Nonvolatile Memory Bad Block Replacement via Spare Mapping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Memory systems face inefficiencies in managing bad blocks, as existing technologies do not effectively replace them with spare blocks during operation, leading to reduced performance and capacity utilization.
Innovation Solution
A memory system with a nonvolatile memory device and a memory controller that stores spare information to replace bad blocks with spare blocks, using address information to update mapping and manage spare blocks efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If spare blocks are reserved for replacing bad blocks, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional management overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The memory device performs self-diagnosis and self-repair by automatically detecting bad blocks and replacing them with spare blocks using internally stored mapping information, without requiring external controller intervention for the replacement operation itself
Solution Approach 2:
Spare blocks and their mapping information are prepared in advance during manufacturing or initialization, enabling rapid replacement when bad blocks are detected during operation, thus improving reliability without adding complex runtime management
2Productivity
If bad blocks are replaced with spare blocks during operation, then productivity is improved by maintaining capacity, but loss of time occurs due to detection and replacement operations
Solution Approach 1:
Mapping information for spare blocks is prepared and stored in advance in the memory device, so when a bad block is detected, the replacement can proceed immediately using pre-configured spare block addresses without time-consuming search or allocation operations
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors block status and automatically triggers replacement when bad blocks are detected, maintaining operational capacity through real-time feedback and immediate corrective action
Data Source
AI summary
A memory system includes: a nonvolatile memory device including a plurality of memory blocks and spare blocks; and a memory controller configured to control the nonvolatile memory device. The nonvolatile memory device may store spare information to any one block of the memory blocks or the spare blocks. When a bad block is detected from the memory blocks, the nonvolatile memory device replaces the bad block with any one of the spare blocks according to the spare information.