Method of and circuit for providing non-volatile memory in an integrated circuit
AssigneeXilinx, Inc.
InventorStephen M. Trimberger
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of providing non-volatile memory in an integrated circuit is disclosed. The method may comprise storing a plurality of data blocks in volatile memory elements of the integrated circuit, wherein each data block of the plurality of data blocks comprises a plurality of data bits; reading back the plurality of data bits associated with a data block of the plurality of data blocks; determining, by a control circuit, whether values read back for the plurality of data bits associated with the data block indicate valid data in the data block; and reading back, for another data block of the plurality of data blocks, stored data bits to determine a value for the other data block. A circuit for providing non-volatile memory in an integrated circuit is also disclosed.
Claims19
A method of providing non-volatile memory in an integrated circuit, the method comprising:
- storing a plurality of data blocks in volatile memory elements of the integrated circuit, wherein each data block of the plurality of data blocks comprises a plurality of data bits;
- detecting a power-on condition;
- reading back the plurality of data bits associated with a data valid block of the plurality of data blocks in response to the detecting of the power-on condition;
- determining, by a control circuit based upon a degradation of the plurality of data bits associated with the data valid block, whether values read back for the plurality of data bits associated with the data valid block indicate valid data in the data valid block;
- and
- reading back, for another data block of the plurality of data blocks, stored data bits to determine a value for the other data block if it is determined that the values read back for the plurality of data bits associated with the data valid block indicate that valid data is in the data valid block.
A method of providing non-volatile memory in an integrated circuit, the method comprising:
- storing data in volatile memory elements for each bit of a data valid block;
- determining whether a power-off condition that would cause the volatile memory elements to lose their states has been encountered;
- reading back the bits of the data valid block stored in the volatile memory elements in response to a detection of a power-on condition;
- and
- determining, by a control circuit, based upon a degradation of the bits of the data valid block which have been read back, whether valid data is stored in the data valid block.
A circuit for providing non-volatile memory in an integrated circuit, the circuit comprising:
- at least one memory block for storing a data bit, the at least one memory block comprising a plurality of volatile memory elements storing a common logical value;
- and
- a control circuit coupled to the at least one memory block, wherein the control circuit determines whether data of a data valid block stored in the at least one memory block is valid based upon a degradation of the data of the data valid block, and reads back, for the at least one memory block in response to a detection of a power-on condition, stored data bits to determine a value for a data word if the data of the data valid block stored in the at least one memory block is determined to be valid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.