Index Block Garbage Collection via Volatile Memory Reconstruction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Non-volatile memory systems face significant challenges during garbage collection when uncorrectable errors occur in index pages, leading to data loss and system instability, as they cannot translate logical to physical addresses effectively.
Innovation Solution
A data structure in volatile memory, such as a tree holding the physical addresses of recently accessed or written logical sectors in a compressed format, is used to reconstruct index pages, allowing garbage collection to continue without invoking a restore operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If garbage collection is performed on index block in non-volatile memory, then memory management efficiency is improved, but uncorrectable errors in index pages can cause data loss and system instability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent maintains a redundant copy of the index page data structure in volatile memory before garbage collection occurs. This preliminary preparation allows the system to quickly restore index pages if errors are detected during garbage collection, preventing data loss and system instability while maintaining efficient memory management.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a protective backup mechanism by storing index page mappings in volatile memory before non-volatile memory operations. This cushioning approach provides a safety net that protects against uncorrectable errors during garbage collection, ensuring system reliability without sacrificing memory management efficiency.
2Productivity
If index pages are reconstructed using volatile memory data structure, then garbage collection continues without restore operation, but additional memory resources are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential index page mapping data into volatile memory, rather than duplicating entire page structures. This selective extraction provides sufficient information for reconstruction while minimizing the additional memory resources required, allowing garbage collection to continue efficiently without excessive resource consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent stores index page data in a compressed format in volatile memory, using more memory resources only where needed for reconstruction rather than uniformly across the entire system. This localized approach optimizes the balance between garbage collection continuity and memory resource usage.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are provided for handling uncorrectable errors that may occur during garbage collection of an index page or block in non-volatile memory.