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What is the difference between Flash and PROM?

Harald Kapp

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PROM = program once, read many times. You cannot erase and re-program a PROM.
FLASH = can be programmmed and erased many times.

Different physical mechanisms are used for these.
 

KrisBlueNZ

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EEPROMs and Flash ROMs are both electrically erasable and reprogrammable. The differences are that EEPROMs are normally smaller than Flash ROMs; they are normally accessed serially (which is relatively slow) instead of in parallel like Flash ROMs; and they are erased and reprogrammed using a command-based interface; they may be reprogrammable in smaller chunks.
 

KrisBlueNZ

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I should have said, to summarise, that EEPROM is used for data storage under program control, and Flash ROM is used for code to be executed directly by the MCU.
 
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