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:
Oct. 22, 1996
Filed:
Apr. 21, 1994
Edouard M Gordons, Aubagne, FR;
Gemplus Card International, Gemenos, FR;
Abstract
In a system for the management of non-volatile memories, to avoid losses of information during writing, the critical writing sequences are locked. A back-up information element is stored before the performance of the critical section. The lock is constituted by the bits of the allocation table that designate the location of the saved back-up information. The lock is erased at the end of a normal writing sequence. If there is an abnormal interruption of a writing operation during the critical section, then the lock remains locked. This is detected when the power is turned on again, and the writing is resumed utilizing the saved information elements. The lock and the saved information elements are in a variable zone of the memory, thus preventing memory fatigue in the event of intensive use. Furthermore, the management of the memory is original in that two different memory allocation strategies are used to enable the detection, by the allocation table, of the presence of an information element whose location is not known.