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.

Date of Patent:
Aug. 19, 2014

Filed:

Oct. 11, 2012
Applicant:

Marvell International Ltd., Hamilton, BM;

Inventors:

Walter Lee McNall, Meridian, ID (US);

Randall D. Briggs, Boise, ID (US);

Assignee:
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G06K 15/00 (2006.01); G06F 3/12 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
Abstract

A system and method are disclosed for updating data stored in a one-time programmable (non-rewritable) non-volatile storage device ('OTP'). The OTP is segmented so that updated data may be written to unused areas. Valid data may be differentiated from stale data using a data recognition technique such as tallying or indexing. According to a tallying technique, an updated event count may be obtained by counting the number of blown bits in the OTP. Each time the event occurs, the next bit is blown. According to an indexing technique, each bit in an index corresponds to a data block in the OTP. When updated data is written to the next (empty) data block in order in the OTP, the corresponding (next) index bit is blown. A valid data set may be located by counting the number of blown bits in the index.


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