A cell core unit and its peripheral circuit are driven by a relatively low
voltage power supply. A constant voltage that does not depend on the
power supply voltage is provided as a boosted voltage (VBOOST) to be
supplied to a control signal for a word line of the cell core unit. A
sense amplifier amplifies a higher voltage level of a bit line to the
power supply voltage. Then, a circuit for generating a signal for
defining the transition timing and/or the pulse width of a control signal
from the peripheral circuit to the cell core unit performs signal delay
using a delay circuit having a characteristic in which a delay time
thereof decreases with reduction of the provided power supply voltage.