12
Am29F032B
Sector Group Protection/Unprotection
The hardware sector group protection feature disables
both program and erase operations in any sector
group. Each sector group consists of four adjacent
sectors. Table 4 shows how the sectors are grouped,
and the address range that each sector group con-
tains. The hardware sector group unprotection feature
re-enables both program and erase operations in pre-
viously protected sector groups.
Sector group protection/unprotection must be imple-
mented using programming equipment. The proce-
dure requires a high voltage (V
ID
) on address pin A9
and the control pins. Details on this method are pro-
vided in a supplement, publication number 22184.
Contact an AMD representative to obtain a copy of the
appropriate document.
The device is shipped with all sector groups unpro-
tected. AMD offers the option of programming and pro-
tecting sector groups at its factory prior to shipping the
device through AMD’s ExpressFlash Service. Con-
tact an AMD representative for details.
It is possible to determine whether a sector group is
protected or unprotected. See “Autoselect Mode” for
details.
Table 4.
Sector Group Addresses
Temporary Sector Group Unprotect
This feature allows temporary unprotection of previ-
ously protected sector groups to change data in-sys-
tem. The Sector Group Unprotect mode is activated by
setting the RESET# pin to V
ID
(11.5 V – 12.5 V). Dur-
ing this mode, formerly protected sector groups can be
programmed or erased by selecting the sector group
addresses. Once V
ID
is removed from the RESET#
pin, all the previously protected sector groups are
protected again. Figure 1 shows the algorithm, and
Figure 16 shows the timing diagrams, for this feature.
Figure 1.
Temporary Sector Group Unprotect
Operation
Sector
Group
SGA0
A21
0
A20
0
A19
0
A18
0
Sectors
SA0
–
SA3
SA4
–
SA7
SA8
–
SA11
SA12
–
SA15
SA16
–
SA19
SA20
–
SA23
SA24
–
SA27
SA28
–
SA31
SA32–SA35
SGA1
0
0
0
1
SGA2
0
0
1
0
SGA3
0
0
1
1
SGA4
0
1
0
0
SGA5
0
1
0
1
SGA6
0
1
1
0
SGA7
0
1
1
1
SGA8
1
0
0
0
SGA9
1
0
0
1
SA36–SA39
SGA10
1
0
1
0
SA40–SA43
SGA11
1
0
1
1
SA44–SA47
SGA12
1
1
0
0
SA48–SA51
SGA13
1
1
0
1
SA52–SA55
SGA14
1
1
1
0
SA56–SA59
SGA15
1
1
1
1
SA60–SA63
START
Perform Erase or
Program Operations
RESET# = V
IH
Temporary Sector Group
Unprotect Completed
(Note 2)
RESET# = V
ID
(Note 1)
Notes:
1. All protected sector groups unprotected.
2. All previously protected sector groups are protected
once again.