Question

a. What are the key properties of the FLASH memory technology that distinguish it from standard

SRAM and DRAM?

b. How are these properties exploited in system design?

c. Briefly show how the design of the memory cell results in these properties.

Answer 1

a.

SRAM	DRAM	Flash
SRAM is Volatile	DRAM is Volatile	Flash is non-Volatile Which is a benefit in case of sudden power interrupt
SRAM is Writable	DRAM is Writable	Flash is also Writable
SRAM erase size is byte	DRAM also have erase size of byte	Flash memory have erase size of sector so it becomes easier to erase data from flash memory faster
SRAM maximum erase size is unlimited	DRAM maximum erase size is unlimited	Flash memory maximum erase size is limited which protects it from getting hanged in case of large size of data erase
SRAM cost to erase data per byte is expensive	DRAM cost to erase data per byte is expensive	Flash memory cost to erase data per byte is moderate
SRAM speed is fast	DRAM speed is good	Flash memory provides the best optimized speed to read and to write data

b.

The System design of flash memory must exibits all of these properties in oreder to ensure optimization of work needed to be done.

The flash memory is divided into sectors just like a hard disk drive which makes it more easier to erase data, the flash memory doesnt have regular mosfet which makes it non volatile and less cost to erase the data.

The system design of flash memory is found to very similar to hard disk drive.