Method of efficient data management with flash storage system

• US 7,194,596 B2
• Filed: 06/09/2004
• Issued: 03/20/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Original Assignee: Simpletech Global Limited
• Inventors: Wu, Chien-Hung, Chu, Chien-Hua, Chen, Jui-Chien, Lou, Jen-Chieh
• Primary Examiner(s): Elmore; Reba I.
• Application Number:
  US10/863,210
• Publication Number:
  US 20050278479A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,014 Days
• Field of Search: 711/103, 711/203, 365/185.33
• US Class Current: 711/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0246 in block erasable memory, e.g. flash memory
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/7203 Temporary buffering, e.g. using volatile buffer or dedicated buffer blocks

Abstract

A data management for a flash memory device is disclosed. The device includes a screen virtual sector table and a virtual unit versus physical unit table (V2P table) for each block. With the auxiliary of the screen virtual sector table and v2p table, the data programming into the target block of the flash memory is in accordance with the data receiving order, which is from lower page number to higher page number in case the target block is free. The data can be written into the target block contains data already through one or two temporal block(s). The conventional LBA data transfer protocol can still be applied to the flash memory device of this invention.

Claims

1. A data accessed management system for a flash memory device, comprising:

said flash memory device having flash memories in a unit of physical block, each of said physical block being called an virtual block for storing data in a unit of virtual sector if said physical block is good;

a data management member chosen from a control chip set or a host;

a buffer for receiving a record N that are sent by a host in a unit of logic sector and are desired to be stored into destination virtual sectors of destination virtual block, said record N having n logical sections in total and starting destination being from sector number N′

, said N′

be positive integral,

a plurality of SVST (screen virtual sector table), each one for each said virtual block, which records the position relation between said logic sectors and said destination virtual sectors while the data are stored therein;

a plurality of V2P (virtual block to physical block), each of said V2P provided for each of said physical block itself, said V2P being constituted of one word memories to record (1) a virtual block number while said physical block is in good condition, (2) a free sector point (FSP), and (3) physical status of said physical block, further, said FSP being expressed by a binary code to record usage status of virtual sectors be used in said physical block; and

therefore, record N are stored by said data management member starting from the sector number 0 of the destination block provided that said destination block is free, meanwhile said SVST and FSP are updated.

2. The data accessed management system according to claim 1 wherein said one word memories is totally 16 bits including 9 bits for recording a virtual block number, 6 bits for recording FSP status, and one bit for recording said physical block condition.

3. The data accessed management system according to claim 1 wherein said one word memories is totally k bits and said k is an integral number and is allotted in accordance with the virtual block numbers, sector numbers in each virtual block and one bit for recording said physical condition of said physical block.

4. The data accessed management system according to claim 1 wherein said FSP records usage status of virtual sectors in said virtual block while the predetermined destination of said logic sectors matched with said virtual sectors.

5. The data accessed management system according to claim 1 wherein said FSP is set to 0 for the predetermined destination of said logic sectors do not match with said virtual sectors.

6. The data accessed management system according to claim 1 further comprising method of writing the record N in said buffer into predetermined destination block B having data already, said method comprising the steps of:

finding a free virtual block C;

copy data of said block B from a virtual sector 0 to a virtual sector N′

−

1 into corresponding virtual sectors of said virtual block C;

writing said record N into said virtual block C from a virtual sector N′

to a virtual sector N+n−

1′

;

copy remnant of said block B starting from a virtual sector N′

+n into corresponding virtual sectors of said virtual block C;

marking said block C as said block A; and

erasing all of data in said block B.