IP Library Granted Patent US 9,037,946
Granted Patent B2
US 9,037,946 · App. 13/796,841 · Granted May 19, 2015

Detecting effect of corrupting event on preloaded data in non-volatile memory

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,037,946
App. No.
13/796,841
Granted
May 19, 2015
Kind
B2
Abstract

A method includes determining a read threshold voltage corresponding to a group of storage elements in a non-volatile memory of a data storage device. The method also includes determining an error metric corresponding to data read from the group of storage elements using the read threshold voltage. The method includes comparing the read threshold voltage and the error metric to one or more criteria corresponding to a corrupting event.

Claims (29)

1. A method comprising:

in a data storage device including a controller and a non-volatile memory, performing:

determining a read threshold voltage corresponding to a group of storage elements in the non-volatile memory;

determining an error metric corresponding to data read from the group of storage elements using the read threshold voltage; and

comparing the read threshold voltage and the error metric to one or more criteria corresponding to a corrupting event.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the corrupting event is an infrared reflow process.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the read threshold voltage and the error metric are performed in response to a power-up of the controller.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising determining a value of a recovery process indicator, and wherein the read threshold voltage and the error metric are determined in response to the recovery process indicator indicating that a recovery process is not complete.

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising comparing a count of write/erase cycles of the non-volatile memory to a threshold, and wherein the read threshold voltage and the error metric are determined in response to the count being less than the threshold.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the group of storage elements stores preloaded data.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the read threshold voltage and the error metric are determined during a recovery process performed by the controller upon power-up, and further comprising:

in response to the read threshold voltage and the error metric satisfying the one or more criteria, storing an error-corrected version of the data into the non-volatile memory.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the recovery process is performed on each group of storage elements that stores preloaded data in the non-volatile memory.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising, in response to the recovery process being performed on each group of storage elements that stores preloaded data in the non-volatile memory, setting a recovery process indicator to a value that indicates that the recovery process is complete.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more criteria includes a discriminant function.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein comparing the read threshold voltage and the error metric to the one or more criteria includes comparing the error metric to a value of the discriminant function at the read threshold voltage.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more criteria indicate effects of the corrupting event.

13. A data storage device comprising:

a non-volatile memory; and

a controller coupled to the non-volatile memory, wherein the controller is configured to determine a read threshold voltage corresponding to a group of storage elements in the non-volatile memory and to determine an error metric corresponding to data read from the group of storage elements using the read threshold voltage, and wherein the controller is further configured to compare the read threshold voltage and the error metric to one or more criteria corresponding to a corrupting event.

14. The data storage device of claim 13 , wherein the corrupting event is an infrared reflow process.

15. The data storage device of claim 13 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the read threshold voltage and the error metric in response to a power-up of the controller.

16. The data storage device of claim 15 , wherein the controller is configured to determine a value of a recovery process indicator to determine the read threshold voltage and the error metric in response to the recovery process indicator indicating that a recovery process is not complete.

17. The data storage device of claim 16 , wherein the controller is configured to compare a count of write/erase cycles of the non-volatile memory to a threshold and to determine the read threshold voltage and the error metric in response to the count being less than the threshold.

18. The data storage device of claim 13 , wherein the group of storage elements stores preloaded data.

19. The data storage device of claim 13 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the read threshold voltage and the error metric during a recovery process performed by the controller upon power-up, and wherein in response to the read threshold voltage and the error metric satisfying the one or more criteria, the controller is configured to store an error-corrected version of the data into the non-volatile memory.

20. The data storage device of claim 19 , wherein the controller is configured to perform the recovery process on each group of storage elements that stores preloaded data in the non-volatile memory.

21. The data storage device of claim 19 , wherein the controller is further configured, in response to the recovery process being performed on each group of storage elements that stores preloaded data in the non-volatile memory, to set a recovery process indicator to a value that indicates that the recovery process is complete.

22. The data storage device of claim 13 , wherein the one or more criteria includes a discriminant function.

Assignments (5)
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 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded May 25, 2016
From: SANDISK TECHNOLOGIES INC
To: SANDISK TECHNOLOGIES LLC
Reel/Frame 038807/0898 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 12, 2013
From: JEON, SEUNGJUNE; ALROD, IDAN; LI, QING; YANG, XIAOYU
To: SANDISK TECHNOLOGIES INC.
Reel/Frame 029975/0713 →