IP Library Granted Patent US 11,956,376
Granted Patent B2
US 11,956,376 · App. 16/992,356 · Granted Apr 9, 2024

Memory device and memory system having the same

Inventor: Hyung Seuk Kim (Seongnam-si, KR)
Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
H04L9/3278G06F21/602G06F21/72G06F21/75G11C7/062G11C7/08G11C7/24G11C16/0483G11C16/08G11C16/22G11C16/24G11C16/26H04L9/0869
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,956,376
App. No.
16/992,356
Granted
Apr 9, 2024
Kind
B2
Abstract

A memory system includes a plurality of memory cells at intersections between a plurality of word lines and a plurality of bit lines, and a plurality of bit line sense amplifiers connected to the plurality of bit lines, the plurality of bit line sense amplifiers configured to write data to or read data from the plurality of memory cells through the plurality of bit lines, a redundancy bit line sense amplifier among the plurality of bit line sense amplifiers configured to generate a physically unclonable function (PUF) key including a unique random digital value.

Claims (57)

1. A memory system comprising:

a plurality of memory cells at intersections between a plurality of word lines and a plurality of bit lines; and

a plurality of bit line sense amplifiers connected to the plurality of bit lines, the plurality of bit line sense amplifiers configured to write data to or read data from the plurality of memory cells through the plurality of bit lines, a portion of bit line sense amplifiers among the plurality of bit line sense amplifiers configured to generate a physically unclonable function (PUF) key including a random digital value, the random digital value being determined according to threshold voltage distributions of transistors included in the portion of bit line sense amplifiers, and the threshold voltage distributions being different from one another,

wherein each of the portion of bit line sense amplifiers is a defective bit line sense amplifier selected among the plurality of bit line sense amplifiers based on a threshold voltage distribution of transistors included in each of the plurality of bit line sense amplifiers,

wherein the portion of bit line sense amplifiers are replaced with redundancy bit line sense amplifiers for data sense operation in a normal operation mode.

2. The memory system according to claim 1 , wherein the memory system is a solid state drive (SSD).

3. The memory system according to claim 2 , further comprising:

processing circuitry configured to

perform an authentication operation using the PUF key, and

a verification operation using an encryption key.

4. The memory system according to claim 2 , further comprising:

processing circuitry configured to

encrypt data transmitted from a host using the PUF key, or

decrypt encrypted data using the PUF key.

5. The memory system according to claim 4 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:

receive an encryption key with the data from the host; and

perform at least one of

encrypting the data using the PUF key and the encryption key, or

decrypting the encrypted data using the encryption key and the PUF key.

6. The memory system according to claim 5 , wherein the encryption key has a size of 128 to 256 bits.

7. The memory system according to claim 1 , further comprising:

processing circuitry configured to perform an authentication operation using the PUF key, and a verification operation using an encryption key.

8. The memory system according to claim 1 , further comprising:

processing circuitry configured to

encrypt data transmitted from a host using the PUF key, or

decrypt encrypted data using the PUF key.

9. The memory system according to claim 8 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:

receive an encryption key with the data from the host; and

perform at least one of

encrypting the data using the PUF key and the encryption key, or

decrypting the encrypted data using the encryption key and the PUF key.

10. The memory system according to claim 9 , wherein the encryption key has a size of 128 to 256 bits.

11. The memory system according to claim 1 , wherein the portion of bit line sense amplifiers is configured to generate the PUF key contemporaneous with inactivation of the plurality of word lines.

12. The memory system according to claim 11 , wherein the memory system is a solid state drive (SSD).

13. A memory device comprising:

a memory cell array including a plurality of memory cells at intersections between a plurality of word lines and a plurality of bit lines;

a first bit line sense amplifier connected to a first bit line among the plurality of bit lines, the first bit line sense amplifier configured to operate as a data sense amplifier including writing data to or reading data from the plurality of memory cells through the first bit line; and

second bit line sense amplifiers connected to second bit lines among the plurality of bit lines, the second bit line sense amplifiers configured to operate as physically unclonable function (PUF) bit line sense amplifiers including generating a PUF key as a random digital value, the random digital value being determined according to threshold voltage distributions of transistors included in the second bit line sense amplifiers, and the threshold voltage distributions being different from one another,

wherein the transistors included in the second bit line sense amplifier have a higher threshold voltage distribution than transistors included in the first bit line sense amplifier,

wherein the second bit line sense amplifiers are replaced with redundancy bit line sense amplifiers for data sense operation in a normal operation mode.

14. The memory device according to claim 13 , wherein

the first bit line sense amplifier and each of the second bit line sense amplifiers includes a pair of PMOS transistors and a pair of NMOS transistors; and

the memory device further comprises processing circuitry configured to

drive the pair of PMOS transistors and the pair of NMOS transistors of the first bit line sense amplifier in a first order in a presensing period, the presensing period being a period in which voltages of the plurality of bit lines and voltages of a plurality of complementary bit lines corresponding to the plurality of bit lines are presensed, and

drive the pair of PMOS transistors and the pair of NMOS transistors of each of the second bit line sense amplifiers in a second order in the presensing period, the first order being different from the second order.

15. The memory device according to claim 14 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:

drive one of the pair of PMOS transistors and the pair of NMOS transistors of the first bit line sense amplifier having a smaller threshold voltage distribution before driving another of the pair of PMOS transistors and the pair of NMOS transistors of the first bit line sense amplifier; and

drive one of the pair of PMOS transistors and the pair of NMOS transistors of each of the second bit line sense amplifiers having a higher threshold voltage distribution before driving another of the pair of PMOS transistors and the pair of NMOS transistors of each of the second bit line sense amplifiers.

16. The memory device according to claim 13 , further comprising:

processing circuitry configured to associate a command corresponding to a bit line connected to one of the second bit line sense amplifiers with a bit line connected to a third bit line sense amplifier, the third bit line sense amplifier configured to operate as a data sense amplifier.

17. The memory device according to claim 16 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:

store location information of a bad memory cell among the plurality of memory cells; and

store location information of the second bit line sense amplifiers.

18. The memory device according to claim 13 , further comprising:

processing circuitry configured to perform an offset cancellation operation using the first bit line sense amplifier without using the second bit line sense amplifiers, the offset cancellation operation includes compensating for a difference between threshold voltages of a pair of PMOS transistors of the first bit line sense amplifier and threshold voltages of a pair of NMOS transistors of the first bit line sense amplifier.

19. The memory device according to claim 13 , wherein a number of the second bit line sense amplifiers being 40,000 or more, and a capacity of the memory device being at least 16 gigabits.

20. The memory device according to claim 13 , wherein the second bit line sense amplifiers are configured to generate the PUF key contemporaneous with inactivation of the plurality of word lines.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 18, 2020
From: KIM, HYUNG SEUK
To: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 053531/0403 →
Priority Claims (1)
KR 10-2019-0168800 · Dec 17, 2019 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20210184871A1 · Jun 17, 2021
Cited By (2)
US 12,586,631 US 12,712,748