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:
Apr. 16, 1996
Filed:
Jun. 30, 1993
Mickey L Fandrich, Placerville, CA (US);
Richard J Durante, Citrus Heights, CA (US);
Keith F Underwood, Orangevale, CA (US);
Rodney R Rozman, Placerville, CA (US);
Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A flash memory system includes a user interface and array controller. The user interface receives the user command issued by the processor and has the ability to queue a plurality of commands for execution. The user interface further functions as an arbiter to control the priority of commands to be executed. The array controller performs the operations on the flash array such as program and erase. The array controller consists of a general purpose processor with program memory which is programmable by the user. The program memory stores one or more algorithms that can be executed by the array controller. The algorithm is selected according to the command received at the user interface. The algorithms can be customized simply by programming the program memory. The system further provides an interrupt mechanism which enables the flash memory system to perform a context switch of a higher priority command with the lower priority, but currently executing, command.