The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 27, 2005
Filed:
Nov. 24, 2003
Richard M. Fastow, Cupertino, CA (US);
Xin Guo, Mountain View, CA (US);
Sheung-hee Park, Pleasanton, CA (US);
Richard M. Fastow, Cupertino, CA (US);
Xin Guo, Mountain View, CA (US);
Sheung-Hee Park, Pleasanton, CA (US);
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and system for reading flash memory. A leakage current of a common bit line comprising the flash memory cell is accessed. A read current of the flash memory cell is accessed. The leakage current is eliminated from the read current to determine a cell current. The cell current is compared to an erase verify cell current. The currents may be directly subtracted, or they may be converted to corresponding voltages and the voltages subtracted. Advantageously, cells may be correctly verified for erasure without a preliminary search and recovery of over erased bits. As a beneficial result, the search and recovery of over erased bits does not need to be performed during an erase process. Advantageously, such steps may be eliminated from an erase process, recovering the time otherwise required to perform such steps, and thereby speeding up the erase process.