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, 2011
Filed:
Sep. 28, 2006
Riccardo Riva Reggiori, Segrate, IT;
Lorenzo Bedarida, Milan, IT;
Giorgio Oddone, Genoa, IT;
Fabio Tassan Caser, Arcore Milan, IT;
Riccardo Riva Reggiori, Segrate, IT;
Lorenzo Bedarida, Milan, IT;
Giorgio Oddone, Genoa, IT;
Fabio Tassan Caser, Arcore Milan, IT;
Atmel Corporation, San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and system for protecting a memory having a plurality of blocks from modification is disclosed. The method and system include providing a plurality of one time programmable (OTP) cells and OTP cell logic coupled with the OTP cells. An OTP cell of the plurality of OTP cells corresponds to a portion of a block of the plurality of blocks. The OTP cell allows modification of the portion of the block when the OTP cell is in a first state and permanently prevents modification of the portion of the block when the OTP cell is in a second state. The OTP cell logic uses the plurality of OTP cells to select the portion of the block as corresponding to the OTP cell. This portion of the block is write protected when the OTP cell is placed in the second state.