Method for programming a reference cell
First Claim
1. A method of programming a set of reference cells, wherein each reference cell is associated with a separate set of non-volatile memory cells, said method comprising:
- programming a first reference cell within the set of reference cells as a function of a native threshold voltage distribution of a first set of non-volatile memory cells; and
programming a second reference cell as a function of a native threshold voltage distribution of a second set of non-volatile memory cells.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for programming one or more reference cells is described. The reference cell is programmed a predetermined amount, its program state is sensed relative to a prescribed cell on the same die (e.g., a memory cell or a golden bit cell), and the programming process continues until the reference cell fails a preselected read operation. In one preferred embodiment, the memory cell used during the reference cell programming process is the cell in the memory array having the highest native threshold value. In another preferred embodiment, the memory cell used during the reference cell programming process is a native cell that is on-board the die containing the memory array, but not a cell within the memory array.
-
Citations
21 Claims
-
1. A method of programming a set of reference cells, wherein each reference cell is associated with a separate set of non-volatile memory cells, said method comprising:
-
programming a first reference cell within the set of reference cells as a function of a native threshold voltage distribution of a first set of non-volatile memory cells; and programming a second reference cell as a function of a native threshold voltage distribution of a second set of non-volatile memory cells. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A non-volatile memory device comprising:
-
two or more sets of non-volatile memory cells; and a first set of reference cells, wherein each reference cell is associated with a separate set of non-volatile memory cells and programmed as a function of a native threshold voltage distribution of the set of non-volatile memory cells with which it is associated. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A non-volatile memory device comprising:
-
two or more sets of non-volatile memory cells; and a first set of reference cells, wherein each reference cell is associated with a separate set of non-volatile memory cells and wherein a majority of reference cells are programmed at a threshold voltage different from one another. - View Dependent Claims (16)
-
-
17. A non-volatile memory device comprising at least one set of non-volatile memory cells;
- and
a set of reference cells, wherein at least one reference cell is programmed as a function of a native threshold voltage distribution of at least one set of nonvolatile memory cells. - View Dependent Claims (18)
- and
-
19. A non-volatile memory device comprising at least one set of nonvolatile memory cells;
- and
a set of reference cells, wherein at least two of the reference cells in the set are programmed to different levels. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
- and
Specification