Static information storage and retrieval – Powering
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-11
2001-10-09
Zarabian, A. (Department: 2824)
Static information storage and retrieval
Powering
C365S228000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06301184
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit device. More particularly, the invention relates to operation control technology or power source control technology adapted to a semiconductor integrated circuit device in which a dynamic semiconductor memory that can be regarded as a module or a functional unit is integrally constituted as a semiconductor integrated circuit device together with modules or functional units, such as a data processing circuit, based on CMOS circuit technology.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Technology related to semiconductor integrated circuitry has been vigorously advancing in recent years, and even those constitutions that were not technically feasible are now drawing consideration. For example, modern applications for multi-media technology are demanding high-speed processing of great amounts of data even in cell-powered portable data terminal equipment (or a portable data terminal-system), as well as a decrease in the size and a weight and decrease in the amount of power consumption thereof. In order to meet these demands, it can be considered to mount the data processing circuits, such as a logic operation circuit and a central processing circuit, as well as a memory circuit of a relatively large capacity coupled to such a data processing device, on a single semiconductor substrate (chip) instead of constituting them as independent semiconductor integrated circuit devices. When the electronic system that is to be obtained further requires other functional circuits, such as an analog-digital converter circuit and a digital-analog converter circuit, such functional circuits, too, may be mounted on one semiconductor substrate.
In this case, it is convenient to treat the data processing circuit, memory circuit, analog-digital converter circuit, digital-analog converter circuit and the like circuits as individual modules or functional unit circuits from the standpoint of designing and producing a semiconductor integrated circuit-device. Therefore, the above-mentioned method can be regarded to be a method of mounting a plurality of different modules or functional units on a single semiconductor substrate.
The semiconductor integrated circuit device which has a constitution in which a plurality of modules having different functions are mounted on a semiconductor substrate may be considered to constitute almost all circuit portions of a desired electronic system and may, hence, be referred to as a system LSI. After the completion of the present invention, the present inventors have learned, through a search, of the presence of JP-A-8-204140, which is related to the substrate bias voltage control technology of the present invention that will be described later. According to the subject matter disclosed in this publication, the substrate bias voltages corresponding to the circuit blocks are controlled depending on the normal operation and the standby operation in the CMOS constitution that uses a silicon-on-insulator substrate. This publication, however, has no description concerning technology that can be favorably adapted to a plurality of modules or the mode-setting technology contemplated by the present invention as will be described later.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The semiconductor integrated circuit device on which a plurality of such modules are mounted employ fine wires, such as signal lines of decreased lengths. owing to the structure as a semiconductor integrated circuit device, making it possible to increase the operation speed of the electronic systems, to decrease the amount of electric consumption and to increase the resistance against noise. Besides, the number of wires connecting the modules can be freely increased without being limited by the number of external terminals provided for the semiconductor integrated circuit device, making it possible to realize a constitution for creating new functions that could not be realized by the combination of a plurality of semiconductor integrated circuit devices.
A read/write memory or a volatile memory mounted on a semiconductor substrate can be represented by a dynamic memory module, i.e., a memory module, the memory cells of which comprise a dynamic memory. A dynamic memory is constituted by memory cells of a relatively small size. Therefore, a dynamic memory as a whole is constituted in a relatively small size, and yet it has a large storage capacity. This makes it possible to realize an electronic system that could hardly be accomplished by using a memory such as a static memory constituted by memory cells of a relatively large size, which is far from having a large storage capacity unless it is constructed to have a large size.
In constituting the semiconductor integrated circuit device that can be regarded as a system LSI, it becomes important to satisfy various characteristics, such as operation functions to be realized by the electronic system, the operation speed and the power consumption, as well as to control the electric power to a sufficient degree in a substantially de-energized state, such as the standby state. That is, in a substantially de-energized state of the semiconductor integrated circuit device, such as the standby state, it is desired that the electric power is consumed in amounts as small as possible. Such a power control becomes particularly important in an electronic system such as portable information terminal equipment using cells as a power source.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an operation control technology adapted to a semiconductor integrated circuit device mounting a data processing circuit and a dynamic memory.
Another object of the present invention is to provide operation control technology adapted to a CMOS semiconductor integrated circuit device mounting a data processing circuit and a dynamic memory.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an operation control technology adapted to a CMOS semiconductor integrated circuit device mounting a data processing circuit and a dynamic memory, which operates on a low power source voltage.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor integrated circuit device capable of decreasing the amount of consumption of electric power while holding the stored data.
A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor integrated circuit device adapted as an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit).
A further object of the present invention is to provide bias control technology adapted to a system LSI (large scale integration).
Another object of the present invention is to provide a functional unit or a module constitution technology adapted to bias control.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a dynamic memory that serves as a functional unit or a module in the system LSI.
A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor integrated circuit device that contributes to diversifying the electronic systems.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide operation control technology capable of avoiding effects that are not desired for the operation for holding the stored data.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor integrated circuit device that reduces the difficulty for supplying power.
Still further objects and features of the present invention will become obvious from the description provided in the specification and from the accompanying drawings.
A representative example of the invention disclosed in this application will be briefly described below. The semiconductor integrated circuit device can be controlled in three modes. A first mode is one that can be regarded as a normal operation mode or an active mode, in which internal circuits, such as a data processing circuit and a memory circuit, are energized.
A second mode is one that can be regarded as a standby mode or a completely standby mode, in which the internal circuits are de-energized. In the second mode, the internal circuits,
Aoki Yasunobu
Igarashi Yasuto
Ohtsuka Mariko
Sasaki Toshio
Takahira Toshiaki
Antonelli Terry Stout & Kraus LLP
Hitachi , Ltd.
Zarabian A.
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