NAND Memory Secure Erase via Pre-Programming Pulse
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional NAND memory devices face challenges in securely and efficiently destroying data, as they require multiple erase phases, which are time-consuming and can lead to performance penalties, making it difficult to securely erase data at a page level without significant garbage collection.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method where only the pre-programming phase of the erase process is performed to destroy data in NAND memory cells, skipping the second and third phases, allowing for faster and secure data destruction by applying a pre-programming pulse to render data unrecoverable.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple erase phases are performed to securely destroy data in NAND memory cells, then data security is improved, but processing time and performance are significantly degraded
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the second and third erase phases from the traditional three-phase erase process, retaining only the pre-programming phase. This extraction eliminates unnecessary processing steps while preserving the core data destruction functionality, thereby reducing processing time without significantly compromising security
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by performing only the pre-programming phase rather than the complete three-phase erase process. The pre-programming pulse alone is sufficient to render data unrecoverable in most cases, making the full three-phase process excessive for the actual security requirement
2Reliability
If traditional three-phase erase process is used to destroy data, then data is securely erased, but garbage collection overhead and processing burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the second and third phases from the traditional erase process, reducing the complexity of garbage collection operations. By removing unnecessary processing steps, the system reduces computational overhead and simplifies the data destruction workflow
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by using only the pre-programming phase for secure data destruction. This partial approach reduces the processing burden and garbage collection overhead while maintaining sufficient security for most applications, avoiding the excessive complexity of the full three-phase process
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables fast and secure data destruction without the need for extensive garbage collection, reducing wait times and processing burdens, while ensuring that data is rendered unreadable without the need for per-block erasure processes.
Implementation Method 1
destroying the value in the memory cell by applying only a pre-programming pulse to the memory cell, the pre-programming pulse bringing a voltage level of the memory cell to a predetermined voltage level
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed in some examples are systems, methods, memory devices, and machine readable mediums for a fast secure data destruction for NAND memory devices that renders data in a memory cell unreadable. Instead of going through all the erase phases, the memory device may remove sensitive data by performing only the pre-programming phase of the erase process. Thus, the NAND doesn't perform the second and third phases of the erase process. This is much faster and results in data that cannot be reconstructed. In some examples, because the erase pulse is not actually applied and because this is simply a programming operation, data may be rendered unreadable at a per-page level rather than a per-block level as in traditional erases.