Solid state memory device with PCI controller

• US 8,086,791 B2
• Filed: 08/07/2007
• Issued: 12/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SK Hynix Inc.
• Original Assignee: Dataram Corporation (Leading Testing Laboratories, Inc.)
• Inventors: Caulkins, Jason
• Primary Examiner(s): Bragdon, Reginald
• Assistant Examiner(s): VO, THANH DUC
• Application Number:
  US11/835,388
• Publication Number:
  US 20080040533A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,603 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 711/104
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0866 for peripheral storage systems, e.g. disk cache
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/061 Improving I/O performance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0658 Controller construction arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0679 Non-volatile semiconductor memory device, e.g. flash memory, one time programmable memory [OTP]

Abstract

A system interface controller for enabling a computing appliance to read and write data to a fixed or removable non-volatile memory device includes a peripheral component interface having one or more disk and or bus controller registers, a flash memory controller, a random access memory controller, and a random access memory chip having one or more flash address management tables connected to the random access memory controller. In one embodiment, the system interface controller is modular and is installable to a card form factor supporting the non-volatile memory.

Claims

1. A removable jump drive or SD card, comprising:

a flash memory for storing data;

a dedicated flash memory controller for controlling host access to the non volatile flash memory;

a random access memory controller ported to the dedicated flash memory controller;

a random access memory chip connected to the random access memory controller;

a peripheral component interface onboard the jump drive or SD card, the flash memory controller integrated within the peripheral component interface; and

one or more disk controller registers and or bus controller registers within the peripheral component interface, the one or more disk controller registers representing the jump drive or SD card as a disk or as a bussed device to a host computing appliance reading or writing to the jump drive or SD card;

wherein upon connecting the jump drive or SD card to the host, the host immediately recognizes the jump drive or SD card as a disk or a bussed storage and directly reads and writes to the jump drive or SD card without data translation tasks or pre-activation requirements requiring participation of a disk controller interface, disk controller, disk channel or USB controller/channel interface, and wherein the random access memory is used to cache data written to and from flash memory.

2. The jump drive or SD card of claim 1, wherein the disk controller registers are advanced technology attachment registers and the bus controller registers are universal serial bus registers.

3. The jump drive or SD card of claim 1, wherein the dedicated flash memory controller is a series-flash controller.

4. The jump drive or SD card of claim 1, wherein the bus controller registers are universal serial bus controller registers, the jump drive or SD card recognized as a universal serial bus drive by a computer hosting the device.

5. The jump drive or SD card of claim 1, wherein the dedicated flash memory controller is a series-parallel flash controller.

6. The jump drive or SD card of claim 1 further including one or more flash address management tables residing in memory connected to the random access memory controller.

7. The jump drive or SD card of claim 6, wherein the flash controller is a series-flash controller.

8. A system interface controller for enabling a computing appliance to read and write data to a removable non-volatile memory device comprising:

a flash memory controller;

a random access memory controller; and

a peripheral component interface having one or more disk and or bus controller registers, the flash or random access memory controller integrated within the peripheral component interface;

a random access memory chip having one or more flash address management tables connected to the random access memory controller;

characterized in that the system interface controller is modular and is installable to a card form factor supporting the non-volatile memory and the disk and or bus controller registers contain values which enable the computing appliance to directly read and write to the non-volatile memory device without data translation tasks or pre-activation requirements or requiring participation of a disk controller interface, disk controller, disk channel or USB controller/channel interface.

9. The system interface controller of claim 8, wherein the random access memory is adapted as a data cache and or an address translation utility.

10. The system interface controller of claim 8, wherein the flash memory controller is one of a parallel, series, or series-parallel flash controller.

11. The system interface controller of claim 8, wherein the disk and or bus controller registers are advanced technology attachment disk controller registers and or universal serial bus controller registers.

12. The system interface controller of claim 8, wherein the fixed non-volatile memory device is wired directly to a computer motherboard.