MEMORY CELL PROGRAMMING METHOD AND SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE CAPABLE OF PROGRAMMING DATA IN THE MEMORY CELL WITHOUT INITIAL READ OPERATION

摘要

A memory cell programming method and a semiconductor memory device are provided to reduce memory cell programming time by programming data in a memory cell without initial read operation. At least one memory cell stores data of n bits. A first or an n-th latch(LAT1-LATn) receives the data and then latches the data. The k-th latch receives and latches k-th bit of the data, and programs the k-th bit latched in the k-th latch into the memory cell, by referring to the first or the (k-1)th bit latched in the first or the (k-1)th latch. The latch is included in a page buffer of a semiconductor memory device(500).