Operating techniques for reducing effects of coupling between storage elements of a non-volatile memory operated in multiple data states
First Claim
1. A re-programmable non-volatile memory for storing data, comprising:
- an array of charge storage elements on an integrated circuit chip, characterized by values of charge stored in some of the storage elements affecting data read from others of the storage elements due to at least electric field coupling between storage elements, anda programming circuit on said integrated circuit chip that (1) writes a first set of data as a first set of stored values into a first group of the storage elements, (2) thereafter writes a second set of data as a second set of stored values into a second group of the storage elements, wherein at least some of the stored second set of values affect data read from at least some of the first group of storage elements on account of the field coupling between them, and (3) alters the first set of stored values in a manner to counteract an effect of the second set of stored values on data read from the first group of storage elements at least on account the field coupling between them, without rewritting the second set of data into the second group of the storage elements.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A non-volatile memory system having an array of memory cells with at least one storage element each is operated with a plurality of storage level ranges per storage element. A flash electrically erasable and programmable read only memory (EEPROM) is an example, wherein the storage elements are electrically floating gates. The memory is operated to minimize the effect of charge coupled between adjacent floating gates, by programming some cells a second time after adjacent cells have been programmed. The second programming step also compacts a distribution of charge levels within at least some of the programming states. This increases the separation between states and/or allows more states to be included within a given storage window. An implementation that is described is for a NAND type of flash EEPROM.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A re-programmable non-volatile memory for storing data, comprising:
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an array of charge storage elements on an integrated circuit chip, characterized by values of charge stored in some of the storage elements affecting data read from others of the storage elements due to at least electric field coupling between storage elements, and a programming circuit on said integrated circuit chip that (1) writes a first set of data as a first set of stored values into a first group of the storage elements, (2) thereafter writes a second set of data as a second set of stored values into a second group of the storage elements, wherein at least some of the stored second set of values affect data read from at least some of the first group of storage elements on account of the field coupling between them, and (3) alters the first set of stored values in a manner to counteract an effect of the second set of stored values on data read from the first group of storage elements at least on account the field coupling between them, without rewritting the second set of data into the second group of the storage elements. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A non-volatile memory for storing data, comprising:
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an array of charge storage elements on an integrated circuit chip, characterized by values of charge stored in some of the storage elements affecting data read from others of the storage elements due to at least electric field coupling between storage elements, and a programming circuit on said integrated circuit chip that (1) writes a first set of data as a first set of stored values into a first group of the storage elements, (2) thereafter writes a second set of data as a second set of stored values into a second group of the storage elements, wherein at least some of the stored second set of values affect data read from at least some of the first group of storage elements on account of the field coupling between them, and (3) alters the first set of stored values in a manner to counteract an effect of the second set of stored values on data read from the first group of storage elements at least on account the field coupling between them, wherein the programming circuit alters the first set of stored values in the first group of the storage elements before writing the second set of data into the second group of the storage elements.
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13. A method of operating a re-programmable non-volatile memory system wherein values stored in some of storage elements of an array of memory elements affect values read from others of the storage elements because of at least electric field coupling between storage elements, comprising:
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writing into a first group of storage elements a first set of stored values that correspond to a first set of data, thereafter writing into a second group of storage elements different from the first group a second set of stored values that correspond to a second set of data, wherein at least some of the stored second set of values affect data read from at least some of the first group of storage elements because of at least field coupling between them, and in order to facilitate accurate reading of the first set of data from the first group of storage elements, only the first set of stored values written into the first group of storage elements is altered in a manner that counteracts an effect of the second set of stored values on the data read from said at least some of the first group of storage elements because of at least field coupling between them, without re-writing the second group of storage elements. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification