Sensing circuit with charge recycling

摘要

A circuit for reading data from a memory device reduces electric power consumption by recycling in a precharge period the charge consumed in a preceding sensing period. The circuit includes a pair of data lines set to a voltage level higher than a precharge voltage by the sensing operation of a pull-up amplifier, and a pair of data lines set to a voltage level lower than the precharge voltage by the sensing operation of a pull-down amplifier. The charge consumed in the sensing period is recycled by electrically connecting the two pairs of data lines, respectively, during a succeeding precharge period.