Apparatuses and methods for targeted refreshing of memory

• US 9,741,409 B2
• Filed: 10/08/2015
• Issued: 08/22/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
• Inventors: Jones, William F., Wright, Jeffrey P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ho, Hoai V
• Application Number:
  US14/878,354
• Publication Number:
  US 20160027531A1
• Time in Patent Office: 684 Days
• Field of Search: 365200, 365222
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 11/406 Management or control of the refreshing or charge-regeneration cycles
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 11/40611 External triggering or timing of internal or partially internal refresh operations, e.g. auto-refresh or CAS-before-RAS triggered refresh
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 11/40622 Partial refresh of memory arrays
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 11/4087 Address decoders, e.g. bit - or word line decoders; Multiple line decoders
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 17/16 using electrically-fusible links
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 17/18 Auxiliary circuits, e.g. for writing into memory
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 2211/4068 Voltage or leakage in refresh operations
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 29/783 with refresh of replacement cells, e.g. in DRAMs
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 8/10 Decoders

Abstract

Apparatuses and methods for targeted row refreshes are disclosed herein. In an example apparatus, a predecoder receives a target row address and determines whether a target row of memory associated with the target row address is a primary or a redundant row of memory. The predecoder is further configured to cause one or more rows of memory physically adjacent the primary row of memory to be refreshed if the primary row is the target row or one or more rows of memory physically adjacent the redundant row of memory to be refreshed if the redundant row of memory is the target row of memory.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a predecoder configured to receive a target row address and determine whether a target row of memory associated with the target row address is a row of primary memory or a row of redundant memory, wherein, in response to a determination that the target row of memory has been accessed more than the threshold number of times, the predecoder being further configured to;

in a first case in which the row of primary memory is the target row of memory;

in response to a first active command, cause a first row of memory physically adjacent the row of primary memory to be refreshed;

in response to a second active command, cause a second row of memory physically adjacent the row of primary memory to be refreshed; and

in response to a third active command, cause the row of the primary memory to be refreshed; and

in a second case in which the row of redundant memory is the target row of memory;

in response to the first active command, cause a first row of memory physically adjacent the row of redundant memory to be refreshed;

in response to the second active command, cause a first row of memory physically adjacent the row of redundant memory to be refreshed; and

in response to the third active command, cause the row of the redundant memory to be refreshed.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the predecoder is further configured to generate a row address for the first and second rows of memory physically adjacent the row of primary memory in association with the first case and the first and second rows of redundant memory in association with the second case based, at least in part, on the target row address.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the predecoder is configured to cause the row of redundant memory to be refreshed in association with a third case in which the row redundant memory is enabled and not cause the row of redundant memory to be refreshed in associate with a fourth case in which the row of redundant memory is disabled.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the predecoder is configured to cause the first and second rows of memory physically adjacent the target row of memory to be refreshed when operating in a target row refresh (TRR) mode.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first and second rows of memory physically adjacent the target row of memory comprises a boundary primary row of memory or a boundary redundant row of memory.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the predecoder being configured to cause the first and second rows physically adjacent the target row of memory to be refreshed comprises the predecoder being configured to cause two rows of memory physically adjacent the target row of memory to be refreshed.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the target row address is a logical row address associated with a plurality of rows.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the predecoder is included in a memory.