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. 07, 1997
Filed:
Mar. 05, 1996
Applicant:
Inventors:
Kent Hewitt, Mesa, AZ (US);
Willem Smit, Phoenix, AZ (US);
Assignee:
Microchip Technology Incorporated, Chandler, AZ (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G11C / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
36518504 ; 365195 ; 365196 ; 365228 ; 235382 ; 34082531 ; 34082534 ;
Abstract
According to the present invention, a method is provided for reading data from non-volatile memory in an electronic encoding device such that unauthorized access to the data is prevented. In one embodiment, the method includes the steps of writing a first set of data to the non-volatile memory; generating a voltage detect signal during the writing, the voltage detect signal being representative of a source voltage applied to the non-volatile memory; determining whether the writing was successful by evaluating the voltage detect signal; and reading data from the non-volatile memory responsive to the determination.