Flash Memory Sector Role Swapping for Data Modification
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
FLASH-type memories face challenges in accessing and manipulating sensitive data due to their inability to overwrite or individually modify data values, which limits their integration on a chip and increases surface area, power consumption, and costs.
Innovation Solution
The method involves designating a first sector as the current sector and a second sector as the alternate sector, allowing for the modification or suppression of data values by writing them into the alternate sector and then swapping the roles of the sectors, enabling individual data value modifications and suppressions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If FLASH memory is used to implement on-chip non-volatile memory storage, then integration and cost are improved, but the inability to overwrite or individually modify data values creates access constraints
Solution Approach 1:
The FLASH memory is divided into multiple sectors (first sector, second sector, third sector) that can be independently managed. This segmentation allows the system to work around the inability to modify individual bytes by organizing data into manageable units that can be selectively erased and rewritten, thereby enabling efficient data modification operations while maintaining on-chip integration.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by designating alternate sectors (second sector as alternate to first, third sector as alternate to second) before actual data modification is needed. When data needs to be modified, the system writes to the alternate sector first, then swaps the roles of the sectors. This preliminary organization of alternate sectors enables efficient data modification without requiring complex real-time rewriting operations.
2Device complexity
If traditional FLASH memory access constraints are accepted, then device complexity is reduced, but productivity and data manipulation efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically changes the roles of memory sectors during operation. The first sector can be the current operational sector while the second is alternate, but after a swap operation, the second becomes current and the first becomes alternate. This dynamic role assignment allows the memory system to adapt to different data modification needs and maintains high productivity without requiring complex permanent structural changes.
Solution Approach 2:
The alternate sectors serve as intermediaries in the data modification process. When data needs to be modified in the current sector, the system uses the alternate sector as a temporary storage location. Data is written to the alternate sector, then the sectors are swapped, making the previously alternate sector the new current sector with the updated data. This intermediary mechanism enables efficient data manipulation while keeping the access mechanism relatively simple.
Data Source
AI summary
In an embodiment a method includes modifying or suppressing one or more data values of a non-volatile memory, wherein the one or more data values are stored in a first sector of the non-volatile memory, wherein the first sector is designated as a current sector by one or more selection values stored in the non-volatile memory, wherein modifying or suppressing comprises writing the one or more data values into a second sector of the non-volatile memory, and wherein the second sector is designated as an alternate sector by the one or more selection values.