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3633C–DFLASH–08/06

AT26DF321 [Preliminary]

10.1.1

SPRL Bit

The SPRL bit is used to control whether the Sector Protection Registers can be modified or not.

When the SPRL bit is in the logical “1” state, all Sector Protection Registers are locked and can-

not be modified with the Protect Sector and Unprotect Sector commands (the device will ignore

these commands). In addition, the Global Protect and Global Unprotect features cannot be per-

formed. Any sectors that are presently protected will remain protected, and any sectors that are

presently unprotected will remain unprotected.

When the SPRL bit is in the logical “0” state, all Sector Protection Registers are unlocked and

can be modified (the Protect Sector and Unprotect Sector commands, as well as the Global Pro-

tect and Global Unprotect features, will be processed as normal). The SPRL bit defaults to the

logical “0” state after a power-up or a device reset.

The SPRL bit can be modified freely whenever the WP pin is deasserted. However, if the WP pin

is asserted, then the SPRL bit may only be changed from a logical “0” (Sector Protection Regis-

ters are unlocked) to a logical “1” (Sector Protection Registers are locked). In order to reset the

SPRL bit back to a logical “0” using the Write Status Register command, the WP pin will have to

first be deasserted.

The SPRL bit is the only bit of the Status Register than can be user modified via the Write Status

Register command.

10.1.2

WPP Bit

The WPP bit can be read to determine if the WP pin has been asserted or not.

10.1.3

SWP Bits

The SWP bits provide feedback on the software protection status for the device. There are three

possible combinations of the SWP bits that indicate whether none, some, or all of the sectors

have been protected using the Protect Sector command or the Global Protect feature. If the

SWP bits indicate that some of the sectors have been protected, then the individual Sector Pro-

tection Registers can be read with the Read Sector Protection Registers command to determine

which sectors are in fact protected.

10.1.4

WEL Bit

The WEL bit indicates the current status of the internal Write Enable Latch. When the WEL bit is

in the logical “0” state, the device will not accept any program, erase, Protect Sector, Unprotect

Sector, or Write Status Register commands. The WEL bit defaults to the logical “0” state after a

device power-up or reset. In addition, the WEL bit will be reset to the logical “0” state automati-

cally under the following conditions:

• Write Disable operation completes successfully

• Write Status Register operation completes successfully or aborts

• Protect Sector operation completes successfully or aborts

• Unprotect Sector operation completes successfully or aborts

• Byte/Page Program operation completes successfully or aborts

• Block Erase operation completes successfully or aborts

• Chip Erase operation completes successfully or aborts