Flash memory: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 21:33, 17 October 2005

Revision as of 14:17, 19 October 2005

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==Overview==

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 NOR flash memory unit wears out after 10,000-100,000 erase/write operations, a typical NAND flash memory after 1 million.

Flash memory is non-volatile, which means that it stores information on a silicon chip in a way that does not need power to maintain the information in the chip. In addition, flash memory offers fast read access times and solid-state shock resistance. These characteristics explain the popularity of flash memory for applications such as storage on battery-powered devices like [[mobile phone]]s and [[personal digital assistant]]s.