ENHANCEMENT OF STORAGE LIFE EXPECTANCY BY BAD BLOCK MANAGEMENT
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A storage device comprising:
- a non-volatile memory, the non-volatile memory having;
a first set of physical blocks, defined as operative blocks, that are visible to a host of the non-volatile memory; and
a second set of physical blocks, defined as spare blocks, that are hidden from a host of the non-volatile memory;
anda controller in communication with the non-volatile memory, the controller configured to re-define operative blocks as spare blocks.
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Abstract
A method and system are disclosed that permit a storage device to remain fully functional despite running out of a sufficient supply of spare blocks in memory. The storage device includes a non-volatile memory and a controller, where the controller is configured to detect an insufficiency of spare blocks and convert operative blocks to spare blocks. The method includes techniques for selecting certain operative blocks for conversion to spare blocks using the storage manager on the storage device and a file system manager that may or may not be part of the storage device.
57 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A storage device comprising:
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a non-volatile memory, the non-volatile memory having; a first set of physical blocks, defined as operative blocks, that are visible to a host of the non-volatile memory; and a second set of physical blocks, defined as spare blocks, that are hidden from a host of the non-volatile memory; and a controller in communication with the non-volatile memory, the controller configured to re-define operative blocks as spare blocks. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of managing bad memory blocks comprising:
in a storage device having a controller and a non-volatile memory including a first set of physical blocks comprising operative blocks visible to a host of the non-volatile memory and a second set of physical blocks comprising spare blocks hidden from the host of the non-volatile memory; detecting a shortage of spare blocks in the non-volatile memory at a controller of the non-volatile memory; and in response to detecting the shortage of spare blocks, the controller re-defining an operative block as a spare block. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of managing memory blocks to permit user selection of storage device performance comprising:
in a storage device having a controller and a non-volatile memory including a first set of physical blocks comprising operative blocks visible to a host of the non-volatile memory and a second set of physical blocks comprising spare blocks hidden from the host of the non-volatile memory, the controller; receiving an inquiry from the host regarding a performance level of the storage device; transmitting to the host a performance level option; and converting a number of operative blocks to spare blocks in response to receiving a host selection of the performance level.
Specification