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. 07, 2009
Filed:
Dec. 20, 2006
Marko T. Ahvenainen, Ruutana, FI;
Kimmo Mylly, Ylöjärvi, FI;
Jani Hyvonen, Tampere, FI;
Nokia Corporation, Espoo, FI;
Abstract
The specification and drawings present a new method, apparatus and software product for performance enhancement of a memory device (e.g., a memory card) using a pre-erase mechanism. The memory device can be, e.g., a memory card, a multimedia card or a secure digital card, etc. A new command or commands can be used to inform a memory device controller when the data in one particular sector, allocation unit or block can be deleted. Using that information the memory device controller then can be able to do some internal maintenance, e.g., by moving valid data from a fragmented erase block to another so that the fragmented erase block can be cleared and erased for future use as well as performing effective wear leveling maintenance and write performance optimization.