IP Library Granted Patent US 12,243,590
Granted Patent B2
US 12,243,590 · App. 17/528,892 · Granted Mar 4, 2025

Method and apparatus for improving write uniformity in a memory device

Inventors: Shantanu R. Rajwade (San Mateo, CA); Christian Mion (Cupertino, CA); Pranav Kalavade (San Jose, CA); Rohit S. Shenoy (Fremont, CA); Xin Sun (Fremont, CA); Kristopher Gaewsky (El Dorado Hills, CA)
Assignee: Intel Corporation
G11C16/10G06F3/061G06F3/0659G06F3/0679G11C16/0483G11C16/26G11C16/3459G11C11/56
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,243,590
App. No.
17/528,892
Granted
Mar 4, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

In one embodiment, an apparatus comprises a memory comprising a group of memory cells coupled to a wordline; and a controller configured to skip programming of one or more pages of the group of memory cells responsive to a sequential write operation; and program the one or more pages of the group of memory cells responsive to one or more random write commands.

Claims (35)

1. An apparatus comprising:

a memory comprising a group of memory cells coupled to a wordline; and

a controller configured to:

program one or more lower pages of the group of memory cells responsive to a sequential write operation;

skip programming of one or more upper pages of the group of memory cells responsive to the sequential write operation; and

program the one or more upper pages of the group of memory cells responsive to one or more random write commands.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a write uniformity of the sequential write operation is improved by the skipping of the programming of the one or more upper pages of the group of memory cells responsive to the sequential write operation.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , the controller to skip programming of one or more pages of a second group of memory cells coupled to a second wordline responsive to the sequential write operation, wherein the write uniformity of the sequential write operation is further improved by the skipping of the programming of the one or more pages of the second group of memory cells.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more upper pages that are skipped comprise a top page (TP) and an extra page (XP).

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further to adjust one or more voltages to compensate for the skipped programming of the one or more upper pages.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more lower pages of the group of memory cells that are programmed comprise a lower page (LP) and an upper page (UP).

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , the controller to apply an offset for a read operation responsive to a determination that the programming of the one or more upper pages was skipped.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , the controller to apply an offset for a program verify operation responsive to a determination that the programming of the one or more upper pages was skipped.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising skipping programming of one or more upper pages of a second group of memory cells coupled to the wordline responsive to the sequential write operation, wherein the group of memory cells are part of a first subblock of the memory and the second group of memory cells are part of a second subblock of the memory.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus comprises a solid state drive.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus comprises a dual in-line memory module.

12. A method comprising:

detecting a sequential write operation;

skipping programming of one or more upper pages of a group of memory cells coupled to a wordline responsive to the detection of the sequential write operation;

programming one or more lower pages of the group of memory cells responsive to the detection of the sequential write operation; and

programming the one or more upper pages of the group of memory cells responsive to one or more random write commands.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein a write uniformity of the sequential write operation is improved by the skipping of the programming of the one or more upper pages of the group of memory cells responsive to the sequential write operation.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising adjusting one or more voltages to compensate for the skipped programming of the one or more upper pages.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the one or more upper pages that are skipped comprise a top page (TP) and an extra page (XP).

16. A system comprising:

at least one memory chip comprising a group of memory cells coupled to a wordline; and

a storage device controller coupled to the at least one memory chip, the storage device controller to:

detect a sequential write operation;

skip programming of one or more upper pages of the group of memory cells responsive to the detection of the sequential write operation;

program one or more lower pages of the group of memory cells responsive to the detection of the sequential write operation; and

program the one or more pages of the group of memory cells responsive to one or more random write commands.

17. The system of claim 16 , further comprising a processor to execute an instruction requesting the sequential write operation and to send one or more requests for the sequential write operation to the storage device controller.

18. The system of claim 17 , further comprising one or more of: a battery communicatively coupled to the processor, a display communicatively coupled to the processor, or a network interface communicatively coupled to the processor.

19. The system of claim 16 , wherein a write uniformity of the sequential write operation is improved by the skipping of the programming of the one or more upper pages of the group of memory cells responsive to the detection of the sequential write operation.

20. The system of claim 16 , wherein a programming time for an equivalent number of pages is longer for the group of memory cells coupled to the wordline than for a second group of memory cells coupled to a second wordline adjacent to the wordline the storage device controller to request the programming of one or more pages of the group of memory cells responsive to the sequential write operation.

Assignments (3)
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE APPLICATION NUMBERS INCORRECTLY LISTED (REMOVE 17236651, 17411919, 17483279, 17558001) PREVIOUSLY RECORDED ON REEL 72293 FRAME 842. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSIGNMENT. Recorded Apr 1, 2026
From: INTEL CORPORATION
To: INTEL NDTM US LLC
Reel/Frame 075695/0416 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 18, 2025
From: INTEL CORPORATION
To: INTEL NDTM US LLC
Reel/Frame 072293/0842 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 10, 2022
From: RAJWADE, SHANTANU R.; MION, CHRISTIAN; KALAVADE, PRANAV; SHENOY, ROHIT S.; SUN, XIN; GAEWSKY, KRISTOPHER
To: INTEL CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 059230/0253 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20230154539A1 · May 18, 2023
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