METHOD FOR ENHANCING SSD ENDURANCE BY UTILIZING HOST DRAM

• US 20200133512A1
• Filed: 10/30/2018
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Original Assignee: Western Digital Technologies Incorporated (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: HODES, Avichay, HAHN, Judah Gamliel
• Granted Patent: US 10,831,379 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0616 in relation to life time, e.g. increasing Mean Time Between Failures [MTBF]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0647 Migration mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0649 Lifecycle management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0653 Monitoring storage devices or systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0656 Data buffering arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0679 Non-volatile semiconductor memory device, e.g. flash memory, one time programmable memory [OTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0688 Non-volatile semiconductor memory arrays

Abstract

A method and apparatus for utilizing a host memory to enhance solid state drive endurance.

Claims

1. A method to enhance an endurance of a solid state drive, comprising:

scanning memory units of the solid state drive to obtain statistics for the memory units accessed by a host;

comparing host access statistics obtained during the scanning of the memory units of the solid state drive to threshold values; and

relocating data from a scanned memory unit of the solid state drive to a host non-volatile memory when one of the statistics for the memory units exceed the threshold values.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

copying the threshold values to the solid state drive prior to the scanning of the memory units.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the threshold values are based on a number of uses per unit of time.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the solid state drive is NAND based.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the scanning of the memory units of the solid state drive is performed by a processor in the solid state drive.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the relocating is performed by utilizing a host memory buffer feature.

7. A method to enhance an endurance of a solid state drive, comprising:

obtaining statistics on data access frequency within memory units of the solid state drive pertaining to usage of the data over time;

comparing the statistics of the memory units of the solid state drive to threshold values; and

relocating data from solid state drive to a computer memory when one of the statistics for the memory units exceed the threshold values.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the statistics on data within memory units of the solid state drive pertaining to usage of the data over time relates to usage of the data by the solid state drive.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the statistics on data within memory units of the solid state drive pertaining to usage of the data over time relates to usage of the data by a host.

10. The method according to claim 7, further comprising:

copying the threshold values to the solid state drive prior to the obtaining statistics of the memory units.

11. The method according to claim 7, wherein the threshold values are based on a number of uses per unit of time.

12. The method according to claim 7, wherein the solid state drive is NAND based.

13. A method to enhance an endurance of a solid state drive, comprising:

scanning memory units of the solid state drive to obtain statistics for the memory units;

comparing the statistics of the scanned memory units of the solid state drive to threshold values; and

relocating data from a scanned memory unit of the solid state drive to a computer memory when one of the statistics for the memory units exceed the threshold values, wherein the relocating data from the scanned memory unit of the solid state drive is accomplished through a host memory buffer non-volatile memory operation.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the relocating data from the scanned memory unit of the solid state drive to the computer memory when one of the statistics for the memory units exceed the threshold values, wherein the relocating data from the scanned memory unit of the solid state drive is accomplished through a host memory buffer non-volatile memory operation is performed by the controller.

15. The method according to claim 13, wherein the threshold values are a number of writes per unit of time.

16. The method according to claim 13, wherein the threshold values are a number of reads per unit of time.

17. The method according to claim 13, further comprising:

monitoring, during the method, for a power shut off during operations; and

transferring data from the host memory to the solid state drive when a power shut off during operations occurs, and wherein the copying of the data finishes prior to a complete power shut off.

18. The method according to claim 17, further comprising:

transferring data from the solid state drive back to the host memory when power is reestablished to the solid state drive and the host.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the relocating data from the scanned memory unit of the solid state drive to the computer memory when one of the statistics for the memory units exceed the threshold values is tracked by a controller in the solid state drive.

20. The method according to claim 13, wherein the computer memory is a non-volatile memory.