Patents by Inventor Stephen P. Van Aken

Stephen P. Van Aken 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: 20120198128
    Abstract: A read/write arrangement is described for use in accessing at least one nonvolatile memory device in read/write operations with the memory device being made up of a plurality of memory cells which memory cells are organized as a set of pages that are physically and sequentially addressable with each page having a page length such that a page boundary is defined between successive ones of the pages in the set. The read/write arrangement includes a control arrangement that is configured to store and access a group of data blocks that is associated with a given write operation in a successive series of pages of the memory such that at least an initial page in the series is filled and each block includes a block length that is different than the page length.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 2, 2011
    Publication date: August 2, 2012
    Inventor: Stephen P. Van Aken
  • Patent number: 8219773
    Abstract: A method and system for storing and retrieving data using flash memory devices. One example system includes an apparatus within a flash memory configuration. The flash memory configuration includes a plurality of memory cells, where each memory cell has a charge storage capacity for use in implementing digital storage. The apparatus includes a processing arrangement configured to access each of the memory cells in a write operation and a read operation. The apparatus also includes an instruction set for instructing the processor to impose target charge levels for defining a plurality of data values for each of the memory cells. The target charge levels are programmably movable with respect to the charge storage capacity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2012
    Assignee: Benhov GmbH, LLC
    Inventors: Kenneth J. Eldredge, Stephen P. Van Aken
  • Publication number: 20120079353
    Abstract: In one embodiment, an encoder reads a set of data from memory cells to obtain retrieved data influenced by one or more distortion mechanisms as a result of having been stored. A quality metric is generated responsive to the retrieved data that changes in value responsive to differences between the user data and the associated retrieved data. A quality monitor establishes a relationship between a current value of the quality metric and a threshold value and monitors the relationship as being indicative of a degradation of the quality of the retrieved data, and selectively initiates an error response. In another embodiment, a correction value is iterated through a set of values as a quality metric is monitored such that the value of the quality metric which most closely approaches the value of the quality metric immediately subsequent to an initial writing of the data can be selected.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 23, 2010
    Publication date: March 29, 2012
    Inventors: Bruce A. Liikanen, Gerald L. Cadloni, Larry J. Koudele, John L. Seabury, Stephen P. Van Aken, Guy R. Wagner
  • Publication number: 20110093761
    Abstract: A method and system for storing and retrieving data using flash memory devices. One example system includes an apparatus within a flash memory configuration. The flash memory configuration includes a plurality of memory cells, where each memory cell has a charge storage capacity for use in implementing digital storage. The apparatus includes a processing arrangement configured to access each of the memory cells in a write operation and a read operation. The apparatus also includes an instruction set for instructing the processor to impose target charge levels for defining a plurality of data values for each of the memory cells. The target charge levels are programmably movable with respect to the charge storage capacity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2010
    Publication date: April 21, 2011
    Applicant: BENHOV GMBH, LLC
    Inventors: Kenneth J. Eldredge, Stephen P. Van Aken
  • Patent number: 7877564
    Abstract: A method and system for storing and retrieving data using flash memory devices. One example system includes an apparatus within a flash memory configuration. The flash memory configuration includes a plurality of memory cells, where each memory cell has a charge storage capacity for use in implementing digital storage. The apparatus includes a processing arrangement configured to access each of the memory cells in a write operation and a read operation. The apparatus also includes an instruction set for instructing the processor to impose target charge levels for defining a plurality of data values for each of the memory cells. The target charge levels are programmably movable with respect to the charge storage capacity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2011
    Assignee: Benhov GmbH, LLC
    Inventors: Kenneth J. Eldredge, Stephen P. Van Aken
  • Publication number: 20090241006
    Abstract: A system uses multi-level encoding where each symbol of a plurality of symbols represents more than one bit of information in a user data symbol stream for transfer using a multilevel transmission channel. The user data symbols are represented in a digital bitwise form such that each symbol is presented as a plurality of bits and each bit is subject to a different probability of error. An error correction procedure is applied based on the different error probability that is associated with each bit in the plurality. The channel can be configured to support a mosaic tile structure, each tile containing a channel symbol such that a selected tile has a collective error probability that is different from other tiles. Customized coding can be applied to the tile structure to allocate a selected amount of error correction power to the selected tile based on an overall available correction power.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 13, 2009
    Publication date: September 24, 2009
    Inventors: Bruce A. Liikanen, Stephen P. Van Aken, Gerald L. Cadloni, John L. Seabury, Robert B. Eisenhuth
  • Publication number: 20080162791
    Abstract: A method and system for storing and retrieving data using flash memory devices. One example system includes an apparatus within a flash memory configuration. The flash memory configuration includes a plurality of memory cells, where each memory cell has a charge storage capacity for use in implementing digital storage. The apparatus includes a processing arrangement configured to access each of the memory cells in a write operation and a read operation. The apparatus also includes an instruction set for instructing the processor to impose target charge levels for defining a plurality of data values for each of the memory cells. The target charge levels are programmably movable with respect to the charge storage capacity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 6, 2007
    Publication date: July 3, 2008
    Inventors: Kenneth J. Eldredge, Stephen P. Van Aken