EP0214899A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Semiconductor device having means for regulating power supply voltage applied thereto
Assignee: Fujitsu Ltd
•
Filing: 1986-08-14
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2006-08-14
Abstract
Abstract Semiconductor device having means for regulating- power supply voltage applied thereto. A dummy transistor (6) having relatively short channel length is formed on the semiconductor device (chip), and the voltage drop across the dummy transistor (6) is picked up as a representing signal which corresponds rather sensitively to the change of the electrical characteristics of the FETs contained in the inner circuit (5) located on the chip. The regulation of the power supply voltage to the chip is performed by the aid of a regulating means (4), usually a transistor, connected in series between the external power supply line and the inner circuit (5). The representing signal is amplified by a regulating signal generating means (3) whose output voltage is applied to the regulating means (4), controlling the conductance thereof. The chip-to-chip fluctuation of the conductance of transistors (FETs) contained in the inner circuit (5) arethusfairly reduced.
Inventors
- 👤 Keizo Aoyama
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-01 19:49
CPC Classifications
G; G05; G05F; G05F1/00; G05F1/10; G05F1/46; G05F1/462; G05F1/465; H; H10; H10D; H10D84/00; H10D84/80; H10D84/82
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 13
Claim 1
Independent Claim
114 words
A semiconductor device receiving external power supply voltage, characterized in that it comprises: a semiconductor substrate; an inner circuit (5) formed on said semiconductor substrate containing a plurality of transistors; a voltage regulating means (4) formed on said substrate for regulating said external power supply voltage (Vcc) in accordance with said regulating signal and converting said external power supply voltage (Vcc) to an internal power supply voltage (Vcc * ) to be applied to said inner circuit (5); and a controlling means (1,3; 1,2,3) formed on said semiconductor substrate for controlling said regulating means (4) corresponding to electric characteristics of said transistors, so that the fluctuation of electric characteristics of said transistors is compensated.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
114 words
A semiconductor device receiving external power supply voltage, characterized in that it comprises: a semiconductor substrate; an inner circuit (5) formed on said semiconductor substrate containing a plurality of transistors; a voltage regulating means (4) formed on said substrate for regulating said external power supply voltage (Vcc) in accordance with said regulating signal and converting said external power supply voltage (Vcc) to an internal power supply voltage (Vcc * ) to be applied to said inner circuit (5); and a controlling means (1,3; 1,2,3) formed on said semiconductor substrate for controlling said regulating means (4) corresponding to electric characteristics of said transistors, so that the fluctuation of electric characteristics of said transistors is compensated.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
42 words
TIe semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein said controlling means (1,3) comprises: a means (1) for providing a representing signal which represents electric characteristics of said transistors; and a means (3) for generating a regulating signal according to said representing signal.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
81 words
The semiconductor device according to claim 2, wherein said means (1) for providing a representing signal comprises: a dummy transistor (6) and a load transistor (7) connected in series, said dummy transistor (6) being connected to an external power supply line and said load transistor (7) being connected to a power source line, and a voltage (V N1 ) of the node (N1) between said dummy and load transistors (6,7) being fed to the subsequent stage (3) as said representing signal.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
110 words
The semiconductor device according to claim 2, wherein said means (3) for generating a regulating signal comprises: a first load means (13) connected to an external power supply line; an amplifying transistor (8) connected to said first load means in series (13); and a second load means (10) connected to said amplifying transistor (8) and to a power supply line in series, said representing signal being inputted to the gate electrode of said amplifying transistor (8) and a voltage (V N3 .) of a node (N 3 ) between said first load means (13) and said amplifying transistor (8) being fed to the subsequent stage (4) as said regulating signal.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
84 words
The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein said controlling means (1,2,3) comprises: a means (1) for providing a representing signal which represents electric characteristics of said transistors; a means (2) for generating reference voltage depending on said external power supply voltage (Vcc); and a means (3) for generating a regulating signal according to said representing signal (V N1 ) and said reference voltage (Vcc), so that the fluctuation of electric characteristics of said transistors is compensated, depending on said external power supply voltage.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
79 words
The semiconductor device according to claim 5, wherein said means (2) for generating reference voltage comprises: first and second resistors (11,12) connected in series to each other, said first resistor (11) being connected to said external power supply line and said second resistor (12) being connected to a power supply line, and the voltage of the node between said first resistor (11) and second resistor (12) being fed to the subsequent stage (3) as a reference voltage signal (VN2).
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
159 words
The semiconductor device according to claim 5, wherein said means (3) for generating a regulating signal comprises: first and second load means (14,15) connected to an external power supply line; first and second input transistors (8,9) connected in series to said first and second load means (14,15) respectively; and a common transistor (10) commonly connected to said first and second transistors (14,15), and connected to a power supply line, said representing signal (vNI) and said reference signal voltage (V N2 ) being applied to the gate electrodes of said first and second input transistors (8,9) respectively, the voltage (V N4 ) of a node between said second load means (15) and said second input transistor (9) being fed back to the gate electrode of said common transistor (10), and the voltage (V N3 ) of a node between said first load means (14) and said first input transistor (8) being fed to the subsequent stage as said regulating signal.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
80 words
The semiconductor device according to claim 5, wherein said means (1) for providing a representing signal comprises: a dummy transistor (6) and a load transistor (7) connected in series, said dummy transistor (6) being connected to an external power supply line and said load transistor (7) being connected to a power source line, and a voltage (V N1 ) of the node between said dummy and load transistors (6,7) being fed to the subsequent stage (3) as said representing signal.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
29 words
The semiconductor device according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8, wherein said transistors are metal insulator semiconductor (MIS) field effect transistors (FET).
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
69 words
The semiconductor device according to any one of claims 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8, wherein said transistors (7, 8, 10; 7, 8, 9, 10) used in said controlling mean (1, 3; 1, 2, 3) except said dummy transistor (6), are FETs having long channel length which is sufficient to make the electric characteristics of said FETs almost non-sensitive to the change of the channel length of said FETs.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
43 words
The semiconductor device according to claim 3, or claim 8, wherein said dummy transistor (6) is an FET having a short channel length sufficient to make the electric characteristics of said FET sensitive to the change of the channel length of said FET.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
22 words
The semiconductor device according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 5, wherein said electric characteristic of said transistor is conductance.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.