Memory System Failure Management via Virtual Block Data Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Memory systems face increased latency and complexity in failure management due to the need to replace failed physical blocks, which can reduce system performance and storage capacity.
Innovation Solution
The memory system detects failures within physical blocks and transfers data to a buffer before replacing the block, allowing concurrent operations and reducing the need for redundant blocks, thereby improving latency, complexity, and performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the memory system replaces failed physical blocks with redundant blocks, then reliability is improved, but device complexity and latency increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by maintaining a pool of pre-provisioned redundant physical blocks that are prepared in advance for potential failures. When a failure occurs, the system can immediately activate a redundant block without needing to perform complex real-time allocation or migration operations, thus reducing both latency and management complexity while maintaining high reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism through the use of redundant physical blocks that act as mediators between failed blocks and the memory system. These redundant blocks serve as intermediate storage resources that can be activated to replace failed blocks, simplifying the failure management process by providing a straightforward substitution mechanism rather than requiring complex data migration and block reallocation operations
2Reliability
If the memory system replaces failed physical blocks, then reliability is improved, but latency increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent reduces latency by performing preliminary preparation of redundant physical blocks in advance. The redundant blocks are pre-allocated and ready-to-use, so when a failure occurs, the system can immediately switch to a redundant block without undergoing time-consuming data migration or block activation processes, thus maintaining high reliability while minimizing the time loss during failure management
3Reliability
If the memory system uses redundant physical blocks for failure management, then reliability is improved, but storage capacity is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by dynamically adjusting the allocation and usage of redundant physical blocks based on system conditions. The redundant blocks are not permanently reserved but are instead allocated on-demand when failures occur, allowing the system to maintain high reliability while maximizing storage capacity utilization during normal operation. This flexible parameter adjustment enables the system to optimize between reliability and storage capacity
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and devices for techniques for failure management in memory systems are described. A memory system may include one or more non-volatile memory devices. A set of physical blocks of memory cells of the one or more non-volatile memory devices may be grouped into virtual blocks, where each physical block of a virtual may block may be within a different plane of the one or more non-volatile memory devices. The memory system may detect a failure within a physical block of a virtual block and may transfer data from the physical block to one or more other physical blocks within the same virtual block in response to detecting the failure.