Patents by Inventor Timothy B. Cowles

Timothy B. Cowles 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: 20240127878
    Abstract: Memory devices and methods of operating memory devices in which refresh management operations can be scheduled on an as-needed basis for those memory portions where activity (e.g., activations in excess of a predetermined threshold) warrants a refresh management operation are disclosed. In one embodiment, an apparatus comprises a memory including a memory location, and circuitry configured to determine a count corresponding to a number of activations at the memory location, to schedule a refresh management operation for the memory location in response to the count exceeding a first predetermined threshold, and to decrease the count by an amount corresponding to the first predetermined threshold in response to executing the scheduled refresh management operation. The circuitry may be further configured to disallow, in response to determining that the count has reached a maximum permitted value, further activations at the memory location until after the count has been decreased.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 27, 2023
    Publication date: April 18, 2024
    Inventors: Timothy B. Cowles, Dean D. Gans, Jiyun Li, Nathaniel J. Meier, Randall J. Rooney
  • Publication number: 20240062798
    Abstract: An apparatus may include a refresh control circuit with multiple timing circuits. The timing circuits may be used to control steal rates, e.g., the rate of refresh time slots dedicated to healing victim word lines of row hammers. The timing circuits may be controlled to allow independent adjustment of the steal rates for different victim word lines. Thus, different victim word lines may be refreshed at different rates and the different rates may be independent of one another.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 14, 2023
    Publication date: February 22, 2024
    Inventors: Timothy B. Cowles, Jiyun Li, Beau D. Barry, Matthew D. Jenkinson, Nathaniel J. Meier, Michael A. Shore, Adam J. Grenzebach, Dennis G. Montierth
  • Patent number: 11900983
    Abstract: Provided herein are memory devices, systems including memory devices, and methods of operating memory devices in which multiple counters are provided to permit memory refresh commands greater freedom in targeting subsets of the memory device for data refresh operations. In one embodiment, a memory device is provided, comprising a plurality of memory banks, and circuitry configured to (i) store a plurality of values, each of the plurality of values corresponding to one of the plurality of memory banks; (ii) refresh first data stored in a first one of the plurality of memory banks; and (iii) update a first one of the plurality of values corresponding to the first one of the plurality of memory banks based at least in part on refreshing the first data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Inventors: George B. Raad, Jonathan S. Parry, James S. Rehmeyer, Timothy B. Cowles
  • Patent number: 11810610
    Abstract: Memory devices and methods of operating memory devices in which refresh management operations can be scheduled on an as-needed basis for those memory portions where activity (e.g., activations in excess of a predetermined threshold) warrants a refresh management operation are disclosed. In one embodiment, an apparatus comprises a memory including a memory location, and circuitry configured to determine a count corresponding to a number of activations at the memory location, to schedule a refresh management operation for the memory location in response to the count exceeding a first predetermined threshold, and to decrease the count by an amount corresponding to the first predetermined threshold in response to executing the scheduled refresh management operation. The circuitry may be further configured to disallow, in response to determining that the count has reached a maximum permitted value, further activations at the memory location until after the count has been decreased.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Inventors: Timothy B. Cowles, Dean D. Gans, Jiyun Li, Nathaniel J. Meier, Randall J. Rooney
  • Patent number: 11798610
    Abstract: An apparatus may include a refresh control circuit with multiple timing circuits. The timing circuits may be used to control steal rates, e.g., the rate of refresh time slots dedicated to healing victim word lines of row hammers. The timing circuits may be controlled to allow independent adjustment of the steal rates for different victim word lines. Thus, different victim word lines may be refreshed at different rates and the different rates may be independent of one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Inventors: Timothy B. Cowles, Jiyun Li, Beau D. Barry, Matthew D. Jenkinson, Nathaniel J. Meier, Michael A. Shore, Adam J. Grenzebach, Dennis G. Montierth
  • Patent number: 11769561
    Abstract: Memory devices, systems including memory devices, and methods of operating memory devices and systems are provided, in which at least a subset of a non-volatile memory array is configured to behave as read-only memory by not implementing erase or write commands. In one embodiment of the present technology, a memory device is provided, comprising a non-volatile memory array, and circuitry configured to store one or more addresses of the non-volatile memory array, to compare an address of a received command to the one or more addresses, and at least in part based on the comparison, determine not to implement the received command. The circuitry can be further configured to return an error message after determining not to implement the received command.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2023
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy B. Cowles, George B. Raad, James S. Rehmeyer, Jonathan S. Parry
  • Patent number: 11742028
    Abstract: Memory devices, systems including memory devices, and methods of operating memory devices and systems are provided, in which at least a subset of a non-volatile memory array is configured to behave as a volatile memory by erasing or degrading data in the event of a changed power condition such as a power-loss event, a power-off event, or a power-on event. In one embodiment of the present technology, a memory device is provided, comprising a non-volatile memory array, and circuitry configured to store one or more addresses of the non-volatile memory array, to detect a changed power condition of the memory device, and to erase or degrade data at the one or more addresses in response to detecting the changed power condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy B. Cowles, George B. Raad, James S. Rehmeyer, Jonathan S. Parry
  • Publication number: 20230087329
    Abstract: Memory devices, systems including memory devices, and methods of operating memory devices and systems are provided, in which at least a subset of a non-volatile memory array is configured to behave as a volatile memory by erasing or degrading data in the event of a changed power condition such as a power-loss event, a power-off event, or a power-on event. In one embodiment of the present technology, a memory device is provided, comprising a non-volatile memory array, and circuitry configured to store one or more addresses of the non-volatile memory array, to detect a changed power condition of the memory device, and to erase or degrade data at the one or more addresses in response to detecting the changed power condition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 7, 2022
    Publication date: March 23, 2023
    Inventors: Timothy B. Cowles, George B. Raad, James S. Rehmeyer, Jonathan S. Parry
  • Patent number: 11495299
    Abstract: Memory devices, systems including memory devices, and methods of operating memory devices and systems are provided, in which at least a subset of a non-volatile memory array is configured to behave as a volatile memory by erasing or degrading data in the event of a changed power condition such as a power-loss event, a power-off event, or a power-on event. In one embodiment of the present technology, a memory device is provided, comprising a non-volatile memory array, and circuitry configured to store one or more addresses of the non-volatile memory array, to detect a changed power condition of the memory device, and to erase or degrade data at the one or more addresses in response to detecting the changed power condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy B. Cowles, George B. Raad, James S. Rehmeyer, Jonathan S. Parry
  • Patent number: 11393543
    Abstract: Memory devices, system, and methods for operating the same are provided. The memory device can comprise a non-volatile memory array and control circuitry. The control circuitry can be configured to store a value corresponding to a number of activate commands received at the memory device, update the value in response to receiving an activate command received from a host device, and trigger, in response to the value exceeding a predetermined threshold, a remedial action performed by the memory device. The control circuitry can be further configured to store a second value corresponding to a number of refresh operations performed by the memory device, update the second value in response to performing a refresh operation, and trigger, in response to the value exceeding a second predetermined threshold, a second remedial action performed by the memory device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2022
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Jonathan S. Parry, George B. Raad, James S. Rehmeyer, Timothy B. Cowles
  • Patent number: 11341038
    Abstract: The present disclosure includes apparatuses and methods related to data movement operations in non-volatile memory. An example apparatus can comprise an array of non-volatile memory cells including a plurality of sections each with a plurality of rows and a controller configured to move data stored in a first portion of the array from a first row of a first section to a second row of the first section and move data stored in a second portion of the array from a second section to the first to create an open row in the second section in response to data from a particular number of portions of memory cells in the first section being moved within the first section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: James S. Rehmeyer, Timothy B. Cowles
  • Publication number: 20210407583
    Abstract: The address of victim rows may be determined based on rows that are accessed in a memory. The victim addresses may be stored and associated with a count for every time a victim row is “victimized.” When the count for a victim row reaches a threshold, the victim row may be refreshed to preserve data stored in the row. After the victim row has been refreshed, the count may be reset. When a victim row is accessed, the count may also be reset. The counts may be adjusted for closer victim rows (e.g., +/?1) at a faster rate than counts for more distant victim rows (e.g., +/?2). This may cause closer victim rows to be refreshed at a higher rate than more distant victim rows.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 9, 2021
    Publication date: December 30, 2021
    Applicant: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Daniel B. Penney, Jason M. Brown, Nathaniel J. Meier, Timothy B. Cowles, Jiyun Li
  • Publication number: 20210358539
    Abstract: Memory devices and methods of operating memory devices in which refresh management operations can be scheduled on an as-needed basis for those memory portions where activity (e.g., activations in excess of a predetermined threshold) warrants a refresh management operation are disclosed. In one embodiment, an apparatus comprises a memory including a memory location, and circuitry configured to determine a count corresponding to a number of activations at the memory location, to schedule a refresh management operation for the memory location in response to the count exceeding a first predetermined threshold, and to decrease the count by an amount corresponding to the first predetermined threshold in response to executing the scheduled refresh management operation. The circuitry may be further configured to disallow, in response to determining that the count has reached a maximum permitted value, further activations at the memory location until after the count has been decreased.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2021
    Publication date: November 18, 2021
    Inventors: Timothy B. Cowles, Dean D. Gans, Jiyun Li, Nathaniel J. Meier, Randall J. Rooney
  • Publication number: 20210335394
    Abstract: A memory device is provided. The memory device comprises a memory array and circuitry configured to determine one or more settings for the memory array corresponding to a powered-on state of the memory device, to store the one or more settings in a non-volatile memory location, and in response to returning to the powered-on state from a reduced-power state, to read the one or more settings from the non-volatile memory location.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 9, 2021
    Publication date: October 28, 2021
    Inventors: Jonathan S. Parry, George B. Raad, James S. Rehmeyer, Timothy B. Cowles
  • Patent number: 11158364
    Abstract: The address of victim rows may be determined based on rows that are accessed in a memory. The victim addresses may be stored and associated with a count for every time a victim row is “victimized.” When the count for a victim row reaches a threshold, the victim row may be refreshed to preserve data stored in the row. After the victim row has been refreshed, the count may be reset. When a victim row is accessed, the count may also be reset. The counts may be adjusted for closer victim rows (e.g., +/?1) at a faster rate than counts for more distant victim rows (e.g., +/?2). This may cause closer victim rows to be refreshed at a higher rate than more distant victim rows.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Daniel B. Penney, Jason M. Brown, Nathaniel J. Meier, Timothy B. Cowles, Jiyun Li
  • Publication number: 20210304813
    Abstract: An apparatus may include a refresh control circuit with multiple timing circuits. The timing circuits may be used to control steal rates, e.g., the rate of refresh time slots dedicated to healing victim word lines of row hammers. The timing circuits may be controlled to allow independent adjustment of the steal rates for different victim word lines. Thus, different victim word lines may be refreshed at different rates and the different rates may be independent of one another.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 15, 2021
    Publication date: September 30, 2021
    Applicant: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy B. Cowles, Jiyun Li, Beau D. Barry, Matthew D. Jenkinson, Nathaniel J. Meier, Michael A. Shore, Adam J. Grenzebach, Dennis G. Montierth
  • Publication number: 20210295880
    Abstract: Memory devices, systems including memory devices, and methods of operating memory devices and systems are provided, in which at least a subset of a non-volatile memory array is configured to behave as a volatile memory by erasing or degrading data in the event of a changed power condition such as a power-loss event, a power-off event, or a power-on event. In one embodiment of the present technology, a memory device is provided, comprising a non-volatile memory array, and circuitry configured to store one or more addresses of the non-volatile memory array, to detect a changed power condition of the memory device, and to erase or degrade data at the one or more addresses in response to detecting the changed power condition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2021
    Publication date: September 23, 2021
    Inventors: Timothy B. Cowles, George B. Raad, James S. Rehmeyer, Jonathan S. Parry
  • Patent number: 11107549
    Abstract: A volatile memory device is configured to self-document by identifying its own bad or at-risk excludable memory locations in a nonvolatile identification embedded in itself, without using additional board real estate. The identification of bad or at-risk memory is readable by firmware outside the device. The device includes volatile memory cells that have respective failure susceptibility values, some of which indicate bad or at-risk memory cells. The memory device also includes read logic and write logic, and may include refresh logic. The identification may be embedded in the device by blowing fuses in an adaptation of self-repair activity, or by writing identification data into a serial presence detect logic, for example. The configured memory device may efficiently, persistently, and reliably provide detailed memory test results regarding itself, thereby allowing customers to accept and safely use memory that would otherwise have been discarded to prevent software crashes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2021
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Timothy B. Cowles, Terry M. Grunzke
  • Publication number: 20210264971
    Abstract: Provided herein are memory devices, systems including memory devices, and methods of operating memory devices in which multiple counters are provided to permit memory refresh commands greater freedom in targeting subsets of the memory device for data refresh operations. In one embodiment, a memory device is provided, comprising a plurality of memory banks, and circuitry configured to (i) store a plurality of values, each of the plurality of values corresponding to one of the plurality of memory banks; (ii) refresh first data stored in a first one of the plurality of memory banks; and (iii) update a first one of the plurality of values corresponding to the first one of the plurality of memory banks based at least in part on refreshing the first data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 10, 2021
    Publication date: August 26, 2021
    Inventors: George B. Raad, Jonathan S. Parry, James S. Rehmeyer, Timothy B. Cowles
  • Patent number: 11087819
    Abstract: Memory devices and methods of operating memory devices in which refresh management operations can be scheduled on an as-needed basis for those memory portions where activity (e.g., activations in excess of a predetermined threshold) warrants a refresh management operation are disclosed. In one embodiment, an apparatus comprises a memory including a memory location, and circuitry configured to determine a count corresponding to a number of activations at the memory location, to schedule a refresh management operation for the memory location in response to the count exceeding a first predetermined threshold, and to decrease the count by an amount corresponding to the first predetermined threshold in response to executing the scheduled refresh management operation. The circuitry may be further configured to disallow, in response to determining that the count has reached a maximum permitted value, further activations at the memory location until after the count has been decreased.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2021
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy B. Cowles, Dean D. Gans, Jiyun Li, Nathaniel J. Meier, Randall J. Rooney