Erase page check
AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
InventorsTing Luo, Scott Anthony Stoller, Preston Thomson, Devin Batutis, Harish Singidi, Kulachet Tanpairoj
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed in some examples are methods, systems, memory devices, and machine readable mediums for performing an erase page check. For example, in response to an unexpected (e.g., an asynchronous) shutdown, the memory device may have one or more cells that did not finish programming. The memory device may detect these cells and erase them or mark them for erasure.
Claims21
A method performed by a controller of a memory device, the method comprising:
- determining that an asynchronous power loss occurred;
- and
- responsive to determining that the asynchronous power loss occurred:
- identifying a memory cell of the memory device to test for an incomplete programming operation, the memory cell configured as a multi-level cell;
- shifting a read voltage of a first page of the memory cell of a predetermined magnitude toward a zero voltage, the first page having a lowest read voltage of a plurality of pages of the memory cell;
- reading a value in the first page of the memory cell using the shifted read voltage;
- determining that the memory cell was incompletely programmed based upon the value;
- and
- in response to determining that the memory cell was incompletely programmed, mark the memory cell for erasure.
A memory device comprising:
- a controller, configured to perform operations comprising:
- determining that an asynchronous power loss occurred;
- and
- responsive to determining that the asynchronous power loss occurred:
- identifying a memory cell of the memory device to test for an incomplete programming operation, the memory cell configured as a multi-level cell;
- shifting a read voltage of a first page of the memory cell of a predetermined magnitude toward a zero voltage, the first page having a lowest read voltage of a plurality of pages of the memory cell;
- reading a value in the first page of the memory cell using the shifted read voltage;
- determining that the memory cell was incompletely programmed based upon the value;
- and
- in response to determining that the memory cell was incompletely programmed;
- mark the memory cell for erasure.
A non-transitory machine readable medium comprising instructions, that when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:
- determining that an asynchronous power loss occurred;
- and
- responsive to determining that the asynchronous power loss occurred:
- identifying a memory cell of a memory device to test for an incomplete programming operation, the memory cell configured as a multi-level cell;
- shifting a read voltage of a first page of the memory cell of a predetermined magnitude toward a zero voltage, the first page having a lowest read voltage of a plurality of pages of the memory cell;
- reading a value in the first page of the memory cell using the shifted read voltage;
- determining that the memory cell was incompletely programmed based upon the value;
- and
- in response to determining that the memory cell was incompletely programmed, mark the memory cell for erasure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.