Granted Patent B2

US 10,559,366 · App. 15/941,747 · Granted Feb 11, 2020

Inventors: Zhenlei Shen (Milpitas, CA); Pitamber Shukla (Milpitas, CA); Philip Reusswig (Mountain View, CA); Niles N. Yang (Mountain View, CA); Anubhav Khandelwal (San Jose, CA)

Assignee: WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

G11C16/34G11C16/0483G11C16/16G11C16/26G11C29/50004G11C2029/5004

Abstract

Claims (64)

1. An apparatus comprising:

an array of non-volatile memory cells; and

a controller configured to:

detect a trigger condition associated with a last programmed word line of a partially programmed erase block of the array of non-volatile memory cells, the last programmed word line comprising programmed non-volatile memory cells that are adjacent to programmed non-volatile memory cells and unprogrammed non-volatile memory cells of the array, the trigger condition comprising detecting that a predetermined amount of time has passed since the read voltage threshold shift for the last programmed word line was determined;

determine a read voltage threshold only for use with the last programmed word line of the partially programmed erase block in response to the trigger condition; and

calculate, dynamically, a read voltage threshold shift only for use with the last programmed word line based on the determined read voltage threshold for the last programmed word line and a baseline read voltage threshold.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the trigger condition comprises determining that an error rate for the last programmed word line satisfies a predetermined error rate threshold for the last programmed word line.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the trigger condition comprises determining that a temperature associated with the last programmed word line satisfies a predetermined temperature threshold for the last programmed word line.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the trigger condition comprises determining that a number of read operations performed on the last programmed word line satisfies a predetermined read operation threshold for the last programmed word line.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine the read voltage threshold for the last programmed word line by:

reading data from the last programmed word line using a first read voltage threshold, the first read voltage threshold different than a default read voltage threshold for the last programmed word line; and

adjusting the first read voltage threshold using one or more error correction code words to determine the boundary between states for the last programmed word line, the determined read voltage threshold comprising the read voltage threshold at the boundary.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

determine a string position of a memory cell comprising the last programmed word line; and

determine thresholds for detecting the trigger condition for the last programmed word line based on the determined string position of the memory cell.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine the baseline read voltage threshold by referencing predetermined read voltage thresholds of one or more programmed memory cells that do not comprise the last programmed word line.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine the baseline read voltage threshold by sampling, dynamically, read voltage thresholds of one or more programmed memory cells of the partially programmed erase block.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine the baseline read voltage threshold by sampling, dynamically, read voltage thresholds of one or more programmed memory cells of a corresponding fully-programmed erase block.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to generate one or more reference tables of calculated voltage shifts, the one or more reference tables comprising voltage shifts for last programmed word lines of one or more of:

a string of memory cells;

a group of strings of memory cells;

an erase block; and

a group of erase blocks.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to include the determined read voltage thresholds for the last programmed word line in the one or more reference tables.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the array of non-volatile memory cells comprises vertical strings of memory cells of a 3D NAND flash memory device.

13. A method comprising:

determining a read voltage threshold only for use with a last programmed word line of a partially programmed erase block of an array of non-volatile memory cells in response to detecting a trigger condition associated with the last programmed word line, the last programmed word line comprising programmed non-volatile memory cells that are adjacent to programmed non-volatile memory cells and unprogrammed non-volatile memory cells of the array;

determining a baseline read voltage threshold by one or more of:

referencing predetermined read voltage thresholds of one or more programmed memory cells that do not comprise the last programmed word line;

sampling, dynamically, read voltage thresholds of one or more programmed memory cells of the partially programmed erase block; and

sampling, dynamically, read voltage thresholds of one or more programmed memory cells of a corresponding fully-programmed erase block;

calculating, dynamically, a read voltage threshold shift only for use with the last programmed word line based on the determined read voltage threshold for the last programmed word line and the baseline read voltage threshold; and

reading data from the last programmed word line using the determined read voltage threshold based on the read voltage threshold shift.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the trigger condition comprises one or more of:

detecting that a predetermined amount of time has passed since the read voltage threshold shift for the last programmed word line was determined;

determining that an error rate for the last programmed word line satisfies a predetermined error rate threshold for the last programmed word line;

determining that a temperature associated with the last programmed word line satisfies a predetermined temperature threshold for the last programmed word line; and

determining that a number of read operations performed on the last programmed word line satisfies a predetermined read operation threshold for the last programmed word line.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising determining the read voltage threshold for the last programmed word line by:

reading data from the last programmed word line using a first read voltage threshold, the first read voltage threshold different than a default read voltage threshold for the last programmed word line; and

adjusting the first read voltage threshold using one or more error correction code words to determine the boundary between states for the last programmed word line, the determined read voltage threshold comprising the read voltage threshold at the boundary.

16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

determining a string position of a memory cell comprising the last programmed word line; and

determining thresholds for detecting the trigger condition for the last programmed word line based on the determined string position of the memory cell.

17. The method of claim 13 , further comprising generating one or more reference tables of calculated voltage shifts, the one or more reference tables comprising voltage shifts for last programmed word lines of one or more of:

a string of memory cells;

a group of strings of memory cells;

an erase block; and

a group of erase blocks.

18. An apparatus comprising:

means for detecting a trigger condition associated with a last programmed word line of a partially programmed erase block of an array of non-volatile memory cells, the last programmed word line comprising programmed non-volatile memory cells that are adjacent to programmed non-volatile memory cells and unprogrammed non-volatile memory cells of the array, the trigger condition comprising detecting that a predetermined amount of time has passed since the read voltage threshold shift for the last programmed word line was determined;

means for determining a read voltage threshold only for use with the last programmed word line of the partially programmed erase block in response to the trigger condition;

mean for calculating, dynamically, a read voltage threshold shift only for use with the last programmed word line based on the determined read voltage threshold for the last programmed word line and a baseline read voltage threshold; and

means for reading data from the last programmed word line based on the read voltage threshold shift for the last programmed word line.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , further comprising means for determining a baseline read voltage threshold by one or more of:

referencing predetermined read voltage thresholds of one or more programmed memory cells that do not comprise the last programmed word line;

sampling, dynamically, read voltage thresholds of one or more programmed memory cells of the partially programmed erase block; and

sampling, dynamically, read voltage thresholds of one or more programmed memory cells of a corresponding fully-programmed erase block.

20. A method, comprising:

determining a string position of a memory cell comprising a last programmed word line of a partially programmed erase block of an array of non-volatile memory cells, the last programmed word line comprising programmed non-volatile memory cells that are adjacent to programmed non-volatile memory cells and unprogrammed non-volatile memory cells of the array;

determining thresholds for detecting a trigger condition for the last programmed word line based on the determined string position of the memory cell;

determining a read voltage threshold only for use with the last programmed word line in response to detecting a trigger condition, based on the determined thresholds, associated with the last programmed word line;

calculating, dynamically, a read voltage threshold shift only for use with the last programmed word line based on the determined read voltage threshold for the last programmed word line and a baseline read voltage threshold; and

reading data from the last programmed word line using the determined read voltage threshold based on the read voltage threshold shift.

Assignments (10)

Continuity (1)

Cited By (1)

US 12,424,291