Patent · US Active

Method for copying data in reprogrammable non-volatile memory

US7849381B2 · kind B2 · utility

18Cited by
51References
14Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateDec 21, 2004
Grant dateDec 7, 2010
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 26, 2026

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F2212/7203
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Methods are presented for improving data relocation operations. Rather than check data quality based on its associated error correction code (ECC) in every relocation operation, it can determine whether to check ECC based on predetermined selection criteria: if ECC checking is not selected, the memory can perform an on-chip copy of the data from a first location to a second location. If ECC checking is selected, the data is transferred to the controller and checked; when an error is found, a correction operation is performed and when no error is found, an on-chip copy is performed. Predetermined selection criteria may comprise a sampling mechanism, which may be random based or deterministic. Additionally, data transfer flags can be introduced to indicate data has been corrected and should be transferred back to the memory. Header and user data can be considered separately if each has a distinct associated ECC.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.