Computer system with backup function and method therefor
First Claim
1. A method for automatic backup of a first solid-state mass storage device of a host system by predetermining a failure of the first solid-state mass storage device, the first solid-state mass storage device comprising a controller and at least one nonvolatile memory device comprising pages that are organized into memory blocks, the method comprising:
- assigning at least a first memory block of the memory blocks as wear indicator means and excluding the wear indicator means from use as data storage for the nonvolatile memory device;
using at least a first set of the memory blocks of the nonvolatile memory device as data blocks for data storage whereby data are written to and erased from each of the data blocks in program/erase (P/E) cycles;
collecting information regarding the number of P/E cycles encountered by the data blocks and accessing the information to perform wear leveling on the data blocks;
subjecting the wear indicator means to P/E cycles so that the wear indicator means is subjected to a number of P/E cycles that is greater than the number of P/E cycles encountered by the data blocks;
performing integrity checks of the wear indicator means and monitoring a bit error rate thereof; and
taking corrective action if the bit error rate of the wear indicator means reaches a predetermined threshold, the corrective action comprising connecting the first solid-state mass storage device to a second mass storage device of the host system, and then initiating a data backup procedure comprising copying data stored in the data blocks of the first solid-state mass storage device to the second mass storage device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A solid-state mass storage device and method of anticipating a failure of the mass storage device resulting from a memory device of the mass storage device reaching a write endurance limit. A procedure is then initiated to back up data to a second mass storage device prior to failure. The method includes assigning at least a first memory block of the memory device as a wear indicator, using other memory blocks of the memory device as data blocks for data storage, performing program/erase (P/E) cycles and wear leveling on the data blocks, subjecting the wear indicator to more P/E cycles than the data blocks, performing integrity checks and monitoring the bit error rate of the wear indicator, and taking corrective action if the bit error rate increases, including the initiation of the backup procedure and generating a request to replace the device.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method for automatic backup of a first solid-state mass storage device of a host system by predetermining a failure of the first solid-state mass storage device, the first solid-state mass storage device comprising a controller and at least one nonvolatile memory device comprising pages that are organized into memory blocks, the method comprising:
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assigning at least a first memory block of the memory blocks as wear indicator means and excluding the wear indicator means from use as data storage for the nonvolatile memory device; using at least a first set of the memory blocks of the nonvolatile memory device as data blocks for data storage whereby data are written to and erased from each of the data blocks in program/erase (P/E) cycles; collecting information regarding the number of P/E cycles encountered by the data blocks and accessing the information to perform wear leveling on the data blocks; subjecting the wear indicator means to P/E cycles so that the wear indicator means is subjected to a number of P/E cycles that is greater than the number of P/E cycles encountered by the data blocks; performing integrity checks of the wear indicator means and monitoring a bit error rate thereof; and taking corrective action if the bit error rate of the wear indicator means reaches a predetermined threshold, the corrective action comprising connecting the first solid-state mass storage device to a second mass storage device of the host system, and then initiating a data backup procedure comprising copying data stored in the data blocks of the first solid-state mass storage device to the second mass storage device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer host system adapted to perform an automatic backup of a first solid-state mass storage device to a second mass storage device by predetermining a failure of the first solid-state mass storage device;
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the first solid-state mass storage device comprising; a controller; at least one nonvolatile memory device comprising pages that are organized into memory blocks, at least a first memory block of the memory blocks assigned as wear indicator means that is excluded from use as data storage for the nonvolatile memory device, and at least a first set of the memory blocks of the nonvolatile memory device used as data blocks for data storage whereby data are written to and erased from each of the data blocks in program/erase (P/E) cycles; means for performing wear leveling to maintain substantially the same level of usage across the data blocks; means for subjecting the wear indicator means to P/E cycles so that the wear indicator means is subjected to a number of P/E cycles that is greater than the number of P/E cycles encountered by the data blocks; and means for performing integrity checks of the wear indicator means and monitoring a bit error rate thereof; the computer host system comprising means for taking corrective action if the bit error rate of the wear indicator means reaches a predetermined threshold, the corrective action means operating to connect the first solid-state mass storage device to the second mass storage device and then initiate a data backup procedure that comprises copying to the second mass storage device all data stored in the data blocks of the first solid-state mass storage device. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification