Patent · US Active

Systems and methods for reliable multi-level cell flash storage

US8301828B2 · kind B2 · utility

4Cited by
3References
27Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateJun 2, 2010
Grant dateOct 30, 2012
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 28, 2030

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG11C2211/5641
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Multi-level cell (MLC) flash memory has become widely used due to their capacity to store more information in the same area as a single-level cell (SLC) flash memory. This makes MLC flash memory very attractive for storing media. Flash has also traditionally been used in electronic devices for firmware, but MLC flash is less reliable than SLC flash. For critical memory operations, MLC flash memory can be made as reliable as SLC flash by mapping one binary value to an MLC state corresponding to the highest threshold voltage and the other binary value to the MLC state corresponding the lowest threshold voltage when writing to the MLC flash, and by mapping all MLC states with corresponding threshold voltages above a central cutoff threshold voltage to one binary value and by mapping all MLC states with corresponding threshold voltages below a central cutoff threshold voltage to the other binary value.

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