IP Library Granted Patent US 12,417,809
Granted Patent B2
US 12,417,809 · App. 18/360,634 · Granted Sep 16, 2025

Open block read ICC reduction

Inventors: Abu Naser Zainuddin (Milpitas, CA); Jiahui Yuan (Fremont, CA); Deepanshu Dutta (Fremont, CA)
Assignee: Sandisk Technologies, Inc.
G11C16/28G11C16/0433G11C16/08G11C16/24
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,417,809
App. No.
18/360,634
Granted
Sep 16, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

Technology for a storage system that reduces the Icc during open block reads. A lower than nominal voltage may be applied to the bit lines during open block reads, which reduces Icc. A nominal bit line voltage may be used during closed block reads. The lower than nominal bit line voltage may be combined with using a lower than nominal read pass voltage (Vread) to unprogrammed word lines during the open block read. The lower than nominal Vread has a lower magnitude than a nominal Vread used during a closed block read. Combining the lower than nominal bit line voltage with the lower than nominal Vread to unprogrammed word lines further reduces Icc during open block reads. The ramp rate of Vread may be relaxed (made slower) during at least some open block reads in combination with the lower than nominal bit line voltage.

Claims (40)

1. An apparatus comprising:

one or more control circuits configured to connect to a three-dimensional memory structure comprising blocks comprising NAND strings having memory cells, each block comprising word lines, each word line of a block connected to each NAND string in the block, the memory structure having bit lines associated with the NAND strings, wherein the one or more control circuits are configured to:

apply a first bit line voltage to the bit lines while applying a read reference voltage to a selected word line and ramping a read pass voltage applied to unselected word lines at a first ramp rate in a target block during a first open block read in the target block, wherein the first bit line voltage has a first magnitude, the first open block read being between a first percentage of open word lines and a fully open block;

apply the first bit line voltage to the bit lines while applying the read reference voltage to the selected word line and ramping the read pass voltage applied to the unselected word lines at a second ramp rate in the target block during a second open block read in the target block, wherein the second ramp rate is slower than the first ramp rate, the second open block read being between the first percentage of open word lines and a second percentage of open word line that is less than the first percentage; and

apply a second bit line voltage to the bit lines while applying the read reference voltage to the selected word line and ramping the read pass voltage applied to the unselected word lines at the first ramp rate in the target block during a closed block read of the target block, wherein the second bit line voltage has a second magnitude that is greater than the first magnitude.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more control circuits are further configured to:

control the second ramp rate of the read pass voltage applied to unselected word lines in the target block during the second open block read, wherein the second ramp rate depends on the percentage of the unselected word lines in the target block that are unprogrammed.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more control circuits are further configured to:

apply a first read pass voltage to first unselected word lines in the target block during the second open block read, wherein the first unselected word lines are programmed and the first read pass voltage has a third magnitude; and

apply a second read pass voltage to second unselected word lines in the target block during the second open block read, wherein the second unselected word lines are unprogrammed and the second read pass voltage has a fourth magnitude that is lower than the third magnitude.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more control circuits comprise a memory controller configured to:

issue a command to system control logic to apply a lower than nominal voltage as the first bit line voltage to the bit lines during the first and second open block reads, the second bit line voltage being the nominal voltage.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the one or more control circuits comprise the system control logic, the system control logic is configured to:

access a parameter from storage that specifies the first magnitude for the first bit line voltage during the first and second open block reads; and

apply the first bit line voltage to the bit lines during the first and second open block reads.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more control circuits comprise a memory controller configured to:

identify a last word line programmed in the target block; and

send an address of the last word line programmed in the target block to system control logic that is configured to apply the first bit line voltage to the bit lines and read pass voltages to unselected word lines in the target block during the first and second open block reads.

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

issue a command to the system control logic to apply a nominal read pass voltage to programmed unselected word lines in the target block and a lower than nominal read pass voltage to unprogrammed unselected word lines in the target block during the first and second open block reads.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein:

the memory controller is further configured to issue a command to the system control logic to use a slower than nominal ramp rate for the read pass voltages during the second open block read; and

the system control logic is configured to apply the nominal ramp rate for the read pass voltages during the closed block read and apply the slower than nominal ramp rate for the read pass voltages during the open block read, the nominal ramp rate being the first ramp rate, the slower than nominal ramp rate being the second ramp rate.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus comprises:

a first semiconductor die that comprises the three-dimensional memory structure; and

a second semiconductor die that comprises at least a portion of the one or more control circuits that are configured to control the open block read at a die level.

10. A non-volatile storage system, comprising:

a three-dimensional memory structure comprising blocks comprising NAND strings having memory cells, each block comprising word lines, each word line of a block connected to each NAND string in the block, the memory structure having bit lines associated with the NAND strings;

one or more control circuits in communication with the three-dimensional memory structure and configured to:

apply a read compare voltage to a selected word line in a target block connected to selected memory cells on a group of NAND strings in the target block;

apply a read pass voltage to unselected word lines in the target block connected to unselected memory cells on the group of the NAND strings, the read pass voltage having a nominal ramp rate in response to the target block being between a first percentage open word lines and fully open, the read pass voltage having a slower than nominal ramp rate in response to the target block being less than the first percentage open word lines but more than a second percentage open word lines, the read pass voltage having the nominal ramp rate in response to the target block being closed;

apply a bit line voltage to bit lines connected to the group of NAND strings, the bit line voltage having a nominal magnitude in response to the target block being closed, the bit line voltage having a less than nominal magnitude in response to the target block being open; and

sense the bit lines to determine conditions of the selected memory cells.

11. The non-volatile storage system of claim 10 , wherein applying the read pass voltage to the unselected word lines in the target block comprises the one or more control circuits:

applying a first read pass voltage having a first magnitude to first unselected word lines connected to first unselected memory cells that are all erased; and

applying a second read pass voltage having a second magnitude to second unselected word lines connected to second unselected memory cells that are programmed, wherein the second magnitude is greater than the first magnitude.

12. A method of reading NAND memory, the method comprising:

combining a nominal magnitude bit line voltage with a nominal ramp rate for read pass voltages applied to unselected word lines in response to a block of NAND memory cells being closed;

combining a less than nominal magnitude bit line voltage with the nominal ramp rate for the read pass voltages applied to the unselected word lines in response to the block of the NAND memory cells being more than a first percentage open and up to fully open; and

combining the less than nominal magnitude bit line voltage with a slower than nominal ramp rate for the read pass voltages applied to the unselected word lines in response to the block of the NAND memory cells being less than the first percentage open but more than a second percentage open.

Assignments (4)
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Apr 25, 2025
From: SANDISK TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 071050/0001 →
PARTIAL RELEASE OF SECURITY INTERESTS Recorded Apr 25, 2025
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS AGENT
To: SANDISK TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Reel/Frame 071382/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 31, 2024
From: SANDISK TECHNOLOGIES LLC
To: SANDISK TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Reel/Frame 069796/0423 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 27, 2023
From: ZAINUDDIN, ABU NASER; YUAN, JIAHUI; DUTTA, DEEPANSHU
To: SANDISK TECHNOLOGIES LLC
Reel/Frame 064410/0940 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 63486841 · Feb 24, 2023
Related Publication 20240290395A1 · Aug 29, 2024
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