By:By:- SUDHIR KUMAR SAHU. B.tech 5th sem. ROLL NO :- S/04/56 :COMPUTER SCIECE ENGG. ROLAND INSTITUTE OF TECH.

TECH.

FLASH MEMORY (THE FASTEST OF ITS KIND) 1.Introduction to Flash Memory 2.History 3.Working Principles 4.Features of Flash Memory 5.Comparison with OtherMemories 6.Advantages 7.Limitations

Introduction To Flash Memory Normal EEPROM only allows one location at a time to be erased or written, meaning that flash memory can operate at higher effective speeds when the system uses it to read and write to different locations at the same time. All types of flash memory and EEPROM wear out after a certain number of erase operations, due to wear on the insulating oxide layer around the charge storage mechanism used to store data.

A typical flash memory unit wears out after 10,000 erase operations. Flash memory is non-volatile, which means that it stores noninformation on a silicon chip in a way that does not need power to maintain the information in the chip. These characteristics explain the popularity of flash memory for applications such as storage on battery-powered devices batterylike mobile phones and personal digital assistants.

Flash memory is made in two forms: NOR flash and NAND flash. The names refer to the type of logic gate used in each storage cell. HISTORY NOR flash was the first type to be developed, invented by Intel in 1988. It has long erase and write times, but has a full address/data (memory) interface . This makes it suitable for storage of program code that needs to be infrequently updated. Its endurance is 10,000 to 1,000,000 erase cycles. Compact Flash was originally based on it, though later cards moved to the cheaper NAND flash. NAND flash from Samsung and Toshiba followed in 1989. It has faster erase and write times, higher density, and lower cost per bit than NOR flash, and ten times the endurance. However its I/O interface allows only sequential access to data. This makes it suitable for mass-storage massdevices such as PC cards and various memory cards.

WORKING PRINCIPLES Flash memory stores information in an array of floating gate transistors, called cells . Newer flash memory devices, sometimes referred to as multimulti-level cell devices, can store more than 1 bit per cell . In NOR flash, each cell looks similar to a standard MOSFET transistor. Except that it has two gates instead of just one. One gate is the control gate (CG) like in other MOS transistors, but the second is a floating gate (FG) that is insulated all around by an oxide layer. The FG is between the CG and the substrate. A NOR flash cell is programmed (set to a specified data value) by starting up electrons flowing from the source to the drain, then a large voltage placed on the CG

To erase (reset to all 1 s, in preparation for reprogramming) a NOR flash cell, a large voltage differential is placed between the CG and source. NAND Flash uses tunnel injection for writing and tunnel release for erasing. NAND flash memory forms the core of the removable USB interface storage devices known as keydrives. FEATURES OF FLASH MEMORY. MEMORY. 1.Non-volatile : Can retain data after switching 1.Nonoff (ROM performance) 2.Higher memory density & lower cost, due to 2.Higher their simple cell structure 3.Higher-speed read access time 3.Higher-

4. Data programmable on board 5. Data Electrically rewritable

ADVANTAGES

APPLICATIONS

LIMITATIONS OF FLASH MEMORY . To explain further, flash components are generally subdivided into a number of segments called blocks. Flash (specifically NOR flash) offers randomrandom-access read and programming operations, but cannot offer randomrandomaccess rewrite or erase operations. In addition, DRAM is generally cheaper than flash memory on a cost per bit basis.