Level verification and adjustment for multi-level cell (MLC) non-volatile memory (NVM)

A non-volatile memory including a multi-level cell which comprises

• a transistor capable of storing charge representing any one of a plurality of 2n possible values, where n is a selected integer, said transistor including a gate to which can be applied a voltage to turn on the transistor, the threshold voltage of said transistor being a function of the charge stored on said transistor;
• a circuit for programming said transistor by adding or removing charge from said transistor;
• a first comparator for determining whether or not the charge stored on said transistor is above the maximum amount of charge capable of being stored on said transistor while still allowing said transistor to turn on in response to a gate voltage being applied to said transistor, said gate voltage corresponding to the threshold voltage corresponding to the value to be stored on said transistor by said charge;
• a second comparator for determining whether or not the charge stored on said transistor is below the minimum amount of charge capable of being stored on said transistor while still allowing said transistor to turn on in response to a gate voltage being applied to said transistor, said gate voltage corresponding to the threshold voltage corresponding to the value to be stored on said transistor by said charge;
• a programming circuitry responsive to a signal from said first comparator to remove charge from said transistor until the signal from the first comparator indicates that the charge stored on said transistor is within the range required to give the transistor the desired threshold voltage and responsive to a signal from said second comparator to add charge to said transistor until the signal from the second comparator indicates that the charge stored on said transistor is within the range required to give the transistor the desired threshold voltage;
• and
• said transistor further comprising:
• a P-type mos transistor with a source and a drain, the source of the P-type mos transistor being connected to a supply voltage Vdd;
• an N-type mos transistor with a source and a drain, the source of the N-type mos transistor being connected to system ground Vss and the drain of the N-type mos transistor being connected to the drain of the P-type mos transistor;
• and
• a common gate for said P-type and N-type mos transistors.

A non-volatile memory including a multi-level cell which comprises

• a transistor capable of storing charge representing any one of a plurality of 2n possible values, where n is a selected integer, said transistor including a gate to which can be applied a voltage to turn on the transistor, the threshold voltage of said transistor being a function of the charge stored on said transistor;
• a circuit for programming said transistor by adding or removing charge from said transistor;
• a first comparator for determining whether or not the charge stored on said transistor is above the maximum amount of charge capable of being stored on said transistor while still allowing said transistor to turn on in response to a gate voltage being applied to said transistor, said gate voltage corresponding to the threshold voltage corresponding to the value to be stored on said transistor by said charge;
• a second comparator for determining whether or not the charge stored on said transistor is below the minimum amount of charge capable of being stored on said transistor while still allowing said transistor to turn on in response to a gate voltage being applied to said transistor, said gate voltage corresponding to the threshold voltage corresponding to the value to be stored on said transistor by said charge;
• a programming circuitry responsive to a signal from said first comparator to remove charge from said transistor until the signal from the first comparator indicates that the charge stored on said transistor is within the range required to give the transistor the desired threshold voltage and responsive to a signal from said second comparator to add charge to said transistor until the signal from the second comparator indicates that the charge stored on said transistor is within the range required to give the transistor the desired threshold voltage;
• and
• wherein said transistor for storing charge is connected between a supply voltage and a system reference voltage so as to function as part of an inverter.

A method of programming a multi-level cell in a non-volatile memory which includes a transistor capable of storing charge representing any one of a plurality of 2n possible values, where n is a selected integer, said transistor including a gate to which can be applied a voltage to turn on the transistor, the threshold voltage of said transistor being a function of the charge stored on said transistor;

• said method comprising:
• placing what is believed to be a selected amount of charge on said transistor, said selected amount of charge corresponding to a selected one of said 2n possible values;
• determining whether or not the charge stored on said transistor is above the maximum amount of charge capable of being stored on said transistor while still allowing said transistor to turn on in response to a gate voltage being applied to said transistor, said gate voltage corresponding to the threshold voltage corresponding to the value to be stored on said transistor by said charge, or if the charge stored on said transistor is below this maximum amount of charge capable of being stored on said transistor while still allowing said transistor to turn on in response to a gate voltage corresponding to the desired threshold voltage;
• determining whether or not the charge stored on said transistor is below the minimum amount of charge capable of being stored on said transistor while still allowing said transistor to turn on in response to a gate voltage being applied to said transistor, said gate voltage corresponding to the threshold voltage corresponding to the value to be stored on said transistor by said charge or if the charge stored on said transistor is above this minimum amount of charge capable of being stored on said transistor while still allowing said transistor to turn on in response to a gate voltage corresponding to the desired threshold voltage;
• and
• removing charge from said transistor when the charge stored on said transistor is above the range required to give the transistor the desired threshold voltage and adding charge to said transistor when the charge stored on said transistor is below the range required to give the transistor the desired threshold voltage, until determining that the charge stored on said transistor is within the range required to give the transistor the desired threshold voltage.

A method of programming a multi-level cell in a non-volatile memory which includes a transistor capable of storing charge representing any one of a plurality of 2n possible values, where n is a selected integer;

• said transistor including a gate to which can be applied a voltage to turn on the transistor, the threshold voltage of said transistor being a function of the charge stored on said transistor;
• said method comprising:
• placing what is believed to be a selected amount of charge on said transistor, said selected amount of charge corresponding to a selected one of said 2n possible values;
• determining whether or not the charge stored on said transistor is below the minimum amount of charge capable of being stored on said transistor while still allowing said transistor to turn on in response to a gate voltage being applied to said transistor, said gate voltage corresponding to the threshold voltage corresponding to the value to be stored on said transistor by said charge, or is above this minimum amount of charge;
• determining whether or not the charge stored on said transistor is above the maximum amount of charge capable of being stored on said transistor while still allowing said transistor to turn on in response to a gate voltage being applied to said transistor, said gate voltage corresponding to the threshold voltage corresponding to the value to be stored on said transistor by said charge or is below this maximum amount of charge;
• and
• removing charge from said transistor when the charge stored on said transistor is above the range required to give the transistor the desired threshold voltage and adding charge to said transistor when the charge stored on said transistor is below the range required to give the transistor the desired threshold voltage, until determining that the charge stored on said transistor is within the range required to give the transistor the desired threshold voltage.

A method of programming a multi-level cell in a non-volatile memory which includes a transistor capable of storing charge representing any one of a plurality of 2n possible values, where n is a selected integer;

• said transistor including a gate to which can be applied a voltage to turn on the transistor, the threshold voltage of said transistor being a function of the charge stored on said transistor;
• said method comprising:
• placing what is believed to be a selected amount of charge on said transistor, said selected amount of charge corresponding to a selected one of said 2n possible values;
• determining whether or not the charge stored on said transistor is above the maximum amount of charge capable of being stored on said transistor while still allowing said transistor to turn on in response to a gate voltage being applied to said transistor, or below the minimum amount of charge capable of being stored on said transistor while still allowing said transistor to turn on in response to said gate voltage, said gate voltage corresponding to the threshold voltage corresponding to the value to be stored on said transistor by said charge;
• and
• removing charge from said transistor when the charge stored on said transistor is above the range required to give the transistor the desired threshold voltage and adding charge to said transistor when the charge stored on said transistor is below the range required to give the transistor the desired threshold voltage, until determining that the charge stored on said transistor is within the range required to give the transistor the desired threshold voltage.

Structure for programming a multi-level cell in a non-volatile memory which includes a transistor capable of storing charge representing any one of a plurality of 2n possible values, where n is a selected integer;

• said transistor including a gate to which can be applied a voltage to turn on the transistor, the threshold voltage of said transistor being a function of the charge stored on said transistor;
• said structure comprising:
• means for placing what is believed to be a selected amount of charge on said transistor, said selected amount of charge corresponding to a selected one of said 2n possible values;
• means for determining whether or not the charge stored on said transistor is above the maximum amount of charge capable of being stored on said transistor while still allowing said transistor to turn on in response to a gate voltage being applied to said transistor, or below the minimum amount of charge capable of being stored on said transistor while still allowing said transistor to turn on in response to said gate voltage, said gate voltage corresponding to the threshold voltage corresponding to the value to be stored on said transistor by said charge;
• and
• means for removing charge from said transistor when the charge stored on said transistor is above the range required to give the transistor the desired threshold voltage and adding charge to said transistor when the charge stored on said transistor is below the range required to give the transistor the desired threshold voltage, until determining that the charge stored on said transistor is within the range required to give the transistor the desired threshold voltage.

A non-volatile memory including a multi-level cell which comprises:

• a storage transistor storing any one of a plurality of charge amounts;
• a first comparator for providing a first signal indicating whether or not a threshold voltage of said transistor exceeds a predetermined maximum;
• a second comparator for providing a second signal indicating whether or not the threshold voltage is less than a predetermined minimum value;
• and
• a programming circuit for adding and removing charge from said storage transistor until the threshold voltage is between the predetermined maximum value and the predetermined minimum value in accordance with the first and second signals.

A non-volatile memory including a multi-level cell which comprises:

• a storage transistor storing any one of a plurality of charge amounts;
• a first comparator for providing a first signal indicating whether or not a threshold voltage of said transistor exceeds a predetermined maximum value;
• a second comparator for providing a second signal indicating whether or not the threshold voltage is less than a predetermined minimum value;
• a programming circuit for adding and removing charge from said storage transistor until the threshold voltage of said storage transistor is between the predetermined minimum value and the predetermined maximum value according to the first and second signals;
• and
• said storage transistor further comprising:
• a P-type mos transistor with a source and a drain, the source of the P-type mos transistor being connected to a supply voltage Vdd;
• an N-type mos transistor with a source and a drain, the source of the N-type mos transistor being connected to system ground Vss and the drain of the N-type mos transistor being connected to the drain of the P-type mos transistor;
• and
• a common gate for said P-type and N-type mos transistors.

A non-volatile memory including a multi-level cell which comprises:

• a storage transistor storing any one of a plurality of charge amounts;
• a first comparator for providing a first signal indicating whether or not a threshold voltage of said transistor exceeds a predetermined maximum value;
• a second comparator for providing a second signal indicating whether or not the threshold voltage is less than a predetermined minimum value;
• a programming circuit for adding and removing charge from said storage transistor until the threshold voltage of said storage transistor is between the predetermined minimum value and the predetermined maximum value according to the first and second signals;
• and
• wherein said storage transistor is part of an inverter.

A method of programming a multi-level cell in a non-volatile memory which comprises a storage transistor;

• said method comprising:
• placing a selected amount of charge in said storage transistor;
• providing a first signal indicating whether a threshold voltage of said storage transistor is above or below a maximum limit;
• providing a second signal indicating whether the threshold voltage of said storage transistor is above or below a minimum limit;
• and
• removing charge from said storage transistor to lower the threshold voltage and adding charge to said transistor to raise the threshold voltage, according to the first and second signals, until the threshold voltage of said transistor is between the maximum limit and the minimum limit.

A structure for programming a multi-level cell in a non-volatile memory which comprises a storage transistor;

• said structure comprising:
• means for placing a selected amount of charge on said storage transistor;
• means for providing a first signal indicating whether a threshold voltage of said transistor is above or below a maximum limit;
• means for providing a second signal indicating whether the threshold voltage is above or below a minimum limit;
• and
• means for removing charge from said storage transistor to lower the threshold voltage and adding charge to said storage transistor, according to the first and second signals, to raise the threshold voltage until the threshold voltage on said storage transistor is between the maximum limit and the minimum limit.