Abstract: A voltage regulator for electrically programmable non-volatile memory cells includes a gain stage which is supplied a voltage from a voltage booster connected to a supply voltage reference, having an input terminal connected to an output of a voltage divider and an output terminal connected to a pull-up transistor of a pull-up and pull-down differential pair to output the regulated voltage for programming at least one column or bit line of the memory cells. The voltage regulator also includes a second gain stage having an input terminal connected to a second output of the voltage divider. The second stage has an output connected to turn on the pull-down transistor in the complementary pair upon the regulated voltage exceeding a predetermined value.

Abstract: A method for the parallel programming of memory words in electrically programmable non-volatile semiconductor memory devices comprising at least one matrix of floating gate memory cells with corresponding drain terminals heading columns or bit lines of the matrix and supplied during the programming stage with a drain voltage which is boosted with respect to a supply voltage (Vcc). During the parallel programming stage the supply voltage is used as a drain voltage. Switching is provided between the supply using the drain voltage or the supply voltage during the transient between single word programming and parallel programming.