Atmel 8051: use program flash for data storage?

From: andrew queisser (andrew.queisser_at_hp.com)
Date: 02/25/04 

Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2004 09:03:33 -0800

I've got a Atmel 8051 (T89C51RD2) with 64K flash. Can
I use part of the program flash for data storage? From the
data*** it seems like I should be able to use the on-chip
low-level routines to program up to 128 bytes with the
PROGRAM DATA PAGE call and read bytes with the
MOVC opcode.

I'm envisioning reading some data from flash into RAM,
doing some processing and then writing it back to flash.

Are there fundamental problems with this approach? The
data*** is a bit vague but it doesn't mention any restrictions
on a user application reprogramming the flash, other than
the process being a bit slow and good for only about 100K
times.

By the way, is the 100K per byte, per page or for the whole
flash area?

Thanks,
Andrew Queisser

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