ARCHITECTURE FOR NAND FLASH CONSTRAINT ENFORCEMENT

• US 20100306451A1
• Filed: 06/01/2009
• Published: 12/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Joshua Johnson
• Original Assignee: Joshua Johnson
• Inventors: Johnson, Joshua
• Application Number:
  US12/475,710
• Publication Number:
  US 20100306451A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/103
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0246 in block erasable memory, e.g. flash memory
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/1032 Reliability improvement, data loss prevention, degraded operation etc
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/7205 Cleaning, compaction, garbage collection, erase control
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0607 by facilitating the process of upgrading existing storage systems, e.g. for improving compatibility between host and storage device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0619 in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0632 by initialisation or re-initialisation of storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0679 Non-volatile semiconductor memory device, e.g. flash memory, one time programmable memory [OTP]

Abstract

Described embodiments provide for constraint checking for constraints imposed on NAND flash devices. An exemplary implementation of a computing environment comprises at least one NAND data storage device. In the illustrative implementation, the data processing and storage management paradigm allows for the storage of data according using a selected constraint enforcement algorithm. A NAND data storage constraint checking module can be operable to enforce one or more selected device constraints with one or more co-operating components to the NAND data store.

Claims

1. An apparatus performing constraint checking in an NAND storage device comprising:

one or more NAND data storage elements;

a NAND constraint checking module operable to process one or more commands for the storage and/or management of data on the one or more NAND data storage elements; and

an instruction set comprising one or more instructions to instruct the NAND constraint checking module to apply one or more constraints on the processed commands according to a selected NAND constraint checking paradigm,

wherein the NAND constraint checking paradigm comprises at least one instruction to process one or more commands received from a cooperating NAND controller.

2. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the NAND constraint checking module comprises one or more logic components cooperating with a micro-processor based electronic environment to process one or more commands for the storage and/or management of data.

3. The apparatus as recited in claim 2, wherein the NAND constraint checking module executes a selected constraint checking algorithm executable on the NAND storage device.

4. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the NAND constraint checking module is co-located with the one or more NAND storage elements.

5. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the NAND constraint checking module is co-located with the NAND controller.

6. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the NAND constraint checking module is operatively located between the one or more NAND storage elements and the NAND controller.

7. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein one or more commands are received by the NAND controller from a cooperating micro-processor based electronic environment for the storage and/or management of data.

8. The apparatus as recited in claim 7, wherein the NAND one or more constraints are selected for application based on one or more operational characteristics of the NAND device.

9. A method to perform constraint checking for a NAND storage device comprising:

receiving one or more commands to store and/or manage data on the NAND storage device by a NAND constraint checking module;

identifying one or more constraints of the NAND storage device;

processing the one or more received commands in context of the identified one or more constraints; and

performing a constraint check violation to determine if the one or more received commands result in a constraint violation.

absent a constraint violation, performing an operation on the NAND storage device to retrieve and/or delete data in accordance with the one or more received commands.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, further comprising communicating an error to the source of the one or more received commands.

11. The method as recited in claim 9, further comprising initiating the NAND constraint checking module to process one or more selected constraints.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, further comprising selecting the one or more constraints according to one or more selected operational characteristics of the NAND storage device.

13. The method as recited in claim 9, further comprising receiving one or more commands for the storage and/or management of data by a NAND controller from one or more components of a micro-processor based electronic environment.

14. The method as recited in claim 13, further comprising processing the one or more received commands by the NAND constraint checking module.

15. The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising performing a constraint check violation on the one or more received commands.

16. The method as recited in claim 15, further comprising communicating an error to the source of the one or more received commands upon the occurrence of a constraint check violation.

17. The method as recited in claim 16, further comprising performing an operation on one or more NAND data storage elements of the NAND storage device.

18. The method as recited in claim 9, further comprising performing an operation on one or more NAND data storage elements of the NAND storage device.

19. The method as recited in claim 13, further comprising performing a constraint check violation for one or more constraints comprising,

assuring data has been removed or relocated from a block before it is erased,

preventing a write to an incorrect empty page, or out of order empty page,

preventing a write to a page that has already been written

preventing the programming of a page if its partial program count can be exceeded,

ensuring the data pipeline of the NAND device has been flushed, and

preventing a write to a page if its recommended program/erase count is exceeded.

20. A machine-readable medium, having encoded thereon program code, wherein, when the program code is executed by a machine, the machine implements a method for performing constraint checks on a NAND storage device, comprising:

receiving one or more commands to store and/or manage data on the NAND storage device by a NAND constraint checking module;

identifying one or more constraints of the NAND storage device;

processing the one or more received commands in context of the identified one or more constraints; and

performing a constraint check violation to determine if the one or more received commands result in a constraint violation.

absent a constraint violation, performing an operation on the NAND storage device to retrieve and/or delete data in accordance with the one or more received commands.