Patents by Inventor Richard S. WU

Richard S. WU 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: 10636457
    Abstract: A fine grained negative wordline scheme for SRAM memories is disclosed. The scheme includes a circuit having a static random access memory (SRAM) cell including at least a wordline coupled to a plurality of NFETs of a transistor array. The circuit further includes a wordline driver including a plurality of inverters coupled between a wordline group decode node, a power supply and the wordline. Overvoltage on the wordline driver and NFETs of the SRAM cell are eliminated by applying a power gating mode and lowering the power supply voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2020
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Harold Pilo, Richard S. Wu
  • Publication number: 20190259427
    Abstract: A fine grained negative wordline scheme for SRAM memories is disclosed. The scheme includes a circuit having a static random access memory (SRAM) cell including at least a wordline coupled to a plurality of NFETs of a transistor array. The circuit further includes a wordline driver including a plurality of inverters coupled between a wordline group decode node, a power supply and the wordline. Overvoltage on the wordline driver and NFETs of the SRAM cell are eliminated by applying a power gating mode and lowering the power supply voltage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 27, 2019
    Publication date: August 22, 2019
    Inventors: Harold PILO, Richard S. WU
  • Patent number: 10381052
    Abstract: A fine grained negative wordline scheme for SRAM memories is disclosed. The scheme includes a circuit having a static random access memory (SRAM) cell including at least a wordline coupled to a plurality of NFETs of a transistor array. The circuit further includes a wordline driver including a plurality of inverters coupled between a wordline group decode node, a power supply and the wordline. Overvoltage on the wordline driver and NFETs of the SRAM cell are eliminated by applying a power gating mode and lowering the power supply voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2019
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Harold Pilo, Richard S. Wu
  • Publication number: 20180174645
    Abstract: A fine grained negative wordline scheme for SRAM memories is disclosed. The scheme includes a circuit having a static random access memory (SRAM) cell including at least a wordline coupled to a plurality of NFETs of a transistor array. The circuit further includes a wordline driver including a plurality of inverters coupled between a wordline group decode node, a power supply and the wordline. Overvoltage on the wordline driver and NFETs of the SRAM cell are eliminated by applying a power gating mode and lowering the power supply voltage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 20, 2018
    Publication date: June 21, 2018
    Inventors: Harold PILO, Richard S. WU
  • Patent number: 9953698
    Abstract: A fine grained negative wordline scheme for SRAM memories is disclosed. The scheme includes a circuit having a static random access memory (SRAM) cell including at least a wordline coupled to a plurality of NFETs of a transistor array. The circuit further includes a wordline driver including a plurality of inverters coupled between a wordline group decode node, a power supply and the wordline. Overvoltage on the wordline driver and NFETs of the SRAM cell are eliminated by applying a power gating mode and lowering the power supply voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2018
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Harold Pilo, Richard S. Wu
  • Publication number: 20180068711
    Abstract: A fine grained negative wordline scheme for SRAM memories is disclosed. The scheme includes a circuit having a static random access memory (SRAM) cell including at least a wordline coupled to a plurality of NFETs of a transistor array. The circuit further includes a wordline driver including a plurality of inverters coupled between a wordline group decode node, a power supply and the wordline. Overvoltage on the wordline driver and NFETs of the SRAM cell are eliminated by applying a power gating mode and lowering the power supply voltage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 30, 2017
    Publication date: March 8, 2018
    Inventors: Harold PILO, Richard S. WU
  • Patent number: 9881666
    Abstract: A fine grained negative wordline scheme for SRAM memories is disclosed. The scheme includes a circuit having a static random access memory (SRAM) cell including at least a wordline coupled to a plurality of NFETs of a transistor array. The circuit further includes a wordline driver including a plurality of inverters coupled between a wordline group decode node, a power supply and the wordline. Overvoltage on the wordline driver and NFETs of the SRAM cell are eliminated by applying a power gating mode and lowering the power supply voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2018
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Harold Pilo, Richard S. Wu
  • Patent number: 9734891
    Abstract: A fine grained negative wordline scheme for SRAM memories is disclosed. The scheme includes a circuit having a static random access memory (SRAM) cell including at least a wordline coupled to a plurality of NFETs of a transistor array. The circuit further includes a wordline driver including a plurality of inverters coupled between a wordline group decode node, a power supply and the wordline. Overvoltage on the wordline driver and NFETs of the SRAM cell are eliminated by applying a power gating mode and lowering the power supply voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2017
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Harold Pilo, Richard S. Wu
  • Patent number: 9734892
    Abstract: A fine grained negative wordline scheme for SRAM memories is disclosed. The scheme includes a circuit having a static random access memory (SRAM) cell including at least a wordline coupled to a plurality of NFETs of a transistor array. The circuit further includes a wordline driver including a plurality of inverters coupled between a wordline group decode node, a power supply and the wordline. Overvoltage on the wordline driver and NFETs of the SRAM cell are eliminated by applying a power gating mode and lowering the power supply voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2017
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Harold Pilo, Richard S. Wu
  • Patent number: 9679635
    Abstract: A fine grained negative wordline scheme for SRAM memories is disclosed. The scheme includes a circuit having a static random access memory (SRAM) cell including at least a wordline coupled to a plurality of NFETs of a transistor array. The circuit further includes a wordline driver including a plurality of inverters coupled between a wordline group decode node, a power supply and the wordline. Overvoltage on the wordline driver and NFETs of the SRAM cell are eliminated by applying a power gating mode and lowering the power supply voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2017
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Harold Pilo, Richard S. Wu
  • Patent number: 9318162
    Abstract: A fine grained negative wordline scheme for SRAM memories is disclosed. The scheme includes a circuit having a static random access memory (SRAM) cell including at least a wordline coupled to a plurality of NFETs of a transistor array. The circuit further includes a wordline driver including a plurality of inverters coupled between a wordline group decode node, a power supply and the wordline. Overvoltage on the wordline driver and NFETs of the SRAM cell are eliminated by applying a power gating mode and lowering the power supply voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Harold Pilo, Richard S. Wu
  • Patent number: 9311978
    Abstract: A circuit for an integrated circuit power gating system includes a header device connected to a bank of a segmented memory array. The circuit is structured and arranged to: apply a ground input to a gate of the header device to activate the bank, and apply a regulated voltage to the gate of the header device to deactivate the bank. The circuit also includes a precharge circuit that charges the gate of the header device to a precharge voltage that is greater than ground and less than the regulated voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2016
    Assignee: GLOBALFOUNDRIES INC.
    Inventors: Harold Pilo, Richard S. Wu
  • Publication number: 20160093359
    Abstract: A fine grained negative wordline scheme for SRAM memories is disclosed. The scheme includes a circuit having a static random access memory (SRAM) cell including at least a wordline coupled to a plurality of NFETs of a transistor array. The circuit further includes a wordline driver including a plurality of inverters coupled between a wordline group decode node, a power supply and the wordline. Overvoltage on the wordline driver and NFETs of the SRAM cell are eliminated by applying a power gating mode and lowering the power supply voltage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 8, 2015
    Publication date: March 31, 2016
    Inventors: Harold PILO, Richard S. WU
  • Publication number: 20160093361
    Abstract: A fine grained negative wordline scheme for SRAM memories is disclosed. The scheme includes a circuit having a static random access memory (SRAM) cell including at least a wordline coupled to a plurality of NFETs of a transistor array. The circuit further includes a wordline driver including a plurality of inverters coupled between a wordline group decode node, a power supply and the wordline. Overvoltage on the wordline driver and NFETs of the SRAM cell are eliminated by applying a power gating mode and lowering the power supply voltage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 8, 2015
    Publication date: March 31, 2016
    Inventors: Harold PILO, Richard S. WU
  • Publication number: 20160093360
    Abstract: A fine grained negative wordline scheme for SRAM memories is disclosed. The scheme includes a circuit having a static random access memory (SRAM) cell including at least a wordline coupled to a plurality of NFETs of a transistor array. The circuit further includes a wordline driver including a plurality of inverters coupled between a wordline group decode node, a power supply and the wordline. Overvoltage on the wordline driver and NFETs of the SRAM cell are eliminated by applying a power gating mode and lowering the power supply voltage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 8, 2015
    Publication date: March 31, 2016
    Inventors: Harold PILO, Richard S. WU
  • Publication number: 20160086658
    Abstract: A fine grained negative wordline scheme for SRAM memories is disclosed. The scheme includes a circuit having a static random access memory (SRAM) cell including at least a wordline coupled to a plurality of NFETs of a transistor array. The circuit further includes a wordline driver including a plurality of inverters coupled between a wordline group decode node, a power supply and the wordline. Overvoltage on the wordline driver and NFETs of the SRAM cell are eliminated by applying a power gating mode and lowering the power supply voltage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 8, 2015
    Publication date: March 24, 2016
    Inventors: Harold PILO, Richard S. WU
  • Publication number: 20160035397
    Abstract: A fine grained negative wordline scheme for SRAM memories is disclosed. The scheme includes a circuit having a static random access memory (SRAM) cell including at least a wordline coupled to a plurality of NFETs of a transistor array. The circuit further includes a wordline driver including a plurality of inverters coupled between a wordline group decode node, a power supply and the wordline. Overvoltage on the wordline driver and NFETs of the SRAM cell are eliminated by applying a power gating mode and lowering the power supply voltage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 4, 2014
    Publication date: February 4, 2016
    Inventors: Harold PILO, Richard S. WU
  • Publication number: 20150168982
    Abstract: A voltage regulation circuit and method where a pre-charge device (PCD) and a power gate device (PGD) are connected to a voltage line that supplies power to at least one additional device. The PCD pre-charges the line toward a supply voltage (Vdd) and PGD limits voltage changes on the voltage line caused by leakage current in the additional device(s) and does so differently under different leakage conditions. Specifically, the PGD is controlled by a variable reference voltage (Vref), which is closer to Vdd when a leakage condition is low relative to when the leakage condition is high. Since Vref is relatively high when the leakage condition is low and relatively low when the leakage condition is high, the power gate device will turn on after a smaller amount of voltage change on the voltage line when the leakage condition is low as compared to when the leakage condition is high.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2013
    Publication date: June 18, 2015
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Harold Pilo, Richard S. Wu
  • Patent number: 9058046
    Abstract: A voltage regulation circuit and method where a pre-charge device (PCD) and a power gate device (PGD) are connected to a voltage line that supplies power to at least one additional device. The PCD pre-charges the line toward a supply voltage (Vdd) and PGD limits voltage changes on the voltage line caused by leakage current in the additional device(s) and does so differently under different leakage conditions. Specifically, the PGD is controlled by a variable reference voltage (Vref), which is closer to Vdd when a leakage condition is low relative to when the leakage condition is high. Since Vref is relatively high when the leakage condition is low and relatively low when the leakage condition is high, the power gate device will turn on after a smaller amount of voltage change on the voltage line when the leakage condition is low as compared to when the leakage condition is high.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2015
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Harold Pilo, Richard S. Wu
  • Publication number: 20150109873
    Abstract: A circuit for an integrated circuit power gating system includes a header device connected to a bank of a segmented memory array. The circuit is structured and arranged to: apply a ground input to a gate of the header device to activate the bank, and apply a regulated voltage to the gate of the header device to deactivate the bank.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 23, 2013
    Publication date: April 23, 2015
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Harold PILO, Richard S. WU