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US 6,807,106 B2Granted
Hybrid density memory card
AssigneeSanDisk Corporation
InventorsCarlos Gonzales, Shahzad B. Khalid
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A memory system (e.g., memory card) offering hybrid density storage is disclosed. The memory system yields both high density storage and high performance operation. According to one aspect, certain data to be stored in the memory system can be stored in lower density storage so that it provides robust storage and/or high speed retrieval. Other data, which can be retrieved at moderate speeds or moderate robustness, can be stored to higher density storage in a space (area) efficient manner.
Claims16
A memory system that couples to a host, said memory system comprising:
- a plurality of storage elements, a first portion of said storage elements for providing low density storage, and a second portion of said storage elements for providing high density storage;
- and
- a controller operatively connected to said storage elements, said controller operates to receive commands for data access from the host and to control reading and writing of data into said storage elements in accordance with the commands,
- wherein said storage elements are non-volatile storage elements.
1 more element
A memory system that couples to a host, said memory system comprising:
- a plurality of storage elements, a first portion of said storage elements for providing low density storage, and a second portion of said storage elements for providing high density storage;
- and
- a controller operatively connected to said storage elements, said controller operates to receive commands for data access from the host and to control reading and writing of data into said storage elements in accordance with the commands,
- wherein said storage elements configured for low density storage store one or two bits per cell, and wherein said storage elements configured for high density storage store four or more bits per cell.
1 more element
A memory system that couples to a host, said memory system comprising:
- a plurality of storage elements, a first portion of said storage elements for providing low density storage, and a second portion of said storage elements for providing high density storage;
- and
- a controller operatively connected to said storage elements, said controller operates to receive commands for data access from the host and to control reading and writing of data into said storage elements in accordance with the commands,
- wherein said storage elements are Flash type storage elements.
1 more element
A memory system that couples to a host, said memory system comprising:
- a plurality of storage elements, a first portion of said storage elements for providing low density storage, and a second portion of said storage elements for providing high density storage;
- and
- a controller operatively connected to said storage elements, said controller operates to receive commands for data access from the host and to control reading and writing of data into said storage elements in accordance with the commands,
- wherein said storage elements configured for low density storage store one bit per cell, and wherein said storage elements configured for high density storage store two or more bits per cell.
1 more element
A hybrid memory device having a single substrate, said hybrid memory device comprising:
- a plurality of low density storage elements;
- a plurality of high density storage elements;
- and
- a controller operatively connected to said low density storage elements and said high density storage elements, said controller operates to control read, write and erasure of data into said low density storage elements and said high density storage elements,
- wherein said low density storage elements and said high density storage elements are memory cells, and
- wherein said low density storage elements store one or two bits per cell, and wherein said high density storage elements store four or more bits per cell.
3 more elements
A hybrid memory device having a single substrate, said hybrid memory device comprising:
- a plurality of low density storage elements;
- a plurality of high density storage elements;
- and
- a controller operatively connected to said low density storage elements and said high density storage elements, said controller operates to control read, write and erasure of data into said low density storage elements and said high density storage elements,
- wherein said low density storage elements and said high density storage elements are memory cells, and
- wherein said low density storage elements store two bits per cell, and wherein said high density storage elements store four bits per cell.
3 more elements
A hybrid memory device having a single substrate, said hybrid memory device comprising:
- a plurality of low density storage elements;
- a plurality of high density storage elements;
- and
- a controller operatively connected to said low density storage elements and said high density storage elements, said controller operates to control read, write and erasure of data into said low density storage elements and said high density storage elements,
- wherein said low density storage elements and said high density storage elements are Flash type storage elements or EEPROM type storage elements.
2 more elements
A hybrid memory device having a single substrate, said hybrid memory device comprising:
- a plurality of low density storage elements;
- a plurality of high density storage elements;
- and
- a controller operatively connected to said low density storage elements and said high density storage elements, said controller operates to control read, write and erasure of data into said low density storage elements and said high density storage elements,
- wherein said low density storage elements and said high density storage elements have a common device structure,
- wherein data stored to said low density storage elements can be read in substantially less time than it takes to read data from said high density storage elements, and
- wherein the common device structure is a Flash device structure.
4 more elements
A hybrid memory device having a single substrate, said hybrid memory device comprising:
- a plurality of low density storage elements;
- a plurality of high density storage elements;
- and
- a controller operatively connected to said low density storage elements and said high density storage elements, said controller operates to control read, write and erasure of data into said low density storage elements and said high density storage elements,
- wherein said low density storage elements and said high density storage elements have a common device structure,
- wherein data stored to said low density storage elements can be read in substantially less time than it takes to read data from said high density storage elements, and
- wherein said hybrid memory device is a portable memory card having non-volatile memory, and
- wherein said low density storage elements and said high density storage elements are non-volatile storage elements.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.