Non-volatile memory arrangement and method in a multiprocessor device

Abstract

This invention relates to multiprocessor arrangements with shared non-volatile memory and the design of the access control of this memory, in particular to such memories embedded or integrated into circuits (ICs) as used in mobile phones, PDAs or laptop computers. To reduce power consumption, the processor clock rates are often varied depending on the current performance requirements. Differing clock rates of processors sharing a non-volatile memory leads to relatively long read access times of the latter, since the particular microprocessor fetching the data from the memory is usually halted until the data are available. When dual or multi-port non-volatile memory and multiple asynchronous clocks are used, access times are even longer since clock synchronization between the ports is necessary. The present invention overcomes this problem by providing a plurality of wait timers, preferably one dedicated to each processor, advantageously each being clocked synchronously with its associated processor. This shortens the access times considerably and thus improves overall performance without power penalty.