Patent ID: 7596027

Claim:
A method of accessing a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device comprising a nonvolatile memory cell array having first and second pages, the nonvolatile semiconductor memory device further comprising a latch circuit coupled to the memory cell array, the method comprising: supplying a first command, then supplying a first column address, then supplying a first row address for a first page, and then supplying a second command to cause transfer of data stored in the first page to the latch circuit; after the transfer is completed, supplying a third command, then supplying a second column address, then supplying a second row address for a second page, then supplying a superseding data to the nonvolatile semiconductor memory device to change a portion of the transferred data in the latch circuit while allowing the other portion of the transferred data to stay unchanged in the latch circuit; and then supplying a fourth command to initiate programming into the second page according to the superseding data and the other portion of the transferred data in the latch circuit, wherein at least a portion of the superseding data is stored in the second column address in the second page after the programming is completed, and the first page is different from the second page.