Soft Bit Compression for Data Storage Error Correction
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Solution Overview
Problem
The generation and use of soft bits in non-volatile storage devices consume resources and reduce performance due to the need for additional sensing operations and increased system bandwidth, as they are used to improve error correction capabilities but require significant data transfer and processing.
Innovation Solution
A data storage device compresses soft bits using a lossy compression technique, reducing the number of soft bits transferred from the memory to the controller, and employs a three-stage decoding process to compensate for the loss of information, utilizing AND operations to generate a second set of soft bits with a lower bit count for use in error correction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If soft bits are generated and transferred to improve error correction capability, then reliability is improved, but device complexity and resource consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameter of soft bit representation by encoding multiple soft bits into a compressed format with fewer bits. Instead of transferring the full soft bit information, the system transforms the data representation to achieve the same error correction capability with reduced bandwidth and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts only the essential error correction information from the full soft bit data and transfers only that compressed portion to the controller. This extraction approach maintains the necessary reliability while eliminating redundant data transfer.
2Reliability
If soft bits are transferred from memory to controller, then error correction capability is improved, but system bandwidth is reduced for other operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the soft bit data from its original high-bit format into a compressed low-bit representation, changing the data parameter to reduce the volume transferred over the bus, thereby freeing system bandwidth for other operations while preserving error correction functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transfers only the necessary portion of soft bit information required for error correction rather than the complete soft bit dataset. This partial action approach provides sufficient error correction capability without the excessive bandwidth consumption of full soft bit transfer.
3Reliability
If additional sensing operations are performed to generate soft bits, then error correction capability is improved, but resource consumption and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the critical error correction information from the sensing operations and compresses it for transfer. This extraction eliminates the need to process and transfer all sensed data, reducing processing time while maintaining error correction capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the sensed soft bit data into a compressed parameter representation that requires less processing and transfer time, thereby reducing the loss of time while preserving the essential error correction information.
Data Source
AI summary
A data storage device includes a memory, a first module, and a second module. The first module is configured to sense data stored at the memory to generate a first set of soft bits having a first number of bits. The second module is configured to perform an operation using the first set of soft bits to generate a second set of soft bits having a second number of bits that is less than the first number of bits. In an illustrative implementation, the second set of soft bits is used in connection with a three-stage decoding process to decode a set of hard bits that represents the data.