Memory system and memory management method thereof

• US 10,108,555 B2
• Filed: 12/06/2016
• Issued: 10/23/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Macronix International Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Macronix International Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Chang, Yu-Ming, Chang, Yuan-Hao, Chen, Hsiu-Chang, Kuo, Tei-Wei
• Primary Examiner(s): Sadler, Nathan
• Application Number:
  US15/370,059
• Publication Number:
  US 20170344300A1
• Time in Patent Office: 686 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/00 Accessing, addressing or allocating within memory systems or architectures digital input from, or digital output to record carriers, e.g. to disk storage units, G06F3/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0246 in block erasable memory, e.g. flash memory
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0638 Combination of memories, e.g. ROM and RAM such as to permit replacement or supplementing of words in one module by words in another module address formation of the next microinstruction G06F9/26; masking faults in memories by using spares or by reconfiguring G11C29/70
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/1009 using page tables, e.g. page table structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/121 using replacement algorithms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/1016 Performance improvement
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/205 Hybrid memory, e.g. using both volatile and non-volatile memory
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/7208 Multiple device management, e.g. distributing data over multiple flash devices

Abstract

A memory management method includes: providing a hybrid memory comprising a first type memory and a second type memory; providing an inactive list and a read active list for recording in-used pages on the first type memory; providing a write active list for recording in-used pages on the second type memory; allocating a page from the first type memory according to a system request, and inserting the page into the inactive list accordingly; moving the page from the inactive list to the write active list or the read active list in response to two or more successive access operations on the page; and referring the page to a physical address on the second type memory when the page is in the write active list.

Claims

1. A memory management method, comprising:

providing a hybrid memory comprising a first type memory and a second type memory, wherein the first type memory has higher capacity than the second type memory, and the second type memory has higher access efficiency than the first type memory;

providing an inactive list and a read active list for recording in-used pages on the first type memory;

providing a write active list for recording in-used pages on the second type memory;

allocating a page from the first type memory according to a system request, and inserting the page into the inactive list accordingly;

moving the page from the inactive list to the write active list or the read active list in response to two or more successive access operations on the page; and

referring the page to a physical address on the second type memory when the page is in the write active list.

2. The memory management method according to claim 1, wherein the page is assigned for a descriptor which comprises:

a first flag for indicating whether the page is in the write active list or not;

a second flag for indicating whether the page is in the read active list or not; and

a third flag for reflecting the frequency of the access operations on the page.

3. The memory management method according to claim 2, further comprising:

checking whether the third flag of the page is clear when the page is accessed; and

moving the page into the write active list in response to a write operation on the page when the third flag of the page is set and the page is not in the write active list.

4. The memory management method according to claim 3, further comprising:

when the third flag of the page is set and the page is in the read active list or the inactive list, moving the page into the write active list in response to a read operation on the page if a free memory space of the second type memory is sufficient to place the page.

5. The memory management method according to claim 2, further comprising:

checking whether the third flag of the page is clear when the page is accessed; and

setting the third flag of the page when the third flag of the page is clear, except that the page is in the write active list and the page is accessed by a read operation.

6. The memory management method according to claim 2, further comprising:

reclaiming the page when the third flag of the page is clear and the page is in the inactive list for a first period of time;

moving the page into the inactive list when the third flag of the page is clear and the page is in the write active list or the read active list for a second period of time; and

clearing the third flag of the page when the third flag of the page is set and the page has not been accessed for a third period of time.

7. The memory management method according to claim 1, wherein data of the page in the first type memory is copied to a free page on the second type memory when the page is moved from the inactive list or the read active list to the write active list.

8. The memory management method according to claim 1, further comprising:

inquiring a lifetime value of a deallocated page from a lifetime-aware heap tree, wherein free pages on a free memory space of the hybrid memory are sorted as nodes of the lifetime-aware heap tree in accordance with respective lifetimes to write;

checking whether the lifetime value of the deallocated page exceeds a threshold;

inserting the deallocated page to the tail of a linked list recording pages available for allocation when the lifetime value of the deallocated page exceeds the threshold, such that the deallocated page has a lower priority to be allocated as an in-used page; and

inserting the deallocated page to the head of the linked list when the lifetime value of the deallocated page does not exceed the threshold, such that the deallocated page has a higher priority to be allocated as the in-used page.

9. The memory management method according to claim 1, wherein the first type memory is a multi-level-cell (MLC) memory and the second type memory is a single-level cell (SLC) memory.

10. The memory management method according to claim 1, wherein the first type memory is a SLC memory and the second type memory is a dynamic random access memory (DRAM).

11. A memory system, comprising:

a hybrid memory comprising a first type memory and a second type memory, wherein the first type memory has higher capacity than the second type memory, and the second type memory has higher access efficiency than the first type memory;

an inactive list and a read active list for recording in-used pages on the first type memory;

a write active list for recording in-used pages on the second type memory;

a write-aware page manager, configured for;

allocating a page from the first type memory according to a system request, and inserting the page into the inactive list accordingly; and

moving the page from the inactive list to the write active list or the read active list in response to two or more successive access operations on the page; and

a memory management unit (MMU), for referring the page to a physical address on the second type memory when the page is in the write active list.

12. The memory system according to claim 11, wherein the page is assigned with a descriptor which comprises:

a first flag for indicating whether the page is in the write active list or not;

a second flag for indicating whether the page is in the read active list or not; and

a third flag for reflecting the frequency of the access operations on the page.

13. The memory system according to claim 12, wherein the write-aware page manager checks whether the third flag of the page is clear when the page is accessed, and moves the page into the write active list in response to a write operation when the third flag of the page is set and the page is not in the write active list.

14. The memory system according to claim 12, wherein the write-aware page manager checks whether free space of the second type memory is larger than a threshold, moves the page into the write active list in response to a read operation when the free space of the second type memory is larger than or equal to the threshold, and moves the page into the read active list in response to the read operation when the free space of the second type memory is smaller than the threshold.

15. The memory system according to claim 12, wherein the write-aware page manager checks whether the third flag of the page is clear when the page is accessed, and sets the third flag of the page when the third flag of the page is clear except that the page is in the write active list and the page is accessed by a read operation.

16. The memory system according to claim 12, wherein the write-aware page manager reclaims the page when the third flag of the page is clear and the page is in the inactive list for a first period of time;

the write-aware page manager moves the page to the inactive list when the third flag of the page is clear and the page is in the write active list or the read active list for a second period of time; and

the write-aware page manager clears the third flag of the page when the third flag of the page is set and the page has not been accessed for a third period of time.

17. The memory system according to claim 11, wherein data of the page in the first type memory is copied to a free page on the second type memory when the page is moved from the inactive list or the read active list to the write active list.

18. The memory system according to claim 11, further comprising:

a lifetime-aware free space manager, configured for;

inquiring a lifetime value of a deallocated page from a lifetime-aware heap tree, wherein free pages on a free memory space of the hybrid memory are sorted as nodes of the lifetime-aware heap tree in accordance with respective lifetimes to write;

checking whether the lifetime value of the deallocated page exceeds a threshold;

inserting the deallocated page to the tail of a linked list recording pages available for allocation when the lifetime value of the deallocated page exceeds the threshold, such that the deallocated page has a lower priority to be allocated as an in-used page; and

inserting the deallocated page to the head of the linked list when the lifetime value of the deallocated page does not exceed the threshold, such that the deallocated page has a higher priority to be allocated as the in-used page.

19. The memory system according to claim 11, wherein the first type memory is a multi-level-cell (MLC) memory and the second type memory is a single-level cell (SLC) memory.

20. The memory system according to claim 11, wherein the first type memory is a SLC memory and the second type memory is a dynamic random access memory (DRAM).