US20090091986A1 - Circuits, devices, systems, and methods of operation for a linear output driver - Google Patents
Circuits, devices, systems, and methods of operation for a linear output driver Download PDFInfo
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- US20090091986A1 US20090091986A1 US11/973,022 US97302207A US2009091986A1 US 20090091986 A1 US20090091986 A1 US 20090091986A1 US 97302207 A US97302207 A US 97302207A US 2009091986 A1 US2009091986 A1 US 2009091986A1
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
- H03K—PULSE TECHNIQUE
- H03K19/00—Logic circuits, i.e. having at least two inputs acting on one output; Inverting circuits
- H03K19/0005—Modifications of input or output impedance
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
- H03K—PULSE TECHNIQUE
- H03K19/00—Logic circuits, i.e. having at least two inputs acting on one output; Inverting circuits
- H03K19/0175—Coupling arrangements; Interface arrangements
- H03K19/0185—Coupling arrangements; Interface arrangements using field effect transistors only
- H03K19/018507—Interface arrangements
- H03K19/018521—Interface arrangements of complementary type, e.g. CMOS
- H03K19/018528—Interface arrangements of complementary type, e.g. CMOS with at least one differential stage
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Abstract
Description
- Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to integrated circuit devices, and more specifically, to an output driver having linear characteristics over a wide range of voltages.
- Integrated circuits, such as those used in semiconductor devices, require input/output (I/O) terminals to couple to an external bus or interface with external circuitry. For example, memory devices, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices, synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), reduced latency dynamic random access memory (RLDRAM), and others, transfer data from an array of memory cells to an output terminal, such as a DQ pad. Data may then be placed on a transmission line having a termination to properly transfer data to receiving circuitry external to the memory device, such as a processor or memory controller. In order for the memory device to successful transfer data, the memory device conventionally includes an output driver that is capable of driving data onto the transmission line at drive capabilities required by the external bus or circuitry. Output drivers commonly include a pull-up device, mainly comprising of PMOS transistors, and a pull-down device, comprising of NMOS transistors. The term “pull-up” refers to the device being adapted to pull an output node to a desired logic high voltage level “1”, and the term “pull-down” refers to the device being adapted to pull the output node to a desired logic low voltage level “0”. The output driver compensates for variations in supply voltage to provide more consistent switching speed characteristics between the logic high and low output signals. Additionally, the transistors in the output driver may be designed to adjust impedances in the respective pull-up and pull-down devices to control the output impedance of the output driver.
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FIG. 1 is an example of a prior art complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)output driver circuit 10 having both a pull-up circuit 11 and a pull-down circuit 12. The pull-up circuit 11 and pull-down circuit 12 are coupled in series with each other between supply voltages VCC and VSS, and also coupled to a DQ pad for outputting a DQ signal at anoutput node 50. The pull-up circuit 11 includes aPMOS output transistor 22 coupled to an active low input PUPF at aninput node 20. - The
input node 20 is further coupled to aPMOS enabling transistor 26 that is coupled in series with a diode-connectedPMOS transistor 24. The drains of thetransistors output node 50. The drain of the diode-connectedtransistor 24 is additionally coupled to its gate. - The pull-
down device 12 is configured in a similar manner as the pull-up transistor 11, except that each of thePMOS transistors NMOS transistors node 30. As explained in greater detail below, the PUPF and PDN signals may be driven to place the DQ pad at a high logic level, a low logic level, or a tristate (high impedance) level. - In operation, to drive the DQ pad high, the PUPF signal is low, and the PDN signal is also low, thus disabling the pull-
down circuit 12. The low PUPF signal received by the gate of thetransistor 22 atnode 20 turns ON thetransistor 22, thereby pulls the voltage at theoutput node 50 towards the supply voltage VCC. The gate of thetransistor 26 also receives the low PUPF signal, and assuming the DQ voltage is initially low, both thetransistor 26 and the diode-connectedtransistor 24 are turned ON to pull the DQ pad towards VCC. The DQ pad will be pulled towards VCC by both devices until it reaches a voltage level that is greater than VCC less the threshold voltage of the diode-connectedtransistor 24 and subsequently turn OFF thetransistor 24. - To drive the DQ pad low, the PUPF signal transitions high to disable the pull-
up circuit 11, and the PDN signal also transitions high. The high PDN signal turns ON thetransistors node 50 to VSS through thetransistor 32. At the same time, since the voltage of the DQ pad is initially high due to the previous operation of the pull-up circuit 11, the diode-connectedtransistor 34 is initially turned ON to drain thenode 50 towards VSS through thetransistor 36. When the DQ pad is pulled down to the threshold voltage of the diode-connectedtransistor 34, thetransistor 34 is disabled, and the DQ pad is pulled down to VSS solely through thetransistor 32. - To drive the DQ pad to a tristate condition, the PUPF signal is driven inactive high to disable the pull-up
circuit 11, and the PDN signal is driven inactive low to disable the pull-down circuit 12. The PUPF signal should never be active low at the same time that the PDN signal is active high or else the pull-upcircuit 11 and the pull-down circuit 12 will both be active and they will couple VCC to VSS. - A constant resistance at the output node is conventionally desired for matching the output impedance of the
output driver circuit 10 to the external impedance. For example, during the operation of the pull-up circuit 11, the output resistance at thenode 50 may be held substantially constant by increasing the current from the DQ pad at a rate that is proportional to the change in the voltage at the DQ pad as the DQ pad charges towards the logic high level. Therefore, the constant output resistance may be met by establishing a linear relationship between the total current and the voltage at thenode 50. However, the I-V relationship of thetransistors transistors transistors transistors transistors up circuit 11 uses an extra current path formed by thetransistors down circuit 12 uses an extra current path formed by thetransistors FIG. 2 . -
FIG. 2 is a signal diagram 201 that shows at the lower half ofFIG. 2 afirst graph 214 of the current through thetransistor 32 as a function of voltage atnode 50. It can be seen that the current is initially directly proportional to voltage, but deviates from a linear relationship as thetransistor 32 becomes saturated. Also shown at the lower half ofFIG. 2 is agraph 215 of the current through thetransistors transistor 36 is driven with the same PDN signal that drives thetransistor 32, the presence of the diode-connectedtransistor 34 causes the saturation of thetransistor 36 to be well beyond the voltage at the DQ pad that causes saturation of thetransistor 32. The total current from the DQ pad, i.e., the sum of the current through the first path formed by thetransistor 32 and the current through the second path formed by thetransistors graph 212 at the top ofFIG. 2 . As shown by thegraph 212, the current from theoutput driver circuit 10 is much more linear compared to thegraph 214 showing the current from thetransistor 32 alone. The second path formed by thetransistors output driver circuit 10 substantially more linear. However, as further shown by thegraph 210 inFIG. 2 , the output impedance still changes excessively.Graph 210 is a linear curve showing what the current-voltage characteristics would be if the output impedance of thedriver circuit 10 were constant, i.e., the current was directly proportional to voltage. The graphs show the actual current deviating from a linear response as the voltage of the DQ pad increases towards VCC. This deviation is the result of the diode-connectedtransistor 34 being unable to provide enough current at higher voltages. Consequently, the output impedance changes as the voltage at the DQ pad approaches the supply voltages VCC and VSS. - Changes to the output resistance may cause impedance mismatches between the
output driver circuit 10 and transmission lines, and therefore cause the voltage at the DQ pad to become more susceptible to reflection and noise resulting in misinterpreted voltage levels by receiving external circuitry. Furthermore, due to a reduction in current at higher voltages, the size of thetransistors graph 210 inFIG. 2 ) sooner at low and mid voltage ranges. Additionally, larger transistors consume more space on the chip, and increase the circuit size that is already large due to the bulky diode-connected transistors. Larger transistors are particularly undesireable in memory devices that require multiple DQ pads, such as an RLDRAM device that conventionally includes at least 36 DQ pads. - There is, therefore, a need in the art for a smaller sized linear output driver that reduces the size of its transistors while still achieving current linearity over a wider range of voltages.
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FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional linear output driver circuit. -
FIG. 2 is a signal diagram of various current signals of the output driver circuit ofFIG. 1 . -
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a linear output driver according to an embodiment of the invention. -
FIG. 4 is a signal diagram of various current signals of the output driver circuit ofFIG. 3 . -
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a linear output driver according to another embodiment of the invention. -
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a linear output driver according to another embodiment of the invention. -
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a memory device having a linear output driver according embodiments of the invention. -
FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram of a processor-based system that includes the memory device ofFIG. 5 according to embodiments of the invention. - Certain details are set forth below to provide a sufficient understanding of embodiments of the invention. However, it will be clear to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these particular details. Moreover, the particular embodiments of the present invention described herein are provided by way of example and should not be used to limit the scope of the invention to these particular embodiments. In other instances, well-known circuits, control signals, and timing protocols have not been shown in detail in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring embodiments of the invention.
- As previously described, more current is needed at the output node for the
output driver 10 ofFIG. 1 to achieve linearity at higher output voltages, and thereby achieve a substantially constant output impedance.FIG. 3 shows anoutput driver circuit 300 having additionalthird transistor legs output driver circuit 10. Similar to theoutput driver circuit 10, theoutput driver circuit 300 includes a pull-upcircuit 311 and a pull-down circuit 312. Theoutput driver circuit 300 includes many of the same components as previously described with reference to theoutput driver circuit 10 ofFIG. 1 . As such, the same reference numbers used inFIG. 1 are used to refer to the same components inFIG. 3 where appropriate, and in the interest of brevity, their structure and operation are not repeated. The pull-upcircuit 311 includes afirst leg 361 coupling theoutput node 350 to VCC through thetransistor 22, asecond leg 362 coupling theoutput node 350 to VCC through thetransistors third leg 363 coupling theoutput node 350 to VCC bytransistors FIG. 3 , it will be appreciated that additional cascoded legs, with each leg having more than four transistors, may be connected in parallel to achieve greater linearity. Thethird leg 363 includes a cascode diode-connectedtransistor pair 370, having two PMOS diode-connectedtransistors PMOS enabling transistor 328 whose source is coupled to VCC. - The
output driver circuit 300 is operated similarly to theoutput driver circuit 10, except that thethird transistor leg 363 provides additional current to theoutput node 350. The PUPF signal may be provided in three phases to allow thetransistors transistor 328 may be turned ON or OFF slightly earlier than thetransistor 26, and thetransistor 26 may be turned ON or OFF earlier thantransistor 22. This allows the current drawn through the DQ pad from thetransistor legs transistors transistor 328, the gate-to-source voltage of thetransistor 373 changes such that thetransistor 373 is also turned ON. Assuming the voltage at the DQ pad is initially low, the gate-to-source voltages of the respective diode-connectedtransistors transistors transistor 26 being enabled. Therefore, thetransistors transistor legs first transistor leg 361 to enter into saturation, as previously described, thereby limiting the current through thetransistor 22. Thethird transistor leg 363 may thus provide the current necessary to achieve linearity between the current and drain-to-source voltage of thetransistor 22 that was previously not attainable by thesecond leg 362 at higher voltages. The combined sum of the currents generated across each of the threetransistor legs output node 350 that is proportional to the voltage of the DQ pad as the voltage approaches VCC. As a result, a substantially constant output impedance can be maintained at thenode 350, independent of the voltage level VCC. When the DQ pad is pulled up to a voltage that is greater than VCC less than the threshold voltages of the cascode diode-connectedtransistors transistors third transistor leg 363. Thesecond transistor leg 362 is disabled next and, the DQ pad is then pulled up solely through thefirst transistor leg 361. - Similar to the pull-up
circuit 311, the pull-down circuit 312 couples theoutput node 350 to VSS through threetransistor legs circuit 311. Thethird transistor leg 369 of the pull-down circuit 312 similarly includes the cascode diode-connectedtransistor pair 374 comprising two NMOS cascode diode-connectedtransistors NMOS enabling transistor 338 whose source is coupled to VSS. The pull-down circuit 312 operates in a similar manner as the pull-upcircuit 311, except that each of the three transistor legs 364-369 are enabled to pull down the DQ pad towards VSS. Similarly, as explained above, thefirst transistor leg 364 may enter into saturation due to the high voltage at thenode 350 coupled to the drain of thetransistor 32 after the operation of the pull-upcircuit 311. Thus, thethird transistor leg 369 is capable of draining more current to compensate for the limited current being sourced to VSS by thefirst leg 364. The PDN signal, in the same manner as the PUPF signal described above, may be provided in three phases to allow thetransistors transistor 338 may be turned ON slightly earlier than thetransistor 36, and thetransistor 36 turned ON earlier thantransistor 32 such that current is successively drawn from the DQ pad through thetransistor legs circuit 311, the pull-down circuit 312 is capable of achieving linearity across a wider span of voltages to maintain a substantially constant output impedance at thenode 350. It will be appreciated that although the embodiment of theoutput driver circuit 300 is described with respect to each of the pull-up and pull-downcircuits output driver circuit 300 are details that can be modified without departing from the scope of the embodiments of the present invention. -
FIG. 4 is a signal diagram 401 of various current signals illustrating the operation of one portion, the pull-down circuit 312, of theoutput driver circuit 300 ofFIG. 3 . It will be appreciated that althoughFIG. 4 is described with respect to the pull-down circuit 312 of theoutput driver circuit 300, embodiments of the present invention can be also used for the pull-upcircuit 311 as well, where applicable, without departing from the scope of the present invention. Those ordinarily skilled in the art will obtain sufficient understanding from the description provided herein to make such modifications as needed to practice embodiments of the present invention as applied to the pull-upcircuit 312. Similar toFIG. 2 ,FIG. 4 includes thegraph 210 of the ideal totalcurrent signal 210 having a linear response as the drain-to-source voltage changes, assuming theoutput driver circuit 300 maintains an ideal constant output impedance. Agraph 413 of the total current is also shown relative to thegraph 210 of the ideal current across ΔVDS illustrating the operation of theoutput driver circuit 300 as the total current drawn from thenode 350 increases.FIG. 4 shows, in the lower half, thegraph 214 of the first leg current as thetransistor 32 in thefirst leg 364 begins to saturate at the lowest voltage VDS. However, as thetransistor 32 begins to saturate, the current begins to flow in thesecond leg 365 as shown by thegraph 215 since the diode-connectedtransistor 34 compensates for the saturating current in thetransistor 32 to maintain a linear change in current across ΔVDS as shown by the linear response of thegraph 413 of the total current in the upper part ofFIG. 4 .Graph 416 in the lower part ofFIG. 4 shows the current through thethird leg 369 increasing to maintain a linear response of the total current, as shown by thegraph 413. Therefore, in contrast to theoutput driver circuit 10 whose operation is described with respect toFIG. 2 , the output impedance of theoutput driver circuit 300 is held substantially constant at the higher drain-to-source voltages. -
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a linearoutput driver circuit 500 according to another embodiment of the invention. Similar to theoutput driver circuit 10 ofFIG. 1 , theoutput driver circuit 500 includes a pull-upcircuit 511 and a pull-down circuit 512 coupled in series between VCC and VSS, and also coupled to anoutput node 550 having a DQ pad for outputting a DQ signal. Similar to theoutput driver circuit 10, theoutput driver circuit 500 may receive a single input signal (both high or both low) or tristate inputs (high/low), where the high/low condition simultaneously places bothcircuits output driver circuit 10, the input to theoutput driver circuit 500 includes a complementary pair of signals at each input of the pull-up and pull-downcircuits output driver circuit 500, such asblock 552 and transfergates circuit 511 receiving an input signal PUPF at aninput node 520 receives a complementary input signal PUP at aninput node 521. Anoutput PMOS transistor 522 receives the PUPF signal at its gate coupled to thenode 520, and a disablingPMOS transistor 542 receives the PUP signal at its gate coupled to thenode 521. The PUP and PUPF signals are additionally provided to thetransfer gate 554, which is controlled by the PUP and PUPF signals. Thetransfer gate 554 allows a signal received at a third input to pass through to asecond transistor 544 when a low PUPF signal and a high PUP signal are received. When thetransfer gate 554 becomes conductive, thetransistor 544 becomes diode-connected since the third input of thetransfer gate 554 is coupled to receive the DQ voltage at thenode 550. Some fabrication processes and/or transistors used for thetransfer gate 554 may require additional ESD protection as shown by theblock 552 but in other cases it can be eliminated and replaced by a simple wire between its terminals. - The pull-
down circuit 512 is configured similarly to the pull-upcircuit 511, except the transistors in the pull-down circuit 512 compriseNMOS transistors down circuit 512 is enabled to receive complementary input signals PDN and PDNF. Similar to the pull-upcircuit 511, the pull-down circuit 512 includes thetransfer gate 556 controlled by the PDN and PDNF signals. When the PDN signal is high and the PDNF signal is low, thetransfer gate 556 allows a signal, received by a third input, to pass through to the gate of anNMOS transistor 548. The third input to thetransfer gate 556 is coupled to the DQ pad through anotherESD protection block 552. As a result, when thetransfer gate 556 is enabled, theNMOS transistor 548 functions as a diode-connected transistor. - The
output driver circuit 500 operates similarly to theoutput driver circuit 10 ofFIG. 1 . In contrast, however, thetransfer gates transistors output driver circuit 500. In operation, when the PUPF signal is low, thetransistor 522 is turned ON, and the PUP signal is high thereby disabling thetransistor 542. By turning ON thetransistor 522, theoutput node 550 is pulled towards VCC through thetransistor 522. The PUP and PUPF signals additionally enable thetransfer gate 554 to allow the DQ voltage to pass through to the gate of thetransistor 544. Assuming the voltage at the DQ pad is initially low, thetransistor 544 is thus turned ON to also pull the DQ pad towards VCC, operating similarly to diode-connectedtransistor 24 ofFIG. 1 . The DQ pad is, therefore, pulled towards VCC through both thetransistors transistor 544. - When the PUPF signal is low, the PDN signal is normally low and the PDNF signal is normally high. The
transfer gate 556 is then disabled, and the high PDNF signal turns thetransistor 546 ON to ensure thetransistor 548 is completely disabled. The low PDN signal turns OFF thetransistor 532, and therefore the pull-down circuit 512 is deactivated while the pull-upcircuit 511 is in operation. - The pull-up
circuit 511 operates in a manner that is similar to the operation of the pull-down circuit 512. When the signal PUPF transitions high and the signal PUP transitions low, thetransfer gate 554 is disabled and thetransistor 522 is turned OFF. The low PUP signal also turns ON the disablingtransistor 542 to ensure thetransistor 544 remains completely disabled. Therefore, the pull-upcircuit 511 is completely disabled while the pull-down circuit 512 is in operation. - When the PDN signal transitions high and the PDNF signal transitions low, the
transistor 532 is turned ON to couple theoutput node 550 to VSS through thetransistor 532. Additionally, the disablingtransistor 546 is turned OFF, and thetransfer gate 556 is enabled. Since the pull-upcircuit 511 has initially made the DQ voltage at theoutput node 550 high, the DQ voltage is passed through thetransfer gate 556 and applied to the gate of thetransistor 548 to turn ON thetransistor 548. Thus, the DQ pad is pulled toward VSS through thesecond transistor 548. The DQ pad is pulled down to the threshold voltage of the diode-connectedtransistor 548, at which point thetransistor 548 is turned OFF. The DQ pad is thereafter pulled down to VSS solely through thetransistor 532. The operations of the pull-upcircuit 511 and the pull-down circuit 512 are repeated as the signals PUP/PUPF and PDN/PDNF transition between high and low input levels. - In summary, the overall size of the
output driver circuit 500 is reduced by replacing the larger enablingtransistors transfer gates driver circuit 500 has a similar problem with linearity at higher voltages as thedriver circuit 10 ofFIG. 1 . Although the diode-connectedtransistors transistor output driver circuit 500 at thenode 550 to deviate from a desired constant impedance. -
FIG. 6 shows anoutput driver circuit 600 that optimizes the combined features ofFIGS. 3 and 5 to reduce the size of theoutput driver circuit 600 while still improving its linearity across a wider range of voltages. Theoutput driver circuit 600 includes many of the same components as previously described with reference to theoutput driver circuits circuit 311 of thedriver circuit 300, a pull-upcircuit 611 of theoutput driver circuit 600 includes threetransistor legs driver circuits third transistor legs transfer gate 654. Thetransfer gate 654, when enabled, applies the DQ voltage at anoutput node 650 to the gate of both thetransistor 544 andtransistor 671 of thethird leg 663. Similar to thethird transistor leg 363 inFIG. 3 , thetransistor 671 in thethird leg 663 is coupled in series to a PMOS diode-connectedtransistor 673 whose source is coupled to VCC. Therefore, the DQ voltage at thenode 650 may be pulled towards VCC through all threetransistor legs transistor legs circuit 311 inFIG. 3 . Those ordinarily skilled in the art will appreciate that the number of transistor legs or the number of transfer gates, or the replacement of components having similar functionality, in theoutput driver circuit 600 are details that can be modified without departing from the scope of the embodiments of the present invention. - A pull-
down circuit 612 is structured similarly to the pull-upcircuit 611, except that the threetransistor legs Transistors third transistor legs transfer gate 656 that applies the DQ voltage to their gates when thetransfer gate 656 is enabled. Thetransistor 675 is coupled in series to a diode-connectedtransistor 677 whose source is coupled to VSS. Thetransistor legs transistor legs down circuit 312 inFIG. 3 . - When the
transfer gate 654 of the pull-upcircuit 611 is enabled, the DQ pad whose voltage is initially low turns on thetransistors output node 650 to VCC through thethird leg 663 in a similar manner described for thethird transistor leg 363 ofFIG. 3 . - Similarly, when the
transfer gate 656 of the pull-down circuit 612 is enabled and the DQ pad is high, thethird leg 669 is activated by enabling thetransistors transistor leg 369 ofFIG. 3 . In contrast toFIG. 3 , however, the large enablingtransistors output driver circuit 600, thereby significantly reducing its size. However, in contrast to theoutput driver circuit 500 ofFIG. 5 , greater linearity is achieved at much higher voltages by the addition of more current by thethird transistor legs output driver circuit 300 ofFIG. 3 . Therefore, linearity over a wider range of voltages may be achieved by theoutput driver circuit 600 while its overall size is reduced. -
FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of amemory device 700 having drivers that include the output driver circuits in accordance with the embodiments previously described. Thememory device 700 inFIG. 7 includes a synchronous dynamic random access memory (“SDRAM”) or a reduced latency dynamic random access memory (RLDRAM), although the principles described herein are applicable to any memory device that may includeoutput driver circuits - The
memory device 700 includes amemory array 730 of memory cells arranged in rows and columns. Thememory array 730 may be accessed on a row-by-row, page-by-page or bank-by-bank basis as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art. Thememory array 730 further includes a command, address and writedata buffer block 728 that may receive row, column, and memory address signals over abus 734 from some processing component (not shown) or controller (not shown), such as a memory controller. Similarly, read data signals may be received byread data buffers 724 to output read data from thememory array 730 through thebus 734. Theblock 728 may apply row address signals to arow decoder 760 and column address signals to acolumn decoder 770. Therow decoder 760 activates a row of cells in thememory array 730 corresponding to decoded row address signals. Similarly, thecolumn decoder 770 enables write data signals to be applied to selected columns corresponding to the column address signals and allows read data signals to be coupled from selected columns corresponding to the column address signals during memory read operation. Theblock 728 may additionally provide control and timing signals to various components of thememory device 700 for a number of performance operations. The detailed operation for generating control and timing signals is conventional, and thus, for the sake of brevity, will not be described in more detail. - The read data buffers 724 may include the smaller-
sized output drivers -
FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram of an embodiment of a processor-basedsystem 800 that includes thememory device 700 ofFIG. 7 . Conventionally, theprocessor circuitry 802 is coupled through address, data, and control buses to amemory device 810 to provide for writing data to and reading data from thememory device 810. Theprocessor circuitry 802 includes circuitry for performing various processor functions, such as executing specific software to perform specific calculations or tasks. In addition, the processor-basedsystem 800 may include one ormore input devices 804, such as a keyboard or a mouse, coupled to theprocessor circuitry 802 to allow a user to interface with the processor-basedsystem 800. Conventionally, the processor-basedsystem 800 may also include one ormore output devices 806 coupled to theprocessor circuitry 802, such as output devices conventionally including a printer and a video terminal. One or moredata storage devices 808 are also conventionally coupled to the processor-basedcircuitry 802 to store data or retrieve data from external storage media (not shown). Examples ofconventional storage devices 808 include hard and floppy disks, tape cassettes, compact disk read-only (“CD-ROMs”) and compact disk read-write (“CD-RW”) memories, and digital video disks (“DVDs”).Data storage devices 808 may also include non-volatile memory devices to store data that is to be retained even when power is not supplied to the processor-basedsystem 800 or thedata storage devices 808, such as a flash memory device (not shown) according to some other examples of the invention. -
FIG. 8 may, for example, be a consumer device, such as a cell phone, digital camera or other hand-held device, having auser input 812 coupled to theprocessor 802. Theprocessor 802 may be a microprocessor, digital signal processor, or part of a central processing unit that communicates with theuser input 812 over a bus. Theprocessor 802 may additionally have a random access memory (RAM) or, alternatively, theuser input 812 may include the RAM to which the processor communicates over the bus. Theuser input 812 may additionally include a non-volatile storage device such as flash memory, or rely on thedata storage device 808. - From the foregoing it will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims.
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