Abstract: Data that are stored in cells of a multi-bit-per cell memory, according to a systematic or non-systematic ECC, are read and corrected (systematic ECC) or recovered (non-systematic ECC) in accordance with estimated probabilities that one or more of the read bits are erroneous. In one method of the present invention, the estimates are a priori. In another method of the present invention, the estimates are based only on aspects of the read bits that include significances or bit pages of the read bits. In a third method of the present invention, the estimates are based only on values of the read bits. Not all the estimates are equal.

Abstract: To store, successively, in a plurality of memory cells, first and second pluralities of input bits that are equal in number, a first transformation transforms the first input bits into a first plurality of transformed bits. A first portion of the cells is programmed to store the first transformed bits according to a mapping of bit sequences to cell levels, but, if the first transformation has a variable output length, only if there are few enough first transformed bits to fit in the first cell portion. Then, without erasing a second cell portion that includes the first portion, if respective levels of the cells of the second portion, that represent a second plurality of transformed bits obtained by a second transformation of the second input bits, according to the mapping, are accessible from the current cell levels, the second portion is so programmed to store the second transformed bits.

Abstract: A method of writing data includes receiving data pages to be stored in a data storage device and generating codewords corresponding to the received data pages. The codewords are stored to physical pages of a first memory portion of the data storage device. A first portion of a particular codeword that corresponds to a particular data page is stored at a first physical page of the first memory portion. A second portion of the particular codeword is stored at a second physical page of the first memory portion. The codewords are copied from the physical pages of the first memory portion to a physical page of a second memory portion of the data storage device.

Abstract: A porous layer is described. The porous layer comprises a solidified sol-gel inorganic material having a distribution of nanometric voids, wherein at least some of nanometric voids are at least partially coated internally by carbon or a hydrophobic substance containing carbon.

Abstract: A method of fabricating a nanoshell is disclosed. The method comprises coating a nanometric core made of a first material by a second material, to form a core-shell nanostructure and applying non-chemical treatment to the core-shell nanostructure so as to at least partially remove the nanometric core, thereby fabricating a nanoshell. The disclosed nanoshell can be used in the fabrication of transistors, optical devices (such as CCD and CMOS sensors), memory devices and energy storage devices.

Abstract: Data that are stored in cells of a multi-bit-per cell memory, according to a systematic or non-systematic ECC, are read and corrected (systematic ECC) or recovered (non-systematic ECC) in accordance with estimated probabilities that one or more of the read bits are erroneous. In one method of the present invention, the estimates are a priori. In another method of the present invention, the estimates are based only on aspects of the read bits that include significances or bit pages of the read bits. In a third method of the present invention, the estimates are based only on values of the read bits. Not all the estimates are equal.

Abstract: Data that are stored in cells of a multi-bit-per cell memory, according to a systematic or non-systematic ECC, are read and corrected (systematic ECC) or recovered (non-systematic ECC) in accordance with estimated probabilities that one or more of the read bits are erroneous. In one method of the present invention, the estimates are a priori. In another method of the present invention, the estimates are based only on aspects of the read bits that include significances or bit pages of the read bits. In a third method of the present invention, the estimates are based only on values of the read bits. Not all the estimates are equal.

Abstract: A method includes, when using a binary cache in an multi-level cell (MLC) flash memory splitting a codeword corresponding to a data page into multiple data pages and storing the multiple data pages into multiple single level cell (SLC) pages of the binary cache for subsequent storage into a single wordline of the MLC flash memory.

Abstract: A method of writing data includes receiving a data page to be stored in a data storage device and initiating an encode operation to encode the data page. The encode operation generates first encoded data and a first portion of the first encoded data is stored to the first physical page of the data storage device. The method includes initiating storage of a second portion of the first encoded data to a second physical page of the data storage device. The method also includes initiating a decode operation to recover the data page. The decode operation uses a representation of the first portion of the first encoded data that is read from the first physical page without using any data from the second physical page.

Abstract: A representation of a codeword is decoded by applying a first decoder of the codeword to the representation of the codeword. If applying the first decoder fails to decode the representation of the codeword then a second decoder of the codeword is applied to the representation of the codeword. Preferably, applying the first decoder consumes less power and is faster than applying the second decoder. Data are ported by encoding the data as a codeword, exporting the codeword to a corrupting medium, importing a representation of the codeword, and applying a first decoder to the representation of the codeword. If applying the first decoder fails to decode the representation of the codeword then a second decoder of the codeword is applied to the representation of the codeword.

Abstract: A method of writing data includes receiving data pages to be stored in a data storage device and generating codewords corresponding to the received data pages. The codewords are stored to physical pages of a first memory portion of the data storage device. A first portion of a particular codeword that corresponds to a particular data page is stored at a first physical page of the first memory portion. A second portion of the particular codeword is stored at a second physical page of the first memory portion. The codewords are copied from the physical pages of the first memory portion to a physical page of a second memory portion of the data storage device.

Abstract: Systems and methods to decode data stored in a data storage device are disclosed. Data bits stored in a first group of storage elements are decoded using data in a second group of storage elements together with physical characteristics of the second group of storage elements to aid in the decoding of the first group of storage elements.

Abstract: A method of writing data includes receiving a data page to be stored in a data storage device and initiating an encode operation to encode the data page. The encode operation generates first encoded data and a first portion of the first encoded data is stored to the first physical page of the data storage device. The method includes initiating storage of a second portion of the first encoded data to a second physical page of the data storage device. The method also includes initiating a decode operation to recover the data page. The decode operation uses a representation of the first portion of the first encoded data that is read from the first physical page without using any data from the second physical page.

Abstract: A method of storing data includes receiving data including a first group of bits and a second group of bits and initiating a shaping encoding operation on the second group of bits to generate a third group of bits. The third group of bits has more bits than the second group of bits. The shaping encoding operation is configured to produce a non-uniform probability distribution of bit values in the third group of bits. The first group of bits and first error correction coding (ECC) parity bits corresponding to the first group of bits are stored to a first logical page that is within a physical page of a MLC memory and the third group of bits and second ECC parity bits corresponding to the third group of bits are stored to a second logical page that is within the physical page of the MLC memory.

Abstract: Data bits to be encoded are split into a plurality of subgroups. Each subgroup is encoded separately to generate a corresponding codeword. Selected subsets are removed from the corresponding codewords, leaving behind shortened codewords, and are many-to-one transformed to condensed bits. The final codeword is a combination of the shortened codewords and the condensed bits. A representation of the final codeword is decoded by being partitioned to a selected subset and a plurality of remaining subsets. Each remaining subset is decoded separately. A subset whose decoding is terminated is decoded again, at least in part according to the selected subset. If the encoding and decoding are systematic then the selected subsets are of parity bits.

Abstract: While decoding a representation, imported from a channel, of a codeword that encodes K information bits as N>K codeword bits, by updating estimates of the codeword bits in a plurality of iterations, the iterations are interrupted upon satisfaction of an interruption criterion that is either an order-dependent interruption criterion or an interruption criterion that includes an estimate of mutual information of the codeword and a vector that is used in the decoding iterations. Either the iterations are terminated or the iterations are resumed after one or more elements of one or more vectors used in the iterations is/are modified.

Abstract: To store a plurality of input bits, the bits are mapped to a corresponding programmed state of one or more memory cells and the cell(s) is/are programmed to that corresponding programmed state. The mapping may be many-to-one or may be an “into” generalized Gray mapping. The cell(s) is/are read to provide a read state value that is transformed into a plurality of output bits, for example by maximum likelihood decoding or by mapping the read state value into a plurality of soft bits and then decoding the soft bits.

Abstract: Data that are stored in cells of a multi-bit-per cell memory, according to a systematic or non-systematic ECC, are read and corrected (systematic ECC) or recovered (non-systematic ECC) in accordance with estimated probabilities that one or more of the read bits are erroneous. In one method of the present invention, the estimates are a priori. In another method of the present invention, the estimates are based only on aspects of the read bits that include significances or bit pages of the read bits. In a third method of the present invention, the estimates are based only on values of the read bits. Not all the estimates are equal.

Abstract: Input bits are stored in memory cells by mapping the input bits into a larger number of transformed bits using a shaping encoding that has a downward asymptotic bias with respect to a mapping of bit patterns to cell states and programming some of the cells according to that mapping of bit patterns to cell states. The programmed cells are erased before being programmed to store any other bits. The invention sacrifices memory capacity to increase endurance.

Abstract: An example method is provided that includes receiving a representation of a codeword that includes a plurality of bits, and associating the bits with a respective plurality of one-bit hard-bit values representing the bits and multiple-bit soft-bit values representing measures of reliability of respective hard-bit values. The method includes for each of a plurality of iterations, updating a hard-bit/soft-bit value of one or more bits of a respective subset of the bits as a function of current hard-bit values of the subset's bits, and the current hard-bit and soft-bit values of the respective bit. For two iterations in which the current hard-bit and soft-bit values for each bit of a subset for both iterations is the same, the hard-bit/soft-bit value updated for any bit of the subset during one of the two iterations is the same as that computed for the respective bit during the other of the two iterations.