Counter device and counting method

Abstract

A counter device having: a rewritable counter constituted by a nonvolatile memory that needs to completely convert data in a segment to high-order data before changing low-order data to high-order data in each bit The section deletion; the control unit, which controls the data writing and data reading of the aforementioned counter, wherein the aforementioned control unit performs data writing and data reading for the aforementioned counter with 1’s complement as the source number, and updates the count value.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to a counter device and a counting method using a nonvolatile memory. Background technique [0002] Printers and copiers manage a plurality of counters with a nonvolatile memory (flash memory: registered trademark). The counter is used for counting the number of printed sheets, and is also used for billing purposes, etc., so high reliability is required. However, for non-volatile memory, the more frequently used bits are, the less reliable they are. Therefore, the manufacturer generally sets the guarantee number of writes, and if the number exceeds the number, the reliability of the non-volatile memory will be significantly reduced (the manufacturer does not guarantee it). [0003] According to the device characteristics of the non-volatile memory, whenever the counter is updated, the counter value cannot be rewritten at the same location on the non-volatile memory. That is, in the non-volatile memory, the storage area ...

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Problems solved by technology

[0007] However, in the aforementioned prior art, since the number of bits = the maximum counter value, the number of bits corresponding to the maximum count value is required

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