Patent attributes
After a refresh operation, a word control circuit holds the selection state of a word line selection signal line selected in each memory block corresponding to a refresh address. Further, in response to an access request, the word control circuit unselects only a word line selection signal line of a memory block selected by an external address corresponding to this access request. In each memory block, the word line selection signal line once selected is not unselected until the access request is received, so that the frequency of unselection and selection of the word line selection signal lines can be lowered. Consequently, a charge/discharge current of the word line selection signal lines can be reduced, which can reduce current consumption of a semiconductor memory.
