Patent ID: 7830710

Claim:
A semiconductor memory device comprising: a redundancy rescue function memory including a main memory cell and a spare memory cell for rescuing the main memory cell, wherein, when the main memory cell is a faulty memory cell, the faulty memory cell is replaced with the spare memory cell so as to rescue the main memory cell; a test section operable to test the main memory cell; a redundancy rescue section operable to output rescue information associated with rescue of the main memory cell, in accordance with a test result from the test section; a non-volatile element section operable to store information necessary for rescuing the main memory cell, as storage information, in a non-volatile element; and a rescue determination section operable to determine, when the rescue information is newly outputted by the redundancy rescue section, whether or not the main memory cell is to be rescued, based on the storage information stored in the non-volatile element section, and the rescue information which is newly outputted, wherein the non-volatile element section renews the storage information based on a determination result from the rescue determination section.