A write-reducing and error-correcting code generation method for non-volatile memories

Abstract

Data stored in non-volatile memories may be destructed due to crosstalk and radiation but we can restore their data by using error-correcting codes. However, non-volatile memories consume a large amount of energy in writing. How to reduce writing bits even using error-correcting codes is one of the challenges in non-volatile memory design. In this paper, we propose a new write-reducing and error-correcting code, called Doughnut code. Doughnut code is based on state encoding limiting maximum and minimum Hamming distances. After that, we propose a code expansion method, which improves minimum and maximum Hamming distances by expanding a write-reducing code. When we apply our code expansion method to Doughnut code, we can obtain a write-reducing code whose error-correcting ability is equal to Hamming code. Experimental results show that the proposed write-reducing code reduces the number of writing bits by up to 36% compared to Hamming code.