Patent ID: 8472266

Claim:
A method of operating non-volatile storage, the non-volatile storage including a plurality of strings of series connected non-volatile storage elements, the method comprising: applying a compare voltage to a selected word line, the selected word line is coupled to a selected non-volatile storage element on a first of the plurality of strings; applying a first pass voltage to a first unselected word line adjacent to the selected word line while applying the compare voltage to the selected word line, the first unselected word line is coupled to a first unselected non-volatile storage element on the first string; applying a second pass voltage to a second unselected word line adjacent to the first unselected word line while applying the compare voltage to the selected word line and the first pass voltage to the first unselected word line, the second unselected word line is coupled to a second unselected non-volatile storage element on the first string, the second pass voltage is greater than the first pass voltage and applying the first pass voltage to a third unselected word line adjacent to the second unselected word line while applying the compare voltage to the selected word line, while applying the first pass voltage to the first unselected word line, and while applying the second pass voltage to the second unselected word line, the third unselected word line is coupled to a third unselected non-volatile storage element on the string.