International Business Machines Corporation

Theodoros A Antonakopoulos

Evangelos Stavros Eleftheriou

Roman Alexander Pletka

Ioannis Koltsidas

Peter Mueller

Aspasia Palli

Roy Daron Cideciyan

Ilias Iliadis

Gerd K Binnig

Xiao-yu Hu

A storage device, apparatus, and method to write and/or read data from such storage device. The storage device, comprises a channel controller and phase change memory integrated circuits (PCM ICs) arranged in sub-channels, wherein each of the sub-channels comprises several PCM ICs connected by at least one data bus line, which at least one data bus line connects to the channel controller. The channel controller is configured to write data to and/or read data from the PCM ICs according to a matrix configuration of PCM ICs, wherein: a number of columns of the matrix configuration respectively corresponds to a number of the sub-channels, the sub-channels forming a channel, and a number of rows of the matrix configuration respectively corresponds to a number of sub-banks, the sub-banks forming a bank, wherein each of the sub-banks comprises PCM ICs that belong, each, to distinct sub-channels of the sub-channels.

Storage device with 2D configuration of phase change memory integrated circuits

A method for intra-block wear leveling within solid-state memory subjected to wear, having a plurality of memory cells includes the step of writing to at least certain ones of the plurality of memory cells, in a non-uniform manner, such as to balance the wear of the at least certain ones of the plurality of memory cells within the solid-state memory, at intra-block level. For example, if a behavior of at least some of the plurality of memory cells is not characterized, then the method may comprise characterizing a behavior of at least some of the plurality of memory cells and writing to at least certain ones of the plurality of memory cells, based on the characterized behavior, and in a non-uniform manner.

Intra-block memory wear leveling

Methods are provided for overwriting data in a probe-based data storage device () wherein data is represented by the presence and absence of pits formed in a storage surface () by a probe of the device. Input data is first coded such that successive bits of a first value in the coded input data are separated by at least one bit of the other value. Overwrite data bits v, v, v, . . . , are generated from the coded input data bits b, b, b, . . . , and the overwrite data bits v, v, v, . . . , are then used to overwrite data on the storage surface (). According to a first method, the overwrite data bits are generated such that, if a pit represents a bit of said first value in the data storage device () then v={overscore (b)}, for i&#x2267;1 and vhas said first value, and if a pit represents a bit of said other value in the data storage device () then v=bfor i&#x2267;1 and vhas said other value. According to a second method, the overwrite data bits are generated such that, if a pit represents a bit of said first value in the data storage device () then v={overscore (b)}({overscore (b)}+b) for i&#x2267;2, vhas said first value and v={overscore (b)}, and if a pit represents a bit of said other value in the data storage device () then v={overscore (({overscore (b)}({overscore (b)}+b)))} for i&#x2267;2, vhas said other value and v=b. With both methods, the result of the overwrite operation is to record either the coded input data b, b, b, . . . , or its complement {overscore (b)}, {overscore (b)}, {overscore (b)}, . . . , depending on whether a pit represents a bit having the first value or a bit having the other value. This result is independent of the bit values of the data which is overwritten.

Data overwriting in probe-based data storage devices

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Patras, Greece

Theodoros A Antonakopoulos