Understanding Burst Mode Flash Memory Devices
3
dress being read. Otherwise, the data being output will
be the same as the previously output data.
For example, if the host system drives BAA# high for
one clock cycle, the device outputs the data from the
same address for two cycles. This may be desirable in
certain situations where the processor did not success-
fully read the data from the device.
Example: Comparing A Burst Mode Device
To A Standard Device
By comparing a burst mode device and a standard de-
vice, the true advantage in speed can clearly be seen.
Assume that System A uses a burst mode flash mem-
ory device, and that System B uses a comparable stan-
dard flash memory device. Both systems have the
same processor, and both flash devices have the same
random access time. Table 1 shows how much time is
required by both systems to read eight consecutive
bytes from memory.
Table 1.
Chart Comparing Read Times Between burst and Standard Devices
Both systems require a t
ACC
of 65 ns to do the first ran-
dom access read. However, System A can now do se-
quential burst reads in 18 ns, whereas System B still
requires 65 ns to complete each and every read com-
mand. By adding all the access times together, you
can see that System A, using a burst mode memory
device, can read almost 3 times as fast as System B.
Is The Speed Improvement Always
Constant
Although the previous example shows that a burst
mode memory device can be dramatically faster than a
standard flash, the improvement is not always con-
stant. The more the system reads in burst mode, the
faster the average access time. The less the system
reads in burst mode, the slower the average access
time. In order to obtain optimum performance from a
burst mode device, the system’s program should be
structured such that the device can perform as many
sequential reads as possible.
What About Program And Erase
Operations
Program and Erase commands work on one word/byte
or sector at a time, just as they do in standard flash
memories.
System A:
Am29BL162C
System B:
Comparable standard device
Byte 0
65 ns (t
ACC
)
65 ns (t
ACC
)
Byte 1
18 ns (t
ACC
)
65 ns
Byte 2
18 ns
65 ns
Byte 3
18 ns
65 ns
Byte 4
18 ns
65 ns
Byte 5
18 ns
65 ns
Byte 6
18 ns
65 ns
Byte 7
18 ns
65 ns
Total time
191 ns
520 ns