Claims
- 1. A method for writing data to a boot area of a synchronous memory device, the method comprising:
initiating a write operation to the boot area; reading data from a register circuit; and authorizing the write operation to the boot area if the data is in a first state.
- 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
checking a status of a detection circuit if the data is in a second state; and authorizing the write operation to the boot area based on an output of the detection circuit.
- 3. The method of claim 2 wherein the detection circuit monitors an externally provided signal applied to the memory device.
- 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the boot area comprises memory cells located at least significant and most significant addressable memory sectors of the synchronous memory device.
- 5. A memory device comprising:
an array of memory cells comprising at least one boot area; a data register that stores protect status bits corresponding to a protect status of each boot area; and a state machine capable of executing a method of writing to each boot area including initiating a write operation to the at least one boot area, reading the protect status bits from the data register, and authorizing the write operation to the at least one boot area if the protect status bits are in a first state.
- 6. A memory device comprising:
an array of memory cells having at least one boot area; a non-volatile data register that stores protect status bits indicating a protect status of the at least one boot area; a volatile data register corresponding to the non-volatile data register such that the protect status bits are transferred from the non-volatile data register to the volatile data-register; and control circuitry coupled to the non-volatile and volatile registers to selectively prevent erase or write operations from being performed on the at least one boot area in response to a state of the protect status bits.
- 7. The memory device of claim 6 wherein the control circuitry is capable of transferring the protect status bits from the non-volatile data register to the volatile data register on power-up of the memory device.
- 8. A method for writing data to a boot area of a memory device, the method comprising:
transferring a protect status bit from a non-volatile data register to a volatile data register; initiating a write operation to the boot area; reading the protect status bit from the volatile data register; and authorizing the write operation to the boot area if the protect status bit is in a first state.
- 9. The method of claim 8 wherein the protect status bit is transferred from the non-volatile data register to the volatile data register upon power-up of the memory device.
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This is a continuation application of U.S. Pat. Application Ser. No. 09/608,256, filed Jun. 30, 2000 (allowed), which application is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. The present invention relates generally to non-volatile memory devices and in particular the present invention relates to a synchronous non-volatile flash memory.
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09608256 |
Jun 2000 |
US |
Child |
10670038 |
Sep 2003 |
US |