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:
Jan. 04, 2005
Filed:
May. 26, 1999
Hironao Nagayoshi, Tokyo, JP;
Shinichi Ishimoto, Tokyo, JP;
Hironao Nagayoshi, Tokyo, JP;
Shinichi Ishimoto, Tokyo, JP;
Renesas Technology Corp., Tokyo, JP;
Mitsubishi Electric Semiconductor Application Engineering Corp., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A flash memory includes an address information storage and a data write unit. The address information storage records address information about blank areas in a cluster consisting of a plurality of sectors. The data write unit writes, in response to a write request of data, data into at least one of the blank areas by referring to the address information about the blank areas. This makes it possible to solve a problem that occurs with a conventional flash memory. In particular, the number of erasable times of the improved flash memory is not limited to about one tenth of that of an EEPROM, and hence the improved flash memory can store frequently rewritten data.