Memory Emulation In An Image Capture Device

Abstract

An image capture device using a memory array that is directly addressed and non-volatile is disclosed. The memory array can be used to replace and emulate multiple memory types such as DRAM, SRAM, non-volatile RAM, a non-volatile memory card, and FLASH memory, for example. The memory array may be randomly accessed. Data stored in the memory array is retained in the absence of electrical power. One or more memory arrays may be used in the image capture device. At least one of the memory arrays may be in the form of a removable memory card.

1 . An image capture device, comprising:
 an image capture system operative to capture an image and process the image into image data;   a memory controller;   a processing unit electrically coupled with the image capture system and the memory controller, the processing unit including an operating system (OS) and a file manager, the processing unit electrically coupled with the memory controller via a CPU bus; and   a two-terminal cross-point memory array that is directly accessed, the two-terminal cross-point memory array is electrically coupled with the memory controller and is operative to store data including the image data in a plurality of memory elements (ME's), each ME having exactly two terminals and including an ion reservoir and a tunnel barrier electrically in series with each other and with the two terminals of the ME, and the two-terminal cross-point memory array is operative to replace and emulate both volatile and non-volatile memory and is configured for write operations without a FLASH File System (FFS) and without a FLASH erase operation prior to a write operation,   wherein the OS is configured to coordinate memory I/O functions without FLASH polling loads, without FLASH system loads, and without a FLASH pointer system, and   wherein the file manager is specifically configured to understand a file structure of two-terminal cross-point memory array and to translate data from the two-terminal cross-point memory array to the CPU bus.   
     
     
         2 . The image capture device of  claim 1 , wherein the two-terminal cross-point memory array is randomly accessed. 
     
     
         3 . The image capture device of  claim 1 , wherein the memory controller includes a direct memory access (DMA) channel, and the data is accessed by the DMA channel operating in cooperation with the file manager. 
     
     
         4 . The image capture device of  claim 1 , wherein the two-terminal cross-point memory array is operative to replace and emulate dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and the data is retained in an absence of electrical power. 
     
     
         5 . The image capture device of  claim 4 , wherein the data is retained without a refresh operation to the ME's in the two-terminal cross-point memory array. 
     
     
         6 . The image capture device of  claim 1 , wherein the two-terminal cross-point memory array is operative to replace and emulate static random access memory (SRAM) and the data is retained in an absence of electrical power. 
     
     
         7 . The image capture device of  claim 1 , wherein the two-terminal cross-point memory array is operative to replace and emulate FLASH memory and the data is retained in an absence of electrical power. 
     
     
         8 . The image capture device of  claim 1 , wherein at least one bit of non-volatile data is stored in each ME as a plurality of conductivity profiles that are non-destructively determined by applying a read voltage across the two terminals of the ME, that are retained in an absence of electrical power, and that are reversibly re-written by applying a write voltage across the two terminals of the ME. 
     
     
         9 . The image capture device of  claim 1 , wherein the ion reservoir includes mobile oxygen ions. 
     
     
         10 . The image capture device of  claim 1 , wherein the two-terminal cross-point memory array is operative to replace and emulate a removable non-volatile memory card, the data is retained in an absence of electrical power, and the data is retained when the removable non-volatile memory card is removed from the image capture device. 
     
     
         11 . The image capture device of  claim 1 , wherein the ion reservoir and the tunnel barrier are in contact with each other. 
     
     
         12 . The image capture device of  claim 1 , wherein tunnel barrier includes a thickness that is approximately 50 Angstroms or less. 
     
     
         13 . The image capture device of  claim 1 , wherein the image capture device is a component of a device selected from the group consisting of a cell phone, a digital camera, a computer, a digital video recorder, a game, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a video device, an audio device, and any combination of those devices. 
     
     
         14 . The image capture device of  claim 1 , wherein data operations on the two-terminal cross-point memory array occur at a potential difference that is less than approximately 7 volts. 
     
     
         15 . The image capture device of  claim 1 , wherein the two-terminal cross-point memory array is vertically stacked. 
     
     
         16 . An image capture device comprising:
 an image capture system operative to capture an image and process the image into image data;   a memory controller;   a processing unit electrically coupled with the image capture system and the memory controller, the processing unit including an operating system (OS) and a file manager, the processing unit electrically coupled with the memory controller via a CPU bus; and   a plurality of two-terminal cross-point memory arrays that are directly accessed, the plurality of two-terminal cross-point memory arrays are electrically coupled with the memory controller and are operative to store data including the image data in a plurality of memory elements (ME's), each ME having exactly two terminals and including an ion reservoir and a tunnel barrier electrically in series with each other and with the two terminals of the ME, the plurality of two-terminal cross-point memory arrays are operative to replace and emulate both volatile and non-volatile memory, and the plurality of two-terminal cross-point memory arrays are configured for write operations without a FLASH File System (FFS) and without a FLASH erase operation prior to a write operation,   wherein the OS is configured to coordinate memory I/O functions without FLASH polling loads, without FLASH system loads, and without a FLASH pointer system, and   wherein the file manager is specifically configured to understand a file structure of the plurality of two-terminal cross-point memory arrays and to translate data from the plurality of two-terminal cross-point memory arrays to the CPU bus.   
     
     
         17 . The image capture device of  claim 16 , wherein the memory controller includes a direct memory access (DMA) channel, and the data is accessed by the DMA channel operating in cooperation with the file manager. 
     
     
         18 . The image capture device of  claim 16 , wherein at least one of the plurality of two-terminal cross-point memory arrays is operative to replace and to emulate a memory type selected from the group consisting of dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), non-volatile random access memory (FLASH), a removable non-volatile memory card, and any combination of those memory types. 
     
     
         19 . The image capture device of  claim 18 , wherein the data is retained without a refresh operation to the at least one of the plurality of two-terminal cross-point memory arrays. 
     
     
         20 . The image capture device of  claim 18 , wherein the at least one of the plurality of two-terminal cross-point memory arrays is configured for consecutive write operations. 
     
     
         21 . The image capture device of  claim 16 , wherein the ion reservoir includes mobile oxygen ions. 
     
     
         22 . The image capture device of  claim 16 , wherein at least one bit of non-volatile data is stored in each ME as a plurality of conductivity profiles that are non-destructively determined by applying a read voltage across the two terminals of the ME, that are retained in an absence of electrical power, and that are reversibly re-written by applying a write voltage across the two terminals of the ME. 
     
     
         23 . The image capture device of  claim 16 , wherein data operations to the plurality of two-terminal cross-point memory arrays occur at a potential difference that is less than approximately 7 volts. 
     
     
         24 . The image capture device of  claim 16 , wherein at least one of the plurality of two-terminal cross-point memory arrays is vertically stacked. 
     
     
         25 . The image capture device of  claim 16 , wherein tunnel barrier includes a thickness that is approximately 50 Angstroms or less. 
     
     
         26 . The image capture device of  claim 16 , wherein tunnel barrier and the ion reservoir are in contact with each other.