Patent ID: 11972819
Assignee: SANDISK TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 7:
8. The non-volatile storage apparatus of claim 1, wherein:
the plurality of non-volatile memory cells are arranged as NAND strings to form a block having three sub-blocks, each NAND string includes memory cells in each of the three sub-blocks;
the three sub-blocks include a top sub-block at a top end of the NAND strings, a bottom sub-block at a bottom end of the NAND strings and middle sub-block between the top sub-block and the bottom sub-block; and
the selected word line is connected to memory cells only in the middle sub-block; and
the control circuit is configured to pre-charge unselected NAND strings from the bottom end of the unselected NAND strings when programming memory cells in the bottom sub-block.