1. A semiconductor memory apparatus that has general cells and redundant cells for repairing defective cells among the general cells, the apparatus comprising:
repair sets configured to determine whether general cells corresponding to input addresses are repaired or not and to output signals to activate the redundant cells;
decoding units configured to decode a refresh address or a normal address to output decoded refresh or normal addresses and activate the general cells or the redundant cells according to the decoded refresh address or normal address; and
a control unit configured to perform control such that the decoded refresh or normal addresses, which are output by the decoding units, are not input to the repair sets according to a control signal.
2. The semiconductor memory apparatus of claim 1,
wherein the decoding units include:
a first decoding unit configured to decode the refresh address or the normal address to produce decoded refresh address or normal address;
second decoding units configured to decode the decoded refresh address or normal addresses output of the first decoding unit and to output signals activate the general cells or the redundant cells based thereon; and
a third decoding unit configured to decode the normal address to produce the decoded normal address and output the decoded normal address to the repair sets.
3. The semiconductor memory apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
a refresh address counting unit configured to count the refresh address.
4. The semiconductor memory apparatus of claim 3,
wherein the refresh address counting unit counts the refresh address such that all of the general cells and the redundant cells that replace the general cells can be selected.
5. The semiconductor memory apparatus of claim 3,
wherein the refresh address counting unit counts the refresh address such that after all of the general cells are selected, the redundant cells that replace the general cells can be selected.
6. The semiconductor memory apparatus of claim 2,
wherein the first decoding unit receives an additional address as well as the refresh address and the normal address and also decodes the additional address.
7. The semiconductor memory apparatus of claim 6,
wherein a refresh signal is the additional address.
8. The semiconductor memory apparatus of claim 2,
wherein the control unit includes a plurality of logical elements that have first input terminals individually receiving outputs of the third decoding unit and second input terminals commonly receiving a refresh signal.
9. The semiconductor memory apparatus of claim 2,
wherein each of the repair sets includes:
a first transistor configured to have a source connected to a power supply terminal and a drain;
a plurality of second transistors, each of which has a gate receiving a respective decoded normal address output of the third decoding unit, the output related to the redundant cells corresponding to the second transistors; and
a plurality of fuses, each of which has one end connected to the drain of the first transistor and an other end connected to a respective one of the plurality of second transistors.
10. The semiconductor memory apparatus of claim 2, further comprising:
a signal combining unit configured to combine the signals output of the repair sets and the signals output of the second decoding units and output a combined result to the redundant cells.
11. The semiconductor memory apparatus of claim 10,
wherein the signal combing unit includes logical elements configured to perform OR operations on the signals output of the repair sets and the signals output of the second decoding units and output a result.
12. A method of controlling a semiconductor memory apparatus configured to have redundant cells, the method comprising:
determining whether a refresh signal is input or not;
causing addresses to be input to the repair sets and the decoders when the refresh signal is not input, such that an active operation is performed on the general cells andor the redundant cells; and
blocking input of the address to the repair sets when the refresh signal is input and causing the addresses to be input to the decoders, such that an active operation is performed on the general cells and the redundant cells.
13. The method of claim 12,
wherein the active operation on the general cells or the redundant cells is performed when the normal addresses are input.
14. The method of claim 12,
wherein the active operation on the general cells and the redundant cells is performed when refresh addresses are input.
15. The method of claim 14,
wherein the refresh addresses are input such that all of the general cells and the redundant cells can be activated according to a predetermined order.
16. The method of claim 14,
wherein the refresh addresses are input according to a predetermined order in which after all of the general cells are activated and the redundant cells are activated.
17. A method of controlling a semiconductor memory apparatus configured to have redundant cells, the method comprising:
determining, when a normal address is input, whether the normal address input is repaired or not, and performing an active operation on the general cells or the redundant cells, which corresponds to a result of decoding the normal address input, according to a determination result; and
causing a repair determination not to be performed when a refresh address is input, decoding the refresh address, and performing an active operation on both the general cells and the redundant cells according to a predetermined order.
18. The method of claim 17,
wherein in the decoding of the refresh address, an additional address as well as the refresh address is decoded.
19. The method of claim 18,
wherein a refresh signal is used as the additional address.
20. The method of claim 17, further comprising:
stopping the operation of structures, which perform the repair determination, by using the refresh signal.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of acquiring a signal at a telecommunications system receiver with the aid of acquisition assistance data, comprising:
a) obtaining acquisition assistance data at the receiver, including data provided by an entity remote from the receiver;
b) determining, subsequently to a time of obtaining the acquisition assistance data, a need for the receiver to acquire a particular signal;
c) evaluating a validity of the previously obtained acquisition assistance data for use in acquiring the particular signal; and
d) calculating an expected time of arrival parameter of the particular signal based in part on an estimate of receiver clock bias.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein said expected time of arrival parameter is an expected value.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein said expected time of arrival parameter is an expected window.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the receiver is a cellular telecommunications system mobile station.
5. The method of claim 4 further comprising obtaining a clock bias estimate for the receiver from the previously obtained acquisition assistance data, and using the estimated receiver clock bias to calculate an estimated time of arrival and arrival time uncertainty window at the receiver for acquiring the particular signal if the previously obtained acquisition assistance data is determined to be still valid.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising requesting new acquisition assistance data from an entity remote from the receiver if more than a threshold quantity of time has elapsed since the previous acquisition assistance data was obtained.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein a value of the threshold depends upon an order of an equation describing Doppler shift for which the receiver has accurate coefficients.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein said evaluating comprises determining whether the receiver has moved by an amount that jeopardizes the validity of the previously obtained acquisition assistance data.
9. The method of claim 1 further comprising: determining a need to acquire a plurality of signals; acquiring a first of the plurality of signals; and employing measured parameters of the first of the plurality of signals to calculate a search window for acquiring another of the plurality of signals.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein the receiver is a mobile station in a cellular telecommunications system.
11. The method of claim 10 further comprising modifying the previously obtained acquisition assistance data to compensate for movement of the mobile station since the acquisition assistance data was obtained.
12. The method of claim 10 further comprising determining that the mobile station has moved based upon a comparison between a present neighbor list and a previous neighbor list.
13. The method of claim 10 further comprising determining that the mobile station has moved based upon a comparison between a presently active base station set for the mobile station and a previously active base station set for the mobile station.
14. The method of claim 10 further comprising determining that the mobile station has moved based upon comparison between a present serving base station for the mobile station and a previous serving base station for the mobile station.
15. A method of acquiring a signal at a telecommunications system receiver with the aid of acquisition assistance data, comprising:
a) determining a need to acquire a plurality of signals at a receiver;
b) acquiring a first of the plurality of signals at the receiver; and
c) employing measured parameters of the first of the plurality of signals to calculate acquisition assistance data for a second of the plurality of signals.
16. The method of claim 15 further comprising obtaining acquisition assistance data from an entity remote from the receiver.
17. The method of claim 15 wherein the receiver is a mobile station in a telecommunications system, and the mobile station employs measured parameters of the acquired first of the plurality of signals to calculate an estimated time of arrival for the second of the plurality of signals.
18. The method of claim 15 wherein the receiver is a mobile station in a telecommunications system, and the mobile station employs measured parameters of the acquired first of the plurality of signals to calculate a time of arrival uncertainty window for the second of the plurality of signals.
19. The method claims 15 further comprising obtaining acquisition assistance data from a remote entity prior to determining a need to acquire a plurality of signals; and evaluating a validity of the prior obtained acquisition assistance data for use in acquiring at least one of the plurality of signals.
20. The method of 15 further comprising determining that some previously received acquisition assistance data is invalid due to movement of the receiver subsequent to receiving the acquisition assistance data.
21. The method claim 15 further comprising determining that the receiver has moved based upon a combination of comparisons selected from (a) a present neighbor list of the receiver to a previous neighbor list of the receiver, (b) a present active base station list of the receiver to a previous active base station list of the receiver, and (c) a present serving base station for the receiver to a previous serving base station for the receiver.
22. The method claim 17 further comprising compensating an estimated time of arrival based on previously obtained acquisition assistance data, for movement of the receiver subsequent to obtaining the previously obtained acquisition assistance data.
23. The method claim 17 further comprising compensating a calculated time of arrival uncertainty window, based on previously obtained acquisition assistance data, for movement of the receiver subsequent to obtaining the previously obtained acquisition assistance data.
24. A method of acquiring a signal at a mobile station telecommunications system receiver with the aid of acquisition assistance data, comprising:
a) obtaining first acquisition assistance data at the mobile station while the mobile station is at a first location; and
b) compensating the first acquisition assistance data at the mobile station for a new location of the mobile station to aid a search for a signal by the mobile station at a different second location.
25. The method of claim 24 wherein the first acquisition assistance data includes data obtained from a remote entity, and includes an estimated time of arrival.
26. The method of claim 25 further comprising deriving an mobile station clock bias from the acquisition assistance data and using the derived mobile station clock bias to calculate, at the mobile station, the estimated time of arrival.
27. The method of claim 24 wherein the first acquisition assistance data includes data obtained from a remote entity, and includes a time of arrival uncertainty window.
28. The method of claim 27 further comprising deriving an mobile station clock bias from the acquisition assistance data and using the derived mobile station clock bias to calculate, at the mobile station, the time of arrival uncertainty window.
29. The method of claims 24 further comprising evaluating a validity of the first acquisition assistance data before using it to aid in acquiring a particular signal.
30. The method of claim 24 further comprising using some of the first acquisition assistance data only if less than a predetermined quantity of time has elapsed since the data was obtained.
31. The method of claim 24 wherein a value of the predetermined quantity of time depends upon an order of an equation describing Doppler shift for which the mobile station has accurate coefficients.
32. The method of claim 24 further comprising determining that the mobile station has moved based upon any combination of comparisons selected from (a) a present neighbor list of the receiver to a previous neighbor list of the receiver, or (b) a present active base station list of the receiver to a previous active base station list of the receiver, or (c) a present serving base station for the receiver to a previous serving base station for the receiver.
33. The method of claim 24 further comprising determining a need to acquire a plurality of signals; acquiring a first of the plurality of signals; and employing measured parameters of the first of the plurality of signals to aid acquisition of another of the plurality of signals.
34. A method of determining changes to a location of a mobile station in a cellular telecommunications system, comprising:
a) obtaining a list of base stations relevant to the mobile station according to particular criteria at a first time;
b) obtaining a list of base stations relevant to the mobile station according to the particular criteria at a later second time; and
c) comparing the later list of relevant base stations to the previous list of base station neighbors.
35. The method of claim 34 wherein the list of base stations are active sets of base stations.
36. The method of claim 34 further comprising performing steps a), b) and c) for a second set of base stations that are relevant to the mobile station according to a second set of criteria.
37. The method of claim 34 wherein the second set of base stations is a neighbor list.
38. The method of claim 34 further comprising combining results of the comparison in step c) of first and later base stations belonging to a set relevant to the mobile station according to particular criteria with results of a comparison of first and later base stations belonging to a different set that is relevant to the MS according to second criteria.