Patent ID: 8635393

Claim:
A method for reading data from a semiconductor memory comprising at least one first memory bank and at least a first and second shadow memory banks which are each designed to store a multiplicity of binary data items, wherein the same data are stored in the first memory bank and the first and second shadow memory banks, the method comprising: receiving a command for reading data which are to be read from the at least one first memory bank; responsive to the received command, determining whether the at least one first memory bank is in an open memory bank state utilizing a state checking device of a control device of the semiconductor memory, wherein the open memory bank state is a memory state which does not allow the data to be read from an open word line of the first memory bank until a next word line cycle, wherein the first memory bank is accessible using an address input interface in the semiconductor memory, wherein the first and second shadow memory banks are accessible using the control device and not the address input interface; upon determining that the first memory bank is in the open memory bank state, determining whether the first shadow memory bank is in the open memory bank state utilizing the state check device; upon determining that the first shadow memory bank is in the open memory bank state, reading the data from the second shadow memory bank; and upon determining that the first memory bank is not in the open memory bank state, reading the data from the at least one first memory bank, wherein during a step of writing data to the at least one first memory bank, the data are written by the control device to the first and second shadow memory banks at the same time.