Memory Controller Page Zone Management for Garbage Collection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The complexity and performance decline of semiconductor memory systems in portable electronic devices lead to inefficiencies in data processing, particularly due to the management of invalid and valid pages within memory blocks, which affects the overall efficiency and reliability of the memory system.
Innovation Solution
A memory system and operating method that utilize a controller to identify and manage invalid and valid pages through a map list, identifying the victim block with the most invalid pages and performing garbage collection operations to maintain efficiency, thereby minimizing complexity and performance degradation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If data is updated by programming new data to replace old data in memory blocks, then data storage capability is improved, but the number of invalid pages increases causing performance degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The memory block is segmented into valid pages and invalid pages, allowing independent management of each segment. The controller identifies and separates invalid pages from valid pages, enabling targeted operations on invalid pages without affecting valid data, thus maintaining processing efficiency while accommodating data updates.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a mechanism to discard invalid pages (pages containing old data that has been replaced) and recover their space for future use. The controller identifies invalid pages through map list updates and recovers their storage capacity by marking them as available for new data programming, thereby maintaining storage efficiency.
2Measurement precision
If the controller manages invalid and valid pages through map list updates, then memory management accuracy is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The controller performs preliminary actions by updating the map list immediately when data is programmed or invalidated. This preliminary tracking of page validity status allows the system to maintain accurate information about valid and invalid pages without requiring complex real-time analysis during garbage collection operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The map list serves as an intermediary data structure between the physical memory blocks and the controller's management functions. It abstracts the complexity of tracking valid and invalid pages, providing a simplified interface for the controller to identify victim blocks and perform garbage collection operations without directly managing individual page states in memory blocks.
3Reliability
If garbage collection operations are performed on victim blocks with many invalid pages, then storage efficiency is improved, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by performing garbage collection selectively on victim blocks that have the greatest number of invalid pages, rather than processing all memory blocks uniformly. This targeted approach focuses resources on blocks where it will have the most impact, improving storage efficiency while minimizing unnecessary processing time spent on blocks with fewer invalid pages.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller uses feedback from the map list to identify victim blocks with the greatest number of invalid pages. This feedback mechanism allows the system to dynamically select which blocks require garbage collection based on current validity status, ensuring that processing time is invested in blocks where it will yield the highest storage efficiency improvement.
Data Source
AI summary
A memory system may include: a memory device including a plurality of pages each having a plurality of memory cells coupled to a plurality of word lines and suitable for storing read data and write data requested from a host, and a plurality of memory blocks each having the pages; and a controller suitable for grouping the pages included in the memory blocks so as to divide each of the memory blocks into a plurality of page zones, and storing data corresponding to a write command into pages of a second memory block of the memory blocks and storing program update information on a first page zone of a first memory block of the memory blocks into a list, when receiving the write command for data stored in a first page of the first page zone in the first memory block.