Dynamic erase state in flash device

A method of operating a flash device (100), comprising;

• programming a portion of or an entire of the flash device on a basis of a single program and erase entity (402) to a voltage state that is different from a first voltage state of an erase direction indicator cell, the single program and erase entity comprising two adjacent dual bit memory cells (404, 406) of the flash device;
• changing the first voltage state of the erase direction indicator cell to a second voltage state;
• and
• erasing the portion of or the entire of the flash device on the basis of the single program and erase entity to a voltage state that is the same as the second voltage state of the erase direction indicator cell.

A flash device (3100), comprising;

• a plurality of single program and erase entities (3102) comprising two adjacent dual bit physical memory cells of the flash device;
• an indicator cell (3104) that indicate a first erase direction of a low voltage state or a high voltage state;
• and
• one or more decoders (3108, 3110) that select one or more single program and erase entities for operating the flash device on a basis of the single program and erase entity by changing a voltage state of the single program and erase entity to a low voltage state or a high voltage state.