Memory Wear Leveling Repair for Uncorrectable Error Pages
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing memory devices face issues with data corruption during wear leveling operations due to uncorrectable errors in memory pages, which can lead to widespread data corruption and difficulty in tracking physical failures, especially under malicious attacks.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a wear leveling repair mechanism that includes an ECC scrub to correct errors before data transfer and divert data away from uncorrectable error pages using a wear leveling soft repair (WLSR) operation, thereby reducing data corruption and enhancing security.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of stationary object
If wear leveling operations are performed to distribute write operations evenly across memory pages, then memory device lifespan is extended, but data corruption occurs when uncorrectable errors are present in source pages
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing an ECC scrub operation on source data before the wear leveling transfer. This pre-check identifies uncorrectable errors in source pages before data is moved, preventing corrupted data from being transferred to target pages. The scrub operation is executed in advance to ensure data integrity is maintained during wear leveling operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism by implementing a repair page that acts as a buffer between the source page and target page. When uncorrectable errors are detected during ECC scrub, the data is redirected to the repair page instead of being transferred directly to the target page. This intermediary repair page prevents corrupted data from propagating through the wear leveling operation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If data is transferred through memory pages with uncorrectable errors during wear leveling, then wear leveling functionality is maintained, but widespread data corruption occurs affecting multiple target pages
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the taking out principle by extracting problematic source pages with uncorrectable errors from the normal wear leveling data flow. When ECC scrub detects uncorrectable errors, those specific source pages are identified and excluded from the transfer operation. The data from these problematic pages is either redirected to a repair page or skipped entirely, preventing the harmful corruption from affecting target pages.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary anti-action by performing ECC scrub operations to detect and flag pages with uncorrectable errors before the wear leveling transfer begins. This preliminary detection allows the system to take counter-actions by redirecting or skipping problematic pages, thereby preventing the harmful effect of widespread data corruption before it can occur.
3Speed
If traditional wear leveling operations are used without error checking, then operation speed is maintained, but tracking physical failures becomes difficult under malicious attacks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by introducing ECC scrub operations that provide information about the quality of source pages before transfer. This feedback mechanism allows the system to identify pages with uncorrectable errors and adjust the wear leveling operation accordingly. The scrub results feed back into the decision-making process, enabling the system to track and respond to physical failures while maintaining operational integrity.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, methods, and apparatuses are provided for wear leveling repair in a memory device. A host is configured to issue a wear leveling command and a repair request to a memory device configured to check source data in a memory of the memory device for errors in response to receiving the wear leveling command from the host, transfer source data in the memory of the memory device to a target page, and repair a source page if the source data includes an error. The memory device is further configured to set a new repair match if a wear leveling repair element was not consumed after receiving the repair request and flush a previous repair match before setting the new repair match if the wear leveling repair element was consumed and a physical address of an incoming repair request is associated with the wear leveling repair element.