Patent · US Active

Soft erasure of memory cells

US9001578B2 · kind B2 · utility

4Cited by
5References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateSep 11, 2012
Grant dateApr 7, 2015
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 9, 2033

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG11C2211/5646
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Apparatus and method for managing data in a memory, such as but not limited to a flash memory array. In accordance with some embodiments, a soft erasure is performed on a block of memory cells by toggling an erasure status value without otherwise affecting a written state of the cells in the block. The memory cells are subsequently overwritten with a set of data using a write polarity direction determined responsive to the toggled erasure status value.

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