阅读说明：本技术 一种失败比特数统计方法及存储器设备 (Failure bit number statistical method and memory device ) 是由 王砚 杜智超 吴振勇 王礼维 田野 陈腾 于 2020-04-08 设计创作，主要内容包括：本申请实施例公开了一种失败比特数统计方法及存储器设备,其中,所述方法包括：将第i次编程脉冲施加到存储器单元；在施加所述第i编程脉冲的过程中,执行以下操作：从第一锁存器读取第i-1次统计数据,所述第i-1统计数据为用于统计第i-1编程操作的失败比特数所需的数据；根据所述第i-1统计数据,执行所述第i-1编程操作的失败比特数统计操作；其中,i为大于1的整数。(The embodiment of the application discloses a failure bit number statistical method and a memory device, wherein the method comprises the following steps: applying an ith program pulse to the memory cell; during the application of the ith programming pulse, performing the following operations: reading the (i-1) th statistical data from the first latch, wherein the (i-1) th statistical data is required for counting the number of failed bits of the (i-1) th programming operation; according to the ith-1 statistical data, executing the failed bit number statistical operation of the ith-1 programming operation; wherein i is an integer greater than 1.)

1. A statistical method for a number of failed bits, the method comprising:

applying an ith program pulse to the memory cell;

during the application of the ith programming pulse, performing the following operations:

reading i-1 th statistical data from the first latch, wherein the i-1 th statistical data is required for counting the number of failed bits of the i-1 st programming operation;

according to the ith-1 statistical data, executing the failed bit number statistical operation of the ith-1 programming operation;

wherein i is an integer greater than 1.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein during said applying said ith programming pulse, said method further performs the following:

reading ith program data from a second latch, the ith program data being data required to perform an ith program operation on the memory cell;

and executing the ith programming operation according to the ith programming data.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the method is applied to a page programming process of memory cells in a memory;

the first latch is a low voltage threshold latch in a page buffer of the memory;

the second latch is a sense latch in the page buffer.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein prior to applying the ith programming pulse to the memory cell, the method further comprises:

executing verification operation of the (i-1) th programming operation to obtain an (i-1) th verification result; the ith-1 verification result comprises ith-1 statistical data and ith programming data, wherein the ith-1 statistical data is data required for counting the number of failed bits of the ith-1 programming operation, and the ith programming data is data required for executing the ith programming operation on the memory unit;

storing the ith program data into the second latch.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

storing the i-1 th statistic into the first latch prior to said applying the i-th programming pulse to the memory cell; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

storing the i-1 th statistic into a first latch prior to said reading the i-1 th statistic from the first latch during application of the i-th programming pulse.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

after the application of the ith programming pulse to the memory cell is completed, executing a verification operation of an ith programming operation to obtain an ith verification result; wherein the ith verification result comprises ith statistical data and ith +1 programming data;

storing the ith statistical data into the first latch;

storing the (i + 1) th programming data into the second latch.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

after the application of the ith programming pulse to the memory cell is completed, executing a verification operation of an ith programming operation to obtain an ith verification result; wherein the ith verification result comprises ith statistical data and ith +1 programming data;

storing the (i + 1) th programming data into the second latch;

correspondingly, before reading the ith statistic from the first latch during the application of the (i + 1) th programming pulse, the method further comprises:

storing the ith statistic into the first latch.

8. The method of claim 6 or 7, wherein the ith verification result further comprises an ith program result, the ith program result being used for characterizing whether an ith program operation performed on the memory cell passes or not;

correspondingly, the method further comprises:

when the ith programming result is passed, increasing the ith programming pulse by a specific stepping voltage to obtain an (i + 1) th programming pulse;

applying the (i + 1) th programming pulse to the memory cell.

9. A memory device, comprising:

a memory cell array comprising a plurality of memory cells;

a peripheral circuit including a program operation circuit and a first latch; wherein the program operation circuit is used for executing a program pulse application operation, a verification operation and a failed bit number counting operation on the memory cell array; the first latch is used for storing ith-1 statistical data, the ith-1 statistical data are data required for counting the number of failed bits of the ith-1 programming operation, and i is an integer greater than 1;

a control logic circuit for controlling the peripheral circuit to perform the following operations in applying the ith program pulse to the memory cell array during the program pulse applying operation: reading the i-1 th statistical data from the first latch; and executing the failed bit number statistical operation of the i-1 programming operation according to the i-1 statistical data.

10. The memory device of claim 9,

the peripheral memory further comprises a second latch; the second latch is used for storing ith programming data, and the ith programming data is data required by executing ith programming operation on the memory unit;

the control logic circuit is further configured to control the peripheral circuit to perform the following operations during the program pulse applying operation in applying the ith program pulse to the memory cell array:

reading the ith program data from the second latch;

and executing the ith programming operation according to the ith programming data.

11. The memory device of claim 10, wherein the peripheral circuitry comprises:

a page buffer for controlling a potential level of a bit line of the memory cell array according to program data during the program pulse applying operation, and temporarily storing sense data of a selected memory cell among the plurality of memory cells by sensing the potential level of the bit line during the verifying operation;

correspondingly, the first latch is a low voltage threshold latch in the page buffer; the second latch is a sense latch in the page buffer.

12. The memory device of claim 10,

the control logic is further configured to: performing a verify operation of an i-1 th program operation before applying an i-th program pulse to a memory cell, obtaining an i-1 th verify result; wherein the ith-1 verification result comprises the ith-1 statistical data and the ith programming data.

13. The memory device of claim 12,

the peripheral circuit further includes: and the statistical data reading circuit is used for reading the i-1 th statistical data from the first latch by the control logic circuit.

14. The memory device of claim 13,

the control logic is further configured to: after the ith programming pulse is applied to the memory cell and the execution is completed, executing the verification operation of the ith programming operation to obtain an ith verification result; wherein the ith verification result comprises an ith programming result, and the ith programming result is used for representing whether an ith programming operation performed on the memory cell passes or not; when the ith programming result is passed, increasing the ith programming pulse by a specific stepping voltage to obtain an (i + 1) th programming pulse; an i +1 th programming pulse is applied to the memory cell.

Technical Field

The embodiment of the application relates to, but not limited to, the field of semiconductors, and in particular relates to a failure bit number statistical method and a memory device.

Background

Flash memory is widely used as a storage medium for portable electronic devices such as mobile phones, digital cameras, and the like. Flash memory typically uses a one-transistor memory cell that allows for high memory density, high reliability, and low power consumption. By programming a charge storage structure (e.g., a floating gate or a charge well) or other physical phenomenon (e.g., phase change or polarization), a change in the threshold voltage of a memory cell determines the data state (e.g., data value) of each memory cell.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, embodiments of the present application provide a method for counting a number of failed bits and a memory device to solve the problems in the related art.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application is realized as follows:

in a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for counting a number of failed bits, including:

applying an ith program pulse to the memory cell;

during the application of the ith programming pulse, performing the following operations:

reading i-1 th statistical data from the first latch, wherein the i-1 th statistical data is required for counting the number of failed bits of the i-1 st programming operation;

according to the ith-1 statistical data, executing the failed bit number statistical operation of the ith-1 programming operation;

wherein i is an integer greater than 1.

In some embodiments, during the applying the ith programming pulse, the method further performs the following:

reading ith program data from a second latch, the ith program data being data required to perform an ith program operation on the memory cell;

and executing the ith programming operation according to the ith programming data.

In some embodiments, the method is applied to a page programming process of memory cells in a memory; the first latch is a low voltage threshold latch in a page buffer of the memory; the second latch is a sense latch in the page buffer.

In some embodiments, before said applying the ith programming pulse to the memory cell, the method further comprises:

executing verification operation of the (i-1) th programming operation to obtain an (i-1) th verification result; the ith-1 verification result comprises ith-1 statistical data and ith programming data, wherein the ith-1 statistical data is data required for counting the number of failed bits of the ith-1 programming operation, and the ith programming data is data required for executing the ith programming operation on the memory unit;

storing the ith program data into the second latch.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises: storing the i-1 th statistic into the first latch prior to said applying the i-th programming pulse to the memory cell; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

storing the i-1 th statistic into a first latch prior to said reading the i-1 th statistic from the first latch during application of the i-th programming pulse.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises: after the application of the ith programming pulse to the memory cell is completed, executing a verification operation of an ith programming operation to obtain an ith verification result; wherein the ith verification result comprises ith statistical data and ith +1 programming data;

storing the ith statistical data into the first latch;

storing the (i + 1) th programming data into the second latch.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

after the application of the ith programming pulse to the memory cell is completed, executing a verification operation of an ith programming operation to obtain an ith verification result; wherein the ith verification result comprises ith statistical data and ith +1 programming data; storing the (i + 1) th programming data into the second latch;

correspondingly, before reading the ith statistic from the first latch during the application of the (i + 1) th programming pulse, the method further comprises: storing the ith statistic into the first latch.

In some embodiments, the ith verification result further includes an ith program result for characterizing whether an ith program operation performed on the memory cell passes;

correspondingly, the method further comprises:

when the ith programming result is passed, increasing the ith programming pulse by a specific stepping voltage to obtain an (i + 1) th programming pulse;

applying the (i + 1) th programming pulse to the memory cell.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a memory device, including:

a memory cell array comprising a plurality of memory cells;

a peripheral circuit including a program operation circuit and a first latch; wherein the program operation circuit is used for executing a program pulse application operation, a verification operation and a failed bit number counting operation on the memory cell array; the first latch is used for storing ith-1 statistical data, the ith-1 statistical data are data required for counting the number of failed bits of the ith-1 programming operation, and i is an integer greater than 1;

a control logic circuit for controlling the peripheral circuit to perform the following operations in applying the ith program pulse to the memory cell array during the program pulse applying operation: reading the i-1 th statistical data from the first latch; and executing the failed bit number statistical operation of the i-1 programming operation according to the i-1 statistical data.

In some embodiments, the peripheral memory further comprises a second latch; the second latch is used for storing ith programming data, and the ith programming data is data required by executing ith programming operation on the memory unit;

the control logic circuit is further configured to control the peripheral circuit to perform the following operations during the program pulse applying operation in applying the ith program pulse to the memory cell array:

reading the ith program data from the second latch;

and executing the ith programming operation according to the ith programming data.

In some embodiments, the peripheral circuitry comprises:

a page buffer for controlling a potential level of a bit line of the memory cell array according to program data during the program pulse applying operation, and temporarily storing sense data of a selected memory cell among the plurality of memory cells by sensing the potential level of the bit line during the verifying operation;

correspondingly, the first latch is a low voltage threshold latch in the page buffer; the second latch is a sense latch in the page buffer.

In some embodiments, the control logic is further configured to: performing a verify operation of an i-1 th program operation before applying an i-th program pulse to a memory cell, obtaining an i-1 th verify result; wherein the ith-1 verification result comprises the ith-1 statistical data and the ith programming data.

In some embodiments, the peripheral circuitry further comprises: and the statistical data reading circuit is used for reading the i-1 th statistical data from the first latch by the control logic circuit.

In some embodiments, the control logic is further configured to: after the ith programming pulse is applied to the memory cell and the execution is completed, executing the verification operation of the ith programming operation to obtain an ith verification result; wherein the ith verification result comprises an ith programming result, and the ith programming result is used for representing whether an ith programming operation performed on the memory cell passes or not; when the ith programming result is passed, increasing the ith programming pulse by a specific stepping voltage to obtain an (i + 1) th programming pulse; an i +1 th programming pulse is applied to the memory cell.

In the embodiment of the present application, the ith program pulse is applied to the memory cell; during the application of the ith programming pulse, performing the following operations: reading i-1 th statistical data from the first latch, wherein the i-1 th statistical data is required for counting the number of failed bits of the i-1 st programming operation; according to the ith-1 statistical data, executing the failed bit number statistical operation of the ith-1 programming operation; wherein i is an integer greater than 1; in this way, the data required by counting the number of the failed bits can be read from the first latch in the process of applying the next programming pulse, and the failed bit number counting operation is performed, so that the failed bit number counting operation does not occupy extra time in the iteration process of the whole programming operation, the execution time of the iteration process of the whole programming operation can be saved, and the efficiency of programming the memory unit can be improved.

Drawings

FIG. 1A is a diagram of a hardware configuration of a peripheral circuit of a memory according to the related art;

FIG. 1B is a voltage timing diagram of a programming process in the related art;

FIG. 1C is a schematic diagram of the memory device;

fig. 1D is a schematic diagram illustrating an implementation flow of a statistical method for a number of failed bits according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 1E is a voltage timing diagram of a programming process in the statistical method for the number of failed bits according to the embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram of a memory device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2B is a schematic diagram of a hardware structure of a peripheral circuit of a memory device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2C is a schematic diagram of an implementation flow of a statistical method for a number of failed bits according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an implementation flow of a statistical method for a number of failed bits according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an implementation flow of a statistical method for a number of failed bits according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart illustrating an implementation process of a statistical method for a number of failed bits according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the present application clearer, the technical solutions of the present application are further described in detail with reference to the drawings and the embodiments, the described embodiments should not be considered as limiting the present application, and all other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts belong to the protection scope of the present application.

In the following description, reference is made to "some embodiments" which describe a subset of all possible embodiments, but it is understood that "some embodiments" may be the same subset or different subsets of all possible embodiments, and may be combined with each other without conflict.

Where similar language of "first/second" appears in the specification, the following description is added, and where reference is made to the term "first \ second \ third" merely to distinguish between similar items and not to imply a particular ordering with respect to the items, it is to be understood that "first \ second \ third" may be interchanged with a particular sequence or order as permitted, to enable the embodiments of the application described herein to be performed in an order other than that illustrated or described herein.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application belongs. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing embodiments of the present application only and is not intended to be limiting of the application.

In order to better understand a statistical method for the number of failed bits provided by the embodiments of the present application, a programming process of a memory in the related art is first described.

In the related art, programming of a memory is typically performed using the following iterative process: applying a programming pulse to a memory cell and verifying whether the memory cell has reached a desired data state in response to the programming pulse, and repeating the iterative process until the memory cell has passed verification. When the memory cell passes verification, further programming is inhibited, but other memory cells can still be programmed for subsequent programming pulses. The voltage level of the programming pulses may be varied (e.g., increased) in an iterative process to repeatedly perform the programming operation until each memory cell selected for the programming operation has reached a corresponding desired data state or some fault is declared (e.g., a maximum number of allowed programming pulses is reached during the programming operation). After each verification operation, the number of memory cells that fail to be verified in the program operation needs to be counted, that is, the number of failed bits needs to be counted. In the related art, the statistical data required for counting the number of failed bits is stored in the Sense Latch (Sense Latch), and the program data required in the process of performing the program operation on the memory cell array is also stored in the S memory, so that the failed bit number counting operation and the program operation cannot be performed in parallel, and thus, the failed bit number counting operation takes additional time.

Fig. 1A is a schematic diagram of a hardware structure of a peripheral circuit of a memory in the related art, and as shown in fig. 1A, through an a path, data can be read from a sense latch 11 when a fail bit number check is performed, and a fail bit number statistical operation can be performed by using statistical data stored in the sense latch 11.

Fig. 1B is a voltage timing diagram of a Program process in the related art, and as shown in fig. 1B, a Fail Bit Count (FBC) operation is performed between a Verify (Verify) operation and a Next Program (Next PGM) operation. It can be seen that each failed bit number counting operation takes extra time to execute, and during the whole iteration process of the programming operation, the failed bit number counting operation is usually required to be performed once for each iteration. Therefore, in the whole iteration process of the programming operation, the failed bit number counting operation occupies a large extra execution time, so that the time consumption of the whole iteration process of the programming operation is increased. For example, assuming that the time length required for performing the statistical operation of the number of failed bits once is 10us, and the number of iterations in the iteration process of the entire program operation is 8, the time length required for counting the number of failed bits in the iteration process of the entire program operation is 80 us.

An embodiment of the present application first provides a memory device, where fig. 1C is a schematic diagram of a structure of the memory device, and as shown in fig. 1C, the memory device 100 includes: memory cell array 110, peripheral circuitry 120, control logic circuitry 130; wherein:

the memory cell array 110 includes a plurality of memory cells 111;

the peripheral circuit 120 includes a program operation circuit 121 and a first latch 122; the program operation circuit 121 is configured to perform a program pulse application operation, a verification operation, and a failed bit count operation on the selected memory cell 111; the first latch 122 is configured to store an i-1 th statistic, where the i-1 th statistic is data required for counting the number of failed bits in the i-1 th programming operation, and i is an integer greater than 1;

the control logic circuit 130 is configured to control the peripheral circuit 120 to perform the following operations during the program pulse applying operation in the process of applying the ith program pulse to the memory cell 111: reading the i-1 th statistic from the first latch 122; and executing the failed bit number statistical operation of the i-1 programming operation according to the i-1 statistical data.

Here, the memory cell array 110 may include a plurality of memory blocks, and each memory block may include a plurality of memory cells. In implementation, the plurality of memory units may be nonvolatile memory units, or may be other memory units, which is not limited in this embodiment of the application.

The embodiment of the application provides a statistical method for the number of failed bits, which is applied to the memory device shown in fig. 1C. Fig. 1D is a schematic flowchart illustrating an implementation flow of a statistical method for a number of failed bits according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 1D, the method may be executed by a control logic circuit of a memory device, and includes:

step S101, applying the ith programming pulse to the memory cell;

here, the memory cell is a memory cell selected to be programmed in the memory cell array. In implementation, the potential level of the bit line of the selected memory cell array may be controlled by a program operation circuit in a peripheral circuit of the memory device performing a program pulse applying operation on the memory cell array at the program pulse applying operation.

Step S102, in the process of applying the ith programming pulse, executing the following operations: reading i-1 th statistical data from the first latch, wherein the i-1 th statistical data is required for counting the number of failed bits of the i-1 st programming operation; according to the ith-1 statistical data, executing the failed bit number statistical operation of the ith-1 programming operation; wherein i is an integer greater than 1.

Here, the ith program pulse includes an ith program preparation operation phase and an ith program stabilization execution phase. The ith program preparation operation is a preparation operation for executing the state and data related to the ith program operation, and corresponds to a stage of applying the ith pass voltage to the selected word line in terms of voltage timing, the ith program stable execution stage is a stage of controlling the potential level of the bit line of the memory cell array in response to the program data during the program pulse application operation, and corresponds to a stage of applying the ith program voltage to the selected word line in terms of voltage timing. In some embodiments, the i-1 th statistic data may be read from the first latch in an i-th program stabilization performing stage after an i-th program preparation operation, that is, after an i-th pass voltage is applied to the selected word line.

Fig. 1E is a voltage timing diagram of a programming process in the statistical method for the number of failed bits according to the embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 1E, a statistical (FBC) operation for the number of failed bits is performed during a Next Program (Next PGM) pulse. During the Next Program (Next PGM) pulse, a pass voltage Vpass1 is applied to the top select gate, the pass voltage Vpass is first applied to the selected word line, and then a Program voltage V is applied_PGM+ISPP(including the previous Programming (PGM) voltage during the Programming iteration and the Incremental Step Pulse Programming (ISPP) voltage for each iteration), no voltage is applied to the bottom select gate, which is kept at ground. In timing, the FBC operation is performed during the application of the program voltage VPGM after the pass voltage Vpass is applied to the selected word line, at which time the top select gate is in the process of applying the pass voltage Vpass1 and the bottom select gate is in the process of not applying the voltage.

The (i-1) th statistic data is stored in the first latch, and may be data indicating whether the (i-1) th programming operation is performed on each memory cell, and the number of fail bits of the (i-1) th programming operation may be counted according to the data indicating whether each memory cell is programmed. In some embodiments, binary coding may be employed to indicate whether a memory cell is programmed through, e.g., a programming pass may be represented by a 0, a programming fail by a 1; the programming pass may be represented by 1, or the programming fail may be represented by 0. In practice, a person skilled in the art can select an appropriate way to indicate whether the memory cell is programmed or not according to practical situations, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

The method for counting the number of failed bits provided by the embodiment of the application can read data required by counting the number of the failed bits from the first latch in the process of applying the next programming pulse, and perform the operation for counting the number of the failed bits, so that the operation for counting the number of the failed bits does not occupy extra time in the iterative process of the whole programming operation, thereby saving the execution time of the iterative process of the whole programming operation and improving the efficiency of programming the memory unit.

First, an embodiment of the present invention provides a memory device, and fig. 2A is a schematic structural diagram of the memory device provided in the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 2A, the memory device 100 includes: memory cell array 110, peripheral circuitry 120, control logic circuitry 130; wherein:

the memory cell array 110 includes a plurality of memory cells 111;

the peripheral circuit 120 includes a program operation circuit 121, a first latch 122, and a second latch 123; the program operation circuit 121 is configured to perform a program pulse application operation, a verification operation, and a failed bit count operation on the selected memory cell 111; the first latch 122 is configured to store an i-1 th statistic, where the i-1 th statistic is data required for counting the number of failed bits in the i-1 th programming operation, and i is an integer greater than 1; the second latch 123 is used for storing ith program data, which is data required for performing an ith program operation on the memory cell;

the control logic circuit 130 is configured to control the peripheral circuit 120 to perform the following operations during the program pulse applying operation in the process of applying the ith program pulse to the memory cell 111: reading the i-1 th statistic from the first latch 122; according to the ith-1 statistical data, executing the failed bit number statistical operation of the ith-1 programming operation; reading the ith program data from the second latch; and executing the ith programming operation according to the ith programming data.

Here, the memory cell array 110 may include a plurality of memory blocks, and each memory block may include a plurality of memory cells. In implementation, the plurality of memory units may be nonvolatile memory units, or may be other memory units, which is not limited in this embodiment of the application.

In some embodiments, the peripheral circuitry 120 further comprises: and the statistical data reading circuit is used for reading the i-1 th statistical data from the first latch by the control logic circuit. Fig. 2B is a schematic diagram of a hardware structure of a peripheral circuit of a memory device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 2B, a path B is a statistical data reading circuit, 11 is a sensing Latch, 12 is a Low Voltage Threshold Latch (LVT Latch), through the path B, data can be read from the Low Voltage Threshold Latch 12 when a number of fail bits is checked, and a statistical operation of the number of fail bits is performed by using statistical data stored in the Low Voltage Threshold Latch 12.

The embodiment of the present application provides a statistical method for the number of failed bits, which is applied to the memory device shown in fig. 2A. Fig. 2C is a schematic flow chart illustrating an implementation process of a statistical method for a number of failed bits according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 2C, the method may be executed by a control logic circuit of a memory device, and includes:

step S201, applying the ith programming pulse to the memory cell;

here, step S201 corresponds to step S101, and in implementation, reference may be made to a specific implementation of step S101, which is not described herein again.

Step S202, in the process of applying the ith programming pulse, executing the following operations: reading i-1 th statistical data from the first latch, wherein the i-1 th statistical data is required for counting the number of failed bits of the i-1 st programming operation; according to the ith-1 statistical data, executing the failed bit number statistical operation of the ith-1 programming operation; reading ith program data from a second latch, the ith program data being data required to perform an ith program operation on the memory cell; executing the ith programming operation according to the ith programming data; wherein i is an integer greater than 1.

Here, the ith program data is stored in the second latch, and is obtained by increasing the ith-1 program pulse by a step voltage for controlling the logic circuit. In practice, the second latch is another latch different from the first latch.

The second latch forms a path with a program operation circuit of the memory device, and the control logic circuit may control the program operation circuit to apply a corresponding program pulse to a bit line of the selected memory cell in response to ith program data read from the second latch when the ith program operation is performed.

In some embodiments, the statistical method for the number of failed bits is applied to a page programming process of memory cells in a memory, the first Latch is a Low voltage threshold Latch (LVT Latch) in a page buffer of the memory, and the second Latch is a sense Latch in the page buffer.

The method for counting the number of failed bits provided in the embodiment of the application can perform a statistical operation on the number of failed bits by reading data required for counting the number of failed bits in a previous programming operation from the first latch and performing a programming operation by reading data required for performing the current programming operation on the memory cell from the second latch in the process of applying the programming pulse. Therefore, in the iteration process of the whole programming operation, the current programming operation and the failed bit number statistical operation of the previous programming operation can be executed in parallel in the current programming pulse process, so that the failed bit number statistical operation does not occupy extra time, the execution time of the iteration process of the whole programming operation can be saved, and the efficiency of programming the memory unit is improved.

The embodiment of the present application provides a statistical method for the number of failed bits, which is applied to the memory device shown in fig. 2A. Fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart illustrating an implementation of a statistical method for a number of failed bits according to an embodiment of the present application, where as shown in fig. 3, the method can be executed by a control logic circuit of a memory device, and includes:

step S301, executing verification operation of the (i-1) th programming operation to obtain an (i-1) th verification result; the ith-1 verification result comprises ith-1 statistical data and ith programming data, wherein the ith-1 statistical data is data required for counting the number of failed bits of the ith-1 programming operation, and the ith programming data is data required for executing the ith programming operation on the memory unit;

here, during a verify operation in which the (i-1) th program operation is performed, a verify voltage, which may be applied to a selected word line in a selected memory block, is generated by the program operation circuit, and the page buffer may sense a potential level of a corresponding bit line and determine whether a threshold voltage of a selected program memory cell is greater than the verify voltage, thereby implementing the program verify operation. When the threshold voltage of the selected programmed memory cell is greater than the verify voltage, a program pass may be determined; when the threshold voltage of at least one of the selected programmed memory cells is lower than the verify voltage, it may be determined that the programming does not pass. Thus, by performing the verification operation of the (i-1) th programming operation, data indicating whether all memory cells in the memory block selected in the (i-1) th programming operation have been programmed or not, i.e., i-1 th statistical data, can be obtained.

When it is determined that programming does not pass, the control logic circuit may increase the i-1 th programming pulse by a step voltage to obtain a new programming pulse. In some embodiments, the ith program data may include the new program pulse.

Step S302, storing the ith program data into the second latch;

here, the ith program data may be stored into the second latch through a write circuit of the second latch.

Step S303, applying the ith programming pulse to the memory cell;

step S304, in the process of applying the ith programming pulse, executing the following operations: reading i-1 th statistical data from the first latch, wherein the i-1 th statistical data is required for counting the number of failed bits of the i-1 st programming operation; according to the ith-1 statistical data, executing the failed bit number statistical operation of the ith-1 programming operation; reading ith program data from a second latch, the ith program data being data required to perform an ith program operation on the memory cell; executing the ith programming operation according to the ith programming data; wherein i is an integer greater than 1.

Here, steps S303 and S304 correspond to steps S201 and S202 described above, and specific implementation of steps S201 and S202 may be referred to in implementation, which is not described herein again.

In some embodiments, the ith-1 statistic may be stored into the first latch prior to said applying the ith programming pulse to the memory cell; alternatively, the ith-1 statistic is stored into the first latch before the ith-1 statistic is read from the first latch during application of the ith programming pulse. In practice, after the verification operation of the (i-1) th programming operation is executed, the (i-1) th statistical data in the (i-1) th verification result can be obtained and stored in the first latch; alternatively, the i-1 th statistic in the i-1 th verification result may be obtained after performing a verification operation of the i-1 th program operation, and the i-1 th statistic may be stored in the first latch before being read from the first latch during application of the i-th program pulse.

The embodiment of the present application provides a statistical method for the number of failed bits, which is applied to the memory device shown in fig. 2A. Fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart illustrating an implementation flow of a statistical method for a number of failed bits according to an embodiment of the present application, where as shown in fig. 4, the method can be executed by a control logic circuit of a memory device, and includes:

step S401, executing verification operation of the (i-1) th programming operation to obtain an (i-1) th verification result; the ith-1 verification result comprises ith-1 statistical data and ith programming data, wherein the ith-1 statistical data is data required for counting the number of failed bits of the ith-1 programming operation, and the ith programming data is data required for executing the ith programming operation on the memory unit;

step S402, storing the i-1 th statistical data into the first latch;

step S403, storing the ith program data into the second latch.

Step S404, applying the ith programming pulse to the memory cell;

step S405, in the process of applying the ith programming pulse, performing the following operations: reading i-1 th statistical data from the first latch, wherein the i-1 th statistical data is required for counting the number of failed bits of the i-1 st programming operation; according to the ith-1 statistical data, executing the failed bit number statistical operation of the ith-1 programming operation; reading ith program data from a second latch, the ith program data being data required to perform an ith program operation on the memory cell; executing the ith programming operation according to the ith programming data; wherein i is an integer greater than 1.

Here, steps S401, 403 to S405 correspond to steps S301 and S304, and specific implementation of steps S301 and S304 may be referred to in implementation, which is not described herein again.

Step S406, executing verification operation of the ith programming operation to obtain an ith verification result; wherein the ith verification result comprises ith statistical data and ith +1 programming data;

here, step S406 may refer to the foregoing specific implementation of step S401, and is not described herein again.

Step 407, storing the ith statistical data into the first latch;

here, the ith statistic may be stored in the first latch through a write circuit of the first latch.

Step S408, storing the (i + 1) th programming data into the second latch.

Here, the (i + 1) -th program data may be stored into the second latch through a write circuit of the second latch.

In some embodiments, the ith verification result further includes an ith program result for characterizing whether an ith program operation performed on the memory cell passes; correspondingly, the method further comprises: when the ith programming result is passed, increasing the ith programming pulse by a specific stepping voltage to obtain an (i + 1) th programming pulse; applying the (i + 1) th programming pulse to the memory cell.

The embodiment of the present application provides a statistical method for the number of failed bits, which is applied to the memory device shown in fig. 2A. Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart illustrating an implementation of a statistical method for a number of failed bits according to an embodiment of the present application, where as shown in fig. 5, the method can be executed by a control logic circuit of a memory device, and includes:

step S501, executing verification operation of the (i-1) th programming operation to obtain an (i-1) th verification result; the ith-1 verification result comprises ith-1 statistical data and ith programming data, wherein the ith-1 statistical data is data required for counting the number of failed bits of the ith-1 programming operation, and the ith programming data is data required for executing the ith programming operation on the memory unit;

step S502, storing the ith programming data into the second latch;

step S503, applying the ith programming pulse to the memory cell;

step S504, in the process of applying the ith programming pulse, executing the following operations: storing the ith-1 statistical data into the first latch, and reading the ith-1 statistical data from the first latch, wherein the ith-1 statistical data is required for counting the number of failed bits of the ith-1 programming operation; according to the ith-1 statistical data, executing the failed bit number statistical operation of the ith-1 programming operation; reading ith program data from a second latch, the ith program data being data required to perform an ith program operation on the memory cell; executing the ith programming operation according to the ith programming data; wherein i is an integer greater than 1;

step S505, executing verification operation of ith programming operation to obtain the ith verification result; wherein the ith verification result comprises ith statistical data and ith +1 programming data;

step S506, storing the (i + 1) th programming data into the second latch;

step S507, during the application of the (i + 1) th programming pulse, storing the (i) th statistic data into the first latch before the (i-1) th statistic data is read from the first latch.

Here, steps S501 to S503, S505 and S506 correspond to steps S401, S403, S404, S406 and S408, and the detailed implementation of steps S401, S403, S404, S406 and S408 may be referred to for implementation, and will not be described again here.

In some embodiments, the ith verification result further includes an ith program result for characterizing whether an ith program operation performed on the memory cell passes; correspondingly, the method further comprises: when the ith programming result is passed, increasing the ith programming pulse by a specific stepping voltage to obtain an (i + 1) th programming pulse; applying the (i + 1) th programming pulse to the memory cell.

Fig. 2A is a schematic structural diagram of a memory device provided in an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 2A, the memory device 100 includes: memory cell array 110, peripheral circuitry 120, control logic circuitry 130; wherein:

the memory cell array 110 includes a plurality of memory cells 111;

the peripheral circuit 120 includes a program operation circuit 121, a first latch 122, and a second latch 123; the program operation circuit 121 is configured to perform a program pulse application operation, a verification operation, and a failed bit count operation on the selected memory cell 111; the first latch 122 is configured to store an i-1 th statistic, where the i-1 th statistic is data required for counting the number of failed bits in the i-1 th programming operation, and i is an integer greater than 1; the second latch 123 is used for storing ith program data, which is data required for performing an ith program operation on the memory cell;

the control logic circuit 130 is configured to control the peripheral circuit 120 to perform the following operations during the program pulse applying operation in the process of applying the ith program pulse to the memory cell 111: reading the i-1 th statistic from the first latch 122; according to the ith-1 statistical data, executing the failed bit number statistical operation of the ith-1 programming operation; reading the ith program data from the second latch; and executing the ith programming operation according to the ith programming data.

Here, the memory cell array 110 may include a plurality of memory blocks, and each memory block may include a plurality of memory cells. In implementation, the plurality of memory units may be nonvolatile memory units, or may be other memory units, which is not limited in this embodiment of the application.

In some embodiments, the peripheral circuitry 120 further comprises: a page buffer for controlling a potential level of a bit line of the memory cell array according to program data during the program pulse applying operation, and temporarily storing sense data of a selected memory cell among the plurality of memory cells by sensing the potential level of the bit line during the verifying operation. Correspondingly, the first latch is a low voltage threshold latch in the page buffer; the second latch is a sense latch in the page buffer.

In some embodiments, the control logic is further configured to: performing a verify operation of an i-1 th program operation before said applying an i-th program pulse to the memory cell, obtaining the i-1 th verify result; wherein the ith-1 verification result comprises the ith-1 statistical data and the ith programming data.

In some embodiments, the control logic is further configured to: after the application of the ith programming pulse to the memory cell is completed, executing a verification operation of an ith programming operation to obtain an ith verification result; the ith verification result comprises an ith programming result, and the ith programming result is used for judging whether an ith programming operation performed on the memory unit passes or not; when the ith programming result is pass, increasing the ith programming pulse by a specific stepping voltage to obtain an (i + 1) th programming pulse; an i +1 th programming pulse is applied to the memory cell.

The above description of the memory device embodiments, similar to the above description of the method embodiments, has similar advantageous effects as the method embodiments. For technical details not disclosed in the embodiments of the memory device of the present application, reference is made to the description of the embodiments of the method of the present application for understanding.

It should be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. It should be understood that, in the various embodiments of the present application, the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application. The above-mentioned serial numbers of the embodiments of the present application are merely for description and do not represent the merits of the embodiments.

It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising an … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. The above-described device embodiments are merely illustrative, for example, the division of the unit is only a logical functional division, and there may be other division ways in actual implementation, such as: multiple units or components may be combined, or may be integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not implemented. In addition, the coupling, direct coupling or communication connection between the components shown or discussed may be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection between the devices or units may be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units; can be located in one place or distributed on a plurality of network units; some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, all functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may be separately regarded as one unit, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit; the integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, or in a form of hardware plus a software functional unit.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that: all or part of the steps for realizing the method embodiments can be completed by hardware related to program instructions, the program can be stored in a computer readable storage medium, and the program executes the steps comprising the method embodiments when executed; and the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as a removable Memory device, a Read Only Memory (ROM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

Alternatively, the integrated units described above in the present application may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium if they are implemented in the form of software functional modules and sold or used as independent products. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application may be essentially implemented or portions thereof contributing to the related art may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, and including several instructions for enabling a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a removable storage device, a ROM, a magnetic or optical disk, or other various media that can store program code.

The above description is only for the embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and shall be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.