US-12620440-B2 - Storage device and method of operating the same

Abstract

A storage device includes a nonvolatile storage area including a plurality of backup memory blocks each including a plurality of memory cells respectively connected to a plurality of word lines, and a controller configured to control the nonvolatile storage area to determine a target memory block in which data is to be stored among the plurality of backup memory blocks, determine a reference word line among the plurality of word lines coupled to the target memory block, and perform a pre-conditioning operation of programming dummy data to memory cells connected to at least one of remaining word lines except for the reference word line among the plurality of word lines coupled to the target memory block.

Inventors

• Seung Han RYU
• Sung Geun Kang
• Hyeong Rak Kim

Assignees

• SK Hynix Inc.

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20230811

Priority Date

20230220

Claims (18)

1. 1 . A storage device comprising: a nonvolatile storage area including a plurality of backup memory blocks each including a plurality of memory cells respectively connected to a plurality of word lines; and a controller configured to: control the nonvolatile storage area to determine a target memory block in which data is to be stored among the plurality of backup memory blocks, determine a reference word line among the plurality of word lines coupled to the target memory block, and perform a pre-conditioning operation of programming dummy data to memory cells connected to at least one of remaining word lines except for the reference word line among the plurality of word lines coupled to the target memory block.
2. 2 . The storage device of claim 1 , wherein the memory cells are single level cells (SLCs).
3. 3 . The storage device of claim 2 , wherein the controller comprises: a pre-condition information storage configured to store pre-condition information received from the nonvolatile storage area; a backup block controller configured to determine word lines, on which the pre-conditioning operation is to be performed among the plurality of word lines coupled to the target memory block, and configured to control the nonvolatile storage area to perform the pre-conditioning operation on the determined word lines; and a power loss protection (PLP) operation controller configured to control the nonvolatile storage area to perform a dump operation on memory cells connected to the reference word line and word lines included between a drain select line and the reference word line in response to a sudden power off.
4. 4 . The storage device of claim 3 , wherein the backup block controller is further configured to determine the target memory block in an order of addresses of the plurality of backup memory blocks whenever power of the storage device is turned on.
5. 5 . The storage device of claim 3 , wherein the pre-condition information includes: address information including block address information of the backup memory blocks and information of reference word lines corresponding to the respective backup memory blocks, and dummy data information representing the dummy data having a size of a page within each of the backup memory blocks.
6. 6 . The storage device of claim 3 , wherein the backup block controller determines, as a target of the pre-conditioning operation, word lines included between a source select line and the reference word line among the plurality of word lines coupled to the target memory block.
7. 7 . The storage device of claim 3 , wherein the backup block controller determines, as a target of the pre-conditioning operation, a word line positioned close to a source select line and adjacent to the reference word line among the plurality of word lines coupled to the target memory block.
8. 8 . The storage device of claim 3 , wherein the controller controls the nonvolatile storage area to perform the pre-conditioning operation on a word line positioned close to a source select line among word lines adjacent to the reference word line.
9. 9 . The storage device of claim 8 , wherein the pre-conditioning operation is an operation of increasing a threshold voltage of all memory cells connected to the word line positioned close to the source select line.
10. 10 . The storage device of claim 1 , wherein the controller performs the pre-conditioning operation during a booting process of the storage device.
11. 11 . The storage device of claim 10 , wherein the pre-conditioning operation is a background operation.
12. 12 . The storage device of claim 1 , wherein the reference word line is a word line requiring lowest power to program data to the memory cells coupled thereto, among the plurality of word lines coupled to the target memory block.
13. 13 . A storage device comprising: a nonvolatile backup memory block including memory cells connected to each of a plurality of word lines; and a controller configured to perform, in response to a sudden power off, a dump operation on the memory cells connected to one of first and second word line groups divided with reference to a reference word line requiring lowest power to program data to the memory cells coupled thereto, among the plurality of word lines, wherein the dump operation stores the data from a volatile storage area into the memory cells of the nonvolatile backup memory block; and wherein the first and second word line groups correspond to word lines positioned below and above the reference word line, respectively.
14. 14 . The storage device of claim 13 , wherein the one of the first and second word line groups includes word lines between the reference word line and a drain select line.
15. 15 . The storage device of claim 14 , wherein the controller is further configured to perform an erase operation on the backup memory block when power of the storage device is recovered after performing the dump operation.
16. 16 . A method of operating a controller, the method comprising: receiving pre-condition information; determining, based on the pre-condition information, a target memory block on which a dump operation is to be performed; performing a pre-conditioning operation on memory cells connected to word lines included between a source select line and a reference word line among word lines coupled to the target memory block; and performing, in response to a sudden power off, the dump operation on memory cells connected to word lines included between a drain select line and the reference word line among the word lines coupled to the target memory block.
17. 17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the pre-conditioning operation is performed during a booting process of a storage device.
18. 18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the pre-conditioning operation is an operation of programming dummy data to the memory cells connected to the word lines included between the source select line and the reference word line.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) to Korean patent application number 10-2023-0022287 filed on Feb. 20, 2023, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. BACKGROUND 1. Field of Invention Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an electronic device, and more particularly, to a storage device and a method of operating the same. 2. Description of Related Art A storage device is a device that stores data under control of a host device such as a computer or a smartphone. A storage device may include a memory device storing data and a memory controller controlling the memory device. The memory device may be classified into a volatile memory device and a nonvolatile memory device. The volatile memory device may be a device that stores data only when power is supplied and loses the stored data when the power supply is cut off. The volatile memory device may include a static random access memory (SRAM), a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and the like. The nonvolatile memory device is a device that does not lose data even though power is cut off. The nonvolatile memory device includes a read only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable and programmable ROM (EEPROM), a flash memory, and the like. When power input to the storage device is cut off, the memory controller is required to store data stored in the volatile memory device in the nonvolatile memory device. Additionally, when the power input to the storage device is cut off, the memory controller is required to store data in the nonvolatile memory device using limited auxiliary power. Therefore, when the power required in a process of storing data in the nonvolatile memory device is reduced, a capacity of the auxiliary power required for the storage device may be reduced. SUMMARY An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a storage device and a method of operating the same capable of performing a stable dump operation. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a storage device includes a nonvolatile storage area including a plurality of backup memory blocks each including a plurality of memory cells respectively connected to a plurality of word lines, and a controller configured to control the nonvolatile storage area to determine a target memory block in which data is to be stored among the plurality of backup memory blocks, determine a reference word line among the plurality of word lines coupled to the target memory block, and perform a pre-conditioning operation of programming dummy data to memory cells connected to at least one of remaining word lines except for the reference word line among the plurality of word lines coupled to the target memory block. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a storage device includes a nonvolatile backup memory block including memory cells connected to each of a plurality of word lines, and a controller configured to perform, in response to a sudden power off, a dump operation on the memory cells connected to one of first and second word line groups divided with reference to a reference word line requiring lowest power to program data to the memory cells coupled thereto, among the plurality of word lines. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of operating a controller includes receiving pre-condition information, determining, based on the pre-condition information, a target memory block on which a dump operation is to be performed, performing a pre-conditioning operation on memory cells connected to word lines included between a source select line and a reference word line among word lines coupled to the target memory block, and performing, in response to a sudden power off, the dump operation on memory cells connected to word lines included between a drain select line and the reference word line among the word lines coupled to the target memory block. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a storage device includes rows of non-volatile memory cells, the rows being classified into first and second groups with reference to a selected one of the rows; and a controller configured to perform a pre-conditioning operation on one or more rows within the first group, and to perform a dump operation on the second group when a power supply of the storage device is interrupted. The storage device according to the present technology may perform a stable dump operation. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a storage device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a detailed diagram for describing an operation of a controller according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a target memory block determined according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a target memo