
K9S3208V0A-SSB0
SmartMedia
TM
9
SmartMedia Technical Notes
Identifying Invalid Block(s)
SSFDC Forum specifies the logical format and physical format to ensure compatibility of SmartMedia. Samsung pre-formats Smart-
Media in the Forum-compliant format prior to shipping.
Physical format standard by SSFDC Forum specifies that for the invalid
blocks the 6th byte in the spare area (column address 517 for 4MB SmartMedia and higher densities, 261 for 2MB SmartMedia,
respectively) contains two or more "0" bits to indicate a invalid block. Other than the blocks with format data and the invalid blocks
are erased(FFh). Since the invalid block information is also erasable in most cases, it is impossible to recover the information once it
has been erased. Therefore, the system must be able to recognize the invalid block(s) based on the original invalid block information
and create the invalid block table via the following suggested flow chart(Figure 1). Any intentional erasure of the original invalid block
information is prohibited.
Invalid Block(s)
Invalid blocks are defined as blocks that contain one or more invalid bits whose reliability is not guaranteed by Samsung. The infor-
mation regarding the invalid block(s) is so called as the invalid block information. An invalid block(s) does not affect the performance
of valid block(s) because it is isolated from the bit line and the common source line by a select transistor. The system design must be
able to mask out the invalid block(s) via address mapping.
*
Check "FFh" at the column address
517 of the first page in the block
Figure 1. Flow chart to create invalid block table.
Start
Set Block Address = 0
Check "FFh"
Increment Block Address
Last Block
End
No
Yes
Yes
Create (or update)
Invalid Block(s) Table
No