Patent attributes
The reliability of a low-power SRAM device fabricated in a small process node can be improved by using an SRAM cell with circuitry that reduces or eliminates contention between pull-up and pull-down devices during write operations. In the first stage of a write operation, the node N that stores the SRAM cell's bit value may be decoupled from a power-supply rail (“Rail 1”) by deactivating one type of “pulling” device (e.g., the type of pulling device that can pull the voltage of node N toward the voltage of Rail 1). Using pulling device(s) of the opposite type, the voltage of node N may then be pulled toward the voltage of the other power-supply rail (“Rail 2”). In this manner, the new SRAM cell may reduce or eliminate contention between pull-up and pull-down devices at node N during the first stage of the write operation.
