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:
Jan. 03, 2012
Filed:
Jun. 06, 2007
Applicants:
Hoo-sung Kim, Gyeonggi-do, KR;
Eui-gyu Han, Gyeonggi-do, KR;
Inventors:
Hoo-Sung Kim, Gyeonggi-do, KR;
Eui-Gyu Han, Gyeonggi-do, KR;
Assignee:
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G11C 11/34 (2006.01); G11C 16/04 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
Abstract
A non-volatile semiconductor memory is configured to monitor for onset of a read disturbance (e.g., due to soft programming) and to carry out operations to protect data therein. A non-volatile semiconductor memory has a memory cell array that includes normal memory cells and a flag memory cell. The flag memory cell is configured to be more susceptible to electrical stress on its retention of data than the normal memory cells. The memory monitors data stored in the flag memory cell to monitor a data retention characteristic of the normal memory cells.