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:
Feb. 21, 2012
Filed:
Dec. 14, 2007
Chien-cheng Lin, Yi-Lan, TW;
Wen-chung Chang, Hsinchu, TW;
Chien-Cheng Lin, Yi-Lan, TW;
Wen-Chung Chang, Hsinchu, TW;
Silicon Motion, Inc., Jhubei, TW;
Abstract
A memory apparatus and a method of evenly using the blocks of a flash memory are provided. The memory apparatus comprises a flash memory and a controller. The flash memory comprises a data region with a plurality of data blocks and a spare region with a plurality of spare blocks. The controller is configured to receive data corresponding to the first data block, select a spare block, program data into the spare block when the erase count corresponding to the spare block is less than the predetermined value or to select a second data block and program data stored in the second data block into the spare block when the erased count corresponding to the spare block reaches the predetermined value. As a result, the blocks of the flash memory are used evenly.