Calculating soft metrics depending on threshold voltages of memory cells in multiple neighbor word lines

Abstract

A memory controller includes an interface and a processor. The interface communicates with memory cells organized in multiple Word Lines (WLs). The processor is configured to read a Code Word (CW) of an Error Correction Code (ECC) from a group of multiple memory cells belonging to a target WL, to calculate for a given memory cell (i) a first soft metric, depending on a first threshold voltage of a first neighbor memory cell in a first WL neighboring the target WL, and (ii) a second soft metric, depending on a second threshold voltage of a second neighbor memory cell in a second WL neighboring the target WL, to calculate a combined soft metric based on both the first and second soft metrics and assign the combined soft metric to the given memory cell, and to decode the CW based on the combined soft metric, to produce a decoded CW.