A power-efficient voltage upconverter for embedded EEPROM application

This brief presents a power-efficient voltage upconverter applicable to a mobile electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM). The power dissipation is reduced by optimizing the three constituent blocks: the CMOS-type Dickson's charge pump, the level detector for the boosted power supply (VPP), and the level shifter. The power consumption of the VPP level detector is greatly reduced by employing an RC coupled voltage divider. The short-circuit current of the level shifter is eliminated by bootstrapping the gate nodes of stacked protection PMOSFETs. The voltage upconverter is implemented into a 768-bit EEPROM using 0.18-μm CMOS technology and dissipates about 20.2 μW for regulation and consumption of VPP.