| CPC G11C 16/26 (2013.01) [G11C 16/3404 (2013.01)] | 20 Claims |

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1. A memory system comprising:
a controller configured to generate a read request; and
a memory device including:
at least one memory cell including a plurality of pages configured to store multiple data items; and
a pattern counter configured to:
receive, from the memory cell, a read data item, among the multiple data items, corresponding to the read request;
count, from the read data item, the number of cells reading as a particular value in multiple voltage level regions corresponding to multiple patterns for multiple pages among the plurality of pages, to generate count information; and
provide the count information to the controller,
wherein the controller is configured to:
receive the count information from the pattern counter;
identify a voltage level region with the least number of cells, among the multiple voltage level regions, based on the count information;
determine an optimal read threshold voltage based on the identified voltage level region; and
control the memory device to perform a next read operation by using the optimal read threshold voltage.
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