Flash Memory Controller Circuit Word Line Program Scheme Adaptation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional electronic devices with flash memory blocks are unable to fully utilize storage capacity and lack flexibility in data program schemes, leading to reduced operating performance and increased likelihood of 'bad blocks' due to inflexible data writing strategies.
Innovation Solution
A controller circuit that dynamically selects appropriate data program schemes for each word line in flash memory blocks based on categorization, allowing different data to be written using various schemes simultaneously, thereby optimizing storage and reducing the likelihood of marking blocks as 'bad'.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a single data program scheme is configured for each block on a block basis, then the control mechanism is simple, but the storage capacity cannot be fully utilized and the operating performance is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the block management into two levels: block-level segmentation for organizing multiple word lines into separate blocks, and word-line-level segmentation for applying different data program schemes to different word lines within the same block. This allows the system to maintain simple block-level control while enabling flexible word-line-level data program scheme selection, thereby resolving the contradiction between adaptability and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by allowing different data program schemes to be configured for different word lines within the same block based on their specific characteristics. Instead of uniformly applying a single data program scheme to the entire block, the system tailors the data program scheme to each word line's needs, improving storage capacity utilization and operating performance while maintaining manageable control complexity through localized optimization.
2Reliability
If unusable pages in a block exceed a predetermined level, the entire block is marked as a bad block, but this reduces the available storage space
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the block at the word line level, allowing different data program schemes to be applied to different word lines. This segmentation enables the system to isolate problematic areas (specific word lines with unusable pages) from the rest of the block, preventing the entire block from being marked as bad and thereby preserving more storage space while maintaining data reliability through selective management.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a mechanism to discard only the specific word lines that have exceeded the unusable page threshold, while recovering and continuing to use the remaining healthy word lines in the same block. This selective discarding approach, enabled by word-line-level data program scheme configuration, prevents premature loss of entire blocks and maximizes available storage space while maintaining data reliability.
3Reliability
If a data program scheme is selected for a block with defective pages, then data errors increase and the block is more likely to be marked as bad, but avoiding this reduces storage utilization
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by configuring data program schemes at the word line level rather than uniformly across the entire block. This allows the system to select appropriate data program schemes for each word line based on its specific quality characteristics, ensuring that word lines with defective pages receive tailored schemes that minimize data errors, while healthy word lines can utilize schemes that maximize storage capacity utilization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of data program scheme configuration from block-level to word-line-level granularity. This parameter change enables dynamic adaptation to the actual quality state of each word line, allowing the system to optimize both data reliability (by selecting appropriate schemes for defective word lines) and storage capacity utilization (by fully utilizing healthy word lines), thereby resolving the contradiction between these two objectives.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic device includes: a storage device containing a target block having multiple word lines and multiple bit lines; a transmission interface configured to operably receive data to be written into the storage device; and a controller circuit including: an access circuit; and a flash memory control circuit configured to operably control the access circuit to write a first data into one or more pages connected with a first word line in the target block using a first program scheme, and to operably control the access circuit to write a second data into one or more pages connected with a second word line in the target block using a second program scheme, so that the first data and the second data are stored in the target block at the same time.