US 12,608,311 B1Granted

In-memory bitwise operation circuit and method thereof

AssigneeMacronix International Co., Ltd.

InventorWen-Che Tsai

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Abstract

An in-memory bitwise operation circuit and method thereof are provided. The circuit includes a memory array, storing page data each having strings; a page buffer, storing the strings and selecting a portion of the strings as operands; a pop-count counter, receiving the operands and an operator flag, counting the number of bit 1 at corresponding bit positions of the operands, and generating a bitwise operation result corresponding to the operator; a bitwise operation processing unit, receiving and temporally storing the bitwise operation result, and outputting a final bitwise operation result when receiving a final result flag. In case that the operator is a last operator, the bitwise operation result is output as the final bitwise operation result. The circuit and method are suitable for 3D NAND flash memory that has high capacity and high performance.

Claims20

Dependent claims

An in-memory bitwise operation circuit, comprising:

a memory array, having a plurality of page data, each of the plurality of page data has a plurality of strings;
a page buffer, storing the plurality of strings and selecting a portion of the plurality of strings as a plurality of operands;
a pop-count counter, receiving the plurality of operands and an operator flag, counting a number of bit 1 at corresponding bit positions of each of the plurality of operands based on the operator flag, and generating a bitwise operation result of an operator corresponding to the operator flag;
and
a bitwise operation processing unit, receiving and temporally storing the bitwise operation result, and outputting a final bitwise operation result when receiving a final result flag,
wherein when the operator is a last operator, the bitwise operation result is output as the final bitwise operation result, and
when the operator is not the last operator, the bitwise operation result is transmitted to the pop-count counter, so that the pop-count counter continues to perform bitwise operations for a next operator,
wherein the pop-count counter further comprises a plurality of pop-count counter units, and each of the plurality of pop-count counter units performs a bitwise operation on each of the corresponding bit positions in the plurality of operands.

5 more elements

An in-memory bitwise operation method, executed in a memory device, wherein the memory device comprises a pop-count counter, and the pop-count counter further comprises a plurality of pop-count counter units, wherein the in-memory bitwise operation method comprises:

reading at least one page data having a plurality of strings from a memory array in the memory device;
selecting a portion of the strings from the plurality of strings as a plurality of operands;
based on an operator to be executed, counting, by the pop-count counter, a number of bit 1 at corresponding bit positions of each of the plurality of operands, and generating a bitwise operation result corresponding to the operator, wherein each of the plurality of pop-count counter units performs a bitwise operation on each of the corresponding bit positions in the plurality of operands;
receiving and temporally storing the bitwise operation result, wherein when the operator is a last operator, the bitwise operation result is output as a final bitwise operation result;
and
when the operator is not the last operator, the bitwise operation result is continuously used as an operand for a next operator to perform the counting of the number of bit 1, and a bitwise operation of the next operator is continued.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.