MULTILEVEL MEMORY BUS SYSTEM FOR SOLID-STATE MASS STORAGE
First Claim
1. A multilevel memory bus system for a solid-state storage device that includes a plurality of semiconductor memory devices, a host interface, at least one flash-specific-DMA controller, and a local processing system that includes a local memory, the multilevel memory bus system comprising:
- an intermediate bus disposed to couple to said at least one flash-specific DMA controller;
a first flash memory bus disposed to couple to at least one semiconductor memory device from the plurality of semiconductor memory devices, said at least one semiconductor memory device including a first semiconductor memory device;
a first flash buffer circuit coupled to said intermediate bus and to said first flash memory bus; and
wherein said intermediate bus is disposed to transfer data at a first data path transfer rate, said first memory bus transfer data is disposed to transfer data at a second data path transfer rate, and said first and second data path transfer rates are different.
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a multilevel memory bus system for transferring information between at least one DMA controller and at least one solid-state semiconductor memory device, such as NAND flash memory devices or the like. This multilevel memory bus system includes at least one DMA controller coupled to an intermediate bus; a flash memory bus; and a flash buffer circuit between the intermediate bus and the flash memory bus. This multilevel memory bus system may be disposed to support: an n-bit wide bus width, such as nibble-wide or byte-wide bus widths; a selectable data sampling rate, such as a single or double sampling rate, on the intermediate bus; a configurable bus data rate, such as a single, double, quad, or octal data sampling rate; CRC protection; an exclusive busy mechanism; dedicated busy lines; or any combination of these.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. A multilevel memory bus system for a solid-state storage device that includes a plurality of semiconductor memory devices, a host interface, at least one flash-specific-DMA controller, and a local processing system that includes a local memory, the multilevel memory bus system comprising:
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an intermediate bus disposed to couple to said at least one flash-specific DMA controller; a first flash memory bus disposed to couple to at least one semiconductor memory device from the plurality of semiconductor memory devices, said at least one semiconductor memory device including a first semiconductor memory device; a first flash buffer circuit coupled to said intermediate bus and to said first flash memory bus; and wherein said intermediate bus is disposed to transfer data at a first data path transfer rate, said first memory bus transfer data is disposed to transfer data at a second data path transfer rate, and said first and second data path transfer rates are different. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A storage device, comprising:
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a local processing system that includes a local memory, a local bus, at least one flash-specific DMA controller, including a first flash-specific DMA controller, and a host interface; an intermediate bus coupled to said at least one flash-specific DMA controller; a plurality of semiconductor memory devices, including a first semiconductor memory device; a first flash memory bus coupled to said first semiconductor device; a first flash buffer circuit coupled to said intermediate bus and to said first memory bus; and an adaptability mechanism disposed to transfer data across said intermediate bus at a first data path transfer rate and across said first memory bus at a second data path transfer rate that is different from said first data path transfer rate. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification