Method and apparatus for using wear-out blocks in nonvolatile memory
First Claim
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1. A method comprising:
- designating a portion of a nonvolatile memory as a wear-out portion of the nonvolatile memory, in response to the portion of the nonvolatile memory being error-prone beyond a particular threshold;
storing volatile data in the wear-out portion of the nonvolatile memory;
over a time interval, periodically refreshing the volatile data in the wear-out portion of the nonvolatile memory by (i) reading the volatile data from the wear-out portion of the nonvolatile memory and (ii) rewriting the volatile data to the wear-out portion of the nonvolatile memory;
determining a number of errors in the volatile data that is read during the periodic refresh of the volatile data; and
based, at least in part, on the number of errors that is determined, modifying the time interval.
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Abstract
Some of the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method comprising: storing volatile data in nonvolatile memory; over a time interval, periodically refreshing the volatile data by (i) reading the volatile data from the nonvolatile memory and (ii) rewriting the volatile data to the nonvolatile memory; determining a number of errors in the volatile data that is read during the periodic refresh of the volatile data; and based, at least in part, on the number of errors that is determined, modifying the time interval. The method may also comprise decreasing the time interval if the number of errors is determined to be greater than an error threshold value.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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designating a portion of a nonvolatile memory as a wear-out portion of the nonvolatile memory, in response to the portion of the nonvolatile memory being error-prone beyond a particular threshold; storing volatile data in the wear-out portion of the nonvolatile memory; over a time interval, periodically refreshing the volatile data in the wear-out portion of the nonvolatile memory by (i) reading the volatile data from the wear-out portion of the nonvolatile memory and (ii) rewriting the volatile data to the wear-out portion of the nonvolatile memory; determining a number of errors in the volatile data that is read during the periodic refresh of the volatile data; and based, at least in part, on the number of errors that is determined, modifying the time interval. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A system comprising:
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a nonvolatile memory; and a memory controller, wherein the memory controller is configured to designate a portion of the nonvolatile memory as a wear-out portion of the nonvolatile memory, in response to the portion of the nonvolatile memory being error-prone beyond a particular threshold; store volatile data in the wear-out portion of the nonvolatile memory, over a time interval, periodically refresh the volatile data in the wear-out portion of the nonvolatile memory by (i) reading the volatile data from the wear-out portion of the nonvolatile memory and (ii) rewriting the volatile data to the wear-out portion of the nonvolatile memory, determine if a number of errors in the volatile data that is read during the periodic refresh of the volatile data is greater than an error threshold value, and modify the time interval based, at least in part, on the number of errors that is determined. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A nonvolatile memory device comprising:
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a memory cell array including a wear-out memory portion that is error-prone beyond a predetermined threshold; and a controller configured to store volatile data in the wear-out memory portion, refresh the volatile data by (i) reading the volatile data from the wear-out memory portion and (ii) rewriting the volatile data to the wear-out memory portion, wherein the volatile data is refreshed periodically at a time interval, determine if a number of errors in the volatile data that is read during the periodic refresh of the volatile data is greater than an error threshold value, and modify the time interval based, at least in part, on the number of errors detected in the volatile data that is read during the periodic refresh. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification