Patent ID: 6888752

Claim:
A method of operating a non-volatile memory, said non-volatile memory comprising: a plurality of word lines; a plurality of bit lines, at least some of the plurality of bit lines being capacitively coupled with at least a group of the plurality of word lines; and a plurality of non-volatile memory cells individually connected to at least one of the bit lines and to one of the word lines; wherein data are simultaneously written into at least a given number of the plurality of cells that are connected to at least one selected of said group of word lines in a programming operation that applies a first voltage to the selected word line, a second voltage to at least some of the plurality of bit lines to which said given number of cells are connected, and a reference voltage to others of said group of word lines that are not selected; said method comprising performing said programming operation by applying a pulse of the second voltage to at least some of the plurality of bit lines to which said given number of cells are connected in a manner to avoid disturbing data stored in those of the memory cells connected to said others of said word lines that are not selected.