Method, circuit and system for erasing one or more non-volatile memory cells
First Claim
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1. A method of erasing one or more non-volatile memory (“
- NVM”
) cells comprising;
applying to the one or more NVM cells an erase pulse having a predominantly non-flat and non-linear voltage profile, and wherein said erase pulse has a predefined voltage profile selected from the group consisting of ramp-like, exponential-growth-like, asymptote-like and stepped.
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Abstract
The present invention is a method circuit and system for erasing one or more non-volatile memory (“NVM”) cells in an NVM array. One or more NVM cells of a memory array may be erased using an erase pulse produced by a controller and/or erase pulse source adapted to induce and/or invoke a substantially stable channel current in the one or more NVM cells during an erasure procedure. The voltage profile of an erase pulse may be predefined or the voltage profile of the erase pulse may be dynamically adjusted based on feedback from a current sensor during an erase procedure.
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15 Claims
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1. A method of erasing one or more non-volatile memory (“
- NVM”
) cells comprising;
applying to the one or more NVM cells an erase pulse having a predominantly non-flat and non-linear voltage profile, and wherein said erase pulse has a predefined voltage profile selected from the group consisting of ramp-like, exponential-growth-like, asymptote-like and stepped. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
- NVM”
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7. A circuit for erasing one or more non-volatile memory (“
- NVM”
) cells comprising;
an erase pulse source to produce an erase pulse having a predominantly non-flat and non-linear voltage profile, and wherein said erase pulse source is adapted to produce an erase pulse having a predefined voltage profile selected from the group consisting of ramp-like, exponential-growth-like, asymptote-like and stepped. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
- NVM”
-
15. A system for erasing one or more non-volatile memory (“
- NVM”
) cells comprising;
A NVM array, and an erase pulse source to produce an erase pulse having a predominantly non-flat and non-linear voltage profile, and wherein said erase pulse source is adapted to produce an erase pulse having a predefined voltage profile selected from the group consisting of ramp-like, exponential-growth-like, asymptote-like and stepped.
- NVM”
Specification