The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 13, 1996
Filed:
Jan. 05, 1993
Applicant:
Inventors:
Assignee:
Texas Instruments Incorporated, Dallas, TX (US);
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G06F / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
395430 ; 3642446 ; 3642467 ; 3642493 ; 3649543 ; 36496576 ; 36496579 ; 364969 ; 364D / ; 364D / ; 365218 ;
Abstract
A method for erasing blocks of a non-volatile memory includes detecting whether a block is in at least one of an erased state or a state secured from erasure; then setting a flag register at a first level for each block detected to be in at least one of an erased state or a state secured from erasure or at a second level for each block not so detected; then selecting for erasure blocks that have their respective flags set at the second level; and then erasing the selected blocks.