# US 2021/0241810 A1 · Voltage adjustment based on pending refresh operations > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2021/0241810 A1 - Document ID: US20210241810A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 17/164,738 - Filed: 2021-02-01 - Published: 2021-08-05 - Earliest claimed: 2020-02-05 - Assignees: Micron Technology, Inc. - Applicants: Micron Technology, Inc. - Inventors: Timothy M. Hollis; James S. Rehmeyer; Baekkyu Choi; Yogesh Sharma; Eric J. Stave; Brian W. Huber; Miles S. Wiscombe - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210241810A1 ## CPC - G11C 11/406: Management or control of the refreshing or charge-regeneration cycles - G11C 2211/4068: Voltage or leakage in refresh operations - Y02D 10/00: Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management - G11C: STATIC STORES (semiconductor memory devices H10B) - Y02D: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES [ICT], I.E. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AIMING AT THE REDUCTION OF THEIR OWN ENERGY USE ## Abstract Methods, systems, and devices for voltage adjustment based on, for example, pending refresh operations are described. A memory device may periodically perform refresh operations to refresh volatile memory cells and may at times postpone performing one or more refresh operations. A memory device may determine a quantity of pending (e.g., postponed) refresh operations, such as by determining a quantity of refresh intervals that have elapsed without receiving or executing a refresh command, among other methods. A memory device may pre-emptively adjust (or cause to be adjusted) a supply voltage associated with the memory device or memory device component based on the quantity of pending refresh operations to prepare for the current demand associated with the performing the one or more pending refresh operations. For example, the memory device may increase a supply voltage associated with one or more components to prepare for performing multiple pending refresh operations. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method comprising: identifying a quantity of refresh intervals associated with refreshing memory cells of a memory device; identifying a quantity of received refresh commands; determining a quantity of refresh operations by determining a difference between the quantity of refresh intervals and the quantity of received refresh commands; and adjusting a supply voltage associated with the memory device for a duration based at least in part on the quantity of refresh operations. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the refresh operations are pending refresh operations. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein: adjusting the supply voltage associated with the memory device for the duration comprises increasing the supply voltage from a first voltage to a second voltage based at least in part on the quantity of refresh operations. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3, wherein a value of the second voltage is based at least in part on the quantity of refresh operations. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a first refresh command after adjusting the supply voltage; increasing the identified quantity of received refresh commands based at least in part on receiving the first refresh command; and adjusting the quantity of refresh operations based at least in part on increasing the identified quantity of received refresh commands. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method of claim 5, further comprising: re-adjusting the supply voltage based at least in part on the adjusted quantity of received refresh commands. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting, from a registered clock driver (RCD) to a power management component, a signal indicating a target voltage based at least in part on the quantity of refresh operations, wherein adjusting the supply voltage comprises adjusting, by the power management component, the supply voltage based at least in part on the target voltage. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting, from the memory device to a power management component, a signal indicating a target voltage based at least in part on the quantity of refresh operations, wherein adjusting the supply voltage comprises adjusting, by the power management component, the supply voltage based at least in part on the target voltage. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein identifying the quantity of refresh intervals comprises identifying a first refresh interval of the quantity of refresh intervals, the method further comprising: increasing the target voltage from a first target voltage to a second target voltage based at least in part on identifying the first refresh interval. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein identifying the quantity of refresh intervals comprises identifying a second refresh interval of the quantity of refresh intervals after identifying the first refresh interval, the method further comprising: increasing the target voltage from the second target voltage to a third target voltage least in part on identifying the second refresh interval. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, further comprising: receiving a refresh command after increasing the target voltage from the first target voltage to the second target voltage; and decreasing the target voltage from the second target voltage to a third target voltage based at least in part on receiving the refresh command. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining that the quantity of refresh operations satisfies a threshold, wherein adjusting the supply voltage comprises adjusting the supply voltage based at least in part on determining that the quantity of refresh operations satisfies the threshold. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, further comprising: determining, after adjusting the supply voltage, a second quantity of refresh operations by determining a second difference between a second quantity of refresh intervals and a second quantity of received refresh commands; determining that the second quantity of refresh operations satisfies a second threshold; and re-adjusting the supply voltage based at least in part on determining that the second quantity of refresh operations satisfies the second threshold. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying a window duration, wherein identifying the refresh intervals and the refresh commands comprises identifying the refresh intervals and the refresh commands during the window duration. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the refresh intervals comprises incrementing a refresh interval counter for each elapsed refresh interval, and wherein identifying the refresh commands comprises decrementing the refresh interval counter for each received refresh command. ### Claim 16 An apparatus comprising: a memory array; and a power management component coupled with the memory array and for providing a supply voltage to the memory array, the apparatus configured to: count a quantity of refresh intervals associated with refreshing memory cells of a memory device. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising: a counter for counting the quantity of refresh intervals. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the apparatus is configured to adjust the supply voltage by increasing the supply voltage from a first voltage to a second voltage based at least in part on the quantity of refresh intervals. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The apparatus of claim 18, wherein a value of the second voltage is based at least in part on the quantity of refresh intervals. ### Claim 20 (depends on 16) The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the apparatus is further configured to: transmit, from the memory array to the power management component, a signal indicating a target voltage of the supply voltage based at least in part on the quantity of refresh intervals, wherein the power management component is configured to adjust the supply voltage based at least in part on the target voltage. ### Claim 21 A method comprising: determining, by a memory device, a quantity of pending refresh operations; adjusting, before performing at least some of the pending refresh operations and based at least in part on the quantity of pending refresh operations, a supply voltage associated with the memory device; and performing the at least some of the pending refresh operations based at least in part on adjusting the supply voltage associated with the memory device. ### Claim 22 (depends on 21) The method of claim 21, wherein: adjusting the supply voltage comprises increasing the supply voltage from a first voltage to a second voltage based at least in part on the quantity of pending refresh operations. ### Claim 23 (depends on 21) The method of claim 21, further comprising: transmitting, from a registered clock driver (RCD) to a power management component, a signal indicating a target voltage of the supply voltage based at least in part on the quantity of pending refresh operations, wherein adjusting the supply voltage comprises adjusting, by the power management component, the supply voltage based at least in part on the target voltage. ### Claim 24 (depends on 21) The method of claim 21, further comprising: transmitting, from the memory device to a power management component, a signal indicating a target voltage of the supply voltage based at least in part on the quantity of pending refresh operations, wherein adjusting the supply voltage comprises adjusting, by the power management component, the supply voltage based at least in part on the target voltage.