IP Library Granted Patent US 7,877,541
Granted Patent B2
US 7,877,541 · App. 12/004,768 · Granted Jan 25, 2011

Method and system for accessing non-volatile memory

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 7,877,541
App. No.
12/004,768
Granted
Jan 25, 2011
Kind
B2
Abstract

Accessing a non-volatile memory array is described, including receiving a first data and a memory address associated with the first data, writing the first data to the non-volatile memory array at the memory address of the first data without erasing a second data stored in the non-volatile memory array at the memory address of the first data before writing the first data.

Claims (33)

1. A method for accessing a non-volatile memory array, comprising:

providing at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array positioned in at least one memory plane that is in contact with and is fabricated directly above a semiconductor substrate including memory logic fabricated on the semiconductor substrate and electrically coupled with the at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array, each two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array including a plurality of two-terminal memory cells, each two-terminal memory cell consisting of a single two-terminal memory element having a terminal electrically coupled with a first terminal of its respective two-terminal memory cell and another terminal electrically coupled with a second terminal of its respective two-terminal memory cell,

wherein the memory logic is operative to randomly access the at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array for reading or writing at least a single bit of data and wherein writing data to one or more of the plurality of two-terminal memory cells does not require a prior erase operation or a prior block erase operation to the one or more of the plurality of two-terminal memory cells;

providing a file structure associated with the at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array, the file structure including a header section and a data section;

receiving data and a memory address associated with the data;

skipping over the header section; and

writing the data to the data section at the memory address without rewriting the header section.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data is written to the data section without performing an erase operation before the writing the data.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the header section is not configured to store a number of erase operations performed on the data section.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array is accessed without destroying a memory cell state associated with the at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the header section and the data section are stored in a memory block.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array is vertically configured.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array is configured to perform a read operation without performing a write operation after the read operation.

8. A method for accessing a non-volatile memory array, comprising:

providing at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array positioned in at least one memory plane that is in contact with and is fabricated directly above a semiconductor substrate including memory logic fabricated on the semiconductor substrate and electrically coupled with the at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array, each two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array including a plurality of two-terminal memory cells, each two-terminal memory cell consisting of a single two-terminal memory element having a terminal electrically coupled with a first terminal of its respective two-terminal memory cell and another terminal electrically coupled with a second terminal of its respective two-terminal memory cell,

wherein the memory logic is operative to randomly access the at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array for reading or writing at least a single bit of data and wherein writing data to one or more of the plurality of two-terminal memory cells does not require a prior erase operation or a prior block erase operation to the one or more of the plurality of two-terminal memory cells;

receiving a first data and a memory address associated with the first data; and

writing the first data to the at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array at the memory address without erasing a second data stored in the at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array at the memory address before the writing of the first data.

9. The method of claim 8 and further comprising: mapping a physical memory address associated with the at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array to a logical address space.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array is accessed non-destructively.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array is vertically configured.

12. A system, comprising:

at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array positioned in at least one memory plane that is in contact with and is fabricated directly, above a semiconductor substrate including memory logic fabricated on the semiconductor substrate and electrically coupled with the at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array, each two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array including a plurality of two-terminal memory cells, each two-terminal memory cell consisting of a single two-terminal memory element having a terminal electrically coupled with a first terminal of its respective two-terminal memory cell and another terminal electrically coupled with a second terminal of its respective two-terminal memory cell,

wherein the memory logic is operative to randomly access the at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array for reading or writing at least a single bit of data and wherein writing data to one or more of the plurality of two-terminal memory cells does not require a prior erase operation or a prior block erase operation to the one or more of the plurality of two-terminal memory cells; and

a memory controller in communication with the at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array, the memory controller being configured to perform a write operation on the at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array without performing an erase operation on the at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array before the write operation.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the memory controller is configured to access the at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array randomly.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the memory controller is not configured to reserve memory blocks associated with the erase operation.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array is not configured to store a pointer system associated with a relocation of data resulting from the erase operation.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the memory controller is not configured to include an operating system that manages the erase operation before the write operation.

17. The system of claim 12 , wherein the at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array is not composed of ferroelectric capacitors.

18. The system of claim 12 , wherein the at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array is vertically configured.

19. The system of claim 12 , wherein the at least one two-terminal cross-point non-volatile memory array includes a plurality of two-terminal memory cells that are arranged in a cross-point configuration.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein each two-terminal memory sell element is operative to store data as a plurality of conductivity profiles that can be non-destructively determined by applying a read voltage across the two-terminal memory element, and wherein data stored in each two-terminal memory element is retained in the absence of power.

Assignments (3)
RELEASE Recorded Apr 9, 2012
From: SILICON VALLEY BANK; GOLD HILL CAPITAL
To: UNITY SEMICONDUCTOR, INC.
Reel/Frame 028132/0675 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Apr 13, 2009
From: UNITY SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION
To: GOLD HILL CAPITAL
Reel/Frame 023129/0669 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 6, 2008
From: NORMAN, ROBERT
To: UNITY SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 020473/0512 →