereby reducing circuit complexities. Coupling between stages is provided by clock driven transistors connected so that the transistor at the higher voltage side cuts off early in the period of clock pulse decay, thereby isolating adjacent stages without unnecessary delay. The use of such circuits in array processors is described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 1980
    Date of Patent: January 4, 1983
    Assignee: Thompson Foss Incorporated
    Inventors: Richard C. Foss, Philip M. Thompson