Abstract: A data storage system is described with a persistent status display. In one example, the system has an external housing, a persistent display attached to the exterior of the housing, a display controller within the housing coupled to the display to write status data to the display, a memory array to store data within the housing, a memory controller within the housing to control the operation of the memory array and to determine a status of the memory array, the memory controller being coupled to the display controller to send status data to the display controller to write to the display, and an exterior connector coupled to the memory controller to send data from the memory to an external device.

Abstract: In various embodiments, field-effect transistors (FETs) or other high-resistance electronic switches may be used to take a large group of parallel-connected memory devices and separate them into smaller groups of parallel-connected devices, so that the signal lines in each group may be electrically isolated from the signals lines in the other groups. In this way, when one memory device is selected for an operation, only the other memory devices in that group will contribute to the capacitive load on the signal lines to the memory controller, while the capacitive load from the memory devices in the other groups will be electrically isolated by having their associated FETs turned off. The resultant reduced capacitive load may permit higher operating speeds and higher data rates for read or write operations with the memory devices.