Non-Volatile Storage Open Block Boundary Reliability

The patent applies preliminary action by programming the contiguous region with data or a predefined pattern before the open block is fully written. This pre-programming creates a protective buffer that compensates for the charge interference that will occur during subsequent write operations in the boundary region, thereby maintaining data reliability despite the harmful effects of neighboring writes.

The patent uses copying by storing data in the contiguous region adjacent to the boundary region. This creates a redundant copy or proxy for the boundary region data, which can be used for error detection and correction. The copied data serves as a backup that is less susceptible to charge interference, thereby improving overall data reliability.

The patent applies local quality by programming only the contiguous regions adjacent to boundary regions with recovery data or patterns, rather than programming entire blocks. This localized approach provides error protection where it is most needed (at vulnerable boundary regions) while leaving the rest of the storage capacity available for user data, thus balancing reliability improvement with capacity preservation.

The patent uses a predefined pattern (such as all zeros or all ones) to program the contiguous region, which serves as a disposable or sacrificial structure. This pattern does not need to be preserved long-term like user data, as it can be regenerated or replaced during block management operations. Using such simple, replaceable patterns minimizes the overhead cost while still providing the necessary error protection functionality.