Memory device and method for repairing a semiconductor memory

An electronic system comprising an input device, an output device, a memory device, and a processor device coupled to the input, output, and memory devices, at least one of the input, output, memory, and processor devices including a semiconductor memory comprising:

• a memory array having a plurality of rows and columns;
• circuitry configured to receive signals to determine a block repair configuration from of a plurality of possible block repair configurations that include first and second block repair configurations;
• and
• a set of nonvolatile elements to store a plurality of address bits identifying a region of the memory array containing a defective bit, and
• at least one element of the set of nonvolatile elements to store either a row address bit or a column address bit depending upon whether the at least one element is configured in accordance with the first block repair configuration or the second block repair configuration respectively.