Patent ID: 6108250
Filing Date: 2000-08-22
Classification: G11C

Abstract:
A computer-readable medium containing programming instructions for determining whether an external address points to a memory cell or a redundant memory cell included in a memory device having a plurality of memory cells and plurality of redundant memory cells, wherein each of said plurality of memory cells is associated with status information, wherein when a particular memory cell is a defective memory cell, the associated status information includes a pointer that points to a corresponding particular one of the plurality of redundant memory cells that is used to replace the defective memory cell, the computer-readable medium comprising computer program code arranged to cause a host computer system coupled to the memory device to execute the operations of:storing said status information;receiving an external address associated with a certain one of the plurality of memory cells;decoding the external address received by the host computer;retrieving said stored status information corresponding to the certain one of the plurality of memory cells based upon the decoded external address; andselecting the certain one of the of plurality of memory cells corresponding to the received external address when the memory cell is not a defective memory cell or selecting the redundant memory cell pointed to by the pointer when the memory cell is a defective memory cell.