Method and apparatus for suspending the writing of a nonvolatile semiconductor memory with program suspend command
First Claim
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1. A nonvolatile memory comprising:
- a memory array;
a command register, wherein the command register comprises a resolution circuit coupled to communicate with a memory array control circuitry, the command register capable of decoding a program suspend command provided to the command register by a plurality of data inputs to the nonvolatile memory, the command register providing a suspend signal as an output; and
the memory array control circuitry coupled to receive the suspend signal from the command register, the memory array control circuitry coupled to provide control signals to the memory array to perform a program operation in which data provided to the nonvolatile memory is written to the memory array, the memory array control circuitry suspending the program operation responsive to receiving the suspend signal.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus suspend a program operation in a nonvolatile writeable memory. The nonvolatile writeable memory includes a memory array, a command register, and memory array control circuitry. The command register decodes a program suspend command and provides a suspend signal as an output. The memory array control circuitry is coupled to receive the suspend signal from the command register. The memory array control circuitry performs a program operation in which data is written to the memory array. The memory array control circuitry suspends the program operation upon receiving the suspend signal.
161 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A nonvolatile memory comprising:
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a memory array; a command register, wherein the command register comprises a resolution circuit coupled to communicate with a memory array control circuitry, the command register capable of decoding a program suspend command provided to the command register by a plurality of data inputs to the nonvolatile memory, the command register providing a suspend signal as an output; and the memory array control circuitry coupled to receive the suspend signal from the command register, the memory array control circuitry coupled to provide control signals to the memory array to perform a program operation in which data provided to the nonvolatile memory is written to the memory array, the memory array control circuitry suspending the program operation responsive to receiving the suspend signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. In a system comprising a processor and a nonvolatile memory coupled to the processor, wherein the nonvolatile memory comprises a command register, the command register comprising a resolution circuit coupled to communicate with memory array control circuitry, a method of reading code from the nonvolatile memory, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) suspending a first non-read operation being performed in the nonvolatile memory; (b) suspending a second non-read operation being performed in the nonvolatile memory; (c) providing code from the nonvolatile memory to the processor; (d) resuming the second non-read operation; and (e) resuming the first non-read operation. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification