{
  "patent_number": "US 10019188",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How NAND Flash Memory Adjusts to Cold Temperatures",
  "original_title": "Storage devices, memory systems and operating methods to suppress operating errors due to variations in environmental conditions",
  "summary": "This patent describes a method for NAND flash memory systems to prevent errors by automatically adjusting their operating conditions, like data speed or voltage, when the temperature drops too low.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent describes a method for a NAND flash memory system to adapt its operations when it gets cold. Specifically, if a temperature sensing device detects the memory system's temperature drops below a first threshold, a clock control unit adjusts an operating condition (Claim 1). For example, it decreases the data input/output (I/O) speed from a first speed to a second, slower speed (Claim 1). If the temperature drops even further below a second, colder threshold, the data I/O speed can be decreased again (Claim 2). The system can also increase the read voltage level (Claim 4) or the drive strength (Claim 7) when temperatures fall, to ensure data is read correctly and reliably. Conversely, if the temperature rises back above a threshold, the system can revert these adjustments, increasing the data I/O speed or decreasing the read voltage/drive strength (Claim 3, 6, 9).",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover memory systems that are not NAND flash memory.",
    "Does not cover adjusting memory operations when temperature *increases*, unless it's reverting a previous adjustment made for cold conditions.",
    "Does not cover adjusting operating conditions other than data I/O speed, read voltage level, or drive strength.",
    "Does not cover memory systems that *increase* data I/O speed when the temperature *decreases*.",
    "Does not cover systems that only adjust for *high* temperatures, such as reducing performance to prevent overheating."
  ],
  "filed": "2016-02-05",
  "granted": "2018-07-10",
  "expires": "2036-02-05",
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Samsung Electronics Co",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/samsung-electronics-co",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "HanShin SHIN",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/hanshin-shin"
    },
    {
      "name": "Woonjae Chung",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/woonjae-chung"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 5,
  "tags": [
    "consumer_electronics",
    "semiconductors",
    "telecommunications",
    "automotive",
    "software"
  ],
  "abstract": "In a method for operating a NAND flash memory system, a temperature sensing device detects a decrease in temperature of the NAND flash memory system below a first threshold temperature level, and a clock control unit adjusts an operating condition for a memory access operation in response to detecting the decrease in the temperature below the first threshold temperature level.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/10019188/storage-devices-memory-systems-and-operating-methods-to-suppress-operating-error",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/10019188/storage-devices-memory-systems-and-operating-methods-to-suppress-operating-error/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US10019188",
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}