Micron Technology, Inc.
Estimating resistance-capacitance time constant of electrical circuit

Abstract:

Described are systems and methods for estimating the resistance-capacitance time constant of an electrical circuit (e.g., of a wordline of a memory device). An example system comprises: a memory device comprising a plurality of memory cells electrically coupled to a plurality of wordlines; a resistance-capacitance (RC) measurement circuit to measure a voltage at a specified wordline of the plurality of wordlines; and a processing device coupled to the memory device. The processing device is configured to: apply an initial voltage to a selected wordline of the plurality of wordlines; discharge the selected wordline for a discharge period of time; float the selected wordline until a voltage at the selected wordline is stabilized; determine, by the RC measurement circuit, a stabilized voltage at the selected wordline; and estimate, based on the stabilized voltage, an RC time constant of the wordline.