Claims
- 1. A nonvolatile memory for cluster-erase flash, comprising:
- a flash memory having N clusters each having M sectors, wherein M and N are integers greater than one;
- each of said N clusters includes a cluster information sector, wherein one of said M sectors is said cluster information sector;
- and said cluster information sector of each of said N clusters holds a sequence number, wherein no two of said cluster information sectors have the same sequence number.
- 2. The nonvolatile memory as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cluster information sector of each of said N clusters holds a cluster erase count, the sum of the cluster erase counts being equal to a maximum value of the sequence numbers.
- 3. A method for storing data within a nonvolatile memory for cluster-erase flash, wherein the nonvolatile memory comprises a flash memory having N clusters each having M sectors, wherein M and N are integers greater than one and each of said N clusters includes a cluster information sector, wherein one of said M sectors is said cluster information sector, wherein said cluster information sector of each of said N clusters holds a sequence number, wherein no two of said cluster information sectors have the same sequence number and there being a maximum sequence number, and comprising the steps of:
- selecting a cluster to be written based on a cluster erase count contained in the cluster information sector; and
- writing data sequentially to the sectors within the selected cluster.
- 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the sum of said erase counts for all said N clusters equals said maximum sequence number.
- 5. The method of claim 3 wherein said flash memory is a NAND-type flash EEPROM.
- 6. The nonvolatile memory of claim 1 wherein each of said cluster information sectors further comprises:
- a cluster erase count; and
- an attribute flag within said each cluster information sector for identifying each of said cluster information sectors as a cluster information sector.
- 7. A nonvolatile NAND-type flash EEPROM memory for cluster-erase flash, comprising:
- a flash memory having N clusters, each cluster having M sectors, wherein M and N are integers greater than one and wherein at least one of said M sectors is a data sector;
- each of said N clusters includes a cluster information sector wherein one of said M sectors is the cluster information sector;
- said cluster information sector of each of said N clusters holds a sequence number, wherein no two of the cluster information sectors have the same sequence number and there being a maximum sequence number.
- 8. The nonvolatile memory of claim 7 wherein the sum of the cluster erase counts is equal to said maximum sequence number.
- 9. The nonvolatile memory of claim 7 wherein each of said data sectors further comprises an attribute flag which identifies said data sector as a data sector.
- 10. The nonvolatile memory of claim 1 wherein the nonvolatile memory comprises a NAND-type flash EEPROM.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
5-035228 |
Feb 1993 |
JPX |
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Parent Case Info
This is a divisional of co-pending application Ser. No. 08/200,343 filed on Feb. 23, 1994.
US Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
5065364 |
Atwood et al. |
Nov 1991 |
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Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
200343 |
Feb 1994 |
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