US20190122747A1 - Memory device and operating method thereof - Google Patents
Memory device and operating method thereof Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20190122747A1 US20190122747A1 US15/790,046 US201715790046A US2019122747A1 US 20190122747 A1 US20190122747 A1 US 20190122747A1 US 201715790046 A US201715790046 A US 201715790046A US 2019122747 A1 US2019122747 A1 US 2019122747A1
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- ecc
- refresh rate
- data
- circuit
- control circuit
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Granted
Links
Images
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
- G11C—STATIC STORES
- G11C29/00—Checking stores for correct operation ; Subsequent repair; Testing stores during standby or offline operation
- G11C29/04—Detection or location of defective memory elements, e.g. cell constructio details, timing of test signals
- G11C29/08—Functional testing, e.g. testing during refresh, power-on self testing [POST] or distributed testing
- G11C29/12—Built-in arrangements for testing, e.g. built-in self testing [BIST] or interconnection details
- G11C29/38—Response verification devices
- G11C29/42—Response verification devices using error correcting codes [ECC] or parity check
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
- G11C—STATIC STORES
- G11C29/00—Checking stores for correct operation ; Subsequent repair; Testing stores during standby or offline operation
- G11C29/70—Masking faults in memories by using spares or by reconfiguring
- G11C29/78—Masking faults in memories by using spares or by reconfiguring using programmable devices
- G11C29/783—Masking faults in memories by using spares or by reconfiguring using programmable devices with refresh of replacement cells, e.g. in DRAMs
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
- G11C—STATIC STORES
- G11C11/00—Digital stores characterised by the use of particular electric or magnetic storage elements; Storage elements therefor
- G11C11/21—Digital stores characterised by the use of particular electric or magnetic storage elements; Storage elements therefor using electric elements
- G11C11/34—Digital stores characterised by the use of particular electric or magnetic storage elements; Storage elements therefor using electric elements using semiconductor devices
- G11C11/40—Digital stores characterised by the use of particular electric or magnetic storage elements; Storage elements therefor using electric elements using semiconductor devices using transistors
- G11C11/401—Digital stores characterised by the use of particular electric or magnetic storage elements; Storage elements therefor using electric elements using semiconductor devices using transistors forming cells needing refreshing or charge regeneration, i.e. dynamic cells
- G11C11/406—Management or control of the refreshing or charge-regeneration cycles
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
- G11C—STATIC STORES
- G11C29/00—Checking stores for correct operation ; Subsequent repair; Testing stores during standby or offline operation
- G11C29/02—Detection or location of defective auxiliary circuits, e.g. defective refresh counters
- G11C29/028—Detection or location of defective auxiliary circuits, e.g. defective refresh counters with adaption or trimming of parameters
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
- G11C—STATIC STORES
- G11C29/00—Checking stores for correct operation ; Subsequent repair; Testing stores during standby or offline operation
- G11C29/04—Detection or location of defective memory elements, e.g. cell constructio details, timing of test signals
- G11C29/50—Marginal testing, e.g. race, voltage or current testing
- G11C29/50016—Marginal testing, e.g. race, voltage or current testing of retention
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
- G11C—STATIC STORES
- G11C29/00—Checking stores for correct operation ; Subsequent repair; Testing stores during standby or offline operation
- G11C29/52—Protection of memory contents; Detection of errors in memory contents
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
- G11C—STATIC STORES
- G11C5/00—Details of stores covered by group G11C11/00
- G11C5/14—Power supply arrangements, e.g. power down, chip selection or deselection, layout of wirings or power grids, or multiple supply levels
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
- G11C—STATIC STORES
- G11C29/00—Checking stores for correct operation ; Subsequent repair; Testing stores during standby or offline operation
- G11C29/02—Detection or location of defective auxiliary circuits, e.g. defective refresh counters
- G11C29/023—Detection or location of defective auxiliary circuits, e.g. defective refresh counters in clock generator or timing circuitry
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
- G11C—STATIC STORES
- G11C29/00—Checking stores for correct operation ; Subsequent repair; Testing stores during standby or offline operation
- G11C29/04—Detection or location of defective memory elements, e.g. cell constructio details, timing of test signals
- G11C29/08—Functional testing, e.g. testing during refresh, power-on self testing [POST] or distributed testing
- G11C29/12—Built-in arrangements for testing, e.g. built-in self testing [BIST] or interconnection details
- G11C29/44—Indication or identification of errors, e.g. for repair
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
- G11C—STATIC STORES
- G11C5/00—Details of stores covered by group G11C11/00
- G11C5/14—Power supply arrangements, e.g. power down, chip selection or deselection, layout of wirings or power grids, or multiple supply levels
- G11C5/148—Details of power up or power down circuits, standby circuits or recovery circuits
Definitions
- the present disclosure relates to memory technology. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a memory device and an operating method thereof.
- Memory device may operate in power saving mode. When memory device operates in power saving mode, power consumption is still difficult to be reduced because of refresh process.
- An aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a memory device.
- the memory device comprises a memory array, an error correction code (ECC) circuit, and a control circuit.
- the ECC circuit is coupled to the memory array.
- the control circuit is coupled to the memory array and the ECC circuit.
- the memory array comprises a plurality of memory rows and configured to store a plurality of data.
- the control circuit is configured to enter the memory device into a power saving mode with a first refresh rate to refresh the memory array, to control the ECC circuit to generate a first ECC according to first data during refreshing the memory array by the first refresh rate, to reduce the first refresh rate to a second refresh rate, to control the ECC circuit to determine whether an error exists in the first data during refreshing the memory array by the second refresh rate.
- the first data is stored in a first memory row of the memory rows. If the error exists in the first data, the control circuit is further configured to control the ECC circuit to correct the first data.
- the operating method comprises operations as follows.
- a control circuit a power saving mode with a first refresh rate is entered to refresh a memory array.
- an error correction code (ECC) circuit is controlled to generate a first ECC according to first data.
- the first data is stored in a first memory row of the memory array.
- the first refresh rate is reduced to a second refresh rate.
- the ECC circuit is controlled to determine whether an error exists in the first data.
- the ECC circuit is controlled to correct the first data.
- control circuit reduces the first refresh rate to the second refresh rate so that power consumption of the memory device is effectively reduced. Moreover, the control circuit controls the ECC circuit to determine whether an error exists in the data during refreshing the memory array by the second refresh rate, and controls the ECC circuit to correct the data so that accuracy of the data is improved.
- FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a memory device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure
- FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a memory device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
- FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an operating method of a memory device in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
- Coupled may also be termed as “electrically coupled,” and the term “connected” may be termed as “electrically connected.” “Coupled” and “connected” may also be used to indicate that two or more elements cooperate or interact with each other.
- FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a memory device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
- FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a memory device 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. With respect to the embodiment of FIG. 2 , like elements in FIG. 1 are designated with the same reference numbers for ease of understanding.
- the memory device 100 includes a memory array 120 , an error correction code (ECC) circuit 130 and a control circuit 110 .
- ECC error correction code
- the ECC circuit 130 is coupled to the memory array 120 .
- the control circuit 110 is coupled to the memory array 120 and the ECC circuit 130 . As shown in FIG.
- the memory array 120 includes plural memory rows R 0 -R 3 , and the memory rows R 0 -R 3 are configured to store plural of data D 0 -D 3 . It should be noted that spaces of each of the memory rows R 0 -R 3 are kept for storing ECC E 0 -E 3 . However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2 , in a memory array 120 of a memory device 200 , the whole memory row R 0 is used to store the data D 0 , and the whole memory row R 2 is used to store the data D 1 .
- FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an operating method 300 of the memory devices 100 and 200 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
- the operating method 300 includes operations S 301 , S 302 , S 303 , S 304 and S 305 .
- the operating method 300 is explained below with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 . These operations are given for illustrative purposes. Additional operations are within the contemplated scoped of the present disclosure. For example, in various embodiments, additional operations are provided before, during, and/or after the operations in the operating method 300 , and/or some of the operations described are replaced or eliminated for other embodiments of the operating method 300 .
- control circuit 110 enters the memory array 120 into a power saving mode with a first refresh rate to refresh the memory array 120 .
- the control circuit 110 controls the ECC circuit 130 to generate a first ECC according to first data during refreshing the memory array 120 by the first refresh rate. For example, the control circuit 110 controls the ECC circuit 130 to generate an ECC E 0 according to the data D 0 during refreshing the memory array 120 by the first refresh rate. The control circuit 110 then controls the ECC circuit 130 to store the ECC E 0 in the memory row R 0 . Similarly, the control circuit 110 controls the ECC circuit 130 to generate ECC E 1 -E 3 according the data D 1 -D 3 during refreshing the memory array 120 by the first refresh rate, and then controls the ECC circuit 130 to store the ECC E 1 -E 3 in the memory rows R 1 -R 3 .
- the present disclosure is not limited thereto.
- the data D 0 includes the portion D 01 and a portion D 02 .
- the control circuit 110 controls the ECC circuit 130 to generate a first ECC according to a first portion of the first data during refreshing the memory array 120 by the first refresh rate.
- the control circuit 110 controls the ECC circuit 130 to generate an ECC E 01 according to a portion D 01 of the data D 0 during refreshing the memory array 120 by the first refresh rate.
- the control circuit 110 then controls the ECC circuit 130 to store the ECC E 01 and the portion D 01 in the memory row R 1 .
- control circuit 110 controls the ECC circuit 130 to generate an ECC E 02 according the portion D 02 during refreshing the memory array 120 by the first refresh rate, and then controls the ECC circuit 130 to store the ECC E 02 and the portion D 02 in the memory row R 1 .
- the control circuit 110 controls the ECC circuit 130 to generate ECC E 11 and E 12 according portions D 11 and D 12 of the data D 2 during refreshing the memory array 120 by the first refresh rate, and then controls the ECC circuit 130 to store the ECC E 11 and E 12 and the portions D 11 and D 12 in the memory row R 3 .
- the memory device 100 may include a storage unit (e.g., non-volatile memory) 140 .
- the control circuit 110 may control the ECC circuit 130 to store the ECC E 0 -E 3 , E 01 , E 02 , E 11 and E 12 in the storage unit 140 .
- control circuit 110 reduces the first refresh rate to a second refresh rate.
- power consumption of the memory device 100 (or 200 ) is effectively reduced when the memory device 100 (or 200 ) is operated in power saving mode with the reduced refresh rate (i.e., the second refresh rate).
- the control circuit 110 controls the ECC circuit 130 to determine whether an error exists in the first data during refreshing the memory array 120 by the second refresh rate. For example, as shown in FIG. 1 , the control circuit 110 controls the ECC circuit 130 to read the data D 0 and the ECC E 0 from the memory row R 0 , and controls the ECC circuit 130 to determine whether an error exists in the data D 0 during refreshing the memory array 120 by the second refresh rate.
- the present disclosure is not limited thereto.
- control circuit 110 controls the ECC circuit 130 to read the portion D 01 of the data D 0 and the ECC E 01 from the memory row R 1 , and controls the ECC circuit 130 to determine whether an error exists in the portion D 01 of the data D 0 during refreshing the memory array 120 by the second refresh rate.
- the ECC E 0 -E 3 , E 01 , E 02 , E 11 and E 12 are stored in the storage unit 140 .
- the control circuit 110 may controls the ECC circuit 130 to read the data D 0 from the memory row R 0 and the ECC E 0 from the storage unit 140 , and controls the ECC circuit 130 to determine whether an error exists in the data D 0 during refreshing the memory array 120 by the second refresh rate.
- the control circuit 110 controls the ECC circuit 130 to correct the first data in operation S 305 . For example, if the error exists is in the data D 0 , the control circuit 110 controls the ECC circuit 130 to correct the data D 0 . For another example, if the error exists is in the portion D 01 of the data D 0 , the control circuit 110 controls the ECC circuit 130 to correct the portion D 01 of the data D 0 .
- the control circuit 110 controls the ECC circuit 130 to determine whether an error exists in the first data during refreshing the memory array 120 by the second refresh rate in operation S 304 .
- the control circuit 110 controls the ECC circuit 130 to write the corrected first data and the first ECC back to the first memory row. For example, the control circuit 110 controls the ECC circuit 130 to write the corrected data D 0 and the ECC E 0 back to the memory row R 0 . For another example, the control circuit 110 controls the ECC circuit 130 to write the corrected portion D 01 of the data D 0 and the ECC E 01 to the memory row R 1 of the memory rows R 0 -R 3 , and the memory row R 1 is different from the memory row R 0 .
- the memory device 100 includes the storage unit 140 to store an address mapping table. The control circuit 110 controls the ECC circuit 130 to record a relation between the memory row R 0 and the memory row R 1 in the address mapping table.
- the memory device 100 includes the storage unit 140 to store an error table.
- the control circuit 110 controls the ECC circuit 130 to record an address of the memory row R 0 in the error table after the data D 0 is corrected.
- addresses of memory rows that occur errors of the data are recorded in the error table for identifying weak memory rows.
- the control circuit 110 increases the second refresh rate to a third refresh rate after the data D 0 (or the portion D 01 ) is corrected, and the third refresh rate is between the first refresh rate and the second refresh rate.
- the refresh rate i.e., the third refresh rate
- the control circuit 110 controls the ECC circuit 130 to determine whether a number of the error bit is larger than a threshold (may be determined according to actual demand). If the number of the error bit is larger than the threshold, the control circuit 110 increases the second refresh rate to a third refresh rate after the first data (e.g., the data D 0 ) is corrected, and the third refresh rate is between the first refresh rate and the second refresh rate.
- a threshold may be determined according to actual demand
- control circuit 110 reduces the first refresh rate to the second refresh rate so that power consumption of the memory device 100 (or 200 ) is effectively reduced. Moreover, the control circuit 110 controls the ECC circuit 130 to determine whether an error exists in the data D 0 -D 3 during refreshing the memory array 120 by the second refresh rate, and controls the ECC circuit 130 to correct the data so that accuracy of the data D 0 -D 3 is improved.
Abstract
Description
- The present disclosure relates to memory technology. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a memory device and an operating method thereof.
- Memory device may operate in power saving mode. When memory device operates in power saving mode, power consumption is still difficult to be reduced because of refresh process.
- An aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a memory device. The memory device comprises a memory array, an error correction code (ECC) circuit, and a control circuit. The ECC circuit is coupled to the memory array. The control circuit is coupled to the memory array and the ECC circuit. The memory array comprises a plurality of memory rows and configured to store a plurality of data. The control circuit is configured to enter the memory device into a power saving mode with a first refresh rate to refresh the memory array, to control the ECC circuit to generate a first ECC according to first data during refreshing the memory array by the first refresh rate, to reduce the first refresh rate to a second refresh rate, to control the ECC circuit to determine whether an error exists in the first data during refreshing the memory array by the second refresh rate. The first data is stored in a first memory row of the memory rows. If the error exists in the first data, the control circuit is further configured to control the ECC circuit to correct the first data.
- Another aspect of the present disclosure id to provide an operating method of a memory device. The operating method comprises operations as follows. By a control circuit, a power saving mode with a first refresh rate is entered to refresh a memory array. By the control circuit, during a refresh operation with the first refresh rate, an error correction code (ECC) circuit is controlled to generate a first ECC according to first data. The first data is stored in a first memory row of the memory array. By the control circuit, the first refresh rate is reduced to a second refresh rate. By the control circuit, during the refresh operation with the second refresh rate, the ECC circuit is controlled to determine whether an error exists in the first data. By the control circuit, if the error exists in the first data, the ECC circuit is controlled to correct the first data.
- In sum, the control circuit reduces the first refresh rate to the second refresh rate so that power consumption of the memory device is effectively reduced. Moreover, the control circuit controls the ECC circuit to determine whether an error exists in the data during refreshing the memory array by the second refresh rate, and controls the ECC circuit to correct the data so that accuracy of the data is improved.
- It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are by examples, and are intended to provide further explanation of the present disclosure as claimed.
- The present disclosure can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the embodiment, with reference made to the accompanying drawings as follows:
-
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a memory device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; -
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a memory device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and -
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an operating method of a memory device in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. - In order to make the description of the disclosure more detailed and comprehensive, reference will now be made in detail to the accompanying drawings and the following embodiments. However, the provided embodiments are not used to limit the ranges covered by the present disclosure; orders of step description are not used to limit the execution sequence either. Any devices with equivalent effect through rearrangement are also covered by the present disclosure.
- The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” or “includes” and/or “including” or “has” and/or “having” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
- Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities, conditions, and the like in the instant disclosure and claims are to be understood as modified in all instances by the term “about.” The term “about” refers, for example, to numerical values covering a range of plus or minus 20% of the numerical value. The term “about” preferably refers to numerical values covering range of plus or minus 10% (or most preferably, 5%) of the numerical value. The modifier “about” used in combination with a quantity is inclusive of the stated value.
- In this document, the term “coupled” may also be termed as “electrically coupled,” and the term “connected” may be termed as “electrically connected.” “Coupled” and “connected” may also be used to indicate that two or more elements cooperate or interact with each other.
- Reference is made to
FIG. 1 .FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of amemory device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of amemory device 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. With respect to the embodiment ofFIG. 2 , like elements inFIG. 1 are designated with the same reference numbers for ease of understanding. Thememory device 100 includes amemory array 120, an error correction code (ECC)circuit 130 and acontrol circuit 110. TheECC circuit 130 is coupled to thememory array 120. Thecontrol circuit 110 is coupled to thememory array 120 and theECC circuit 130. As shown inFIG. 1 , thememory array 120 includes plural memory rows R0-R3, and the memory rows R0-R3 are configured to store plural of data D0-D3. It should be noted that spaces of each of the memory rows R0-R3 are kept for storing ECC E0-E3. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In another embodiment, as shown inFIG. 2 , in amemory array 120 of amemory device 200, the whole memory row R0 is used to store the data D0, and the whole memory row R2 is used to store the data D1. - In operation, reference is made to
FIG. 1 ,FIG. 2 andFIG. 3 .FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of anoperating method 300 of thememory devices operating method 300 includes operations S301, S302, S303, S304 and S305. For ease of understanding, theoperating method 300 is explained below with reference toFIG. 1 andFIG. 2 . These operations are given for illustrative purposes. Additional operations are within the contemplated scoped of the present disclosure. For example, in various embodiments, additional operations are provided before, during, and/or after the operations in theoperating method 300, and/or some of the operations described are replaced or eliminated for other embodiments of theoperating method 300. - In operation S301, the
control circuit 110 enters thememory array 120 into a power saving mode with a first refresh rate to refresh thememory array 120. - In operation S302, the
control circuit 110 controls theECC circuit 130 to generate a first ECC according to first data during refreshing thememory array 120 by the first refresh rate. For example, thecontrol circuit 110 controls theECC circuit 130 to generate an ECC E0 according to the data D0 during refreshing thememory array 120 by the first refresh rate. Thecontrol circuit 110 then controls theECC circuit 130 to store the ECC E0 in the memory row R0. Similarly, thecontrol circuit 110 controls theECC circuit 130 to generate ECC E1-E3 according the data D1-D3 during refreshing thememory array 120 by the first refresh rate, and then controls theECC circuit 130 to store the ECC E1-E3 in the memory rows R1-R3. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. - In another embodiment, as shown in
FIG. 2 , the data D0 includes the portion D01 and a portion D02. Thecontrol circuit 110 controls theECC circuit 130 to generate a first ECC according to a first portion of the first data during refreshing thememory array 120 by the first refresh rate. For example, thecontrol circuit 110 controls theECC circuit 130 to generate an ECC E01 according to a portion D01 of the data D0 during refreshing thememory array 120 by the first refresh rate. Thecontrol circuit 110 then controls theECC circuit 130 to store the ECC E01 and the portion D01 in the memory row R1. Similarly, thecontrol circuit 110 controls theECC circuit 130 to generate an ECC E02 according the portion D02 during refreshing thememory array 120 by the first refresh rate, and then controls theECC circuit 130 to store the ECC E02 and the portion D02 in the memory row R1. Thecontrol circuit 110 controls theECC circuit 130 to generate ECC E11 and E12 according portions D11 and D12 of the data D2 during refreshing thememory array 120 by the first refresh rate, and then controls theECC circuit 130 to store the ECC E11 and E12 and the portions D11 and D12 in the memory row R3. - In still another embodiment, as shown in
FIG. 1 andFIG. 2 , thememory device 100 may include a storage unit (e.g., non-volatile memory) 140. Thecontrol circuit 110 may control theECC circuit 130 to store the ECC E0-E3, E01, E02, E11 and E12 in thestorage unit 140. - In operation S303, the
control circuit 110 reduces the first refresh rate to a second refresh rate. As a result, power consumption of the memory device 100 (or 200) is effectively reduced when the memory device 100 (or 200) is operated in power saving mode with the reduced refresh rate (i.e., the second refresh rate). - In operation S304, the
control circuit 110 controls theECC circuit 130 to determine whether an error exists in the first data during refreshing thememory array 120 by the second refresh rate. For example, as shown inFIG. 1 , thecontrol circuit 110 controls theECC circuit 130 to read the data D0 and the ECC E0 from the memory row R0, and controls theECC circuit 130 to determine whether an error exists in the data D0 during refreshing thememory array 120 by the second refresh rate. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. - For another example, as shown in
FIG. 2 , thecontrol circuit 110 controls theECC circuit 130 to read the portion D01 of the data D0 and the ECC E01 from the memory row R1, and controls theECC circuit 130 to determine whether an error exists in the portion D01 of the data D0 during refreshing thememory array 120 by the second refresh rate. - In still another embodiment, the ECC E0-E3, E01, E02, E11 and E12 are stored in the
storage unit 140. Thecontrol circuit 110 may controls theECC circuit 130 to read the data D0 from the memory row R0 and the ECC E0 from thestorage unit 140, and controls theECC circuit 130 to determine whether an error exists in the data D0 during refreshing thememory array 120 by the second refresh rate. - If the error exists is in the first data, the
control circuit 110 controls theECC circuit 130 to correct the first data in operation S305. For example, if the error exists is in the data D0, thecontrol circuit 110 controls theECC circuit 130 to correct the data D0. For another example, if the error exists is in the portion D01 of the data D0, thecontrol circuit 110 controls theECC circuit 130 to correct the portion D01 of the data D0. - In contrast, if no error exists in the first data (e.g., the data D0), t the
control circuit 110 controls theECC circuit 130 to determine whether an error exists in the first data during refreshing thememory array 120 by the second refresh rate in operation S304. - In an embodiment, the
control circuit 110 controls theECC circuit 130 to write the corrected first data and the first ECC back to the first memory row. For example, thecontrol circuit 110 controls theECC circuit 130 to write the corrected data D0 and the ECC E0 back to the memory row R0. For another example, thecontrol circuit 110 controls theECC circuit 130 to write the corrected portion D01 of the data D0 and the ECC E01 to the memory row R1 of the memory rows R0-R3, and the memory row R1 is different from the memory row R0. In an embodiment, the memory device 100 (or 200) includes thestorage unit 140 to store an address mapping table. Thecontrol circuit 110 controls theECC circuit 130 to record a relation between the memory row R0 and the memory row R1 in the address mapping table. - In an embodiment, the memory device 100 (or 200) includes the
storage unit 140 to store an error table. For example, thecontrol circuit 110 controls theECC circuit 130 to record an address of the memory row R0 in the error table after the data D0 is corrected. As a result, addresses of memory rows that occur errors of the data are recorded in the error table for identifying weak memory rows. - It should be noted that existence of the error indicates that the second refresh rate is too low to maintain accuracy of the data D0 (or the portion D01). In an embodiment, the
control circuit 110 increases the second refresh rate to a third refresh rate after the data D0 (or the portion D01) is corrected, and the third refresh rate is between the first refresh rate and the second refresh rate. As a result, power consumption of the memory device 100 (or 200) is reduced and accuracy of the data D0-D3 is improved when the memory device 100 (or 200) is operated in power saving mode with the refresh rate (i.e., the third refresh rate) that is smaller than the first refresh rate. - In another embodiment, if the error exists in the first data (e.g., the data D0), the
control circuit 110 controls theECC circuit 130 to determine whether a number of the error bit is larger than a threshold (may be determined according to actual demand). If the number of the error bit is larger than the threshold, thecontrol circuit 110 increases the second refresh rate to a third refresh rate after the first data (e.g., the data D0) is corrected, and the third refresh rate is between the first refresh rate and the second refresh rate. As a result, with the threshold for the number of the error bit, power consumption of the memory device 100 (or 200) is reduced and accuracy of the data D0-D3 is flexibly adjusted when the memory device 100 (or 200) is operated in power saving mode with the refresh rate (i.e., the third refresh rate) that is smaller than the first refresh rate. - In sum, the
control circuit 110 reduces the first refresh rate to the second refresh rate so that power consumption of the memory device 100 (or 200) is effectively reduced. Moreover, thecontrol circuit 110 controls theECC circuit 130 to determine whether an error exists in the data D0-D3 during refreshing thememory array 120 by the second refresh rate, and controls theECC circuit 130 to correct the data so that accuracy of the data D0-D3 is improved. - Although the present disclosure has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain embodiments thereof, other embodiments are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein.
- It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present disclosure without departing from the scope or spirit of the present disclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present disclosure cover modifications and variations of the present disclosure provided they fall within the scope of the following claims.
Claims (16)
Priority Applications (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US15/790,046 US10269445B1 (en) | 2017-10-22 | 2017-10-22 | Memory device and operating method thereof |
TW107100373A TWI660344B (en) | 2017-10-22 | 2018-01-04 | Memory device and operating method thereof |
CN201810062067.6A CN109698007B (en) | 2017-10-22 | 2018-01-23 | Memory device and operation method thereof |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US15/790,046 US10269445B1 (en) | 2017-10-22 | 2017-10-22 | Memory device and operating method thereof |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US10269445B1 US10269445B1 (en) | 2019-04-23 |
US20190122747A1 true US20190122747A1 (en) | 2019-04-25 |
Family
ID=66170065
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US15/790,046 Active US10269445B1 (en) | 2017-10-22 | 2017-10-22 | Memory device and operating method thereof |
Country Status (3)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US10269445B1 (en) |
CN (1) | CN109698007B (en) |
TW (1) | TWI660344B (en) |
Families Citing this family (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US10482943B2 (en) * | 2017-06-28 | 2019-11-19 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Systems and methods for improved error correction in a refreshable memory |
Citations (17)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US6199139B1 (en) * | 1998-01-27 | 2001-03-06 | International Business Machines Corporation | Refresh period control apparatus and method, and computer |
US20030149929A1 (en) * | 2002-02-01 | 2003-08-07 | International Business Machines Corporation | Check bit free error correction for sleep mode data retention |
US20060195755A1 (en) * | 2005-02-25 | 2006-08-31 | Xware Technologies, Inc. | Method and system for reducing volatile DRAM power budget |
US20060206769A1 (en) * | 2004-06-24 | 2006-09-14 | Klein Dean A | Memory system and method having selective ECC during low power refresh |
US7184352B2 (en) * | 2004-08-31 | 2007-02-27 | Micron Technology, Inc. | Memory system and method using ECC to achieve low power refresh |
US20090161459A1 (en) * | 2007-12-20 | 2009-06-25 | Agere Systems Inc. | Dynamic Random Access Memory With Low-Power Refresh |
US20090249169A1 (en) * | 2008-03-28 | 2009-10-01 | Bains Kuljit S | Systems, methods, and apparatuses to save memory self-refresh power |
US7836374B2 (en) * | 2004-05-06 | 2010-11-16 | Micron Technology, Inc. | Memory controller method and system compensating for memory cell data losses |
US7900120B2 (en) * | 2006-10-18 | 2011-03-01 | Micron Technology, Inc. | Memory system and method using ECC with flag bit to identify modified data |
US20110161748A1 (en) * | 2009-12-31 | 2011-06-30 | Bryan Casper | Systems, methods, and apparatuses for hybrid memory |
US8347171B2 (en) * | 2009-07-03 | 2013-01-01 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Semiconductor memory device capable of reducing current in PASR mode |
US8832522B2 (en) * | 2006-10-11 | 2014-09-09 | Micron Technology, Inc. | Memory system and method using partial ECC to achieve low power refresh and fast access to data |
US20150331732A1 (en) * | 2014-05-13 | 2015-11-19 | Rambus Inc. | Memory device having storage for an error code correction event count |
US20150363261A1 (en) * | 2013-01-31 | 2015-12-17 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Ram refresh rate |
US20160034348A1 (en) * | 2014-08-01 | 2016-02-04 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Semiconductor memory device having selective ecc function |
US20160301428A1 (en) * | 2015-04-11 | 2016-10-13 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method and apparatus for selective and power-aware memory error protection and memory management |
US9472261B1 (en) * | 2015-04-17 | 2016-10-18 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Systems and methods to refresh DRAM based on temperature and based on calibration data |
Family Cites Families (15)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US6615890B1 (en) * | 2000-06-09 | 2003-09-09 | Venture Tape Corp. | Tape applicator for glazing applications |
US8042022B2 (en) * | 2007-03-08 | 2011-10-18 | Micron Technology, Inc. | Method, system, and apparatus for distributed decoding during prolonged refresh |
US8510628B2 (en) * | 2009-11-12 | 2013-08-13 | Micron Technology, Inc. | Method and apparatuses for customizable error correction of memory |
US8255740B2 (en) * | 2010-09-27 | 2012-08-28 | International Business Machines Corporation | Multi-level DIMM error reduction |
US20120243299A1 (en) * | 2011-03-23 | 2012-09-27 | Jeng-Jye Shau | Power efficient dynamic random access memory devices |
US9176800B2 (en) * | 2011-08-31 | 2015-11-03 | Micron Technology, Inc. | Memory refresh methods and apparatuses |
WO2013062874A1 (en) * | 2011-10-24 | 2013-05-02 | Rambus Inc. | Dram retention test method for dynamic error correction |
US8954825B2 (en) * | 2012-03-06 | 2015-02-10 | Micron Technology, Inc. | Apparatuses and methods including error correction code organization |
KR20140042341A (en) * | 2012-09-28 | 2014-04-07 | 에스케이하이닉스 주식회사 | Semiconductor device and operating method thereof |
US8887014B2 (en) * | 2012-12-11 | 2014-11-11 | International Business Machines Corporation | Managing errors in a DRAM by weak cell encoding |
US8898544B2 (en) * | 2012-12-11 | 2014-11-25 | International Business Machines Corporation | DRAM error detection, evaluation, and correction |
US9318182B2 (en) * | 2013-01-30 | 2016-04-19 | Intel Corporation | Apparatus, method and system to determine memory access command timing based on error detection |
KR102208620B1 (en) * | 2014-03-12 | 2021-01-28 | 삼성전자 주식회사 | Method for saving a power and portable electronic device supporting the same |
US9928924B2 (en) * | 2015-12-15 | 2018-03-27 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Systems, methods, and computer programs for resolving dram defects |
US10482943B2 (en) * | 2017-06-28 | 2019-11-19 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Systems and methods for improved error correction in a refreshable memory |
-
2017
- 2017-10-22 US US15/790,046 patent/US10269445B1/en active Active
-
2018
- 2018-01-04 TW TW107100373A patent/TWI660344B/en active
- 2018-01-23 CN CN201810062067.6A patent/CN109698007B/en active Active
Patent Citations (18)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US6199139B1 (en) * | 1998-01-27 | 2001-03-06 | International Business Machines Corporation | Refresh period control apparatus and method, and computer |
US20030149929A1 (en) * | 2002-02-01 | 2003-08-07 | International Business Machines Corporation | Check bit free error correction for sleep mode data retention |
US7836374B2 (en) * | 2004-05-06 | 2010-11-16 | Micron Technology, Inc. | Memory controller method and system compensating for memory cell data losses |
US20060206769A1 (en) * | 2004-06-24 | 2006-09-14 | Klein Dean A | Memory system and method having selective ECC during low power refresh |
US7184352B2 (en) * | 2004-08-31 | 2007-02-27 | Micron Technology, Inc. | Memory system and method using ECC to achieve low power refresh |
US20060195755A1 (en) * | 2005-02-25 | 2006-08-31 | Xware Technologies, Inc. | Method and system for reducing volatile DRAM power budget |
US8832522B2 (en) * | 2006-10-11 | 2014-09-09 | Micron Technology, Inc. | Memory system and method using partial ECC to achieve low power refresh and fast access to data |
US7900120B2 (en) * | 2006-10-18 | 2011-03-01 | Micron Technology, Inc. | Memory system and method using ECC with flag bit to identify modified data |
US20090161459A1 (en) * | 2007-12-20 | 2009-06-25 | Agere Systems Inc. | Dynamic Random Access Memory With Low-Power Refresh |
US20090249169A1 (en) * | 2008-03-28 | 2009-10-01 | Bains Kuljit S | Systems, methods, and apparatuses to save memory self-refresh power |
US8347171B2 (en) * | 2009-07-03 | 2013-01-01 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Semiconductor memory device capable of reducing current in PASR mode |
US20110161748A1 (en) * | 2009-12-31 | 2011-06-30 | Bryan Casper | Systems, methods, and apparatuses for hybrid memory |
US20180232275A1 (en) * | 2009-12-31 | 2018-08-16 | Intel Corporation | Systems, methods, and apparatuses for stacked memory |
US20150363261A1 (en) * | 2013-01-31 | 2015-12-17 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Ram refresh rate |
US20150331732A1 (en) * | 2014-05-13 | 2015-11-19 | Rambus Inc. | Memory device having storage for an error code correction event count |
US20160034348A1 (en) * | 2014-08-01 | 2016-02-04 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Semiconductor memory device having selective ecc function |
US20160301428A1 (en) * | 2015-04-11 | 2016-10-13 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method and apparatus for selective and power-aware memory error protection and memory management |
US9472261B1 (en) * | 2015-04-17 | 2016-10-18 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Systems and methods to refresh DRAM based on temperature and based on calibration data |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
CN109698007A (en) | 2019-04-30 |
CN109698007B (en) | 2020-10-02 |
US10269445B1 (en) | 2019-04-23 |
TW201917731A (en) | 2019-05-01 |
TWI660344B (en) | 2019-05-21 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
CN103019873B (en) | The replacement method of a kind of storage failure unit and device, data-storage system | |
US9449684B2 (en) | Storage control device, storage device, information processing system, and storage control method | |
US20140380119A1 (en) | Memory controller | |
US9003153B2 (en) | Method of storing blocks of data in a plurality of memory devices in a redundant manner, a memory controller and a memory system | |
JP2019169217A (en) | Memory system, control method thereof and program | |
CN110489052B (en) | Data storage device | |
US20150301760A1 (en) | Correction of block errors for a system having non-volatile memory | |
EP3262508B1 (en) | Patrol scrub periods based on power status | |
CN105788648A (en) | NVM bad block recognition processing and error correcting method and system based on heterogeneous mixing memory | |
US20190156903A1 (en) | Method and apparatus for processing data in flash memory | |
US11010289B2 (en) | Data storage device and operating method thereof | |
US10049007B2 (en) | Non-volatile memory device and read method thereof | |
US8276042B2 (en) | Determining sector status in a memory device | |
US20130219244A1 (en) | Storage device | |
US10269445B1 (en) | Memory device and operating method thereof | |
US10297304B1 (en) | Memory device and operating method thereof | |
US8873327B2 (en) | Semiconductor device and operating method thereof | |
TWI602190B (en) | Memory control method and memory device | |
US10310939B2 (en) | Semiconductor memory system and data writing method | |
US20210057014A1 (en) | Control method for memory and non-transitory computer-readable media | |
JP6423282B2 (en) | Memory control device and memory control method | |
US9519539B2 (en) | Monitoring data error status in a memory | |
JP2015106425A (en) | Semiconductor memory control device, and method for detecting unstable memory area | |
TW202001568A (en) | Data storage apparatus, method for programming system information and method for rebuilding system information | |
US20160054924A1 (en) | Memory control device and memory control method |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
FEPP | Fee payment procedure |
Free format text: ENTITY STATUS SET TO UNDISCOUNTED (ORIGINAL EVENT CODE: BIG.); ENTITY STATUS OF PATENT OWNER: LARGE ENTITY |
|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: NANYA TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION, TAIWAN Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:LEE, CHUNG-HSUN;LIU, HSIEN-WEN;REEL/FRAME:043918/0860 Effective date: 20171020 |
|
STCF | Information on status: patent grant |
Free format text: PATENTED CASE |
|
MAFP | Maintenance fee payment |
Free format text: PAYMENT OF MAINTENANCE FEE, 4TH YEAR, LARGE ENTITY (ORIGINAL EVENT CODE: M1551); ENTITY STATUS OF PATENT OWNER: LARGE ENTITY Year of fee payment: 4 |