Patent US4453236A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
← Back to Patent Explorer
US4453236A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Memory array addressing circuitry

Assignee: Sharp Corp
•
Filing: 1980-04-18
•
Granted: 1984-06-05
•
Expires: 2000-04-18
📄 Original PDF 🌐 Google Patents 🔄 Sync Now

Abstract

Abstract An integrated circuit comprises a memory array containing a plurality of memory cells arranged in a matrix shape having rows and columns, and memory array addressing circuitry for addressing such array in accordance with addressing signals. Said addressing circuitry comprises a number of gates responsive to addressing signals for addressing the array. Only one of the number of gates has a control signal applied thereto which places the memory array in such a condition that none of the memory cells is selected for addressing purposes, and the remaining gates do not have a control signal applied even under the same situation, wherein none of the memory cells is selected for addressing purposes. The gates comprise an AND gate, an NAND gate, an NOR gate or the like.

Inventors

  • 👤 Munehiro Uratani
  • 👤 Setsufumi Kamuro

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-28 18:28
CPC Classifications
G; G11; G11C; G11C8/00; G11C8/10; G11C8/18; G11C8/20

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 5
Claim 1
Independent Claim 174 words
A system for addressing an M row by N column matrix memory array comprising: row address selection means for selecting one of said M rows in said matrix memory array corresponding to a point in memory to be addressed; column address selection means for selecting one of said N columns in said matrix memory array corresponding to the point in memory to be addressed; said row and column address selection means selecting a point in memory to be addressed in response to application of row and column address signals, the row and column address signals for selecting one of the points in memory being equivalent to the absence of any address signals; and control signal application means connected to less than the entirety of said M rows or N columns for inhibiting the application of one of said row or column address signals to said one point in memory when selection of a memory address is undesired to prevent an undesired selection of said one point in memory by the absence of address signals.
Claim 2
Independent Claim 174 words
A system for addressing an M row by N column matrix memory array comprising: row address selection means for selecting one of said M rows in said matrix memory array corresponding to a point in memory to be addressed; column address selection means for selecting one of said N columns in said matrix memory array corresponding to the point in memory to be addressed; said row and column address selection means selecting a point in memory to be addressed in response to application of row and column address signals, the row and column address signals for selecting one of the points in memory being equivalent to the absence of any address signals; and control signal application means connected to less than the entirety of said M rows or N columns for inhibiting the application of one of said row or column address signals to said one point in memory when selection of a memory address is undesired to prevent an undesired selection of said one point in memory by the absence of address signals.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 46 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said row selection means includes a plurality of gates corresponding in number to the M rows of said memory array; said column selection means including a plurality of gates corresponding in number to the N columns of said memory array.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 34 words
The system of claim 2 wherein said control signal application means applies a selective inhibit signal to an input of the gate corresponding to the row or column of said one point in memory.
Claim 5
Independent Claim 25 words
The system of any of claims 1-3 wherein only one of said row or column address signals is inhibited by said control signal application means.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US3471838A Cited
US3969706A Cited
US4037098A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1987-06-05 1987-12-05 1988-06-05 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1991-06-05 1991-12-05 1992-06-05 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 1995-06-05 1995-12-05 1996-06-05 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

Assigned Categories & Tags

No categories assigned to this patent yet.

Assign Category Tag