Methods of operating memory including receipt of ECC data
Methods of operating a memory, including receiving first data to be written to an array of memory cells of the memory, receiving error correction code (ECC) data corresponding to the first data, and receiving a flag having a value. Such methods further include storing the first data, the ECC data and the flag to the array of memory cells without performing error correction on the first data using the ECC data if the flag has a first value, and if the flag has a second value different than the first value and the first data does not contain an error. Such methods further include performing error correction on the first data using the ECC data, and storing corrected first data, the ECC data and the flag to the array of memory cells if the flag has the second value and the first data contains an error.
1. A method of operating a memory, comprising:
receiving first data to be written to an array of memory cells of the memory;
receiving error correction code (ECC) data corresponding to the first data; and
receiving a flag having a value;
if the flag has a first value:
storing the first data, the ECC data and the flag to the array of memory cells without performing error correction on the first data using the ECC data; and
if the flag has a second value different than the first value:
if the first data does not contain an error, storing the first data, the ECC data and the flag to the array of memory cells without performing error correction on the first data using the ECC data; and
if the first data contains an error, performing error correction on the first data using the ECC data, and storing corrected first data, the ECC data and the flag to the array of memory cells.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the first data comprises receiving a first number of data packets, each data packet of the first number of data packets comprising a particular number of bits of data.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein receiving the ECC data comprises receiving a second number of data packets, each data packet of the second number of data packets comprising the particular number of bits of data.
4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising receiving the second number of data packets appended to the first number of data packets.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein receiving the second number of data packets appended to the first number of data packets comprises receiving two data packets each containing a portion of the ECC data appended to four data packets each containing a portion of the first data.
6. The method of claim 4 , wherein receiving the first data comprises receiving the first data corresponding to a write operation having a burst length, the burst length having a value equal to N times the first number, wherein N is an integer value greater than or equal to 1.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein N is an integer value greater than or equal to 2, and wherein receiving the second number of data packets appended to the first number of data packets comprises receiving N instances of the second number of data packets appended to the first number of data packets.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein receiving N instances of the second number of data packets appended to the first number of data packets comprises receiving N instances of two data packets each containing a portion of the ECC data appended to the first number of data packets each containing a portion of the first data.
9. A method of operating a memory, comprising:
receiving a write command indicating a desire to write associated data to an array of memory cells of the memory;
receiving a first plurality of data packets containing the associated data;
receiving a second plurality of data packets containing error correction code (ECC) data corresponding to the associated data; and
receiving a flag having a value;
if the flag has a first value:
storing the associated data, the ECC data and the flag to the array of memory cells without performing error correction on the associated data using the ECC data; and
if the flag has a second value different than the first value:
if the associated data does not contain an error, storing the associated data, the ECC data and the flag to the array of memory cells without performing error correction on the associated data using the ECC data; and
if the associated data contains an error, performing error correction on the associated data using the ECC data, and storing corrected associated data, the ECC data and the flag to the array of memory cells.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein receiving the first plurality of data packets and receiving the second plurality of data packets comprises receiving data packets of a same size.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein receiving data packets of a same size comprises receiving data packets having a size equal to a size of a data bus in communication with the memory and upon which the first plurality of data packets and the second plurality of data packets are received.
12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising receiving the second plurality of data packets appended to the first plurality of data packets.
13. The method of claim 9 , wherein receiving the first plurality of data packets and receiving the second plurality of data packets comprises receiving a first portion of the first plurality of data packets, receiving a first portion of the second plurality of data packets, receiving a second portion of the first plurality of data packets, and receiving a second portion of the second plurality of data packets, in sequence.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the first portion of the first plurality of data packets and the second portion of the first plurality of data packets each contain a same number of data packets.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the first portion of the second plurality of data packets and the second portion of the second plurality of data packets each contain a same number of data packets.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the number of data packets in each of the first portion and the second portion of the first plurality of data packets is four, and the number of data packets in each of the first portion and the second portion of the second plurality of data packets is two.
17. The method of claim 13 , further comprising receiving a third portion of the first plurality of data packets, and receiving a third portion of the second plurality of data packets, further in sequence.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the first portion of the first plurality of data packets, the second portion of the first plurality of data packets, and the third portion of the first plurality of data packets each contain a same number of data packets, and wherein the first portion of the second plurality of data packets, the second portion of the second plurality of data packets, and the third portion of the second plurality of data packets each contain a same number of data packets different than the number of data packets of the first portion of the first plurality of data packets, the second portion of the first plurality of data packets, and the third portion of the first plurality of data packets.
19. A method of operating a memory, comprising:
receiving a write command indicating a desire to write associated data to an array of memory cells of the memory;
receiving a first plurality of data packets containing the associated data over a data bus in communication with the memory, each data packet of the first plurality of data packets having a size corresponding to a size of the data bus;
receiving a second plurality of data packets containing error correction code (ECC) data corresponding to the associated data over the data bus, each data packet of the second plurality of data packets having a size corresponding to the size of the data bus; and
receiving a flag having a value;
storing the associated data, the ECC data and the flag to the array of memory cells without performing error correction on the associated data using the ECC data if the flag has a first value, and if the flag has a second value different than the first value and the associated data does not contain an error; and
performing error correction on the associated data using the ECC data, and storing corrected associated data, the ECC data and the flag to the array of memory cells if the flag has the second value and the associated data contains an error.
20. The method of claim 19 , wherein receiving the second plurality of data packets comprises receiving a data packet of the second plurality of data packets containing a number of bits of ECC data that is less than a size of that data packet of the second plurality of data packets.