Macronix International Co., Ltd.

E-Yuan Chang

Shuo-Nan Hung

Ji-Yu Hung

Systems, methods, circuits, and apparatus for managing page buffer circuits in memory devices are provided. In one aspect, a memory device includes a memory cell array, a page buffer circuit including a plurality of page buffers, and a cache data latch (CDL) circuit including a plurality of caches coupled to the plurality of page buffers through a plurality of data bus sections. The plurality of data bus sections are configured to be conductively connected together as a data bus for data transfer. Each data bus section corresponds to a page buffer in the page buffer circuit and is configured to conductively separate from at least one adjacent data bus section for data sensing in the memory cell array.

Managing page buffer circuits in memory devices

A memory device includes a memory cell array including memory cells; a page buffer circuit including a plurality of page buffers coupled to the memory cell array, each page buffer including a plurality of latches and an internal data line (IDL) arranged to couple to the plurality of latches; and a cache circuit including a plurality of caches. The IDLs of the plurality of page buffers are configured to be conductively connected together to form a data bus (DBUS) that conductively connects the page buffer circuit to the cache circuit for data transfer.

Page buffer circuits in memory devices

A memory such as a 3D NAND array, having a page buffer having page buffer cells coupled to bit lines has a search word input such as a search word buffer coupled to word lines. A circuit, such as string select gates, is provided to connect a selected set of memory cells in the array to the page buffer. The page buffer includes sensing circuitry configured to apply a match sense signal to a latch in a plurality of storage elements for a stored data word and an input search word. Logic circuitry uses storage elements in the plurality of storage elements of the page buffer to accumulate the match sense signals output by the sensing circuitry over a sequence matching a plurality stored data words to one or more input search words. A match for a search is based on a threshold and the accumulated match sense signals.

Page buffer counting for in-memory search

A memory controller accesses a memory page in a memory block of a storage memory array of a memory device. The memory controller reads memory data stored in the accessed memory page. The memory controller determines a number of error bits associated with the memory data. The memory controller obtains an erase count corresponding to the accessed memory page, the erase count indicating a number of erase operations performed on the accessed memory page. The memory controller determines, from among one or more error threshold values, an error threshold value based at least on the erase count. The memory controller determines a relationship between the number of error bits and the error threshold value. The memory controller triggers a data refresh for the accessed memory block if the relationship between the number of error bits and the error threshold value satisfy a known criterion.

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Chiayi, Taiwan

E-Yuan Chang