Apparatus and method for determining an operating condition of a memory cell based on cycle information
AssigneeSTEC, Inc.
InventorAshot MELIK-MARTIROSIAN
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed is an apparatus and method for adjusting a memory parameter in a non-volatile memory circuit. On a trigger event, a parameter is determined in accordance with a circuit characteristic associated with the memory block. The parameter may be a new read level voltage to apply to a page of a memory block, or a program verify level voltage used to program a page of a memory block. On determining the parameter a command is sent to the memory circuit to apply the parameter to the page of the memory block. The method can be triggered by an event such as P/E cycle times and the condition is dynamically adjusted to extend the life of the memory circuit.
Claims29
A method for adjusting a memory parameter associated with a non-volatile memory circuit, comprising:
- monitoring the memory circuit for a trigger event;
- and
- on the trigger event:
- determining the memory parameter in accordance with a circuit characteristic associated with a memory block of the memory circuit;
- and
- providing to the memory circuit a command representative of an instruction to apply the determined memory parameter to a group of memory cells of the memory block.
A machine-readable medium including machine-executable instructions for performing a method for adjusting a memory parameter associated with a non-volatile memory circuit, the method comprising the steps of:
- monitoring the memory circuit for a trigger event;
- and
- on the trigger event:
- determining the memory parameter in accordance with a circuit characteristic associated with a memory block of the memory circuit;
- and
- providing to the memory circuit a command representative of an instruction to apply the determined memory parameter to a group of memory cells of the memory block.
A system for adjusting a memory parameter associated with a non-volatile memory circuit, comprising:
- a host interface configured to be operably coupled to a host device, to receive data from the host device, and to send data to the host device;
- a memory interface operably coupled to the memory circuit;
- a storage medium interface operably coupled to a volatile memory;
- and
- a controller operably coupled to the host interface, wherein the controller is operable to:
- monitor the memory circuit for a trigger event;
- and
- on the trigger event:
- determine the memory parameter in accordance with a circuit characteristic associated with a memory block of the memory circuit;
- and
- provide to the memory circuit a command representative of an instruction to apply the determined memory parameter to a group of memory cells of the memory block.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.