Group Write Command for Flash Translation Layer Mapping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing data storage devices face performance degradation and resource inefficiencies due to the need for maintaining mapping tables for write serialization techniques, especially in large-scale implementations where the size of the mapping table exceeds storage capacity, leading to increased latency and resource usage.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a write serialization (WS) group write command that bundles multiple write requests as a single command, allowing the data storage device to perform group write operations without the need for a separate mapping table at the host device, thereby reducing resource usage and complexity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If write serialization technique with mapping table is used to group write requests, then write operations can be bundled efficiently, but device complexity and resource usage increase due to maintaining the mapping table
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the mapping table functionality from the host device and relocates it to the data storage device. The host simply issues group write commands with logical addresses, while the storage device's flash translation layer handles the physical address mapping and data placement, eliminating the need for host-side mapping table maintenance while preserving write bundling benefits
Solution Approach 2:
The flash translation layer acts as an intermediary between the host's group write commands and the physical storage medium. It receives logical addresses from the host, translates them to physical addresses using its internal mapping structures, and manages the actual write operations, thereby shielding the host from mapping complexity while enabling efficient grouped writes
2Adaptability or versatility
If mapping table size increases to handle large scale implementations, then more write requests can be grouped, but storage capacity requirements exceed available volatile memory
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the storage medium parameter for the mapping table from volatile memory to non-volatile memory within the storage device. This allows the mapping table to scale to any size limited only by the storage capacity of the non-volatile memory, enabling large-scale write grouping capabilities without being constrained by limited volatile memory resources
3Ease of operation
If multiple concurrent write requests are processed, then data access flexibility increases, but latency increases due to handling each request separately
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple individual write requests into a single group write command that the host issues to the storage device. The flash translation layer then processes all the logical addresses in the group together, translating them to physical addresses and executing the writes in a coordinated manner, thereby reducing the number of separate command processing cycles and lowering overall latency while maintaining the flexibility to access different data locations
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus includes a non-volatile memory and a controller coupled to the non-volatile memory. The controller is configured to receive a command from a device to perform a write operation at the non-volatile memory. The command indicates a plurality of logical addresses, data associated with the plurality of logical addresses, and a number of write operations associated with the command.