Memory Controller Super Block Recovery via Replacement Pool
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current memory systems face inefficiencies in managing and replacing bad memory blocks, leading to reduced performance and reliability, especially in portable electronic devices where memory block durability issues arise due to repeated use.
Innovation Solution
A memory system that groups memory blocks into super blocks, manages normal blocks in a replacement pool, and uses replacement information to identify and replace bad blocks with normal ones, allowing for interleaving operations based on priority conditions, thereby extending the lifespan of memory blocks and maintaining system performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If memory blocks are managed individually without grouping, then block-level management is simple, but reliability decreases when bad blocks occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments memory blocks into super blocks containing multiple blocks, allowing systematic management of bad blocks through replacement pools. Each super block can be independently managed with its own replacement strategy, improving reliability while maintaining manageable complexity through hierarchical organization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces replacement pools as intermediary structures between normal memory operations and bad block handling. These pools act as buffers that store replacement blocks, mediating the complexity of bad block management by providing a standardized replacement mechanism that operates at the super block level rather than individual block level.
2Reliability
If bad blocks are replaced immediately upon detection, then reliability is improved, but productivity decreases due to frequent replacement operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-organizing replacement pools with available good blocks before bad blocks occur. This allows immediate replacement when bad blocks are detected without needing to search for or allocate replacement blocks during critical operations, thus maintaining both reliability and productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a block lifecycle management system where blocks transition between normal use, replacement pool, and discarded states. Blocks are recovered and returned to service after successful replacement operations, and replacement pools are dynamically managed by discarding used replacement blocks and recovering them for future use, optimizing both reliability and operational efficiency.
3Measurement precision
If replacement information is stored in detailed form for each block, then replacement accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges replacement information at the super block level rather than maintaining separate detailed records for each individual block. By grouping blocks into super blocks and managing replacement information at this higher level, the system achieves sufficient replacement accuracy while significantly reducing the complexity of information storage and management.
Data Source
AI summary
A memory system includes a memory device including a plurality of blocks, and a controller suitable for managing the plurality of blocks by grouping the plurality of blocks into a plurality of super blocks in accordance with a predetermined condition, managing normal blocks which are not grouped into the super blocks in a replacement block pool, setting each of the plurality of super blocks that includes at least one bad block to a bad super block, and then changing each bad super block in which the at least one bad block is replaced with a normal block of the replacement block pool using replacement information to a recovery super block, wherein the replacement information includes in a bitmap indicative of whether or not an interleaving operation of each of the recovery super blocks is possible.