Patent ID: 8233324

Claim:
A method for operating non-volatile storage that includes a plurality of NAND strings of non-volatile storage elements, the method comprising: causing a first voltage difference across a first NAND string of the plurality of NAND strings, the first NAND string includes a first non-volatile storage element; causing a second voltage difference across a second NAND string of the plurality of NAND strings that include a second non-volatile storage element, the second voltage difference is different from the first voltage difference, the second voltage difference is caused at the same time that the first voltage difference is caused; applying a read voltage to a word line that is associated with the first non-volatile storage element and the second non-volatile storage element while causing the first and second voltage differences; sensing a first condition of the first non-volatile storage element in response to the first voltage difference and read voltage to determine whether the threshold voltage of the first non-volatile storage element is above or below a first reference voltage; and sensing a second condition of the second non-volatile storage element in response to the second voltage difference and read voltage to determine whether the threshold voltage of the second non-volatile storage element is above or below a second reference voltage.