PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 15915129
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-03
Publication Date: 2018-07
Patent Classification: ["365", "185180"]

Abstract:
A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device according to one embodiment of the present invention includes: a memory cell array and a control circuit. The control circuit executes a first reading operation and a second reading operation. The first reading operation is an operation of reading a threshold voltage set in the selected memory cell by setting a voltage between a control gate electrode and source of the selected memory cell to a first value. The second reading operation is an operation of reading a threshold voltage set in the selected memory cell by setting a voltage between the control gate electrode and source of the selected memory cell to a second value lower than the first value. When executing the second reading operation, the control circuit keeps a voltage of the control gate electrode of the selected memory cell to 0 or a positive value.

Claim (Index 17):
17  A method of performing a reading operation in a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, the nonvolatile semiconductor memory device including a memory cell array which comprises: a memory string having a plurality of memory cells connected in series therein, each of the memory cells being configured capable of having therein a first threshold voltage distribution, a second threshold voltage distribution, a third threshold voltage distribution and a fourth threshold voltage distribution that have values ascending in an order of the first, second, third and fourth threshold voltage distributions; a first select transistor connected to one end of the memory string; a second select transistor connected to the other end of the memory string; a bit line connected to the memory string via the first select transistor; a source line connected to the memory string via the second select transistor; and a word line connected to a control gate electrode of each of the memory cells, the method of performing a reading operation being configured to apply the control gate electrode of a first memory cell of the memory cells selected in the memory string with a reading voltage to determine whether the first memory cell is conductive or not, and to apply the control gate electrode of a second memory cell other than the first memory cell in the memory string with a reading pass voltage to render the second memory cell conductive regardless of data stored in the second memory cell, the method comprising:\n performing a first reading operation and a second reading operation that each includes a first determination, a second determination, and a third determination, under setting conditions such that, in any of cases of the first determination, the second determination, and the third determination, a voltage of the control gate electrode relative to a voltage of a source of the first memory cell is smaller during the second reading operation than during the first reading operation, the first determination determining whether a threshold voltage of the first memory cell is in a range within the second threshold voltage distribution and over the second threshold voltage distribution, the second determination determining whether the threshold voltage of the first memory cell is in a range within the third threshold voltage distribution and over the third threshold voltage distribution, and the third determination determining whether the threshold voltage of the first memory cell is in a range within the fourth threshold voltage distribution and over the fourth threshold voltage distribution, \n the performing the second reading operation including applying the source line with the same positive voltage in the first determination, the second determination, and the third determination.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 51.0
- Percentile: 90.0
- Lexical Diversity: 2.96078
- Patent Class: 365.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: True
- Related Applications: ['15598554', '14088744', '15263518', '13749029', '13246004']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.8481357614856463
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.5319886421909871
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.8165210495561803
- Mean Citation Score: 386.615656
- Max Citation Score: 387.90625
- Similarity Product: 332.68559182435274

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 1
- Claim Label 103: 1
- Claim Label 112: 1
- Combined Label: 1
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test