Flash Memory Atomicity via Status Bit Allocation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Flash memory systems face challenges in ensuring atomicity during write operations for successive sectors, particularly when power interruptions occur, leading to incomplete or inconsistent data states and increased system performance overhead.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method that include a data write module, a write progress managing module, and a validity determining module to allocate status bits indicating write status, overwrite a commit mark, and determine sector validity, ensuring atomicity even during power interruptions by managing data write progress and sector validity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If a write operation is performed for successive sectors in flash memory, then data storage capacity is improved, but atomicity cannot be ensured when power interruption occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by setting initial values for status bits (all to '1') before the write operation begins. This preliminary setup allows the system to track which sectors have been successfully written by checking which status bits have been changed from their initial state, enabling atomicity verification even if power interruption occurs during the operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms through status bits that continuously report the write status of each sector. By reading these status bits after a write operation (even with power interruption), the system can determine which sectors were successfully written and which were not, providing feedback that enables atomicity management and error handling.
2Reliability
If status bits are allocated for each sector to track write status, then atomicity can be ensured, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the write status tracking into individual status bits for each sector. Instead of using a complex centralized tracking mechanism, each sector has its own simple status bit that can be independently set and read, simplifying the overall system architecture while ensuring atomicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by making each status bit sector-specific with a dedicated function. Each status bit is located in its corresponding sector and only tracks the write status of that specific sector, allowing for localized status management without requiring global coordination or complex data structures.
3Reliability
If file systems implement transaction functions to ensure atomicity, then data integrity is improved, but system performance deteriorates due to overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies self-service by making the flash memory device itself responsible for tracking write status through status bits, rather than requiring the file system to implement complex transaction management. The device autonomously maintains write status information, reducing the computational overhead on the host system and improving overall system performance while ensuring data integrity.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for providing atomicity with respect to a request of a write operation for successive sectors in a flash memory is provided. The apparatus includes a data write module writing data in a main sector of a page and allocating status bits indicating a status of the data write to a spare sector of the page, a write progress managing module overwriting a commit mark in the spare sector allocated with the status bits according to a progress status of the data write, and a validity determining module determining validity of the sectors on the basis of the overwritten commit mark and providing information of the successive sectors.