Patents by Inventor Kenichi Nakanishi

Kenichi Nakanishi has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20170322842
    Abstract: Reduction in deterioration of a memory cell in a non-volatile memory is achieved. A memory controller is configured to include a time measuring unit, an elapsed time determination unit, and a read unit. The time measuring unit measures time elapsed from predetermined timing on an address where data written. The elapsed time determination unit determines whether the elapsed time exceeds a fixed amount of time upon receiving an instruction to read out the data from the address. The read control unit causes reading-out of the data from the address to pause in a case where the elapsed time is determined not to exceed the fixed amount of time.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 8, 2015
    Publication date: November 9, 2017
    Inventors: HIROYUKI IWAKI, KEIICHI TSUTSUI, LUI SAKAI, KENICHI NAKANISHI, HIDEAKI OKUBO, YASUSHI FUJINAMI
  • Publication number: 20170316826
    Abstract: To perform refresh without saving data, and prevent corruption of data in non-volatile memories. A number-of-write-operations information holding unit holds number-of-write-operations information, which is the number of write operations of a non-volatile memory to which access is made in units of pages which are divided by a page size. A determination unit determines whether or not refresh, which is reversing of values of all memory cells constituting the pages, is necessary on the basis of the held number-of-write-operations information. A write control unit further performs the refresh in addition to writing when the refresh is necessary on the basis of a result of the determination at a time of the writing with respect to the pages.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 6, 2015
    Publication date: November 2, 2017
    Inventor: KENICHI NAKANISHI
  • Publication number: 20170293513
    Abstract: [Object] To sufficiently reduce frequency of error occurrence in memory cells. [Solution] A reading unit reads read data from a memory cell, the read data including an information bit and reversal information for determining whether or not the information bit has been reversed. In addition, an error detection/correction unit detects the presence or absence of an error in the information bit and corrects the error. A data reversing unit reverses the information bit that has the error corrected and the reversal information. Furthermore, a writing unit writes the reversed information bit and the reversed reversal information in the memory cell.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 22, 2015
    Publication date: October 12, 2017
    Inventors: Tatsuo Shinbashi, Keiichi Tsutsui, Hideaki Okubo, Lui Sakai, Kenichi Nakanishi, Yasushi Fujinami
  • Publication number: 20170255502
    Abstract: Detecting a defective cell in a memory in consideration of an error property difference depending on the storage state. A determination unit determines whether there is a possibility of defect for each of unit-of-storages on a memory cell formed with a non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory undergoes either a reset operation that transitions a state from a low resistive state (LRS) to a high resistive state (HRS) or a set operation that transitions the state from the high resistive state to the low resistive state. The determination unit determines a unit-of-storage in which the number of errors in predetermined one of the reset operation and the set operation has exceeded a predetermined standard, as a unit-of-storage suspected of having a defect.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 9, 2015
    Publication date: September 7, 2017
    Inventors: YASUSHI FUJINAMI, KENICHI NAKANISHI, TSUNENORI SHIIMOTO, TETSUYA YAMAMOTO, TATSUO SHINBASHI, HIDEAKI OKUBO, HARUHIKO TERADA, KEN ISHII, HIROYUKI IWAKI, MATATOSHI HONJO
  • Publication number: 20170185478
    Abstract: The convenience of an information processing system is improved. In a memory controller of the information processing system, a request generation unit generates, with respect to a nonvolatile memory including a data area in which data is stored and a redundancy area in which a redundancy for performing error detection and error correction of the data is stored, a request of requesting writing or reading for any one of the data, and the redundancy, a code word constituted of the data and the redundancy. A control unit issues the generated request and controls writing and reading with respect to the nonvolatile memory.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 23, 2015
    Publication date: June 29, 2017
    Applicant: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: LUI SAKAI, KEIICHI TSUTSUI, YASUSHI FUJINAMI, HIROYUKI IWAKI, KEN ISHII, NAOHIRO ADACHI, RYOJI IKEGAYA, KENICHI NAKANISHI
  • Publication number: 20170160952
    Abstract: A latency time of memory access is suppressed. A memory controller includes memory control units and a connection switching unit. The memory control units each independently generate a request to a memory on the basis of a command from a computer. Any one of the memory control units and the memory are connected in response to a connection request from each of the memory control units, and the request is output to the memory. A memory system is constituted of the memory and the memory controller. An information processing system is constituted of the memory system and the computer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2015
    Publication date: June 8, 2017
    Inventors: KENICHI NAKANISHI, HIROYUKI IWAKI, KEN ISHII, RYOJI IKEGAYA, KENTAROU MORI
  • Publication number: 20170109099
    Abstract: A storage device writes data at a high speed. The storage device is provided with a data area and a control unit. In the data area, a write position is specified by a write address. Also, the control unit writes the data in the write address when instructed to write the data in the write address, and generates an address different from the write address in which the writing is performed as an alternative write address and writes the data in the alternative write address when the writing of the data is unsuccessful.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 19, 2015
    Publication date: April 20, 2017
    Inventors: HIROYUKI IWAKI, KEN ISHII, RYOJI IKEGAYA, KENICHI NAKANISHI, YASUSHI FUJINAMI, NAOHIRO ADACHI
  • Patent number: 9582411
    Abstract: There is provide a memory controller, which substitutes a substitution page for an error page in a block including a plurality of pages in a non-volatile memory and secures a substitution block to substitute a page in the secured substitution block for the error page when the substitution page is insufficient in a block to which the error page belongs, the substitution page being assigned to the block to which the error page belongs, the substitution block being different from the block to which the error page belongs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Kenichi Nakanishi
  • Patent number: 9547566
    Abstract: A storage control apparatus includes an uncorrectable error generation flag management section configured to manage an uncorrectable error generation flag in a memory configured to store a first error detection and correction code corresponding to a first data unit, and a second error detection and correction code corresponding to a second data unit including first data units, the uncorrectable error generation flag representing whether or not an uncorrectable error with the first code has occurred, the uncorrectable error generation flag being managed for each second data unit, a controller configured to prohibit access to the second data unit representing that the uncorrectable error has occurred when a command for the access with data change is issued, and a correction section configured to use the second code to correct the second data unit when the second data unit representing that the uncorrectable error has occurred is restored.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2017
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Kenichi Nakanishi
  • Patent number: 9514056
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a virtual memory system including a nonvolatile memory allowing random access, having an upper limit to a number of times of rewriting, and including a physical address space accessed via a virtual address; and a virtual memory control section configured to manage the physical address space of the nonvolatile memory in page units, map the physical address space and a virtual address space, and convert an accessed virtual address into a physical address; wherein the virtual memory control section is configured to expand a physical memory capacity allocated to a virtual page in which rewriting occurs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2016
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Kenichi Nakanishi
  • Patent number: 9455017
    Abstract: A storage control device includes: a partial unit buffer configured to hold at least one data assigned to a partial unit, in which the partial unit is one of a plurality of partial units that are each a division of a write unit for a memory; and a request generation section configured to generate, upon indication of a busy state in the memory for any of the partial units, a write request for the write unit of the memory when the holding of the data assigned to that partial unit is possible in the partial unit buffer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2016
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Kenichi Nakanishi, Yasushi Fujinami, Ken Ishii, Hiroyuki Iwaki, Kentarou Mori
  • Patent number: 9449684
    Abstract: Provided is a storage control device including: a detection unit which detects a first timing for performing a first rewriting process of performing only a first operation from among the first operation and a second operation, in a memory cell array in which each bit transitions to a first storage state by the first operation and transitions to a second storage state by the second operation; and a request unit which makes a request for the first rewriting process with respect to the memory cell array, when the first timing is detected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2016
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Hideaki Okubo, Kenichi Nakanishi, Yasushi Fujinami, Lui Sakai
  • Patent number: 9417956
    Abstract: An error detection and correction unit includes: a first-code error detection section configured to detect whether or not each of a plurality of first code words in a second code word has an error, the second code word generated by encoding the plurality of first code words in chains and being a code word containing a plurality of partial data; and a second-code error correction section configured to correct the error in one partial data containing the first code word in which the error is detected of the plurality of partial data in the second code word, based on adjacent partial data adjacent to the one partial data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2016
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Lui Sakai, Ryoji Ikegaya, Tatsuo Shinbashi, Kenichi Nakanishi, Yasushi Fujinami, Makiko Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 9405608
    Abstract: A storage controller includes: an error information management section configured to manage information in a plurality of addresses of a memory; and a refresh object determination section configured to determine a refresh object address in the memory based on the error information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2016
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hideaki Okubo, Kenichi Nakanishi, Yasushi Fujinami, Keiichi Tsutsui
  • Patent number: 9396132
    Abstract: Provided is a storage control device including a first read processing unit configured to read data having any one value of a first value or a second value based on a first threshold value in a memory cell, the data being read as first read data, a first write processing unit configured to rewrite the memory cell to the first value when write data is the first value and the first read data is the second value, a second read processing unit configured to read second read data based on a second threshold value different from the first threshold value in the memory cell, and a second write processing unit configured to rewrite the memory cell to the second value when the write data is the second value and the second read data is the first value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2016
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Naohiro Adachi, Keiichi Tsutsui, Kenichi Nakanishi, Hideaki Okubo, Makiko Yamamoto, Yasushi Fujinami
  • Patent number: 9361952
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a storage controlling apparatus including: a decision portion configured to decide whether or not a bit number of a specific value from between binary values is greater than a reference value in at least part of input data to a memory cell, which executes rewriting to one of the binary values and rewriting to the other one of the binary values in order in a writing process, to generate decision data indicative of a result of the decision; and a write side outputting portion configured to output, when it is decided that the bit number is greater than the reference value, the input data at least part of which is inverted as write data to the memory cell together with the decision data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2016
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kenichi Nakanishi, Keiichi Tsutsui, Yasushi Fujinami, Naohiro Adachi, Hideaki Okubo, Ken Ishii, Tatsuo Shinbashi
  • Patent number: 9280455
    Abstract: Provided is a memory control device, including a write control unit that sequentially designates a memory block, a write processing unit that writes write data in the designated memory block, a verifying unit that reads read data from the memory block and verifies whether or not the read data matches the write data for each of a plurality of memory cells, a retry inhibiting unit that inhibits a retry process from being performed in a memory cell in which the read data matches the write data among the plurality of memory cells, and a retry control unit that designates at least some memory blocks among the plurality of memory blocks and simultaneously executes the retry process when the read data does not match the write data in any one of the plurality of memory cells in which all the write data is written.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2016
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Naohiro Adachi, Keiichi Tsutsui, Ken Ishii, Hideaki Okubo, Kenichi Nakanishi, Yasushi Fujinami, Tatsuo Shinbashi, Lui Sakai, Ryoji Ikegaya
  • Patent number: 9229714
    Abstract: There is provided a memory control apparatus including: a pre-read processing section reading pre-read data from a data area to be written to before a write process in a predetermined data area of a memory cell array; a conversion determination section which, upon selectively allowing the pre-read data to transition to either a first conversion candidate or a second conversion candidate of the write data to be written in the write process, generates a determination result for selecting either of the candidates based on the larger of two values of which one is the number of bits transitioning from the first value to the second value and of which the other is the number of bits transitioning from the second value to the first value; and a conversion control section selecting either of the candidates in accordance with the determination result.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 5, 2016
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Ken Ishii, Keiichi Tsutsui, Yasushi Fujinami, Kenichi Nakanishi, Naohiro Adachi, Hideaki Okubo, Tatsuo Shinbashi
  • Patent number: 9202563
    Abstract: A storage controlling apparatus includes a command decoder and command processing section. The command decoder decides whether or not a plurality of access object addresses of different commands included in a command string correspond to words different from each other in a same one of blocks of a memory cell array which have a common plate. The command processing section collectively and successively executes, when it is decided that the access object addresses of the commands correspond to the words different from each other in the same block of the memory cell array, those of operations in processing of the commands in which an equal voltage is applied as a drive voltage between the plate and a bit line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2015
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Yasushi Fujinami, Naohiro Adachi, Ken Ishii, Hideaki Okubo, Keiichi Tsutsui, Kenichi Nakanishi, Tatsuo Shinbashi
  • Patent number: 9189325
    Abstract: A memory system includes: a first non-volatile memory used for storing data to be accessed in block units; a second non-volatile memory used for storing data to be accessed in word units in random accesses to the second non-volatile memory; and a control section configured to control operations of the first and second non-volatile memories, wherein error correction codes to be applied to data stored in the second non-volatile memory are held in the first non-volatile memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2015
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Kenichi Nakanishi