Patent ID: 7613868

Claim:
A method for programming a magnetic memory, the magnetic memory formed with segmented word lines and orthogonal bit lines coupled to magnetic memory cells, each of the word line segments being selectable, wherein the magnetic memory comprises sense amplifiers, the method comprising: (a) selecting a word line segment of the magnetic memory and apply a current to said word line segment; then (b) reading existing data of each storage cell of a plurality of magnetic storage cells coupled to the word line segment to determine a state of each of the plurality of magnetic storage cells and storing the existing data into said sense amplifiers; then (c) receiving, at a plurality of bidirectional bit line drivers, new data for a selected portion of at least one magnetic storage cell of the plurality of magnetic storage cells coupled to the word line segment (d) providing, to the plurality of bidirectional bit line drivers, existing data, from said sense amplifiers, for magnetic storage cells in an unselected portion of the plurality of magnetic storage cells that are not being programmed with said new data; (e) writing the data of the plurality of bidirectional bit line drivers, wherein a bidirectional current is applied by the plurality of bidirectional bit line drivers to the bit lines coupled to the selected and unselected portions of the magnetic storage cells to write the selected and unselected magnetic storage cells simultaneously, whereby any danger of overwriting or randomizing the states of the unselected portion of the magnetic storage cells is obviated, thereby allowing more than sixteen magnetic memory cells to be associated with each word line segment by reducing the overhead for the word line segments.