Monitoring flash memory erase progress using erase credits

A method comprising:

• monitoring, by a controller of a memory device, an erase operation using one or more ramps;
• determining, by the controller, erase credits associated with the erase operation, wherein each erase credit is based on a magnitude of an erase voltage and is associated with a respective one of the ramps;
• storing, using a counter, a total of the erase credits;
• determining, based on the stored total of erase credits, an extent of erasure;
• in response to determining that the extent of erasure has reached a threshold, completing the erase operation;
• in response to a read request from a host device that requests data stored in the memory device, suspend the erase operation to provide an interruption point for performing a read operation;
• and
• after completing the read operation, determining whether to resume the erase operation based on the stored total of the erase credits.

A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed on at least one processing device, cause the at least one processing device to:

• perform an erase operation for a memory, wherein the erase operation uses one or more ramps;
• determine credits associated with the erase operation, including determining a respective credit associated with each of the ramps;
• store a number of the credits associated with the erase operation;
• determine, based on the stored number of the credits, an extent of erasure of the memory;
• in response to determining that the extent of erasure has reached a first threshold, complete the erase operation;
• in response to receiving a suspend request, suspend the erase operation;
• in response to receiving the suspend request, perform a read operation;
• and
• determine whether to resume the erase operation based on the stored number of the credits.