Memory cells configured in multiple configuration modes
View Patent ↗Some embodiments include apparatuses and methods having an interface to communicate with a host, memory cells, and a control unit coupled to the interface to associate a portion of the memory cells with a logical address range based on control information provided to the interface from the host. The control unit is configured to cause the portion of the memory cells to operate in a configuration mode indicated by the control information from the host. Each memory cell in the portion of the memory cells is operable to store at most one bit of information if the configuration mode is a first configuration mode and to store more than one bit of information if the configuration mode is a second configuration mode.
1. An apparatus comprising:
an interface located at a memory device to communicate with a host, the memory device being located outside the host;
memory cells; and
a control unit coupled to the interface to associate a first portion of the memory cells with a logical address range based on control information provided to the interface from the host, the control information including a configuration mode for the first portion of the memory cells and an additional configuration mode for a second portion of the memory cells, the control information including a first setting for a number of memory cell units among the memory cells to be included in the first portion of the memory cells and a second setting for a number of memory cell units among the memory cells to be included in the second portion of the memory cells, based on the control information, the control unit is configured to determine corresponding settings for the number of memory cells to be included in each of the first and second portions of the memory cells, identifications associated with the first and second portions of the memory cells, and the configuration mode to be set for each of the first and second portions of the memory cells, and the control unit is configured to store the corresponding settings in registers of the memory device, the control unit configured to cause the first portion of the memory cells to operate in the configuration mode for the first portion of the memory cells indicated by the control information from the host, each memory cell in the first portion of the memory cells operable to store at most one bit of information if the configuration mode for the first portion of the memory cells indicated by the control information from the host is a first configuration mode and to store more than one bit of information if the configuration mode for the first portion of the memory cells indicated by the control information from the host is a second configuration mode, wherein
the logical address range is a first logical address range, and the control unit is configured to associate the second portion of the memory cells with a second logical address range based on the control information from the host,
the control unit is further configured to cause the second portion of the memory cells to operate in the additional configuration mode indicated by the control information from the host, and the additional configuration mode is different from the configuration mode for the first portion of the memory cells, and
each memory cell in the second portion of the memory cells operable to store at most one bit of information if the additional configuration mode for the second portion of the memory cells indicated by the control information from the host is the first configuration mode and to store more than one bit of information if the additional configuration mode for the second portion of the memory cells indicated by the control information from the host is the second configuration mode.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to associate a third portion of the memory cells with a third logical address range based on the control information, the control unit further configured to cause the third portion of the memory cells to operate in a configuration mode different from the configuration mode for each of the first and second portions of the memory cells, each memory cell in the third portion of the memory cells operable to store more than two bits of information.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the control information is provided to the interface during creation of a namespace in accordance with non-volatile memory express (NVMe) specification.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the logical address range includes logical block addresses determined by the host.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the logical address range is included in an address space recognized by an operating system associated with the host.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the interface, the memory cells, and the control unit are included in a solid state drive (SSD).
7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the interface includes a connector having a form factor complying with Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) specification.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the interface includes a connector having a form factor complying with Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) specification.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the interface includes a connector having a form factor complying with Serial Attached Small Computer System Interface (SAS) specification.
10. An apparatus comprising:
memory cells; and
a control unit to associate a portion of the memory cells with a namespace during creation of the namespace in accordance with non-volatile memory express (NVMe) specification, the control unit configured to cause the portion of the memory cells to operate in a configuration mode indicated by control information provided from a host to the control unit during the creation of the namespace, each memory cell in the portion of the memory cells operable to store at most one bit of information if the configuration mode indicated by control information provided from the host is a first configuration mode, to store at most two bits of information if the configuration mode indicated by control information provided from the host is a second configuration mode, and to store more than two bits of information if the configuration mode indicated by control information provided from the host is a third configuration mode, wherein
the portion of the memory cells is a first portion of the memory cells and the namespace is a first namespace, and the control unit is configured to associate a second portion of the memory cells with a second namespace, the control unit further configured to cause the second portion of the memory cells to operate in an additional configuration mode indicated by the control information, the additional configuration mode for the second portion of the memory cells indicated by control information provided from the host being different from the configuration mode for first portion of the memory cells indicated by control information provided from the host, and the control information including a first setting for a number of memory cell units among the memory cells to be included in the first portion of the memory cells and a second setting for a number of memory cell units among the memory cells to be included in the second portion of the memory cells, based on the control information, the control unit is configured to determine corresponding settings for the number of memory cells to be included in each of the first and second portions of the memory cells, identifications associated with the first and second portions of the memory cells, and the configuration mode to be set for each of the first and second portions of the memory cells, and the control unit is configured to store the corresponding settings in registers of the memory device, and
each memory cell in the second portion of the memory cells operable to store at most one bit of information if the additional configuration mode for the second portion of the memory cells indicated by control information provided from the host is the first configuration mode, to store at most two bits of information if the additional configuration mode for the second portion of the memory cells indicated by control information provided from the host is the second configuration mode, and to store more than two bits of information if the configuration mode for the second portion of the memory cells indicated by control information provided from the host is the third configuration mode.
11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the control unit is included in a die and the memory cells are included in at least one additional die.
12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the memory cells are included in a single die.
13. The apparatus of claim 10 , memory cells are included in multiple dice.
14. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the memory cells and the control unit are included in a solid state drive (SSD).
15. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the control information provided by the host to the control unit is based on information from an input device communicating with the host.
16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the input device includes a keyboard.
17. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the host includes a central processing unit (CPU).
18. An apparatus comprising:
a host interface located at a host to communicate with a memory device, the memory device located outside the host; and
a host controller located at the host to communicate with the memory device through the host interface, the host controller configured to provide control information to the memory device, and to cause the memory device to associate a first portion of memory cells in the memory device with a first logical address range based on the control information and associate a second portion of memory cells in the memory device with a second logical address range based on the control information, the host controller to provide an indication informing the memory device to cause each memory cell in the first portion of the memory cells to be operable to store at most one bit of information based on the indication from the host controller and each memory cell in the second portion of the memory cells to be operable to store more than one bit of information based on the indication from the host controller, and the control information including a first setting for a number of memory cell units among memory cells of the memory device to be included in the first portion of memory cells and a second setting for a number of memory cell units among memory cells of the memory device to be included in the second portion of the memory cells, based on the control information, a control unit of the memory device is configured to determine corresponding settings for the number of memory cells to be included in each of the first and second portions of the memory cells, identifications associated with the first and second portions of the memory cells, and a configuration mode to be set for each of the first and second portions of the memory cells, and the control unit is configured to store the corresponding settings in registers of the memory device.
19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the host controller includes a central processing unit (CPU) and the first and second logical address ranges are included in an address space recognized by the CPU.
20. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the host controller is configured to provide the control information to the memory device during creation of a first namespace and a second namespace in accordance with non-volatile memory express (NVMe) specification, such that the first namespace is included in the first portion of the memory cells, and the second namespace is included in the second portion of the memory cells.
21. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the host interface complies with one of Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) specification, Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) specification, and Serial Attached Small Computer System Interface (SAS) specification.
22. An apparatus comprising:
a host controller; and
a solid state drive (SSD) including non-volatile memory cells, the SSD configured to create portions of the memory cells based on control information provided to the SSD from the host controller during creation of the portions of the memory cells and cause the portions of the memory cells to operate in different configuration modes based on the control information provided to the SSD from the host controller during creation of the portions of the memory cells, the configuration modes including a configuration mode for a first portion of the memory cells and an additional configuration mode for a second portion of the memory cells, wherein the first configuration mode based on the control information provided to the SSD from the host controller causes each memory cell in the first portion of the memory cells to be operable to store at most one bit of information, the second configuration mode based on the control information provided to the SSD from the host controller causes each memory cell in the second portion of the memory cells to be operable to store more than one bit of information, and the control information provided to the SSD from the host controller including a first setting for a number of memory cell units among the memory cells to be included in the first portion of the memory cells and a second setting for a number of memory cell units among the memory cells to be included in the second portion of the memory cells, based on the control information, a control unit of the SSD is configured to determine corresponding settings for the number of memory cells to be included in each of the first and second portions of the memory cells, identifications associated with the first and second portions of the memory cells, and the configuration mode to be set for each of the first and second portions of the memory cells, and the control unit is configured to store the corresponding settings in registers of the SSD.
23. The apparatus of claim 22 , further comprising an input device coupled to the host controller, wherein the control information provided to the SSD from the host controller is based on input information from the input device.
24. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein the input information from the input device is provided by a user during the creation of the portions of the memory cells.
25. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein the input information from the input device is provided by a user through the input device, and the input device includes at least one of a keyboard, a pointing device, and a touchscreen display.
26. A method comprising:
receiving control information at an interface of a solid state drive (SSD), the control information provided by a host, the SSD including memory cells, the control information including a first configuration mode for a first portion of the memory cells and a second configuration mode for a second portion of the memory cells, and the control information including a first setting for a number of memory cell units among the memory cells to be included in the first portion of the memory cells and a second setting for a number of memory cell units among the memory cells to be included in the second portion of the memory cells;
determining, based on the control information, corresponding settings for the number of memory cells to be included in each of the first and second portions of the memory cells, identifications associated with the first and second portions of the memory cells, and the first and second configuration modes, and storing the corresponding settings in registers of the SSD;
creating the first portion of the memory cells and the second portion of the memory cells based on the control information provided to the SSD from the host;
configuring the first portion of the memory cells to operate in the first configuration mode based on the control information provided to the SSD from the host, such that each memory cell in the first portion of the memory cells is operable to store at most one bit of information; and
configuring the second portion of the memory cells to operate in the second configuration mode based on the control information provided to the SSD from the host, such that each memory cell in the second portion of the memory cells is operable to store more than one bit of information.
27. The method of claim 26 , wherein the control information is received at a connector of the SSD, the connector having a form factor complying with one of Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) specification, Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) specification, and Serial Attached Small Computer System Interface (SAS) specification.
28. The method of claim 26 , further comprising:
providing the control information from the host to the SSD during creation of a first namespace and a second namespace in accordance with non-volatile memory express (NVMe) specification, wherein the first portion of the memory cells includes the first namespace, and the second portion of the memory cells includes the second namespace.