High-speed controller for phase-change memory peripheral device
First Claim
1. A phase-change-memory peripheral comprising:
- a peripheral phase-change-memory controller having a central processing unit (CPU) for executing instructions and a random-access memory (RAM) for storing instructions for execution by the CPU;
throughput-increasing control routines of instructions executed by the CPU, wherein the throughput-increasing control routines increase a throughput of the phase-change-memory peripheral by performing one or more of a read-ahead memory operation, a write-ahead memory write operation, a larger page memory write operation, a wider data bus memory write operation, a dual-channel concurrent memory read operation, a dual-channel concurrent memory write operation, a write-cache memory write operation, a multi-channel concurrent multi-bank memory read operation, a multi-channel concurrent multi-bank memory write operation, a multi-channel concurrent multi-bank memory write cache operation;
a bus transceiver in the peripheral phase-change-memory controller for receiving peripheral commands and data from a host over a host bus;
a phase-change-memory controller in the peripheral phase-change-memory controller;
a plurality of phase-change memory (PCM) cells organized as phase-change-memory mass storage devices, coupled to the phase-change-memory controller, for storing non-volatile data for the host, the data in the phase-change-memory mass storage devices being block-addressable and not randomly-addressable;
wherein each PCM cell in the plurality of PCM cells has a first logical state having an alloy in a crystalline phase and a second logical state having the alloy in an amorphous phase, wherein a resistance of the alloy is higher when in the amorphous phase than when in the crystalline phase; and
a phase-change-memory bus having data lines for transferring data from the phase-change-memory controller to the phase-change-memory mass storage devices,whereby the peripheral phase-change-memory controller controls the phase-change-memory mass storage devices that are block-addressable.
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Abstract
Peripheral devices store data in non-volatile phase-change memory (PCM). PCM cells have alloy resistors with high-resistance amorphous states and low-resistance crystalline states. The peripheral device can be a Multi-Media Card/Secure Digital (MMC/SD) card. A PCM controller accesses PCM memory devices. Various routines that execute on a CPU in the PCM controller are activated in response to commands in the host-bus transactions. The PCM system increases the throughput of one or more phase-change memory devices by performing one or more of a read-ahead memory operation, a write-ahead memory write operation, a larger page memory write operation, a wider data bus memory write operation, a multi-channel concurrent multi-bank interleaving memory read or write operation, a write-cache memory write operation, and any combination thereof.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A phase-change-memory peripheral comprising:
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a peripheral phase-change-memory controller having a central processing unit (CPU) for executing instructions and a random-access memory (RAM) for storing instructions for execution by the CPU; throughput-increasing control routines of instructions executed by the CPU, wherein the throughput-increasing control routines increase a throughput of the phase-change-memory peripheral by performing one or more of a read-ahead memory operation, a write-ahead memory write operation, a larger page memory write operation, a wider data bus memory write operation, a dual-channel concurrent memory read operation, a dual-channel concurrent memory write operation, a write-cache memory write operation, a multi-channel concurrent multi-bank memory read operation, a multi-channel concurrent multi-bank memory write operation, a multi-channel concurrent multi-bank memory write cache operation; a bus transceiver in the peripheral phase-change-memory controller for receiving peripheral commands and data from a host over a host bus; a phase-change-memory controller in the peripheral phase-change-memory controller; a plurality of phase-change memory (PCM) cells organized as phase-change-memory mass storage devices, coupled to the phase-change-memory controller, for storing non-volatile data for the host, the data in the phase-change-memory mass storage devices being block-addressable and not randomly-addressable; wherein each PCM cell in the plurality of PCM cells has a first logical state having an alloy in a crystalline phase and a second logical state having the alloy in an amorphous phase, wherein a resistance of the alloy is higher when in the amorphous phase than when in the crystalline phase; and a phase-change-memory bus having data lines for transferring data from the phase-change-memory controller to the phase-change-memory mass storage devices, whereby the peripheral phase-change-memory controller controls the phase-change-memory mass storage devices that are block-addressable. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A phase-change-memory solid-state-storage device comprising:
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host interface means for connecting to a host over a host bus; a phase-change-memory controller having a processor for executing instructions; a main memory coupled to the processor for storing instructions for execution by the processor; phase-change memory means for storing a data word as binary bits each represented by a chalcogenide glass layer having a melting point that is higher than a crystallization point, the chalcogenide glass layer forming a variable resistor that alters a sensing current when a binary bit is read; wherein a crystalline state of the variable resistor represents a first binary logic state and an amorphous state of the variable resistor represents a second binary logic state for binary bits stored in the phase-change memory means; phase-change-memory controller means for controlling access of the phase-change memory means; and throughput-increasing control routine means for execution by the processor, wherein the throughput-increasing control routine means is for increasing a throughput of the phase-change-memory controller. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A phase-change-memory peripheral system comprising:
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a clocked-data interface to a host bus that connects to a host; a bus transceiver for detecting and processing commands sent over the host bus; a buffer for storing data sent over the host bus; an internal bus coupled to the buffer; a random-access memory (RAM) for storing instructions for execution, the RAM on the internal bus; a central processing unit, on the internal bus, the CPU accessing and executing instructions in the RAM; a phase-change-memory controller, on the internal bus, for generating phase-change-memory-control signals and for buffering data to a phase-change-memory bus; phase-change-memory devices coupled to the phase-change-memory controller by the phase-change-memory bus, and controlled by the phase-change-memory-control signals; a direct-memory access (DMA) engine, on the internal bus, for transferring data over the internal bus; wherein the phase-change-memory devices comprise an array of memory cells; an alloy resistor in each memory cell in the array of memory cells, the alloy resistor storing binary data as solid phases each having a different resistivity; wherein the alloy resistor changes from a crystalline state to an amorphous state when a memory cell is written from a logic 1 state to a logic 0 state in response to a reset current for a reset period of time; wherein the alloy resistor changes from the amorphous state to the crystalline state when the memory cell is written from a logic 0 state to a logic 1 state in response to a set current for a set period of time; wherein the amorphous state has a higher resistance than the crystalline state that is sensed by a sense amplifier; and a plurality of write drivers that apply the set current for the set period of time to memory cells being written by bits in the logic 1 state, and apply the reset current for the reset period of time to memory cells being written by bits in the logic 0 state, whereby data from the host is stored by the crystalline state and the amorphous state of the alloy resistor in each memory cell. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification