Reading memory cells using multiple thresholds

Details Reading memory cells using multiple thresholds Reading memory cells using multiple thresholds

2011-07-05

2011-07-05

Gaffin, Jeffrey A (Department: 2117)

Error detection/correction and fault detection/recovery

Pulse or data error handling

Memory testing

C714S733000

Reexamination Certificate

active

07975192

ABSTRACT:
A method for operating a memory (28) includes storing data, which is encoded with an Error Correction Code (ECC), in analog memory cells (32) of the memory by writing respective analog input values selected from a set of nominal values to the analog memory cells. The stored data is read by performing multiple read operations that compare analog output values of the analog memory cells to different, respective read thresholds so as to produce multiple comparison results for each of the analog memory cells. At least two of the read thresholds are positioned between a pair of the nominal values that are adjacent to one another in the set of the nominal values. Soft metrics are computed responsively to the multiple comparison results. The ECC is decoded using the soft metrics, so as to extract the data stored in the analog memory cells.

REFERENCES:
patent: 4556961 (1985-12-01), Iwahashi et al.
patent: 4558431 (1985-12-01), Satoh et al.
patent: 4661929 (1987-04-01), Aoki et al.
patent: 4768171 (1988-08-01), Tada
patent: 4811285 (1989-03-01), Walker et al.
patent: 4899342 (1990-02-01), Potter et al.
patent: 4910706 (1990-03-01), Hyatt
patent: 4993029 (1991-02-01), Galbraith et al.
patent: 5056089 (1991-10-01), Furuta et al.
patent: 5077722 (1991-12-01), Geist et al.
patent: 5126808 (1992-06-01), Montalvo et al.
patent: 5163021 (1992-11-01), Mehrotra et al.
patent: 5172338 (1992-12-01), Mehrotta et al.
patent: 5191584 (1993-03-01), Anderson
patent: 5200959 (1993-04-01), Gross et al.
patent: 5237535 (1993-08-01), Mielke et al.
patent: 5272669 (1993-12-01), Samachisa et al.
patent: 5276649 (1994-01-01), Hoshita et al.
patent: 5287469 (1994-02-01), Tsuboi
patent: 5365484 (1994-11-01), Cleveland et al.
patent: 5388064 (1995-02-01), Khan
patent: 5416646 (1995-05-01), Shirai
patent: 5416782 (1995-05-01), Wells et al.
patent: 5473753 (1995-12-01), Wells et al.
patent: 5479170 (1995-12-01), Cauwenberghs et al.
patent: 5508958 (1996-04-01), Fazio et al.
patent: 5519831 (1996-05-01), Holzhammer
patent: 5532962 (1996-07-01), Auclair et al.
patent: 5541886 (1996-07-01), Hasbun
patent: 5600677 (1997-02-01), Citta et al.
patent: 5657332 (1997-08-01), Auclair et al.
patent: 5675540 (1997-10-01), Roohparvar
patent: 5682352 (1997-10-01), Wong et al.
patent: 5696717 (1997-12-01), Koh
patent: 5726649 (1998-03-01), Tamaru et al.
patent: 5742752 (1998-04-01), De Koning
patent: 5751637 (1998-05-01), Chen et al.
patent: 5761402 (1998-06-01), Kaneda et al.
patent: 5801985 (1998-09-01), Roohparvar et al.
patent: 5838832 (1998-11-01), Barnsley
patent: 5860106 (1999-01-01), Domen et al.
patent: 5867114 (1999-02-01), Barbir
patent: 5867429 (1999-02-01), Chen et al.
patent: 5877986 (1999-03-01), Harari et al.
patent: 5901089 (1999-05-01), Korsh et al.
patent: 5909449 (1999-06-01), So et al.
patent: 5912906 (1999-06-01), Wu et al.
patent: 5930167 (1999-07-01), Lee et al.
patent: 5937424 (1999-08-01), Leak et al.
patent: 5942004 (1999-08-01), Cappelletti
patent: 5969986 (1999-10-01), Wong et al.
patent: 5991517 (1999-11-01), Harari et al.
patent: 5995417 (1999-11-01), Chen et al.
patent: 6009014 (1999-12-01), Hollmer et al.
patent: 6034891 (2000-03-01), Norman
patent: 6040993 (2000-03-01), Chen et al.
patent: 6041430 (2000-03-01), Yamauchi
patent: 6073204 (2000-06-01), Lakhani et al.
patent: 6101614 (2000-08-01), Gonzales et al.
patent: 6128237 (2000-10-01), Shirley et al.
patent: 6134140 (2000-10-01), Tanaka et al.
patent: 6134143 (2000-10-01), Norman
patent: 6134631 (2000-10-01), Jennings
patent: 6141261 (2000-10-01), Patti
patent: 6166962 (2000-12-01), Chen et al.
patent: 6178466 (2001-01-01), Gilbertson et al.
patent: 6185134 (2001-02-01), Tanaka et al.
patent: 6209113 (2001-03-01), Roohparvar
patent: 6212654 (2001-04-01), Lou et al.
patent: 6219276 (2001-04-01), Parker
patent: 6219447 (2001-04-01), Lee et al.
patent: 6222762 (2001-04-01), Guterman et al.
patent: 6230233 (2001-05-01), Lofgren et al.
patent: 6240458 (2001-05-01), Gilbertson
patent: 6275419 (2001-08-01), Guterman et al.
patent: 6279069 (2001-08-01), Robinson et al.
patent: 6288944 (2001-09-01), Kawamura
patent: 6292394 (2001-09-01), Cohen et al.
patent: 6301151 (2001-10-01), Engh et al.
patent: 6304486 (2001-10-01), Yano
patent: 6307776 (2001-10-01), So et al.
patent: 6317363 (2001-11-01), Guterman et al.
patent: 6317364 (2001-11-01), Guterman et al.
patent: 6345004 (2002-02-01), Omura et al.
patent: 6360346 (2002-03-01), Miyauchi et al.
patent: 6363008 (2002-03-01), Wong
patent: 6363454 (2002-03-01), Lakhani et al.
patent: 6366496 (2002-04-01), Torelli et al.
patent: 6396742 (2002-05-01), Korsh et al.
patent: 6397364 (2002-05-01), Barkan
patent: 6405323 (2002-06-01), Lin et al.
patent: 6418060 (2002-07-01), Yong et al.
patent: 6442585 (2002-08-01), Dean et al.
patent: 6456528 (2002-09-01), Chen
patent: 6466476 (2002-10-01), Wong et al.
patent: 6467062 (2002-10-01), Barkan
patent: 6469931 (2002-10-01), Ban et al.
patent: 6522580 (2003-02-01), Chen et al.
patent: 6525952 (2003-02-01), Araki et al.
patent: 6532556 (2003-03-01), Wong et al.
patent: 6538922 (2003-03-01), Khalid et al.
patent: 6558967 (2003-05-01), Wong
patent: 6560152 (2003-05-01), Cernea
patent: 6577539 (2003-06-01), Iwahashi
patent: 6584012 (2003-06-01), Banks
patent: 6615307 (2003-09-01), Roohparvar
patent: 6621739 (2003-09-01), Gonzalez et al.
patent: 6643169 (2003-11-01), Rudelic et al.
patent: 6646913 (2003-11-01), Micheloni et al.
patent: 6678192 (2004-01-01), Gongwer et al.
patent: 6687155 (2004-02-01), Nagasue
patent: 6707748 (2004-03-01), Lin et al.
patent: 6708257 (2004-03-01), Bao
patent: 6717847 (2004-04-01), Chen
patent: 6731557 (2004-05-01), Beretta
patent: 6738293 (2004-05-01), Iwahashi
patent: 6751766 (2004-06-01), Guterman et al.
patent: 6757193 (2004-06-01), Chen et al.
patent: 6774808 (2004-08-01), Hibbs et al.
patent: 6781877 (2004-08-01), Cernea et al.
patent: 6807095 (2004-10-01), Chen et al.
patent: 6809964 (2004-10-01), Moschopoulos et al.
patent: 6829167 (2004-12-01), Tu et al.
patent: 6845052 (2005-01-01), Ho et al.
patent: 6851018 (2005-02-01), Wyatt et al.
patent: 6856546 (2005-02-01), Guterman et al.
patent: 6862218 (2005-03-01), Guterman et al.
patent: 6870767 (2005-03-01), Rudelic et al.
patent: 6894926 (2005-05-01), Guterman et al.
patent: 6907497 (2005-06-01), Hosono et al.
patent: 6930925 (2005-08-01), Guo et al.
patent: 6934188 (2005-08-01), Roohparvar
patent: 6937511 (2005-08-01), Hsu et al.
patent: 6963505 (2005-11-01), Cohen et al.
patent: 6972993 (2005-12-01), Conley et al.
patent: 6988175 (2006-01-01), Lasser
patent: 6992932 (2006-01-01), Cohen
patent: 7002843 (2006-02-01), Guterman et al.
patent: 7012835 (2006-03-01), Gonzalez et al.
patent: 7020017 (2006-03-01), Chen et al.
patent: 7023735 (2006-04-01), Ban et al.
patent: 7031210 (2006-04-01), Park et al.
patent: 7031214 (2006-04-01), Tran
patent: 7031216 (2006-04-01), You
patent: 7039846 (2006-05-01), Hewitt et al.
patent: 7042766 (2006-05-01), Wang et al.
patent: 7054193 (2006-05-01), Wong
patent: 7054199 (2006-05-01), Lee et al.
patent: 7057958 (2006-06-01), So et al.
patent: 7065147 (2006-06-01), Ophir et al.
patent: 7068539 (2006-06-01), Guterman et al.
patent: 7071849 (2006-07-01), Zhang
patent: 7079555 (2006-07-01), Baydar et al.
patent: 7088615 (2006-08-01), Guterman et al.
patent: 7099194 (2006-08-01), Tu et al.
patent: 7102924 (2006-09-01), Chen et al.
patent: 7113432 (2006-09-01), Mokhlesi
patent: 7130210 (2006-10-01), Bathul et al.
patent: 7139192 (2006-11-01), Wong
patent: 7139198 (2006-11-01), Guterman et al.
patent: 7151692 (2006-12-01), Wu
patent: 7170802 (2007-01-01), Cernea et al.
patent: 7173859 (2007-02-01), Hemink
patent: 7177184 (2007-02-01), Chen
patent: 7177195 (2007-02-01), Gonzalez et al.
patent: 7177199 (2007-02-01), Chen et al.
patent: 7177200 (2007-02-01), Ronen et al.
patent: 7184338 (2007-02-01), Nakagawa et al.
patent: 7187195 (2007-03-01), Kim
patent: 7187592 (2007-03-01), Guterman et al.
patent: 7190614 (2007-03-01), Wu
patent: 7193898 (2007-03-01), Cernea
patent: 7193921 (2007-03-01), Choi et al.
patent: 7196928 (2007-03-01), Chen
patent: 7197594 (2007-03

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Reading memory cells using multiple thresholds does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Reading memory cells using multiple thresholds, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Reading memory cells using multiple thresholds will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2648012