Method for estimating and reporting the life expectancy of flash-disk memory

1. A method for managing a memory device, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) monitoring a value of a longevity parameter of the memory device after a programming operation on the memory device, said monitoring being performed by the memory device; and

(b) deriving a grade of the memory device from said value;

wherein said value is a number of programming pulses, associated with said operation, required to change logic states of at least one cell in a page of the memory device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said longevity parameter is a ratio of successfully-processed data to unsuccessfully-processed data.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said longevity parameter is a deviation in a power consumption of the memory device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said deviation is an average of measurements for a plurality of said operations.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said grade serves as a forecast of a life expectancy of said memory.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said operation is a programming operation, and wherein said value is a number of healthy cells in a page of the memory device.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said operation is an erase operation, and wherein said value is a number of healthy cells in a block of the memory device.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein said operation is selected from the group consisting of: writing data, reading data, and erasing data.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein said grade is selected from the group consisting of: a comparison grade of a current said value to a pre-determined reference said value, a maximum grade of a plurality of said values stored in a monitoring device, and an average grade of said plurality of said values stored in said monitoring device.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein said grade is a comparison grade of a current value to a pre-determined reference value, the method further comprising the step of:

(c) storing said pre-determined reference value in the memory device upon manufacture of the memory device.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein said step of monitoring includes accessing the memory device for the purpose of deriving said grade.

12. The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising the step of:

(c) storing said grade in a monitoring device.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein said monitoring device is selected from the group consisting of: the memory device, an embedded controller of the memory device, and a host system of the memory device.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein said step of deriving is initiated by the memory device.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein said step of deriving is initiated by a host system of the memory device.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein said step of deriving is initiated by an embedded controller of the memory device.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein said step of deriving is initiated by an application running on a host system.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein said step of deriving is initiated by an operating system running on a host system.

19. A memory device for managing data, the device comprising:

(a) a memory; and

(b) a controller operative:

(i) to monitor a value of a longevity parameter after a programming operation on said memory; and

(ii) to derive a grade of the memory device from said value;

wherein said value is a number of programming pulses associated with said operation required to change logic states of at least one cell in a page of the memory device.

20. The memory device of claim 19 , wherein said grade serves as a forecast of a life expectancy of the memory device.

21. A system for managing data, the system comprising:

(a) a memory device including a memory; and

(b) a processor, housed in said memory device, operative:

(i) to monitor a value of a longevity parameter after a programming operation on said memory; and

(ii) to derive a grade of said memory device from said value;

wherein said value is a number of programming pulses, associated with said operation, required to change logic states of at least one cell in a page of the memory device.

22. The system of claim 21 , wherein said grade serves as a forecast of a life expectancy of said memory device.

23. A method for managing a memory device, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) monitoring a value of a longevity parameter of the memory device after an erase operation on the memory device, said monitoring being performed by the memory device; and

(b) deriving a grade of the memory device from said value;

wherein said value is a number of programming pulses, associated with said operation, required to change logic states of at least one cell in a block of the memory device.

24. A memory device for managing data, the device comprising:

(a) a memory; and

(b) a controller operative:

(i) to monitor a value of a longevity parameter after an erase operation on said memory; and

(ii) to derive a grade of the memory device from said value;

wherein said value is a number of programming pulses, associated with said operation, required to change logic states of at least one cell in a block of the memory device.

25. A system for managing data, the system comprising:

(a) a memory device including a memory; and

(b) a processor, housed in said memory device, operative:

(i) to monitor a value of a longevity parameter after an erase operation on said memory; and

(ii) to derive a grade of said memory device from said value;

wherein said value is a number of programming pulses, associated with said operation, required to change logic states of at least one cell in a block of the memory device.

26. A method for managing a memory device, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) monitoring a value of a deviation in a power consumption of the memory device after a data operation on the memory device, said monitoring being performed by the memory device; and

(b) deriving a grade of the memory device from said value.

27. The method of claim 26 , wherein the memory device is a flash memory device.

28. A memory device for managing data, the device comprising:

(a) a memory; and

(b) a controller operative:

(i) to monitor a value of a deviation in a power consumption of the memory device after a data operation on said memory; and

(ii) to derive a grade of the memory device from said value.

29. The method of claim 28 , wherein said memory is a flash memory.

30. A system for managing data, the system comprising:

(a) a memory device including a memory; and

(b) a processor, housed in said memory device, operative:

(i) to monitor a value of a deviation in a power consumption of the memory device after a data operation on said memory; and

(ii) to derive a grade of said memory device from said value.

31. The method of claim 30 , wherein said memory device is a flash memory device.

32. A method for managing a memory device, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) monitoring a number of healthy cells in a block of the memory device after an erase operation on the memory device, said monitoring being performed by the memory device; and

(b) deriving a grade of the memory device from said value.

33. A memory device for managing data, the device comprising:

(a) a memory; and

(b) a controller operative:

(i) to monitor a number of healthy cells in a block of said memory after an erase operation on said memory; and

(ii) to derive a grade of the memory device from said value.

34. A system for managing data, the system comprising:

(a) a memory device including a memory; and

(b) a processor, housed in said memory device, operative:

(i) to monitor a number of healthy cells in a block of said memory after an erase operation on said memory; and

(ii) to derive a grade of said memory device from said value.