Patents Examined by Esaw T Abraham
  • Patent number: 11740968
    Abstract: Error correction code (ECC) hardware includes write generation (Gen) ECC logic and a check ECC block coupled to an ECC output of a memory circuit with read Gen ECC logic coupled to an XOR circuit that outputs a syndrome signal to a syndrome decode block coupled to a single bit error correction block. A first MUX receives the write data is in series with an input to the write Gen ECC logic or a second MUX receives the read data from the memory circuit in series with an input of the read Gen ECC logic. A cross-coupling connector couples the read data from the memory circuit to a second input of the first MUX or for coupling the write data to a second input of the second MUX. An ECC bit comparator compares an output of the write Gen ECC logic to the read Gen ECC logic output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Saket Jalan, Indu Prathapan, Abhishek Ganapati Karkisaval
  • Patent number: 11735287
    Abstract: A buffer circuit is disclosed. The buffer circuit includes a command address (C/A) interface to receive an incoming activate (ACT) command and an incoming column address strobe (CAS) command. A first match circuit includes first storage to store failure row address information associated with the memory, and first compare logic. The first compare logic is responsive to the ACT command, to compare incoming row address information to the stored failure row address information. A second match circuit includes second storage to store failure column address information associated with the memory, and second compare logic. The second compare logic is responsive to the CAS command, to compare the incoming column address information to the stored failure column address information. Gating logic maintains a state of a matching row address identified by the first compare logic during the comparison carried out by the second compare logic.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: Rambus Inc.
    Inventors: Scott C. Best, John Eric Linstadt, Paul William Roukema
  • Patent number: 11734106
    Abstract: A memory module is disclosed that includes a substrate, a memory device that outputs read data, and a buffer. The buffer has a primary interface for transferring the read data to a memory controller and a secondary interface coupled to the memory device to receive the read data. The buffer includes error logic to identify an error in the received read data and to identify a storage cell location in the memory device associated with the error. Repair logic maps a replacement storage element as a substitute storage element for the storage cell location associated with the error.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: Rambus Inc.
    Inventors: Frederick A. Ware, Ely Tsern
  • Patent number: 11728830
    Abstract: Methods and Apparatus for processing data encoded by low density parity check (LDPC) in a communication system are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a method performed by a first node is disclosed. The method comprises: encoding an information bit sequence based on an LDPC coding scheme to obtain an encoded bit sequence; generating a master bit sequence based on the encoded bit sequence; selecting a subset of the master bit sequence according to a rate matching rule to obtain a rate matched bit sequence; interleaving the rate matched bit sequence according to a predetermined index sequence to obtain a to-be-transmitted bit sequence; and transmitting the to-be-transmitted bit sequence to a second node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: ZTE CORPORATION
    Inventors: Liguang Li, Jun Xu, Jin Xu
  • Patent number: 11720439
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and devices for media scrubber operations in a memory system are described. A controller may, for example, count a quantity of forwarded code words in a memory medium during a scrubbing period. The controller may add the quantity to a total quantity of forwarded code words in the memory medium. The controller may refrain from forwarding additional code words based on the quantity. The controller may write a valid logic state to a spare bit when the spare bit is assigned to an erroneous bit in a code word. A separate memory cell may indicate a change in spare bit assignments and whether spare bits include valid logic states. The controller may retrieve a code word from a memory medium and invert one or more bits of the code word before writing the code word to the memory medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2023
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Joseph Thomas Pawlowski
  • Patent number: 11722153
    Abstract: Processing of a bit sequence is proposed, wherein (i) a first partial error syndrome s1 of an error syndrome and a second partial error syndrome s2 of the error syndrome are determined for the bit sequence, (ii) a first comparison value is determined on the basis of a bit position and the first partial error syndrome, (iii) a second comparison value is determined on the basis of the bit position and the second partial error syndrome, and (iv) the bit position is corrected should a comparison of the first comparison value with the second comparison value assume a specified value and otherwise the bit position is not corrected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2023
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventors: Thomas Kern, Michael Goessel, Thomas Rabenalt
  • Patent number: 11720472
    Abstract: Memory, used by a computer to store data, is generally prone to faults, including permanent faults (i.e. relating to a lifetime of the memory hardware), and also transient faults (i.e. relating to some external cause) which are otherwise known as soft errors. Since soft errors can change the state of the data in the memory and thus cause errors in applications reading and processing the data, there is a desire to characterize the degree of vulnerability of the memory to soft errors. In particular, once the vulnerability for a particular memory to soft errors has been characterized, cost/reliability trade-offs can be determined, or soft error detection mechanisms (e.g. parity) may be selectively employed for the memory. In some cases, memory faults can be diagnosed by redundant execution and a diagnostic coverage may be determined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2023
    Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
    Inventors: Richard Gavin Bramley, Philip Payman Shirvani, Nirmal R. Saxena
  • Patent number: 11715546
    Abstract: A method of testing a non-volatile memory (NVM) array includes obtaining a current distribution of a subset of NVM cells of the NVM array, the current distribution including first and second portions corresponding to respective logically high and low states of the subset of NVM cells, programming an entirety of the NVM cells of the NVM array to one of the logically high or low states, determining an initial bit error rate (BER) by performing first and second pass/fail (P/F) tests on each NVM cell of the NVM array, and using the current distribution to adjust the initial BER rate. Each of obtaining the current distribution, programming the entirety of the NVM cells, and performing the first and second P/F tests is performed while the NVM array is heated to a target temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2023
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Chien-Hao Huang, Katherine H. Chiang, Cheng-Yi Wu, Chung-Te Lin
  • Patent number: 11711095
    Abstract: A memory device having a Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) decoder that is energy efficient and has a low error floor. The decoder is configured to determine syndromes of bits in a codeword, select bits in the codeword based at least in part on the syndromes according to a first mode, and flip the selected bits in the codeword. The decoder can repeat the bit selection and flipping operations to iteratively improve the codeword and reduce parity violations. Further, the decoder can detect a pattern in parity violations of the codeword in its iterative bit flipping operations. In response, the decoder can change from the first mode to a second mode in bit selection for flipping. For example, the decoder can transmit from a dynamic syndrome mode to a static syndrome mode in response to the pattern of repeating a cycle of bit flipping iterations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2022
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2023
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Mustafa N. Kaynak, Sivagnanam Parthasarathy
  • Patent number: 11704194
    Abstract: A memory device that performs internal ECC (error checking and correction) can treat an N-bit channel as two N/2-bit channels for application of ECC. The memory device includes a memory array to store data and prefetches data bits and error checking and correction (ECC) bits from the memory array for a memory access operation. The memory device includes internal ECC hardware to apply ECC, with a first group of a first half the data bits checked by a first half of the ECC bits in parallel with a second group of a second half of the data bits checked by a second half of the ECC bits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventor: Kuljit S. Bains
  • Patent number: 11700019
    Abstract: A transmission device, a transmission method, a reception device, and a reception method for securing good communication quality in data transmission using an LDPC code. The LDPC coding is performed using a parity check matrix with the code length N of 17280 bits and the coding rate r of 13/16 or 14/16. The LDPC code includes information bits and parity bits, and the parity check matrix includes an information matrix portion corresponding to the information bits and a parity matrix portion corresponding to the parity bits. The information matrix portion is represented by a parity check matrix initial value table, and the parity check matrix initial value table is a table representing positions of elements of 1 of the information matrix for every 360 columns.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2023
    Assignee: SONY GROUP CORPORATION
    Inventors: Makiko Yamamoto, Yuji Shinohara
  • Patent number: 11687407
    Abstract: Described apparatuses and methods provide error correction code (ECC) circuitry that is shared between two or more memory banks of a memory, such as a low-power dynamic random-access memory (DRAM). A memory device may include one or more dies, and a die can have multiple memory banks. The ECC circuitry can service at least two memory banks by producing ECC values based on respective data stored in the two memory banks. By sharing the ECC circuitry, instead of including a per-bank ECC engine, a total die area allocated to ECC functionality can be reduced. Thus, the ECC circuitry can be elevated from a one-bit ECC algorithm to a multibit ECC algorithm, which may increase data reliability. In some cases, memory architecture may operate in environments in which a masked-write command or an internal read-modify-write operation is precluded, including with shared ECC circuitry.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: Micron Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Kang-Yong Kim, Hyun Yoo Lee
  • Patent number: 11689221
    Abstract: A method for Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem (BCH) soft error decoding includes receiving a codeword x, wherein the received codeword x has ?=t+r errors for some r?1; computing a minimal monotone basis {?i(x)}1?i?r+1?F[x] of an affine space V={?(x)?F[x]: ?(x)·S(x)=??(x) (mod x2t), ?(0)=1, deg(?(x)?t+r}, wherein ?(x) is an error locator polynomial and S(x) is a syndrome; computing a matrix A?(?j?i))i?[W],j?[r+1], wherein W={?i, . . . , ?W} is a set of weak bits in x; constructing a submatrix of r+1 rows from sub matrices of r+1 rows of the subsets of A such that the last column is a linear combination of the other columns; forming a candidate error locating polynomial using coefficients of the minimal monotone basis that result from the constructed submatrix; performing a fast Chien search to verify the candidate error locating polynomial; and flipping channel hard decision at error locations found in the candidate error locating polynomial.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Avner Dor, Yaron Shany, Ariel Doubchak, Amit Berman
  • Patent number: 11689216
    Abstract: A device for decoding a generalized concatenated code (GCC) codeword includes: a buffer; and at least one processor configured to: obtain the GCC codeword, calculate a plurality of inner syndromes based on a plurality of frames; calculate a plurality of sets of delta syndromes based on the frames; determine a plurality of outer syndromes based on the sets of delta syndromes; store the inner syndromes and the outer syndromes in a buffer; perform inner decoding on the frames based on the inner syndromes stored in the buffer; update at least one outer syndrome stored in the buffer based on a result of the inner decoding; perform outer decoding on the frames based on the updated at least one outer syndrome; and obtain decoded information bits corresponding to the GCC codeword based on a result of the inner decoding and the result of the outer decoding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2022
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Dikla Shapiro, Amit Berman, Ariel Doubchak
  • Patent number: 11689317
    Abstract: Examples pertaining to re-transmission cyclic redundancy check (CRC) for polar coding incremental-redundancy hybrid automatic repeat request (IR-HARQ) are described. An apparatus (e.g., UE) encodes a plurality of information bits using a polar code to generate a polar code block (CB). The apparatus performs one or more transmissions of the polar CB using hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) by performing an initial transmission of the polar CB and performing a re-transmission of the polar CB with a re-transmission cyclic redundancy check (ReTX CRC).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Inventors: Tun-Ping Huang, Mao-Ching Chiu, Wei-De Wu, Chia-Wei Tai, Tien-Yu Lin, Tao Chen
  • Patent number: 11681580
    Abstract: A semiconductor system includes a controller configured to, in a write operation, output write data and a write error code through at least any one of input/output lines, and in a read operation, receive read data and a read error code through at least any one of the input/output lines and detect a failure of the input/output lines depending on whether the read data is error-corrected; and a semiconductor device configured to, in the write operation, correct an error of the write data based on the write error code, store the error-corrected write data and store the write error code, and in the read operation, correct an error of the write data based on the write error code stored in the write operation, output the error-corrected write data as the read data, and output the write error code stored in the write operation, as the read error code.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2023
    Assignee: SK hynix Inc.
    Inventor: Choung Ki Song
  • Patent number: 11664822
    Abstract: A memory system includes an encoder and a decoder. The encoder is configured to generate multi-dimensionally-coded data to be written into the non-volatile memory. Data bits of the multi-dimensionally-coded data are grouped into first and second dimensional codes with respect to first and second dimensions, respectively. The decoder is configured to, with respect to each of the first and second dimensional codes included in read multi-dimensionally-coded data, generate a syndrome value of the dimensional code, generate low-reliability location information, generate a soft-input value based on the syndrome value and the low-reliability location information, decode the dimensional code through correction of the dimensional code using the soft-input value, and store modification information indicating a bit of the dimensional code corrected through the correction and reliability information indicating reliability of the correction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2023
    Assignee: Kioxia Corporation
    Inventors: Yuta Kumano, Hironori Uchikawa
  • Patent number: 11664821
    Abstract: Techniques related to improving the error floor performance of a bit flipping (BF) decoder are described. In some examples, error floor performance is improved through determining a set of unreliable check nodes (CNs) and using information about the set of unreliable CNs to compute the flipping energies of variable nodes (VNs). In this manner, the flipping energies can be computed more accurately, thereby lowering the error floor. The set of unreliable CNs can be built through applying various criteria, such as criteria relating to the path length to an unsatisfied CN, the degree of a VN in a path to an unsatisfied CN, and/or checksum value. Path length and VN degree can be applied as selection criteria to determine which CNs qualify as members of the set of unreliable CNs. Checksum value can be applied as a trigger condition for building and/or using the set of unreliable CNs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2023
    Assignee: SK hynix Inc.
    Inventors: Meysam Asadi, Hongwei Duan, Aman Bhatia, Fan Zhang
  • Patent number: 11656937
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and devices for techniques for error detection and correction in a memory system are described. A host device may perform an error detection procedure on data received from the memory device, in addition to one or more error correction procedures that may be performed by the host device, the memory device, or both to correct transmission- or storage-related errors within the system. The error detection procedure may be configured to detect up to a quantity of errors within the data, where the quantity of errors may be greater than a quantity of errors reliably corrected by the one or more error correction procedures. For example, the error detection procedure may be configured to detect a sufficient quantity of errors so as to protect against possible aliasing errors associated with the one or more error correction procedures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2023
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Steffen Buch, Aaron P. Boehm
  • Patent number: 11652497
    Abstract: This application discloses a neural network-based QEC decoding method. The method includes: obtaining error syndrome information of a quantum circuit; performing block feature extraction on the error syndrome information by using a neural network decoder, to obtain feature information; and performing fusion decoding processing on the feature information by using the neural network decoder, to obtain error result information, the error result information being used for determining a data qubit in which an error occurs in the quantum circuit and a corresponding error type. In this application, a block feature extraction manner is used, a quantity of channels of feature information obtained by each feature extraction is reduced, and inputted data of next feature extraction is reduced, which reduces a quantity of feature extraction layers in a neural network decoder. Therefore, a decoding time used by the neural network decoder is reduced, thereby achieving real-time error correction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2023
    Assignee: TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) COMPANY LIMITED
    Inventors: Yicong Zheng, Shengyu Zhang