Patent · US Active

Non-volatile memory and methods with soft-bit reads while reading hard bits with compensation for coupling

US8498152B2 · kind B2 · utility

33Cited by
20References
12Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 23, 2010
Grant dateJul 30, 2013
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 22, 2031

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG11C29/00
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A non-volatile memory has its cells' thresholds programmed within any one of a first set of voltage bands partitioned by a first set of reference thresholds across a threshold window. Hard bits are obtained when read relative to the first set of reference thresholds. The cells are read at a higher resolution relative to a second set of reference thresholds so as to provide additional soft bits for error correction. The soft bits are generated by a combination of a first modulation of voltage on a current word line WLn and a second modulation of voltage on an adjacent word line WLn+1, as in a reading scheme known as “Direct-Lookahead (DLA)”.

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