Patent ID: 7017027

Claim:
A control system for a counter for supplying addresses to a device having a first contiguous address region and a second address region that corresponds thereto and that has a non-contiguous region portion, the address-counter control system comprising: a counter circuit having address counters, the number of address counters corresponding to the first address region, the address counters comprising a first series of address counters which corresponds to the non-contiguous region portion and second and third series of address counters which correspond to respective contiguous region portions and which are located at two opposite ends of the first series of address counters; path switches that are provided at connection paths between the second and the third series of address counters, wherein the path switches disconnect the first series of address counters and directly connect the second and third series of address counters or disconnect the direct connection between the second and third series of address counters and connect the first series of address counters to and between the second and the third series of address counters; and a control circuit, wherein, for forming the first address region, the control circuit controls the path switches to disconnect the direct connection between the second and the third series of address counters and connect the first series of address counters to and between the second and the third series of address counters, so that the non-contiguous region is placed in the first address region, and sequentially causes counting of the first, second, and third series of address counters, and wherein, for putting the second address region into a contiguous state, the control circuit controls the path switches to disconnect the first series of address counters and directly connect the second and third series of address counters and sequentially causes counting of the second and third series of address counters.