IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,443,520
Granted Patent B2
US 12,443,520 · App. 18/417,517 · Granted Oct 14, 2025

Dynamic word line allocation in memory systems

Inventors: Tarun Singh Yadav (Boise, ID); Scott Anthony Stoller (Boise, ID); Pitamber Shukla (San Jose, CA); Fulvio Rori (Boise, ID); Attila A. Herrera (Boise, ID); Justin Bates (Boise, ID)
Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
G06F12/0246G11C29/1201G06F2212/1036G11C2029/1202
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,443,520
App. No.
18/417,517
Granted
Oct 14, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure configure a memory sub-system controller to adaptively allocate word lines (WLs). The controller accesses reliability data of a set of main WLs of a block of the set of memory components. The controller determines that one or more WLs of the set of main WLs of the block are associated with respective reliability data that transgress a threshold and, in response to determining that the one or more WLs are associated with the respective reliability data that transgress the threshold, replaces the one or more WLs of the set of main WLs of the block with one or more dummy WLs. The controller programs data into the block using the one or more dummy WLs instead of the one or more WLs of the set of main WLs of the block.

Claims (53)

1. A system comprising:

a set of memory components of a memory sub-system; and

a processing device operatively coupled to the set of memory components, the processing device being configured to perform operations comprising:

accessing reliability data of a set of main word lines (WLs) of a block of the set of memory components;

determining that one or more WLs of the set of main WLs of the block are associated with respective reliability data that transgress a threshold;

in response to determining that the one or more WLs are associated with the respective reliability data that transgress the threshold, replacing the one or more WLs of the set of main WLs of the block with one or more dummy WLs; and

alternatively cycling between programming data to the block using the one or more WLs that are associated with respective reliability data that transgress the threshold and the one or more dummy WLs.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the reliability data comprises an error rate associated with the set of main WLs of the block.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the threshold represents a tolerable error rate.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein determining that the one or more WLs are associated with respective reliability data that transgress the threshold comprises determining that the one or more WLs fail a verify stage of a programming cycle.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the one or more WLs correspond to defective WLs.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more dummy WLs are selected from a group of WLs that are initially unmapped within any blocks of the set of memory components during manufacture of the memory sub-system.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the one or more dummy WLs are physically positioned at a top portion, bottom portion, edge portion, or center interface portion of the memory sub-system.

8. The system of claim 1 , the operations comprising:

determining that a quantity of program-erase cycles of the one or more WLs corresponds to a criterion; and

in response to determining that the quantity of program-erase cycles of the one or more WLs corresponds to the criterion, programming the data to the block using the one or more WLs.

9. The system of claim 8 , the operations comprising:

in response to determining that the quantity of program-erase cycles of the one or more WLs fail to correspond to the criterion, programming the data to the block using the one or more dummy WLs.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the criterion comprises at least one of:

an even number WL;

an odd number WL;

a threshold quantity of program cycles being performed;

an elapsed time of use;

a reliability threshold being reached; or

a specified quantity of program-erase cycles being reached.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the block corresponds to a single level cell block.

12. The system of claim 1 , the operations comprising:

updating a page map that identifies WLs of the block to include the one or more dummy WLs.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the page map corresponds to a single level cell (SLC) page map, the operations comprising:

updating a quad level cell (QLC) block table corresponding to the SLC page map.

14. The system of claim 13 , the operations comprising:

combining a remaining portion of the set of main WLs for which the respective reliability data fail to transgress the threshold to form an individual SLC block; and

generating a QLC block that includes a plurality of SLC blocks comprising the individual SLC block.

15. The system of claim 14 , the operations comprising:

determining that the QLC block is incompletely filled by the plurality of SLC blocks in response to determining that the individual SLC block includes a quantity of WLs that is fewer than a total number of WLs in the set of main WLs.

16. The system of claim 15 , the operations comprising:

in response to determining that the QLC block is incompletely filled, identifying one or more WLs of an additional SLC block to include in the QLC block.

17. The system of claim 16 , the operations comprising:

determining that the QLC block is incompletely filled by the plurality of SLC blocks in response to determining that the individual SLC block includes a quantity of WLs that is fewer than a total number of WLs in the set of main WLs; and

in response to determining that the QLC block is incompletely filled, adding dummy data to incompletely filled portions of the QLC block.

18. A method comprising:

accessing reliability data of a set of main word lines (WLs) of a block of a set of memory components;

determining that one or more WLs of the set of main WLs of the block are associated with respective reliability data that transgress a threshold;

in response to determining that the one or more WLs are associated with the respective reliability data that transgress the threshold, replacing the one or more WLs of the set of main WLs of the block with one or more dummy WLs; and

alternatively cycling between programming data to the block using the one or more WLs that are associated with respective reliability data that transgress the threshold and the one or more dummy WLs.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to perform operations comprising:

accessing reliability data of a set of main word lines (WLs) of a block of a set of memory components;

determining that one or more WLs of the set of main WLs of the block are associated with respective reliability data that transgress a threshold;

in response to determining that the one or more WLs are associated with the respective reliability data that transgress the threshold, replacing the one or more WLs of the set of main WLs of the block with one or more dummy WLs; and

alternatively cycling between programming data to the block using the one or more WLs that are associated with respective reliability data that transgress the threshold and the one or more dummy WLs.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19 , the operations comprising:

combining a portion of the set of main WLs for which the respective reliability data fail to transgress the threshold to form an individual SLC block; and

generating a QLC block that includes a plurality of SLC blocks comprising the individual SLC block.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 3, 2024
From: YADAV, TARUN SINGH; STOLLER, SCOTT ANTHONY; SHUKLA, PITAMBER; RORI, FULVIO; HERRERA, ATTILA A.; BATES, JUSTIN
To: MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC.
Reel/Frame 067599/0071 →
Continuity (3)
Provisional Application 63443841 · Feb 7, 2023
Provisional Application 63440834 · Jan 24, 2023
Related Publication 20240249789A1 · Jul 25, 2024
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