Methods and apparatus for designating or using data status indicators
AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
InventorsLuyen Vu, Uday Chandrasekhar, Dean Nobunaga
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Memory devices and methods facilitate handling of data received by a memory device through the use of data grouping and assignment of data validity status values to grouped data. For example, data is received and delineated into one or more data groups and a data validity status is associated with each data group. Data groups having a valid status are latched into one or more cache registers for storage in an array of memory cells wherein data groups comprising an invalid status are rejected by the one or more cache registers.
Claims20
A method of operating a memory device, the method comprising:
- receiving data at an interface of the memory device from an external device;
- receiving one or more control signals at the interface from the external device;
- storing the received data in one or more data groups where each data group is stored in a respective one of a plurality of registers of the memory device;
- designating a status of each data group responsive to one or more control signals received at the interface;
- and
- latching each data group designated as having a first designated status in a data cache of the memory device for writing to a memory array of the memory device.
A method of operating a memory device, the method comprising:
- receiving a plurality of signals at an interface of the memory device from an external device, wherein the plurality of received signals comprises data and one or more control signals;
- delineating the received data into one or more data groups and storing each of the one or more data groups into a respective register of one or more registers of the memory device;
- designating a status of each of the one or more data groups responsive to the one or more control signals received at the interface;
- transferring the one or more data groups stored in the one or more registers to a data cache coupled to a memory array of the memory device;
- and
- latching each data group designated as having a first designated status in the data cache for writing to the memory array, and preventing data groups having a second designated status from being latched in the data cache.
A method of operating a memory device, the method comprising:
- accepting data and one or more control signals at an interface of the memory device;
- receiving the accepted data at a data synchronization register of the memory device;
- grouping the received data into one or more data groups and storing the one or more data groups in the data synchronization register;
- designating a status of each data group of the one or more data groups at least partially in response to the one or more control signals accepted at the interface;
- transferring the data groups stored in the data synchronization register to a data cache of the memory device;
- and
- latching data groups having a first designated status in the data cache and preventing data groups having a second designated status from being latched in the data cache;
- wherein the first designated status comprises a data valid designated status and where the second designated status comprises a data invalid designated status.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.