Patent Application
20160372161
The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) to Korean application number 10-2015-0088601, filed on Jun. 22, 2015, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
1. Technical Field
Various embodiments generally relate to a data storage device and, more particularly, to a data storage device capable of performing a read voltage adjustment operation.
2. Related Art
A data storage device stores data provided from an external device in response to a write request from the external device. The data storage device also provides the external device with stored data in response to a read request from the external device. The external device as referred to here is an electronic device capable of processing data, and may include a computer, a digital camera, a cellular phone and the like. The data storage device may be embedded in the external device, or may be fabricated separately and then coupled to the external device.
The data storage device may be prepared in the form of a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) card, a Compact Flash (CF) card, a smart media card, a memory stick, various multimedia cards (MMC, eMMC, RS-MMC, and MMC-Micro), various secure digital cards (SD, Mini-SD, and Micro-SD), a Universal Flash Storage (UFS), a Solid State Drive (SSD) and the like.
The data storage device may include a nonvolatile memory apparatus to store data. Nonvolatile memory is able to retain stored data even without a constant source of power. Nonvolatile memory includes flash memory, such as NAND flash or NOR flash, Ferroelectrics Random Access Memory (FeRAM), Phase-Change Random Access Memory (PCRAM), Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory (MRAM), Resistive Random Access Memory (ReRAM), and the like.
In an embodiment, a data storage device may include: a nonvolatile memory apparatus including a target region; and a controller suitable for performing a read voltage adjustment operation including setting a plurality of test read voltages based on a reference read voltage and an offset value, reading a plurality of codewords from the target region by using the plurality of test read voltages, respectively, calculating a plurality of parity check sums respectively corresponding to the plurality of codewords, and selecting a final read voltage based on the plurality of parity check sums.
In an embodiment, a method for operating a data storage device may include: performing a read voltage adjustment operation including setting a plurality of test read voltages based on a reference read voltage and an offset value; reading a plurality of codewords from a target region of a nonvolatile memory apparatus by using the plurality of test read voltages, respectively; calculating a plurality of parity check sums respectively corresponding to the plurality of codewords; and selecting a final read voltage among the plurality of test read voltages based on the plurality of parity check sums.
Hereinafter, a data storage device and an operating method thereof according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings through exemplary embodiments. The present invention may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided to describe the present invention in detail to the extent that a person skilled in the art to which the invention pertains can enforce the technical concepts of the present invention.
It is to be understood that embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the particulars shown in the drawings, that the drawings are not necessarily to scale, and, in some instances, proportions may have been exaggerated in order to more clearly depict certain features of the invention. While particular terminology is used, it is to be appreciated that the terminology is for describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
Referring to
The controller 100 may include a processor 110 and an error correction code (ECC) unit 120.
The processor 110 may control the general operations of the data storage device 10. The processor 110 may control the write operations of the nonvolatile memory apparatus 200 to store data in the nonvolatile memory apparatus 200 in response to a write request transmitted from an external device. The processor 110 may control the read operation of the nonvolatile memory apparatus 200 to read data stored in the nonvolatile memory apparatus 200 and output the read data to the external device in response to a read request transmitted from the external device.
The ECC unit 120 may encode data to be stored in the nonvolatile memory apparatus 200. The ECC unit 120 may encode data based on, for example, a low density parity check (LDPC) code, and generate encoded data, that is, a codeword.
The ECC unit 120 may decode the codeword read from the nonvolatile memory apparatus 200. In detail, the ECC unit 120 may first calculate a syndrome corresponding to the codeword based on a parity check matrix, and then, may determine whether the codeword includes an error, based on the calculated syndrome. When it is possible to correct the error included in the codeword, the ECC unit 120 may correct the error and output error-corrected data. When it is not possible to correct the error included in the codeword, the ECC unit 120 may determine the ECC decoding of the codeword to have failed. The ECC decoding may fail when the number of errors in the codeword are beyond the capability of the ECC unit 120 to correct.
According to the control of the controller 100, the nonvolatile memory apparatus 200 may perform a write operation for the data or the codeword transmitted from the controller 100, and may perform a read operation for the codeword stored therein and transmit read data to the controller 100. The nonvolatile memory apparatus 200 may include a plurality of memory cells (not shown) in which data are to be stored.
Referring to
When a read operation is performed, the data stored in memory cells may be read from the memory cells as the threshold voltages of the memory cells are determined by a read voltage VR1. In detail, when the read voltage VR1 is applied to word lines corresponding to memory cells, the first data may be read from memory cells having threshold voltages less than the read voltage VR1, and the second data may be read from memory cells having threshold voltages greater than the read voltage VR1. The nonvolatile memory apparatus 200 may perform the write operation such that the interval or read margin between the threshold voltage distributions PV1 and PV2_B is sufficiently secured, and thus the threshold voltage distributions PV1 and PV2_B having the sufficiently secured read margin may be distinguished from each other by the read voltage VR1 during the read operation.
Referring to
Referring to
Namely, when the conventional threshold voltage VR1 corresponding to an optimal read point between the threshold voltage distributions PV1 and PV2_B is adjusted to the adjusted read voltage VR2 corresponding to another optimal read point between the threshold voltage distributions PV1 and PV2_A, the errors included in read data may be minimized. Because the success probability of the ECC decoding may be inversely proportional to the number of errors included in the read data, decoding of the read data may have a higher success probability with the adjusted read voltage VR2.
Referring again to
A read voltage newly adjusted by the read voltage adjustment operation may be closer to an optimal read point between the threshold voltage distributions than the original read voltage. The controller 100 may adjust the read voltage through the read voltage adjustment operation in such a manner that the adjusted read voltage becomes closer to the optimal read point than the original read voltage. As will be described later, the read voltage adjustment operation may be repeatedly performed, and the read voltage newly adjusted each time the read voltage adjustment operation is repeatedly performed may become closer to the optimal read point than a previously adjusted read voltage, whereby a decoding success probability may be increased.
In detail, when the read voltage adjustment operation is performed, the processor 110 may set a plurality of test read voltages based on a reference read voltage and an offset value. An initial reference read voltage and an initial offset value may be preset according to the characteristics of the nonvolatile memory apparatus 200. The plurality of test read voltages may include, for example, first to third test read voltages. The second test read voltage may be the reference read voltage, and the first and third test read voltages may be lower and higher than the first test read voltage by the multiple amount of the offset value, respectively. However, it is to be noted that, in the embodiment, the number of test read voltages is not limited to 3.
The processor 110 may read first to third codewords from the target region by using the first to third test read voltages, respectively. In order to read the first to third codewords, the processor 110 may control the nonvolatile memory apparatus 200 in such a manner that the nonvolatile memory apparatus 200 performs first to third read operations for the target region by using the first to third test read voltages. The nonvolatile memory apparatus 200 performs the first to third read operations by applying the first to third test read voltages to a word line corresponding to the target region, and outputs the first to third codewords read from the target region, to the controller 100, under the control of the processor 110.
The ECC unit 120 may calculate first to third parity check sums respectively corresponding to the first to third codewords. Each of the first to third parity check sums may be the number of is included in each of first to third syndromes respectively calculated from the first to third codewords. For example, the first parity check sum may be the number of is included in the first syndrome calculated from the first codeword.
The processor 110 may select a final read voltage among the first to third test read voltages based on the first to third parity check sums. The processor 110 may select one among the first to third test read voltages corresponding to a minimum of the first to third parity check sums, as the final read voltage. A low parity check sum means a small number of errors included in the codeword. Therefore, a decoding success probability may be increased by selecting a test read voltage corresponding to the smallest parity check sum as a final read voltage.
According to an embodiment, in order to optimally select a final read voltage, the processor 110 may determine whether a condition for repeating the read voltage adjustment operation is satisfied. The controller 100 may repeatedly perform the read voltage adjustment operation according to a determination result. The processor 110 may increase a repetition count each time the read voltage adjustment operation is repeatedly performed. The processor 110 may reset the final read voltage as the reference read voltage of the next iteration during the repetition of the read voltage adjustment operation.
Moreover, the processor 110 may currently reset the offset value based on a previous offset value each time the read voltage adjustment operation is repeatedly performed. The currently reset offset value may be less than the previous offset value. The currently reset offset value may be half of the previous offset value. The currently reset offset value may be a maximum integer less than half of the previous offset value. When the previous offset value is 15, the currently reset offset value may be 7.
According to an embodiment, the processor 110 may determine whether the offset value is less than a threshold offset value. The controller 100 may repeatedly perform the read voltage adjustment operation until the offset value is less than a threshold offset value.
According to an embodiment, the processor 110 may determine whether the minimum among the first to third parity check sums is less than a threshold value. The controller 100 may repeatedly perform the read voltage adjustment operation until the minimum parity check sum is less than the threshold value. The threshold value may substantially ensure decoding success for the read codeword. The threshold value may be the parity check sum corresponding to a decoding-succeeded target region, which is different from the current target region.
According to an embodiment, the processor 110 may determine whether a repetition count has reached a threshold count. The controller 100 may repeatedly perform the read voltage adjustment operation until the repetition count has reached the threshold count.
The processor 110 may end the read voltage adjustment operation for the target region when the condition for repeating the read voltage adjustment operation is not satisfied. Thereafter, the processor 110 may instruct the ECC unit 120 to decode the read codeword corresponding to the final read voltage finally selected through the repetitive read voltage adjustment operations. The read codeword corresponding to the final read voltage may be read from the target region through a finally selected final read voltage during the repetitive read voltage adjustment operations. The ECC unit 120 may perform decoding of the read codeword corresponding to the finally selected final read voltage.
The processor 110 may set the finally selected final read voltage in the nonvolatile memory apparatus 200 when ending the read voltage adjustment operation. The processor 110 may transmit a setting command for setting the final read voltage to the nonvolatile memory apparatus 200. The nonvolatile memory apparatus 200 may store the final read voltage, and then may perform another read operation for the target region by using the stored final read voltage.
Referring to
The ECC unit 120 may perform multiplication of the parity check matrix H and a codeword matrix C constructed through the read codeword, and generate a syndrome S. For example, a parity check bit p0 constructing the syndrome S may be generated by the modulo-2 sum of bits r0, r3, r4 and r5 of the codeword.
The ECC unit 120 may calculate a parity check sum PSUM. The parity check sum PSUM may be the number of is included in the syndrome S. In other words, the parity check sum PSUM may be the sum of parity check bits p0 to p4 constructing the syndrome S. When the parity check sum PSUM is 0, the ECC unit 120 may determine that the codeword does not include an error, and, when the parity check sum PSUM is not 0, the ECC unit 120 may determine that the codeword includes an error.
As the parity check sum PSUM of the codeword is decreased, the probability of decoding the read codeword may increase since a decreased parity check sum means less errors in the read codeword. Namely, as the parity check sum PSUM of the read codeword decreases, the probability of decoding success for the read codeword may increase.
At step S110, the processor 110 may determine whether to perform the read voltage adjustment operation. When the ECC unit 120 fails in decoding the read data of a target region, the processor 110 may perform the read voltage adjustment operation for the decoding-failed target region (“Yes” of step S110). The decoding may fail when the data read from the target region includes the errors exceeding the capability of the ECC unit 120 due to deformation of the threshold voltage distributions.
At step S120, the controller 100 may perform the read voltage adjustment operation once or more for the target region. The final read voltage finally selected during the repetitive read voltage adjustment operation may increase the decoding success probability.
At step S130, the ECC unit 120 may perform decoding to the codeword read from the target region, by using the final read voltage selected in step S120.
Referring to
At step S220, the processor 110 may read a plurality of codewords from the target region by using the plurality of test read voltages. In order to read the plurality of codewords, the processor 110 may control the nonvolatile memory apparatus 200 in such a manner that the nonvolatile memory apparatus 200 performs a plurality of read operations for the target region by using the plurality of test read voltages.
At step S230, the ECC unit 120 may calculate the plurality of parity check sums respectively corresponding to the plurality of codewords. Each of the plurality of parity check sums may be the number of is included in each of the plurality of syndromes respectively calculated from the plurality of codewords, as described with reference to
At step S240, the processor 110 may select the final read voltage among the plurality of test read voltages based on the plurality of parity check sums. The processor 110 may select one among the plurality of test read voltages corresponding to the minimum of the parity check sums, as the final read voltage. As described above, a low parity check sum means a small number of errors included in the codeword. Therefore, the decoding success probability may be increased by selecting the test read voltage corresponding to the lowest parity check sum as the final read voltage.
At step S250, the processor 110 may determine whether the minimum parity check sum is less than the threshold value. The threshold value may be the parity check sum corresponding to a decoding-succeeded target region, which is different from the current target region. When the minimum parity check sum is less than the threshold value (“Yes” of step S250), the process may end. When the minimum parity check sum is greater than or equal to the threshold value (“No” of step S250), the process may proceed to step S260.
At the step S260, the processor 110 may reset the final read voltage as the reference read voltage, and reset the offset value for the next iteration of the read voltage adjustment operation. The currently reset offset value may be half of the previous offset value and may be a maximum integer less than half of the previous offset value.
Thereafter, the processor 110 may repeat steps S210 to S260 based on the reset reference read voltage and the reset offset value until the minimum parity check sum is less than the threshold value.
The operation method illustrated in
Referring to
Thereafter, the processor 110 may repeat steps S310 to S360 based on the reset reference read voltage and the reset offset value until the offset value is less than the threshold offset value.
The operation method illustrated in
Referring to
Thereafter, the processor 110 may repeat steps S210 to S260 based on the reset reference read voltage and the reset offset value until the repetition count has reached the threshold count.
Referring to
The processor 110 may read first to third codewords CW_L1, CW_C1 and CW_R1 from the target region by using the first to third test read voltages VR_L1, VR_C1 and VR_R1, respectively.
The ECC unit 120 may calculate first to third parity check sums PSUM1 respectively corresponding to the first to third codewords CW_L1, CW_C1 and CW_R1. Each of the first to third parity check sums PSUM1 may be the number of is included in each of first to third syndromes respectively calculated from the first to third codewords CW_L1, CW_C1 and CW_R1.
Among the first to third test read voltages VR_L1, VR_C1 and VR_R1, the processor 110 may select the first test read voltage VR_L1 corresponding to the minimum parity check sum “5” among the first to third parity check sums PSUM1 as the final read voltage.
The processor 110 may determine whether the repetition condition of the read voltage adjustment operation is satisfied. For example, the processor 110 may determine whether the minimum parity check sum “5” among the first to third parity check sums PSUM1 is less than the threshold value. The processor 110 may determine whether the offset value D1 is less than the threshold offset value and whether the repetition count has reached the threshold count.
According to the determination result of the repetition condition, the processor 110 may perform again the read voltage adjustment operation for the target region, and may reset the selected final read voltage VR_L1 as a new reference read voltage VR_C2. Further, the processor 110 may reset the offset value D1, for example, to half of the offset value D1 as a new offset value and the new reset offset value may be a maximum integer less than half of the offset value D1.
Referring to
The processor 110 may read first to third codewords CW_L2, CW_C2 and CW_R2 from the target region by using the first to third test read voltages VR_L2, VR_C2 and VR_R2, respectively.
The ECC unit 120 may calculate first to third parity check sums PSUM2 respectively corresponding to the first to third codewords CW_L2, CW_C2 and CW_R2.
Among the first to third test read voltages VR_L2, VR_C2 and VR_R2, the processor 110 may select the third test read voltage VR_R2 corresponding to the minimum parity check sum “3” among the first to third parity check sums PSUM2 as the final read voltage.
The processor 110 may determine whether the repetition condition of the read voltage adjustment operation is satisfied, and may perform again the read voltage adjustment operation for the target region according to the determination result. The processor 110 may reset the selected final read voltage VR_R2 as a new reference read voltage VR_C3, and may reset the offset value D2, for example, to half of the offset value D2 as a new offset value. The new reset offset value may be a maximum integer less than half of the offset value D2.
Referring to
The processor 110 may read first to third codewords CW_L3, CW_C3 and CW_R3 from the target region by using the first to third test read voltages VR_L3, VR_C3 and VR_R3, respectively.
The ECC unit 120 may calculate first to third parity check sums PSUM3 respectively corresponding to the first to third codewords CW_L3, CW_C3 and CW_R3.
Among the first to third test read voltages VR_L3, VR_C3 and VR_R3, the processor 110 may select the first test read voltage VR_L3 corresponding to the minimum parity check sum “1” among the first to third parity check sums PSUM3 as the final read voltage.
The processor 110 may determine whether the repetition condition of the read voltage adjustment operation is satisfied. For example, the processor 110 may determine whether the minimum parity check sum “1” among the first to third parity check sums PSUM3 is less than the threshold value, whether the offset value D3 is less than the threshold offset value, and whether the repetition count has reached the threshold count.
The controller 110 may end the read voltage adjustment operation according to the determination result. The processor 110 may instruct the ECC unit 120 to decode the codeword read from the target region by using the final read voltage VR_L3. The ECC unit 120 may perform decoding of the codeword read from the target region by using the final read voltage VR_L3, and may succeed in the decoding with a high probability.
While various embodiments have been described above, it will be understood to those skilled in the art that the embodiments described are examples only. Accordingly, the data storage device and the operating method thereof described herein should not be limited based on the described embodiments.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2015-0088601 | Jun 2015 | KR | national |
