公开(公告)号：US20050144360A1

公开(公告)日：2005-06-30

申请号：US10750155

申请日：2003-12-30

申请人： Alan Bennett ,  Alan Bryce ,  Sergey Gorobets ,  Alan Sinclair ,  Peter Smith

发明人： Alan Bennett ,  Alan Bryce ,  Sergey Gorobets ,  Alan Sinclair ,  Peter Smith

IPC分类号： G06F11/20 ,  G06F12/02 ,  G11C7/00 ,  G11C11/56 ,  G11C16/10 ,  G11C16/34 ,  G11C29/00 ,  G06F12/00 ,  G06F12/08

CPC分类号： G06F11/1666 ,  G06F11/1072 ,  G06F11/141 ,  G06F11/1415 ,  G06F11/1658 ,  G06F12/0246 ,  G06F2212/7202 ,  G06F2212/7203 ,  G06F2212/7205 ,  G06F2212/7208 ,  G11C11/5621 ,  G11C11/5628 ,  G11C16/102 ,  G11C16/105 ,  G11C16/20 ,  G11C29/00 ,  G11C29/76 ,  G11C2211/5641

摘要： A non-volatile memory system is organized in physical groups of physical memory locations. Each physical group (metablock) is erasable as a unit and can be used to store a logical group of data. A memory management system allows for update of a logical group of data by allocating a metablock dedicated to recording the update data of the logical group. The update metablock records update data in the order received and has no restriction on whether the recording is in the correct logical order as originally stored (sequential) or not (chaotic). Eventually the update metablock is closed to further recording. One of several processes will take place, but will ultimately end up with a fully filled metablock in the correct order which replaces the original metablock. In the chaotic case, directory data is maintained in the non-volatile memory in a manner that is conducive to frequent updates. The system supports multiple logical groups being updated concurrently.

摘要翻译： 非易失性存储器系统被组织在物理存储器位置的物理组中。 每个物理组（元区块）作为一个单元是可擦除的，可用于存储一组逻辑数据。 存储器管理系统允许通过分配专用于记录逻辑组的更新数据的元区块来更新逻辑数据组。 更新元区块以所接收的顺序记录更新数据，并且对于是否按照原始存储（顺序）或不是混乱的顺序，记录是否处于正确的逻辑顺序中是没有限制的。 最终，更新元区块被关闭以进一步录制。 几个进程之一将发生，但最终将以完全填充的元区块以正确的顺序取代原来的元区块。 在混乱的情况下，目录数据以有利于频繁更新的方式保存在非易失性存储器中。 系统支持同时更新的多个逻辑组。

公开(公告)号：US20060106972A1

公开(公告)日：2006-05-18

申请号：US10990189

申请日：2004-11-15

申请人： Sergey Gorobets ,  Alan Bennett ,  Peter Smith ,  Alan Sinclair ,  Kevin Conley ,  Philip Royall

发明人： Sergey Gorobets ,  Alan Bennett ,  Peter Smith ,  Alan Sinclair ,  Kevin Conley ,  Philip Royall

IPC分类号： G06F12/00

CPC分类号： G06F12/0246 ,  G06F2212/1036 ,  G06F2212/7211

摘要： A re-programmable non-volatile memory system, such as a flash EEPROM system, having its memory cells grouped into blocks of cells that are simultaneously erasable is operated in a manner to level out the wear of the individual blocks through repetitive erasing and re-programming. This may be accomplished without use of counts of the number of times the individual blocks experience erase and re-programming but such counts can optionally aid in carrying out the wear leveling process. Individual active physical blocks are chosen to be exchanged with those of an erased block pool in a predefined order.

摘要翻译： 将其存储单元分组为同时可擦除的单元块的诸如闪存EEPROM系统的可重新编程的非易失性存储器系统以通过重复擦除和重新排列来平衡各个块的磨损的方式操作， 编程。 这可以在不使用单个块经历擦除和重新编程的次数的计数的情况下实现，但是这样的计数可以可选地有助于执行磨损均衡过程。 选择单独的活动物理块以按预定义的顺序与擦除的块池的块进行交换。

公开(公告)号：US20050141312A1

公开(公告)日：2005-06-30

申请号：US10917867

申请日：2004-08-13

申请人： Alan Sinclair ,  Sergey Gorobets ,  Alan Bennett ,  Peter Smith

发明人： Alan Sinclair ,  Sergey Gorobets ,  Alan Bennett ,  Peter Smith

IPC分类号： G06F11/20 ,  G06F12/02 ,  G11C7/00 ,  G11C11/56 ,  G11C16/10 ,  G11C16/34 ,  G11C29/00

CPC分类号： G06F11/1666 ,  G06F11/1072 ,  G06F11/141 ,  G06F11/1415 ,  G06F11/1658 ,  G06F12/0246 ,  G06F2212/7202 ,  G06F2212/7203 ,  G06F2212/7205 ,  G06F2212/7208 ,  G11C11/5621 ,  G11C11/5628 ,  G11C16/102 ,  G11C16/105 ,  G11C16/20 ,  G11C29/00 ,  G11C29/76 ,  G11C2211/5641

摘要： In a nonvolatile memory with block management system that supports update blocks with non-sequential logical units, an index of the logical units in a non-sequential update block is buffered in RAM and stored periodically into the non-volatile memory. In one embodiment, the index is stored in a block dedicated for storing indices. In another embodiment, the index is stored in the update block itself. In yet another embodiment, the index is stored in the header of each logical unit. In another aspect, the logical units written after the last index update but before the next have their indexing information stored in the header of each logical unit. In this way, after a power outage, the location of recently written logical units can be determined without having to perform a scanning during initialization. In yet another aspect, a block is managed as partially sequential and partially non-sequential, directed to more than one logical subgroup.

摘要翻译： 在具有支持具有非顺序逻辑单元的更新块的块管理系统的非易失性存储器中，非顺序更新块中的逻辑单元的索引被缓冲在RAM中并被周期性地存储到非易失性存储器中。 在一个实施例中，索引被存储在专用于存储索引的块中。 在另一个实施例中，索引被存储在更新块本身中。 在另一个实施例中，索引被存储在每个逻辑单元的标题中。 在另一方面，在最后一个索引更新之后但在下一个之前写入的逻辑单元将其索引信息存储在每个逻辑单元的标题中。 以这种方式，在断电之后，可以确定最近写入的逻辑单元的位置，而不必在初始化期间执行扫描。 在另一方面，块被部署顺序地且部分地非顺序地管理，定向到多于一个的逻辑子组。

公开(公告)号：US20070143570A1

公开(公告)日：2007-06-21

申请号：US11313633

申请日：2005-12-21

申请人： Sergey Gorobets ,  Alan Sinclair

发明人： Sergey Gorobets ,  Alan Sinclair

IPC分类号： G06F12/00 ,  G06F13/00

CPC分类号： G06F12/0246 ,  G06F3/0607 ,  G06F3/0643 ,  G06F3/0679 ,  G11C16/10

摘要： Method for transferring data between a host system and a re-programmable non-volatile mass storage system having memory cells organized into blocks of memory cells is provided. The method includes receiving data via a first interface and/or a second interface; and making data accessible via the first interface and the second interface, even if a file name is not provided by a host system or before a write operation is complete.

摘要翻译： 提供了一种用于在主机系统和具有组织成存储器单元块的存储器单元的可重新编程的非易失性大容量存储系统之间传送数据的方法。 该方法包括经由第一接口和/或第二接口接收数据; 并且即使文件名不是由主机系统提供，还是在写操作完成之前，通过第一接口和第二接口使数据可访问。

公开(公告)号：US20070143571A1

公开(公告)日：2007-06-21

申请号：US11314842

申请日：2005-12-21

申请人： Alan Sinclair ,  Sergey Gorobets

发明人： Alan Sinclair ,  Sergey Gorobets

IPC分类号： G06F12/00

CPC分类号： G06F3/0643 ,  G06F3/0605 ,  G06F3/0679

摘要： Method and mass storage memory system is provided. The system includes, re-programmable non-volatile memory cells, the memory cells being arranged in a plurality of blocks that are erasable together; and a controller including a microprocessor that is adapted to receive files of data identified by unique identifiers via a first interface and the controller causes a received data file to be stored in one or more memory blocks; and the controller receives data identified by logical addresses via a second interface and stores the received data in one or more memory blocks, wherein data written via the first interface is indexed using the unique identifiers so that data is accessible via the second interface or the first interface; and data received via the second interface is indexed so that data can be accessed via the first interface or the second interface.

摘要翻译： 提供了方法和大容量存储存储系统。 该系统包括可重新编程的非易失性存储器单元，存储单元布置在可以一起可擦除的多个块中; 以及控制器，其包括适于经由第一接口接收由唯一标识符标识的数据的文件的微处理器，并且所述控制器使接收到的数据文件存储在一个或多个存储器块中; 并且控制器经由第二接口接收由逻辑地址识别的数据，并将接收到的数据存储在一个或多个存储器块中，其中经由第一接口写入的数据使用唯一标识符进行索引，使得经由第二接口或第一接口 接口; 并且通过第二接口接收的数据被索引，使得可以经由第一接口或第二接口访问数据。

公开(公告)号：US20070143532A1

公开(公告)日：2007-06-21

申请号：US11313567

申请日：2005-12-21

申请人： Sergey Gorobets ,  Alan Sinclair

发明人： Sergey Gorobets ,  Alan Sinclair

IPC分类号： G06F12/00

CPC分类号： G06F3/0638 ,  G06F3/0607 ,  G06F3/0679

摘要： A mass storage memory system is provided. The memory system includes, re-programmable non-volatile memory cells arranged in a plurality of blocks of memory cells; and a controller that is adapted to receive data via a first interface, and/or a second interface, and data received via the first interface and the second interface is accessible via the first interface and the second interface even if a file name for the data is not provided by a host system or before a write operation is complete. The first interface is a file based interface and the second interface is a logical interface.

摘要翻译： 提供大容量存储存储器系统。 存储器系统包括布置在存储器单元的多个块中的可重新编程的非易失性存储器单元; 以及适于经由第一接口和/或第二接口接收数据的控制器，并且经由所述第一接口和所述第二接口接收的数据可经由所述第一接口和所述第二接口访问，即使所述数据的文件名 不是由主机系统提供或在写操作完成之前。 第一个接口是一个基于文件的接口，第二个接口是一个逻辑接口。

公开(公告)号：US20050251617A1

公开(公告)日：2005-11-10

申请号：US10841379

申请日：2004-05-07

申请人： Alan Sinclair ,  Sergey Gorobets ,  Kevin Conley ,  Carlos Gonzalez

发明人： Alan Sinclair ,  Sergey Gorobets ,  Kevin Conley ,  Carlos Gonzalez

IPC分类号： G06F3/06 ,  G06F12/00 ,  G06F12/02 ,  G06F12/08

CPC分类号： G06F12/0246 ,  G06F3/061 ,  G06F3/0626 ,  G06F3/0658 ,  G06F3/0679 ,  G06F12/0893 ,  G06F2212/7201 ,  G06F2212/7203 ,  G11C14/0036 ,  G11C14/0045

摘要： The present invention presents a hybrid non-volatile system that uses non-volatile memories based on two or more different non-volatile memory technologies in order to exploit the relative advantages of each these technology with respect to the others. In an exemplary embodiment, the memory system includes a controller and a flash memory, where the controller has a non-volatile RAM based on an alternate technology such as FeRAM. The flash memory is used for the storage of user data and the non-volatile RAM in the controller is used for system control data used by the control to manage the storage of host data in the flash memory. The use of an alternate non-volatile memory technology in the controller allows for a non-volatile copy of the most recent control data to be accessed more quickly as it can be updated on a bit by bit basis. In another exemplary embodiment, the alternate non-volatile memory is used as a cache where data can safely be staged prior to its being written to the to the memory or read back to the host.

摘要翻译： 本发明提出了一种混合非易失性系统，其使用基于两个或多个不同的非易失性存储器技术的非易失性存储器，以利用这些技术相对于其他技术的相对优点。 在示例性实施例中，存储器系统包括控制器和闪存，其中控制器具有基于诸如FeRAM的替代技术的非易失性RAM。 闪存用于存储用户数据，并且控制器中的非易失性RAM用于由控制器用于管理闪存中的主机数据的存储的系统控制数据。 在控制器中使用替代的非易失性存储器技术允许更快速地访问最近的控制数据的非易失性拷贝，因为它可以逐点更新。 在另一个示例性实施例中，备用非易失性存储器用作高速缓存，其中数据可以在其被写入存储器或读回主机之前安全地分级。

公开(公告)号：US20060184720A1

公开(公告)日：2006-08-17

申请号：US11060249

申请日：2005-02-16

申请人： Alan Sinclair ,  Peter Smith

发明人： Alan Sinclair ,  Peter Smith

IPC分类号： G06F12/00

CPC分类号： G06F12/0246 ,  G06F2212/7201

摘要： Host system data files are written directly to a large erase block flash memory system with a unique identification of each file and offsets of data within the file but without the use of any intermediate logical addresses or a virtual address space for the memory. Directory information of where the files are stored in the memory is maintained within the memory system by its controller, rather than by the host. The file based interface between the host and memory systems allows the memory system controller to utilize the data storage blocks within the memory with increased efficiency.

摘要翻译： 主机系统数据文件直接写入具有每个文件的唯一标识和文件内数据偏移量的大型擦除块闪存系统，但不使用任何中间逻辑地址或存储器的虚拟地址空间。 文件存储在存储器中的目录信息由其控制器而不是由主机保存在存储器系统内。 主机和存储器系统之间的基于文件的接口允许存储器系统控制器以更高的效率利用存储器内的数据存储块。

公开(公告)号：US20060184718A1

公开(公告)日：2006-08-17

申请号：US11060174

申请日：2005-02-16

申请人： Alan Sinclair ,  Peter Smith

发明人： Alan Sinclair ,  Peter Smith

IPC分类号： G06F12/00

CPC分类号： G06F12/0246 ,  G06F3/0608 ,  G06F3/0652 ,  G06F3/0679 ,  G06F2212/2022 ,  G06F2212/7205 ,  G11C16/16

摘要： Host system data files are written directly to a large erase block flash memory system with a unique identification of each file and offsets of data within the file but without the use of any intermediate logical addresses or a virtual address space for the memory. Directory information of where the files are stored in the memory is maintained within the memory system by its controller, rather than by the host. The file based interface between the host and memory systems allows the memory system controller to utilize the data storage blocks within the memory with increased efficiency.

摘要翻译： 主机系统数据文件直接写入具有每个文件的唯一标识和文件内数据偏移的大型擦除块闪存系统，但不使用任何中间逻辑地址或存储器的虚拟地址空间。 文件存储在存储器中的目录信息由其控制器而不是由主机保存在存储器系统内。 主机和存储器系统之间的基于文件的接口允许存储器系统控制器以更高的效率利用存储器内的数据存储块。

公开(公告)号：US20060020744A1

公开(公告)日：2006-01-26

申请号：US10897049

申请日：2004-07-21

申请人： Alan Sinclair ,  Peter Smith

发明人： Alan Sinclair ,  Peter Smith

IPC分类号： G06F12/00

CPC分类号： G06F12/0246 ,  G06F2212/7205 ,  Y10S707/99953 ,  Y10S707/99957

摘要： Techniques for managing data in a non-volatile memory system (e.g., Flash Memory) are disclosed. A controller can use information relating to a host's filing system, which is stored by the host on non-volatile memory, to determine if one or more clusters (or sectors with clusters) are currently allocated. The controller can use the information relating to the host's filing system to ensure that one or more clusters (or one or more sectors within a cluster) are not copied from one location to another location in the memory during a garbage collection cycle. As a result, some unnecessary operations (e.g., copying data) which are conventionally performed can be avoided and system performance can be enhanced.

摘要翻译： 公开了用于在非易失性存储器系统（例如，闪存）中管理数据的技术。 控制器可以使用与由主机存储在非易失性存储器上的主机归档系统有关的信息来确定当前是否分配了一个或多个集群（或具有集群的扇区）。 控制器可以使用与主机归档系统相关的信息，以确保在垃圾收集周期期间，一个或多个集群（或集群内的一个或多个扇区）不会从一个位置复制到存储器中的另一个位置。 结果，可以避免常规执行的一些不必要的操作（例如复制数据），并且可以提高系统性能。