DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 are presented for examination.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Drawings
The drawings were received on 3/3/25. These drawings are acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2017/204876 to SanDisk.
As per claim 1 SanDisk substantially teaches the claimed method (Fig 5 and Fig 6) comprising: receiving a command to perform a write operation to write a first set of values (Paragraph [51] user data to be written to memory); writing, based on the command, the first set of values to a first data chunk of a non-volatile memory device (Fig 6 step 605 write data to user data columns); writing, further based on the command, a second set of values to a second data chunk of the non-volatile memory device (Fig 5 step 545 write to screening pattern columns); after writing the second set of values, receiving a health check command (Paragraph [67-68] threshold count or hot count information); based on receiving the health check command, performing a read operation to read the data from the second data chunk (Figure 6 element 610 read screen columns); comparing, by the non-volatile memory device, the second set of values and the data read from the second data chunk (Figure 6 step 620 pattern match); determining, based on the comparing, a mismatch between the second set of values and the particular data read from the second data chunk (Figure 6 element 620 with a No output); and outputting, by the non-volatile memory device (flash) and to a controller of a storage device ( Fig 1 element 110) that includes the non-volatile memory device, a health indication of the non-volatile memory device based on determining the mismatch between the second set of values and the data read from the second data chunk (Figure 5 element 555 and 560 and paragraphs [74-75] if the patterns do not match label memory as failed) .
Although SanDisk does not explicitly mention a health check command there are multiple items in this document that track the “health” of the device such as described in paragraphs [65-66] pertaining to the hot counts and threshold counts:
[65] In an optional operation 520, the hot count for the selected memory block 102D is compared to a threshold count. The threshold count is a factory set number of write cycles in the projected service life of the selected memory block. If the hot count for the selected memory block 102D exceeds the threshold count then the method operations continue in an operation 525. If the hot count for the selected memory block 102D does not exceed the threshold count then the method operations continue in an operation 540.
[66] In operation 525, the memory controller 110 is notified that the selected memory block 102D has exceeded the threshold count. The memory verification logic 112 can use the hot count information for the selected memory block to determine what actions to take in an operation 530. If the memory verification logic 112 includes a setting that the selected memory block is not to be used if the hot count exceeds the threshold, then the method operations continue in an operation 535. In operation 535, an alternative memory block (e.g., memory block 102B) is selected and the method operations begin at operation 515 as described above.
Further the description in paragraph [82] states:
[82] It should also be understood that the write loop count can include more than just the number of write loops. By way of example the write loop count can include waveforms, powers, currents, voltages and timing of each one of the write loops. It should also be understood that each of the number of write loops, waveforms, powers, currents, voltages and timing can be used as identifiers of a degraded operation of a memory block or memory cell in substantially similar way as the number of write loops can be used. In a simplified example implementation, the number of write loops can remain constant and the voltages of each of the write loops can be increased to achieve an effective write function. When the voltage of the write loop exceeds a preselected threshold the corresponding memory cell or memory block can be identified as being degraded and in need of testing before or during use or if the voltage of the write loops exceed a selected threshold, the corresponding memory block or memory cells can be identified by the memory controller as being faulty and blocked from further use. In a similar manner the waveforms, powers, currents and timing of the write loops can be used. In one or more implementations combinations of more than one of the number of write loops, waveforms, powers, currents, voltages and timing can be used as indicators of a good condition or a degraded condition or a faulty condition of the corresponding memory block or memory cells.
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing of the present application would have been aware that these other items are also monitoring the health of the device by detecting degraded or faulty condition of a device. As such the motivation to use these alternate means of detecting degraded or faulty conditions would be for the reason of keeping the memory device functional.
Claim 9 is the corresponding device claim and is rejected for the reasons above.
Claim 17 is the corresponding computer readable medium and is also rejected for the reasons above.
As per claims 2, 10 and 18, SanDisk further teaches the storage device includes a solid state drive (SSD) that includes the controller, wherein comparing the comparing second set of values and the data read from the second data chunk of the non-volatile memory device comprises comparing the second set of values and the data without using the controller (Paragraph [35] Fig 1 element 108).
As per claims 3, 11 and 19 SanDisk teaches the controller outputs a plurality of health check commands based on at least one of: a periodic interval, a change in temperature of the non-volatile memory device, or a quantity of program/erase cycles associated with the non-volatile memory device (Paragraph [90]).
As per claims 4, 12, and 20 SanDisk teaches the second data chunk comprises a physical location, of the non-volatile memory device, that is first written when a first write operation is performed on the non-volatile memory device with respect to a sequential order of performing write operations on the non-volatile memory device (figure 5 element 545).
As per claim 5 and 13, SanDisk teaches determining whether the mismatch, between the second set of values and the data read from the second data chunk of the non-volatile memory device, exceeds a mismatch threshold, wherein outputting the health indication includes outputting an indication of whether the measure of variance, between the second set of values and the data read from the second data chunk of the non-volatile memory device, exceeds the mismatch threshold (Paragraphs [87-88]).
As per claims 6 and 14, SanDisk teaches the second data chunk comprises a first page of a first wordline of a block of a plurality of blocks of the non-volatile memory device (Figure 3 Paragraphs [45-50]).
As per claims 7 and 16 SanDisk teaches the first set of values includes user data, wherein the second set of values include a predetermined data pattern, and wherein the second set of values is not included in the command to write the first set of values (Figure 1 element 114’, Paragraphs [35-36]).
As per claim 8, SanDisk teaches the first data chunk and the second data chunk are included on a block, and wherein the method further comprises: ranking the non-volatile memory device based on the health indication (Figure 7, Paragraphs [87-88]).
As per claim 15, SanDisk teaches the first set of values includes user data (Figure 6 element 605).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2016/0342494 to Yang et al. teaches determining a health of a block of memory by: programming a dummy wordline with a known data pattern. The dummy wordline acts as a buffer for normal wordlines. Reading from the dummy wordline, and comparing the read out with the known data pattern, and determining whether any errors between read out and the known data pattern exceed a threshold; and adjusting read parameters based on the errors.
US 2016/0103630 to Shen teaches receiving a request to perform a memory operation; responsive to the request, identifying a particular health indicator of multiple health indicators based on a value of the particular health indicator, each health indicator corresponds to a different region of the memory and is generated based on a health scheme applied based on a life stage of the memory; and initiating the memory operation to be performed at a region of the memory that corresponds to the particular health indicator.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CYNTHIA H BRITT whose telephone number is (571)272-3815. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 8-5.
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CYNTHIA H. BRITT
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2111
/CYNTHIA BRITT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2111
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