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US 8,276,028 B2Granted
Using error information from nearby locations to recover uncorrectable data in non-volatile memory
AssigneeIntel Corporation
InventorsChun Fung Man, Jonathan E. Schmidt
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In various embodiments, the reference voltage used for read operations in a non-volatile memory may be adjusted up or down in an attempt to read data from an area that previously produced at least one uncorrectable error. The direction and amount of this adjustment may be based on the number and direction of correctable errors in surrounding data.
Claims22
An apparatus, comprising
- a non-volatile (NV) memory, the NV memory comprising a memory controller to control reading a memory array, the controller to perform operations comprising:
- using a first reference voltage to read, from the memory array, data comprising multiple units of data;
- performing an error checking and correction process on the data;
- determining that at least one of the units contains an uncorrectable error;
- determining a direction and net quantity of correctable errors for each unit that contains at least one correctable error but that does not contain an uncorrectable error;
- adjusting the first reference voltage by an amount based on said determining the direction and the net quantity;
- and
- reading the data again, subsequent to said adjusting.
5 more elements
A method, comprising:
- reading, from a non-volatile memory, data comprising multiple units of data, wherein said reading comprises using a first reference voltage;
- performing an error checking and correction process on the data;
- determining that at least one of the units contains an uncorrectable error;
- determining a direction and net quantity of correctable errors for each unit not containing an uncorrectable error but containing at least one correctable error;
- adjusting the first reference voltage by an amount based on said determining the direction and the net quantity;
- and
- reading the data again, subsequent to said adjusting.
4 more elements
An article comprising
- a tangible computer-readable medium that contains instructions, which when executed by one or more processors result in performing operations comprising:
- reading, from a non-volatile memory, data comprising multiple units of data, wherein said reading comprises using a first reference voltage;
- performing an error checking and correction process on the data;
- determining that at least one of the units contains an uncorrectable error;
- determining a direction and net quantity of correctable errors for each unit not containing an uncorrectable error but containing at least one correctable error;
- adjusting the first reference voltage by an amount based on said determining the direction and the net quantity;
- and
- reading the data again, subsequent to said adjusting.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.