Managing Wear in Flash Memory
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprising:
- establishing at least two groupings for a plurality of erase units that each comprise a plurality of flash memory units that are available for writing subsequent to erasure, wherein the groupings are based at least on a recent write frequency of data targeted for writing to the groupings;
determining a wear criteria for each of the erase units; and
assigning the erase units to one of the respective groupings based on the wear criteria of the respective erase units and further based on a wear range assigned to each of the at least two groupings.
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Abstract
At least two groupings are established for a plurality of erase units. The erase units include flash memory units that are available for writing subsequent to erasure. The groupings are based at least on a recent write frequency of data targeted for writing to the erase units. A wear criteria is determined for each of the erase units and the erase units are assigned to one of the respective groupings based on the wear criteria of the respective erase units and further based on a wear range assigned to each of the at least two groupings.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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establishing at least two groupings for a plurality of erase units that each comprise a plurality of flash memory units that are available for writing subsequent to erasure, wherein the groupings are based at least on a recent write frequency of data targeted for writing to the groupings; determining a wear criteria for each of the erase units; and assigning the erase units to one of the respective groupings based on the wear criteria of the respective erase units and further based on a wear range assigned to each of the at least two groupings. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An apparatus, comprising:
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a plurality of erase units each comprising a plurality of flash memory units that are available for writing subsequent to erasure; a controller configured to write to the erase units, the controller configured with instructions that cause the apparatus to; establish at least two groupings for the erase units, wherein the groupings are based at least on a recent write frequency of data targeted for writing to the groupings; determine a wear criteria for each of the erase units; and assign the erase units to one of the respective groupings based on the wear criteria of the respective erase units and further based on a wear range assigned to each of the at least two groupings. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method comprising:
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determining a distribution of a wear criterion associated with each a plurality of erase units, wherein each erase unit comprises a plurality of flash memory units being considered for garbage collection based on a garbage collection metric associated with the respective erase unit; determining a subset of the erase units corresponding to an outlier of the distribution; and adjusting the garbage collection metric of the subset to facilitate changing when garbage collection is performed on the subset. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. An apparatus, comprising:
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a plurality of erase units each comprising a plurality of flash memory units, being considered for garbage collection based on a garbage collection metric associated with the respective erase unit; a controller configured to select the erase units for the garbage collection, the controller configured with instructions that cause the apparatus to; determine a distribution of a wear criterion associated with each of the erase units; determine a subset of the erase units corresponding to an outlier of the distribution; and adjust the garbage collection metric of the subset of erase units to facilitate changing when garbage collection is performed on the subset of erase units. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24)
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Specification