Hierarchical Translation Table Management in Flash Memory
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Solution Overview
Problem
As memory systems with increasing user capacity face challenges in managing large amounts of translation information efficiently, existing technologies struggle to optimize the size of units read into RAM and reduce storage area usage effectively.
Innovation Solution
The memory system classifies translation information into multiple levels of a hierarchy, with the same size for each level, allowing for efficient management and storage of translation information across different levels, enabling mixed storage in a single page and reducing the size of units read into RAM.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If translation information is stored in a single large unit, then storage management is simple, but the size of units read into RAM becomes large and storage area usage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides translation information into multiple levels of hierarchy (first level, second level, third level, etc.), where each level contains translation information for a specific range of logical addresses. This segmentation allows the system to read only the necessary portion of translation information into RAM rather than loading the entire translation table, thereby reducing RAM usage while maintaining manageable storage structure through organized hierarchical levels
2Quantity of substance
If translation information is divided into multiple levels, then storage area usage is reduced, but management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a nested hierarchical structure where higher-level translation information contains references to lower-level translation information. Each level of the hierarchy is contained within and referenced by the level above it, creating a nested doll-like structure. This nesting allows efficient storage utilization while simplifying management through a systematic hierarchical organization that can be traversed logically without requiring complex flat-structure management
3Quantity of substance
If translation information is stored in fixed-size units, then storage efficiency is improved, but flexibility in managing different translation information sizes is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent assigns different characteristics to different levels of the translation information hierarchy. Each level is tailored to manage specific ranges of logical addresses with appropriate granularity, allowing the system to optimize storage efficiency for each local segment while maintaining overall flexibility. The hierarchical structure enables each level to have localized optimization without compromising the adaptability of the entire system
Data Source
AI summary
According to one embodiment, a memory system is connectable to a host. The memory system includes a nonvolatile memory and a control circuit. The control circuit executes data transfer between the host and the first memory and managing translation information indicating a relation between logical location information and physical location information. The logical location information is location information designated from the host. The physical location information is location information physically indicating location in the first memory. The control circuit separates out the translation information into a plurality of levels in a hierarchy. The translation information includes first translation information which belongs to the first level in the hierarchy and second translation information which belongs to the second level in the hierarchy. The size of the first translation information and the size of the second translation information are the same.