IP Library › Granted Patent US 9,691,452
Granted Patent B2
US 9,691,452 · App. 14/461,152 · Granted Jun 27, 2017

Apparatuses and methods for concurrently accessing different memory planes of a memory

Inventors: Theodore T. Pekny (San Jose, CA); Jae-Kwan Park (Cupertino, CA); Violante Moschiano (Avezzano, IT); Michele Incarnati (Gioia dei Marsi, IT); Luca de Santis (Avezzano, IT)
Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
G11C7/22G11C16/26G11C16/32G11C2207/2209
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,691,452
App. No.
14/461,152
Granted
Jun 27, 2017
Kind
B2
Abstract

Apparatuses and methods for performing concurrent memory access operations for different memory planes are disclosed herein. An example apparatus may include a memory array having a plurality of memory planes. Each of the plurality of memory planes comprises a plurality of memory cells. The apparatus may further include a controller configured to receive a group of memory command and address pairs. Each memory command and address pair of the group of memory command and address pairs may be associated with a respective memory plane of the plurality of memory planes. The internal controller may be configured to concurrently perform memory access operations associated with each memory command and address pair of the group of memory command and address pairs regardless of page types associated with the pairs of the group (e.g., even if two or more of the memory command and address pairs may be associated with different page types).

Claims (56)

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory array comprising a plurality of memory planes, wherein each of the plurality of memory planes comprises a plurality of memory cells; and

a controller configured to receive a group of memory command and address pairs, wherein each memory command and address pair of the group of memory command and address pairs is associated with a respective memory plane of the plurality of memory planes, the controller configured to concurrently perform memory access operations on each memory plane of the plurality of memory planes for a corresponding memory command and address pair of the group of memory command and address pairs regardless of page types associated with the pairs of the group.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of access line driver circuits, wherein an access line driver circuit of the plurality of access line driver circuits is configured to provide voltages to access lines of a plane of the plurality of memory planes during memory access operations based on signals from the controller.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the controller comprises a power control circuit configured to serially configure, for the memory access operations, access line driver circuits of the plurality of access line driver circuits that are coupled to memory planes of the plurality of memory planes associated with the group of memory command and address pairs, wherein the controller further comprises an access control circuit configured to concurrently retrieve, during the memory access operations, data from the memory planes of the plurality of memory planes associated with the group of memory command and address pairs after serially configuring the access line driver circuits.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the controller is a multithread controller including a plurality of control threads, each control thread of the plurality of control threads configured to concurrently configure, for the memory access operations, access line driver circuits of the plurality of access line driver circuits that are coupled to memory planes of the plurality of memory planes associated with the group of memory command and address pairs.

5. The apparatus of claim 2 , further comprising a plurality of power circuits, wherein a power circuit of the plurality of power circuits is configured to provide two or more voltages to an access line driver circuit of the plurality of access line driver circuits, wherein each of the plurality of power circuits is associated with a respective memory plane of the plurality of memory planes.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the controller comprises a power control circuit configured to serially configure, for the memory access operations, power circuits of the plurality of power circuits that are associated with the memory planes of the plurality of memory planes associated with the group of memory command and address pairs to provide respective voltages, wherein the controller further comprises an access control circuit configured to concurrently retrieve, during the memory access operations, data from the memory planes of the plurality of memory planes associated with the group of memory command and address pairs after serially configuring the power circuits.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of memory cells of a memory plane of the plurality of memory planes includes at least one of multi-level memory cells, triple level memory cells, or single level memory cells.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the group of memory command and address pairs is associated with an upper page type, a lower page type, or a middle page type.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of memory planes is divided into a respective plurality of blocks, wherein at least two of the group of memory command and address pairs are associated with a different block within a respective plurality of blocks.

10. An apparatus comprising:

a memory array comprising a plurality of memory planes, wherein each of the plurality of memory planes comprises a plurality of memory cells;

a controller configured to receive a group of memory command and address pairs, wherein each memory command and address pair of the group of memory command and address pairs is associated with a respective memory plane of the plurality of memory planes, the controller configured to concurrently perform memory access operations associated with each memory command and address pair of the group of memory command and address pairs regardless of page types associated with the pairs of the group, wherein the controller is a multithread controller including a plurality of control threads, each control thread of the plurality of control threads configured to concurrently configure, for the memory access operations, power circuits of the plurality of power circuits that are coupled to the memory planes of the plurality of memory planes associated with the group of memory command and address pairs to provide respective voltages;

a plurality of access line driver circuits, wherein an access line driver circuit of the plurality of access line driver circuits is configured to provide voltages to access lines of a plane of the plurality of memory planes during memory access operations based on signals from the controller; and

a plurality of power circuits, wherein a power circuit of the plurality of power circuits is configured to provide two or more voltages to an access line driver circuit of the plurality of access line driver circuits, wherein each of the plurality of power circuits is associated with a respective memory plane of the plurality of memory planes.

11. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory array having a plurality of memory planes;

a plurality of access line driver circuits, wherein an access line driver circuit of the plurality of access line driver circuits is configured to provide voltages to access lines of a respective memory plane of the plurality of memory planes; and

a controller coupled to the plurality of access line driver circuits, the controller configured to serially configure the plurality of access line driver circuits for concurrent memory access operations, the controller further configured to concurrently access the plurality of memory planes after serially configuring each of the plurality of access line driver circuits during the concurrent memory access operations.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , further comprising a plurality of power circuits, wherein each of the plurality of power circuits is configured to provide voltages to a respective one of the plurality of access line driver circuits, wherein the controller is further configured to serially configure, for the concurrent memory access operations, the plurality of power circuits coupled to the plurality of access line driver circuits to provide respective voltages.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the controller is configured to serially configure the plurality of access line driver circuits responsive to a group of memory command and address pairs.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the group of memory command and address pairs are associated with different page types.

15. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the controller comprises a power control circuit configured to provide signals to the plurality of access line driver circuits based on an associated page type to control voltages provided to the plurality of memory planes.

16. The apparatus of claim 11 , further comprising a plurality of page buffers, wherein each of the plurality of page buffers is configured to latch data from a respective one of the plurality of memory planes, wherein the controller is configured to concurrently retrieve the data from the plurality of page buffers coupled to the plurality of memory planes during the concurrent memory access operations.

17. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured to concurrently control the sensing of data from the plurality of memory planes.

18. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory array having a first memory plane and a second memory plane, the first memory plane including access lines and the second memory plane including access lines;

a first access line driver circuit configured to provide voltages to access lines of the first memory plane;

a second access line driver circuit configured to provide voltages to access lines of the second memory plane; and

a multithread controller coupled to the first access line driver circuit and the second access line driver circuit, the multithread controller configured to concurrently configure the first access line driver circuit and the second access line driver circuit for concurrent memory access operations, the multithread controller further configured to concurrently access the first memory plane and the second memory plane during the concurrent memory access operations regardless of page types concurrently accessed in the first memory plane and the second memory plane.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein, for the concurrent memory access operations, the multithread controller is configured to configure the first access line driver circuit to provide a first voltage on an access line associated with a page of the first memory plane to be accessed and to provide other voltages that are different than the first voltage on remaining access lines associated with the first memory plane, and the multithread controller is further configured to configure the second access line driver circuit to provide a second voltage on an access line associated with a page of the second memory plane to be accessed and to provide other voltages that are different than the second voltage on remaining access lines associated with the second memory plane.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , further comprising:

a first power circuit configured to provide a first set of voltages to the first access line driver circuit, wherein the first set of voltages includes the first voltage; and

a second power circuit configured to provide a second set of voltages to the second access line driver circuit, wherein the second set of voltages includes the second voltage, wherein the first set of voltages is different than the second set of voltages.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the multithread controller is further configured to concurrently configure, for the concurrent memory access operations, the first power circuit to provide the first set of voltages and to configure the second power circuit to provide the second set of voltages.

22. The apparatus of claim 18 , the memory further comprising:

a first page buffer configured to latch data from the first memory plane responsive to signals from the multithread controller; and

a second page buffer configured to latch data from the second memory plane responsive to signals from the multithread controller.

23. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the multithread controller is further configured to concurrently retrieve the data from the first page buffer and the second page buffer.

24. A method, comprising:

receiving a plurality of memory command and address pairs at a memory, wherein each of the plurality of memory command and address pairs is associated with a different memory plane of the memory than other memory command and address pairs of the plurality of memory command and address pairs;

responsive to receiving the plurality of memory command and address pairs, serially configuring, for concurrent memory access operations, access line driver circuits coupled to memory planes associated with the group of memory command and address pairs; and

retrieving, in parallel, data from each of the memory planes associated with the group of memory command and address pairs based on the configured access line driver circuits during the concurrent memory access operations.

25. The method of claim 24 , further comprising, responsive to receiving the plurality of memory command and address pairs, serially configuring, for the concurrent memory access operations, power circuits coupled to the access line driver circuits.

26. The method of claim 25 , further comprising concurrently retrieving data from the two or more memory planes during the concurrent memory access operations.

27. The method of claim 24 , further comprising providing respective voltages along respective access lines from each of the access line driver circuits to the respective memory plane.

28. The method of claim 24 , wherein retrieving, in parallel, the data from each of the memory planes associated with the group of memory command and address pairs comprises concurrently charging a respective bitline of each of the memory planes associated with the group of memory command and address pairs.

29. The method of claim 28 , wherein retrieving, in parallel, data from each of the memory planes associated with the group of memory command and address pairs further comprises concurrently sensing the data at each of the memory planes associated with the group of memory command and address pairs.

30. The method of claim 29 , wherein retrieving, in parallel, data from each of the memory planes associated with the group of memory command and address pairs further comprises concurrently latching the data at a respective page buffer coupled to each of the memory planes associated with the group of memory command and address pairs.

31. A method, comprising:

receiving a plurality of memory command and address pairs at a memory, wherein each of the plurality of memory command and address pairs corresponds to a different memory plane of the memory than other memory command and address pairs of the plurality of memory command and address pairs; and

responsive to receiving the plurality of memory command and address pairs, concurrently performing memory access operations on each memory plane of the memory for a respective memory command and address pair of plurality of memory command and address pairs.

32. The method of claim 31 , further comprising concurrently configuring, for the memory access operations, access line driver circuits coupled to each memory plane of the memory.

33. The method of claim 32 , further comprising concurrently configuring, for the concurrent memory access operations, power circuits coupled to the access line driver circuits.

34. The method of claim 31 , wherein concurrently performing the memory access operations is controlled by a multithread controller of the memory.

Assignments (8)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 12, 2019
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC.; MICRON SEMICONDUCTOR PRODUCTS, INC.
Reel/Frame 051028/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Oct 9, 2019
From: MORGAN STANLEY SENIOR FUNDING, INC., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC.
Reel/Frame 050937/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Aug 23, 2018
From: U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC.
Reel/Frame 047243/0001 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jul 13, 2018
From: MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC.; MICRON SEMICONDUCTOR PRODUCTS, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 047540/0001 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE REPLACE ERRONEOUSLY FILED PATENT #7358718 WITH THE CORRECT PATENT #7358178 PREVIOUSLY RECORDED ON REEL 038669 FRAME 0001. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE SECURITY INTEREST. Recorded Jun 8, 2017
From: MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC.
To: U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 043079/0001 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jun 2, 2016
From: MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC.
To: MORGAN STANLEY SENIOR FUNDING, INC., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 038954/0001 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 12, 2016
From: MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC.
To: U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 038669/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 15, 2014
From: PEKNY, THEODORE T.; PARK, JAE-KWAN; INCARNATI, MICHELE; MOSCHIANO, VIOLANTE; DE SANTIS, LUCA
To: MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC.
Reel/Frame 033548/0381 →
Continuity (1)
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