AT28C040
3
Device Operation
READ: The AT28C040 is accessed like a static RAM.
When CE and OE are low and WE is high, the data stored
at the memory l ocation determined by the address pins is
asserted on the outputs. The outputs are put in the high
impedance state when either CE or OE is high. This dual-
line control gives designers flexibility in preventing bus con-
tention in thei r systems.
BYTE WRITE: A lo w pulse on the W E or CE input with CE
or WE lo w (r espe c tive ly ) and OE high initiates a write cycle.
The address is latched on the fallin g edge of CE or WE ,
whichever occurs last. The data is latched by the first rising
edge of CE or WE. Onc e a byte w rite has been started, i t
will automatically time itself to completion. Once a pro-
grammin g operatio n has be en initi ated and for the du ration
of tWC, a read operation will effectively be a polling opera-
tion.
PAGE WR ITE: The page write oper ation of the AT28C040
allows 1 to 256 by tes of data to be written into the d evice
during a single internal programming per iod. A page write
operation is initiated in the same manner as a byte write;
the firs t byte wri tten can then be followe d by 1 to 255 addi-
tional bytes. Each successive byte must be written within
150 µs (tBLC) of the previous byte. If the tBLC limit is
exceed ed, the AT28C 040 will c ease accept ing data an d
commence the internal programming operation. All bytes
during a page write operation must reside on the same
page as d efined by the s tate of the A8 - A18 inputs. F or
each WE high to low transition during the page write opera-
tion, A8 - A18 must be the same.
The A0 to A7 inputs specify which bytes within the page are
to be written. The bytes may be loaded in any order and
may be altered within the same load period. Only bytes
which are specified for writing will be written; unnecessary
cycling of other bytes within the page does not occur.
DATA POLLING: The AT28C040 featu res DATA Polling to
indicate the end of a write cycle. During a byte or page
write cycle an attempted read of the last byte written will
result in the complement of the written data to be presented
on I/O7. Once the write cycle has been completed, true
data is valid on all outputs, and the next write cycle may
begin. D ATA Polling ma y beg in at anyt im e durin g the writ e
cycle.
TOGGLE BIT: In ad diti on to DATA Polling, the AT28C040
provid es a noth er m etho d for d ete rm ining the end of a wr it e
cycle. During the write operation, successive attempts to
read data from the device will result in I/O6 toggling
between one and zero. Once the write has completed, I/O6
will s top togglin g and valid dat a will be read. Re ading th e
toggle bit may begin at any time during the write cycle.
DATA PROTECTION: If precautions are not taken, inad-
verte nt writes may occur duri ng transi tions of th e host sys-
tem power s upply. Atmel has inco rporated both h ardware
and software features that will protect the memory against
inadvertent writes.
HARDWARE PR OTECTION: Hardware features protect
against inadvertent writes to the AT28C040 in the following
ways: (a) VCC sense - if VCC is below 3.8V (typical) the write
function is inhibited; (b) VCC power-on delay - once VCC has
reached 3.8V the device will automatically time out 5 ms
(typical) before allowing a write: (c) write inhibit - holding
any one of OE low, CE high or WE high inhibits write
cycles; (d) noise filter - pulses of less than 15 ns (typical)
on the WE or CE inputs will not initiate a write cycle.
SOFTWARE DATA PROTECTION: A software controlled
data protection feature has been implemented on the
AT28C040. When enabled, the software data protection
(SDP), will prevent inadvertent writes. The SDP feature
may be enabled or disabled by the user; the AT28C040 is
shipped from Atmel with SDP disabled.
SDP is enabled when the host system issues a series of
three write commands; three specific bytes of data are writ-
ten to three specific addresses (refer to Software Data Pro-
tection Algorithm). After writing the 3-byte command
sequenc e and after t WC, the entire AT 28C040 will be pro-
tected against inadvertent write o perations. It should be
noted th at on ce protec ted, the h ost c an sti ll perfor m a b yte
or page write to the AT28C040 . To do so, the same 3-by te
command sequence used to enable SDP must precede the
data to be written.
Once se t, SDP will remain ac tive unless the disabl e com-
mand seq uen ce is i ssue d. P owe r trans iti ons d o not disabl e
SDP, and SDP will p rote ct th e AT2 8C040 during powe r-up
and power-d own c ond iti ons . A ll com man d s eque nc es mus t
conform to the page write timing specifications. The data in
the enable and disable command sequences is not writ ten
to the device, and the memory addresses used in the
sequenc e may be written with d ata in eit her a byte or page
write operation.
After setting SDP, any attempt to write to the device without
the 3-byte comm and sequence will star t the internal write
timer s. No data will be wr itten to the de vice; h oweve r, for
the duration of tWC, read operations will effectively be poll-
ing operations.
DEVICE IDENTIFICATION: An extra 256 bytes of
EEPROM memory are available to the user for device iden-
tification. By raising A9 to 12V ± 0.5V and using address
locations 7FF80H to 7FFFFH, the bytes may be written to
or read from in the same manner as the regular memory
array.
OPTIONAL CHIP ERASE MODE: The entire device can
be er ased using a 6 -byte sof tware er ase c ode. Plea se see
Software Chip Erase application note for details.