MEMORY CONTROLLER, NONVOLATILE STORAGE DEVICE, AND NONVOLATILE STORAGE SYSTEM

• US 20100318760A1
• Filed: 01/28/2009
• Published: 12/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Suto, Masato, So, Hirokazu, Sakurai, Hiroshi, Nakagaki, Hirofumi
• Application Number:
  US12/526,372
• Publication Number:
  US 20100318760A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0246 in block erasable memory, e.g. flash memory
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/7201 Logical to physical mapping or translation of blocks or pages

Abstract

A method for use in a nonvolatile storage device that can resize one or more partitions prevents an address management table from becoming complicated after repeated resizing of partitions. When a partition is resized, a logical-to-physical conversion table is updated by shifting a physical block address corresponding to a partition subsequent to the resized partition by the resized amount of the partition. The method enables both logical addresses corresponding to partitions and logical addresses not corresponding to partitions to be constantly continuous to one another.

Claims

1. A memory controller that accesses a nonvolatile memory having a storage area whose logical address space is partitioned, the memory controller comprising:

a partition management table storing a number and a size of a partition that partitions the logical address space;

a logical-to-physical conversion table storing a correspondence between a logical address of the nonvolatile memory and a physical address of the nonvolatile memory;

a storage area management unit that externally receives a command indicating to change a partition, and changes a size of the partition stored in the partition management table and changes a correspondence between a logical address and a physical address stored in the logical-to-physical conversion table in accordance with size change performed for the partition; and

a memory interface that accesses the nonvolatile memory using a physical address that is obtained from the logical-to-physical conversion table by the storage area management unit.

2. The memory controller according to claim 1, wherein when the command indicates to increase the size of the partition, the storage area management unit updates the partition management table by changing the size of the partition to a designated size, and updates the logical-to-physical conversion table by changing an address of a physical block corresponding to a partition subsequent to the partition for which size change is performed in a manner to correspond to an address of a logical block greater by an amount of the size increase.

3. The memory controller according to claim 1, wherein when the command indicates to decrease the size of the partition, the storage area management unit updates the partition management table by changing the size of the partition to a designated size, and updates the logical-to-physical conversion table by changing an address of a physical block corresponding to a partition subsequent to the partition for which size change is performed in a manner to correspond to an address of a logical block smaller by an amount of the size decrease.

4. A nonvolatile storage device comprising:

a nonvolatile memory having a storage area whose logical address space is partitioned; and

a memory controller that accesses the nonvolatile memory,

wherein the memory controller includes

a partition management table storing a number and a size of a partition that partitions the logical address space,

a logical-to-physical conversion table storing a correspondence between a logical address of the nonvolatile memory and a physical address of the nonvolatile memory,

a storage area management unit that externally receives a command indicating to change a partition, and changes a size of the partition stored in the partition management table and changes a correspondence between a logical address and a physical address stored in the logical-to-physical conversion table in accordance with size change performed for the partition, and

a memory interface that accesses the nonvolatile memory using a physical address that is obtained from the logical-to-physical conversion table by the storage area management unit.

5. The nonvolatile storage device according to claim 4, wherein when the command indicates to increase the size of the partition, the storage area management unit updates the partition management table by changing the size of the partition to a designated size, and updates the logical-to-physical conversion table by changing an address of a physical block corresponding to a partition subsequent to the partition for which size change is performed in a manner to correspond to an address of a logical block greater by an amount of the size increase.

6. The nonvolatile storage device according to claim 4, wherein when the command indicates to decrease the size of the partition, the storage area management unit updates the partition management table by changing the size of the partition to a designated size, and updates the logical-to-physical conversion table by changing an address of a physical block corresponding to a partition subsequent to the partition for which size change is performed in a manner to correspond to an address of a logical block smaller by an amount of the size decrease.

7. A nonvolatile storage system comprising:

a nonvolatile storage device; and

an access device that accesses the nonvolatile storage device,

wherein the nonvolatile storage device includes a nonvolatile memory and a memory controller that accesses the nonvolatile memory, and

the memory controller includes a partition management table storing a number and a size of a partition that partitions the logical address space,

a logical-to-physical conversion table storing a correspondence between a logical address of the nonvolatile memory and a physical address of the nonvolatile memory,

a storage area management unit that externally receives a command indicating to change a partition, and changes a size of the partition stored in the partition management table and changes a correspondence between a logical address and a physical address stored in the logical-to-physical conversion table in accordance with size change performed for the partition, and

a memory interface that accesses the nonvolatile memory using a physical address that is obtained from the logical-to-physical conversion table by the storage area management unit.

8. The nonvolatile storage system according to claim 7, wherein when the command indicates to increase the size of the partition, the storage area management unit updates the partition management table by changing the size of the partition to a designated size, and updates the logical-to-physical conversion table by changing an address of a physical block corresponding to a partition subsequent to the partition for which size change is performed in a manner to correspond to an address of a logical block greater by an amount of the size increase.

9. The nonvolatile storage system according to claim 7, wherein when the command indicates to decrease the size of the partition, the storage area management unit updates the partition management table by changing the size of the partition to a designated size, and updates the logical-to-physical conversion table by changing an address of a physical block corresponding to a partition subsequent to the partition for which size change is performed in a manner to correspond to an address of a logical block smaller by an amount of the size decrease.