Patent ID: 11947837
Assignee: KIOXIA CORPORATION
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 0:
1. A memory system connectable to a host, comprising:
a nonvolatile memory including a plurality of blocks, each of the plurality of blocks being a unit for a data erase operation and including a plurality of word lines, each of the plurality of word lines connecting a plurality of memory cells; and
a controller electrically connected to the nonvolatile memory and configured to write data to the nonvolatile memory using a multi-step program operation that includes at least a first-step program operation and a second-step program operation; wherein
the controller is configured to:
receive, from the host, a first write request that includes storage location information indicating a first location of a write buffer on a memory of the host as a transfer source of first data;
at a first timing, in response to the first write request, transfer the first data from the first location of the write buffer of the host to the nonvolatile memory by transmitting a transfer request to the host, the transfer request including the storage location information that indicates the first location of the write buffer on the memory of the host;
at a second timing after the first timing, program the first data into the plurality of memory cells connected to a first word line of a write destination block by the first-step program operation;
at a third timing after the second timing, transfer second data from the write buffer of the host to the nonvolatile memory;
at a fourth timing after the third timing, program the second data into the plurality of memory cells connected to a second word line of the write destination block by the first-step program operation, the second word line being different from the first word line;
at a fifth timing after the fourth timing, without receiving the first write request again, transfer the first data again from the first location of the write buffer of the host to the nonvolatile memory by transmitting, to the host again, the transfer request including the storage location information that indicates the first location of the write buffer on the memory of the host; and
at a sixth timing after the fifth timing, program the first data into the plurality of memory cells connected to the first word line of the write destination block by the second-step program operation.