Patents by Inventor Tom RICKS

Tom RICKS has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Method and apparatus for managing corruption of flash memory contents
    Patent number: 9785362
    Abstract: The present invention relates to methods and apparatuses for eliminating or mitigating the effects of the corruption of contents in an external flash memory, such as that which can occur during a power interruption. Embodiments of the invention include methods to log external flash memory program and erase operations redundantly to dedicated buffer partitions in the flash memory itself. The log information from external serial flash memory is used to erase the sector that was being programmed or erased when power was removed. According to certain aspects, the redundant storage of log information in embodiments ensures that if one version of the log information is corrupted, the other version can be used.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2017
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Gary Walker, Nikhil Bhatia, Tom Ricks, Igor Prilepov
  • METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING CORRUPTION OF FLASH MEMORY CONTENTS
    Publication number: 20170017415
    Abstract: The present invention relates to methods and apparatuses for eliminating or mitigating the effects of the corruption of contents in an external flash memory, such as that which can occur during a power interruption. Embodiments of the invention include methods to log external flash memory program and erase operations redundantly to dedicated buffer partitions in the flash memory itself. The log information from external serial flash memory is used to erase the sector that was being programmed or erased when power was removed. According to certain aspects, the redundant storage of log information in embodiments ensures that if one version of the log information is corrupted, the other version can be used.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 16, 2015
    Publication date: January 19, 2017
    Inventors: Gary WALKER, Nikhil BHATIA, Tom RICKS, Igor PRILEPOV
  • METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING AND MANAGING CORRUPTION OF FLASH MEMORY CONTENTS
    Publication number: 20160147594
    Abstract: The present invention relates to methods and apparatuses for eliminating or mitigating the effects of the corruption of contents in a flash memory, such as that which can occur during a power interruption. Embodiments of the invention include methods for preventing the corruption of code stored in flash memory. Such methods can include partitioning code in separate physical blocks as data in a flash memory. Embodiments of the invention also include methods for mitigating the effects of corruption of data stored in flash memory. Such methods can include a book-keeping mechanism that allows for the detection of corruption events, along with the affected locations in flash memory.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 26, 2014
    Publication date: May 26, 2016
    Inventors: Gary WALKER, Nikhil BHATIA, David CAVANAUGH, Tom RICKS