IP Library Granted Patent US 9,213,599
Granted Patent B2
US 9,213,599 · App. 14/041,110 · Granted Dec 15, 2015

Method of erase state handling in flash channel tracking

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,213,599
App. No.
14/041,110
Granted
Dec 15, 2015
Kind
B2
Abstract

An apparatus includes a non-volatile memory and a controller. The controller may be configured to track one or more channel parameters of the non-volatile memory. The controller may be further configured to estimate an erase state voltage distribution of the non-volatile memory by selecting one or more parameters of the erase state distribution from a look-up table based upon at least one of the one or more channel parameters.

Claims (30)

1. An apparatus comprising:

a non-volatile memory; and

a controller configured to track one or more channel statistics of the non-volatile memory, wherein the controller estimates a current erase state voltage distribution of the non-volatile memory by selecting one or more parameters of a pre-characterized erase state voltage distribution from a look-up table based upon at least one of the one or more channel statistics tracked by the controller.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more channel statistics comprise a statistical parameter indicating a number of program and erase cycles, a statistical parameter indicating a retention time, a statistical parameter indicating an amount of write disturb, and a statistical parameter indicating an amount of read disturb.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more parameters of the pre-characterized erase state voltage distribution comprise pre-determined mean and variance values.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more parameters of the pre-characterized erase state voltage distribution comprise mean and standard deviation values.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the look-up table associates a respective set of parameters of the pre-characterized erase state voltage distribution with each of a plurality of values of the one or more channel statistics.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to perform error correction on data read from the non-volatile memory using a soft decode error correction code.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the soft decode error correction code comprises a low density parity check code.

8. The apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the controller is configured to calculate one or more soft decisions based on the one or more parameters of the pre-characterized erase state voltage distribution selected from the look-up table.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the soft decisions comprise a log likelihood ratio (LLR).

10. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the non-volatile memory and the controller are part of a solid state drive (SSD).

11. A method of erase state handling in flash channel tracking comprising:

tracking one or more channel statistics of a non-volatile memory; and

estimating a current erase state voltage distribution of the non-volatile memory by selecting one or more parameters of a pre-characterized erase state voltage distribution from a look-up table based upon at least one of the one or more channel statistics.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the one or more channel statistics comprise a statistical parameter indicating a number of program and erase cycles, a statistical parameter indicating a retention time, a statistical parameter indicating an amount of write disturb, and a statistical parameter indicating an amount of read disturb.

13. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the one or more parameters of the pre-characterized erase state voltage distribution comprise pre-determined mean and variance values.

14. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the one or more parameters of the pre-characterized erase state voltage distribution comprise mean and standard deviation values.

15. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the look-up table associates a respective set of parameters of the pre-characterized erase state voltage distribution with each of a plurality of values of the one or more channel statistics.

16. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

calculating a log likelihood ratio (LLR) based upon the one or more parameters of the pre-characterized erase state voltage distribution selected from the look-up table.

17. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

estimating a read reference voltage threshold based upon the one or more parameters of the pre-characterized erase state voltage distribution selected from the look-up table.

18. An apparatus comprising;

an interface circuit configured to process a plurality of read/write operations to/from a non-volatile memory; and

a controller circuit configured to track channel statistics of the non-volatile memory, wherein the controller circuit estimates a current erase state voltage distribution of the non-volatile memory by selecting one or more parameters of a pre-characterized erase state voltage distribution from a look-up table based upon at least one of the channel statistics tracked by the controller circuit.

19. The apparatus according to claim 18 , wherein the channel statistics tracked by the controller circuit comprise at least one of a statistical parameter indicating a number of program and erase cycles, a statistical parameter indicating a retention time, a statistical parameter indicating an amount of write disturb, and a statistical parameter indicating an amount of read disturb.

20. The apparatus according to claim 18 , wherein:

the look-up table associates a plurality of parameters descriptive of the pre-characterized erase state voltage distribution with particular values of at least one of the channel statistics tracked by the controller circuit; and

the plurality of parameters descriptive of the pre-characterized erase state voltage distribution comprise one or more of a pre-determined mean value, a pre-determined standard deviation value, and a pre-determined variance value for each particular value of the at least one of the channel statistics tracked by the controller circuit.

Assignments (4)
TERMINATION AND RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENT RIGHTS (RELEASES RF 032856-0031) Recorded Feb 2, 2016
From: DEUTSCHE BANK AG NEW YORK BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: LSI CORPORATION; AGERE SYSTEMS LLC
Reel/Frame 037684/0039 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 21, 2015
From: LSI CORPORATION
To: SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC
Reel/Frame 034773/0535 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded May 8, 2014
From: LSI CORPORATION; AGERE SYSTEMS LLC
To: DEUTSCHE BANK AG NEW YORK BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 032856/0031 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 30, 2013
From: WU, YUNXIANG; CHEN, ZHENGANG; CAI, YU; HARATSCH, ERICH F.
To: LSI CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 031308/0098 →