Method and system for saving overhead program time in a memory device

摘要

The present invention discloses a method for saving overhead programming time in a flash memory. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a wordline voltage generation circuit and a bitline voltage generation circuit are electrically connected with a comparator circuit. During the programming operation, the comparator circuit compares a wordline programming voltage and a bitline enabling voltage generated by the voltage generation circuits to determine when the programming voltages reach a predetermined voltage level. Once the predetermined voltage level is reached, the comparator circuit sends an output signal to a state machine that initiates programming for at least one cell. The present invention provides advantages over prior methods of programming by reducing the time period that the state machine waits to initiate programming.