Source: {"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"}

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a flash device, and more particularly, to a flash device capable of determining empty pages.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, flash memories have been made to have the characteristics of data non-volatility, low power consumption, a compact size, and a non-mechanical structure. Hence, flash memories have been applied in various electronic devices, especially portable electronic devices.
A flash memory comprises a plurality of blocks, and each block comprises a plurality of pages for data storage. When the flash memory receives a write command from a controller, the flash memory writes data to pages of the blocks thereof according to the received write command. When the flash memory receives a read command from the controller, the flash memory reads data from pages of the blocks thereof according to the received read command, and then sends read-out data back to the controller.
In a flash memory, a searching page operation is usually used to find the last one valid page during a flash translation layer initialization process. Therefore, how to quick and accurately determine whether the last one valid page is an empty one, will affect the initialization time. If a determination cannot be made, the flash device will re-read the flash memory. Thus, the initialization time is increased.
Therefore, an operation method of a flash memory is desirable, to quickly determine whether a page is an empty page.