Flash Controller HPB Data Migration for Read Performance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Flash memory devices, particularly NAND flash devices, face performance limitations due to their serial access nature, which hinders efficient data reading and writing, especially when user data is not stored in continuous physical addresses, leading to suboptimal performance of Host Performance Booster (HPB) READ commands.
Innovation Solution
A method is introduced where a flash controller triggers a garbage collection process to migrate user data to continuous physical addresses and updates HPB entries accordingly, optimizing data storage and retrieval by ensuring data continuity within specific subregions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If the flash controller uses HPB READ commands to read user data from continuous logical addresses, then the data access performance should be improved, but the performance deteriorates when user data is not stored in continuous physical addresses, requiring the controller to read L2P tables
Solution Approach 1:
The flash controller performs garbage collection operations in advance to migrate user data to continuous physical addresses before HPB READ commands are executed. This preliminary action ensures that when HPB READ commands are issued, the data is already positioned in continuous physical addresses, eliminating the need to read L2P tables and achieving the expected performance improvement.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the flash controller performs garbage collection to migrate data to continuous physical addresses, then data continuity is improved, but the processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The flash controller implements continuous garbage collection operations that run in the background without interrupting normal data read/write operations. This allows data to be progressively migrated to continuous physical addresses over time, maintaining data continuity improvements while minimizing the impact on overall system performance and avoiding large time losses.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller performs garbage collection in advance before HPB READ commands are needed, so that data is already positioned in continuous physical addresses. This preliminary action eliminates the need for time-consuming L2P table reads during actual data access operations.
3Measurement precision
If the flash controller reads L2P tables to find physical addresses for successive logical addresses, then accurate data retrieval is ensured, but the execution time of HPB READ commands increases
Solution Approach 1:
The flash controller performs garbage collection operations before HPB READ commands are executed to migrate user data to continuous physical addresses. This preliminary action ensures that the physical addresses for successive logical addresses are already known and continuous, eliminating the need to read L2P tables during HPB READ operations and reducing execution time while maintaining address accuracy.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a method, a non-transitory computer program product, and an apparatus for managing data storage. The method performed by a flash controller includes: obtaining information indicating a subregion to be activated, where the subregion is associated with a logical block address (LBA) range; triggering a garbage collection (GC) process being performed in background to migrate user data of all the or a portion of the LBA range associated with the subregion to continuous physical addresses in a flash device; and updating content of a plurality of entries associated with the subregion according to migration results, where each entry includes information indicating which physical address that user data of a corresponding logical address is physically stored in the flash device.