Method and system for minimizing number of programming pulses used to program rows of non-volatile memory cells

摘要

A flash memory device programs cells in each row in a manner that minimizes the number of programming pulses that must be applied to the cells during programming. The flash memory device includes a pseudo pass circuit that determines the number of data errors in each of a plurality of subsets of data that has been programmed in the row. The size of each subset corresponds to the number of read data bits coupled from the memory device, which are simultaneously applied to error checking and correcting circuitry. During iterative programming of a row of cells, the pseudo pass circuit indicates a pseudo pass condition to terminate further programming of the row if none of the subsets of data have a number of data errors that exceeds the number of data errors that can be corrected by the error checking and correcting circuitry.

主权项

1. An apparatus comprising:
a plurality of logic circuits, wherein individual ones of the plurality of logic circuits are configured to provide a respective pass signal based on a comparison of content of a respective subset of at least two memory cells of a page of memory cells, wherein the respective pass signal indicates whether an acceptable number of memory cells of the respective subset of memory cells are properly programmed; and logic gates coupled to the plurality of logic circuits and configured to generate a pseudo pass signal based on the respective pass signals.