System for optimizing the transfer of stored content in response to a triggering event

• US 9,164,700 B2
• Filed: 03/05/2009
• Issued: 10/20/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Western Digital Israel Limited (Western Digital Corporation)
• Original Assignee: SanDisk IL Ltd. (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: Hutton, Henry, Hahn, Judah Gamliel, Goodman, Daniel Isaac
• Primary Examiner(s): HICKS, MICHAEL J
• Application Number:
  US12/398,617
• Publication Number:
  US 20100228799A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,420 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/13 File access structures, e.g. distributed indices arrangements of input from, or output to, record carriers G06F3/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0607 by facilitating the process of upgrading existing storage systems, e.g. for improving compatibility between host and storage device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0643 Management of files
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0665 at area level, e.g. provisioning of virtual or logical volumes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0679 Non-volatile semiconductor memory device, e.g. flash memory, one time programmable memory [OTP]

Abstract

A system is set forth that includes storage, a first file system, a second file system, and a processing system. The first file system manages one or more files and/or directories on the storage, while the second file system manages content of one or more further files on the storage. The processing system is responsive to a triggering event. The processing system responds to the triggering event by re-mapping content from the second file system to the first file system while retaining the content at its original physical location on the storage so that the content is accessible through the first file system from its original physical location on the storage.

Claims

1. A storage device with file system mapping, comprising:

a first portion of a memory comprising a first file system containing one or more files and/or directories accessible to a user;

a second portion of the memory comprising a second file system containing one or more files that are inaccessible to the user;

a processing system; and

control logic operative to interface with the processing system and retain in place selected data of a selected file of the second file system;

wherein the processing system is configured to re-map the selected data from the selected file in the second file system, that is inaccessible to the user, to a file in the first file system that is accessible to the user, so that access to the selected data of the selected file in the second file system is provided to the user through the first file system, wherein the physical location in memory of the selected data that is re-mapped remains unchanged at a first physical block address of the memory, wherein the file in the first file system is mapped to a logical block address which is mapped to a second physical block address of the memory, and wherein the processing system is configured to re-map the selected data from the selected file in the second file system to the file in the first file system by re-mapping the logical block address to the first physical block address of the memory.

2. The storage device of claim 1, wherein the first file system is organized as a FAT32 file system.

3. The storage device of claim 1, further comprising memory management code that is executable by the processing system to respond to a triggering event by re-mapping file allocation extents for the selected data of the selected file so that the selected data is removed from the selected file and inserted into the first file system while retaining the selected data at its original physical location on the storage device for access through the first file system.

4. The storage device of claim 1, wherein the re-mapping which the processing system is configured to perform includes a logical re-mapping.

5. The storage device of claim 1, wherein the first and second file systems in the memory are multiple nested file systems.

6. A system comprising:

a memory;

a first file system configured to manage a first portion of the memory, the first portion containing one or more files and/or directories;

a second file system configured to manage a second portion of the memory, the second portion containing content of one or more files; and

a processing system operative, in response to a triggering event, to re-map a portion of content from a selected file in the second file system, that is inaccessible to the user, to a file in the first file system that is accessible to the user, while the content of the selected file in the second file system is retained at its original physical location in the memory so that the portion of the content of the selected file that is remapped is accessible through the first file system at its original physical location in the memory, wherein the file in the first file system is mapped to a logical block address, and wherein the processing system is operative to re-map the portion of content from the selected file in the second file system to the file in the first file system by a change in physical block address to which the logical block address is mapped.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the processing system is operative to re-map content of a selected file and wherein the processing system is operative to re-map an entirety of the content of the selected file.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the processing system is operative to re-map less than all of the content of the selected file to the first file system thereby leaving residual content in the second file system, and wherein the processing system is operative to deallocate the residual content from the selected file of the second file system so that physical storage occupied by the residual content is made available for allocation by the processing system to the first and/or second file systems.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the memory comprises non-volatile memory.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein both the first and second file systems are present on the non-volatile memory.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the processing system is integrated with the non-volatile memory.

12. The system of claim 6, further comprising memory management code that is executable by the processing system to re-map the content from the selected file of the second file system to the first file system, in response to the triggering event.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the memory management code is stored in the memory.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the processing system is integrated with the memory.

15. The system of claim 6, wherein the second file system comprises a loop file.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the first file system comprises a native file system.

17. The system of claim 6, wherein the processing system logically re-maps the content from the selected file of the second file system to the first file system by changing file allocation extents in the first and second file systems so that the content is added to a file of the first file system and removed from a file of the second file system.

18. The system of claim 6, wherein the processing system is operative to physically re-map the content by switching mappings between logical block addresses and physical block addresses of the memory.

19. The system of claim 6, wherein the content comprises media file data.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the triggering event comprises a billing event.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the triggering event comprises a timing event.

22. The system of claim 6, wherein the re-mapping which the processing system is operative to perform includes a logical re-mapping.

23. The system of claim 6, wherein the first and second file systems are multiple nested file systems.

24. A method comprising:

storing one or more files and/or directories in a first portion of a memory that is included in a first file system;

storing content of one or more selected files in a second portion of the memory that is included in a second file system;

responding to a triggering event by re-mapping a portion of content from a selected file in the second file system to the first file system that is inaccessible to the user, to a file in the first file system that is accessible to the user, while retaining the content of the selected file at its original physical location in the memory so that the portion of the content of the selected file that is remapped is provided to the user through the first file system at its original physical location in the memory, wherein the file in the first file system is mapped to a logical block address, and wherein the re-mapping the portion of content from the selected file in the second file system to the file in the first file system comprises changing a physical block address to which the logical block address is mapped.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the content is stored in the selected file of the second file system, and wherein an entirety of the content of the selected file is re-mapped to the first file system.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein the re-mapping comprises logically re-mapping content of the selected file from the second file system to the first file system by changing file allocation extents in the first and second file systems so that the content of the selected file is added to a file of the first file system and removed from the second file system.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein the re-mapping comprises physically re-mapping content of the selected file by switching mappings between logical block addresses and physical block addresses of the memory for the content of the selected file of the second file system.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein the re-mapping further comprises changing logical block addresses to which the file in the first file system is mapped.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein the first and second file systems are multiple nested file systems.