SSD Controller Firmware Emulation for 2N Plane Media
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Solution Overview
Problem
The development of new nonvolatile media in SSDs often requires custom-designed controllers, leading to bottlenecks in product release due to the time-consuming process of designing and building these controllers, which can be slower than hardware changes.
Innovation Solution
A controller with a hardware interface for fewer planes of memory cells can be modified using firmware to interface with nonvolatile storage media having more planes, allowing it to couple with 2N planes using 1N plane command sequences, enabling the use of legacy controllers with new media without the need for new ASIC designs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a new controller is custom-designed for each new generation of nonvolatile media, then the controller can fully support the new media architecture, but the product release is delayed due to the time-consuming controller design and build process
Solution Approach 1:
The controller is designed with a universal interface that can support multiple generations of nonvolatile media through firmware configuration. The same hardware interface can be configured to work with different numbers of planes (N planes or 2N planes) by loading different firmware images, eliminating the need for custom hardware designs for each media generation.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller's operational parameters are changed through firmware rather than hardware redesign. By changing the firmware configuration, the controller can adapt to different media architectures (e.g., transitioning from N plane to 2N plane support) without physical modifications to the hardware interface.
2Device complexity
If the controller hardware interface is designed for N planes, then the hardware structure remains simple, but it cannot directly interface with 2N plane nonvolatile storage media
Solution Approach 1:
The hardware interface is designed as a universal N-plane interface that can serve multiple purposes. Through firmware configuration, the same interface can be used to communicate with both N-plane and 2N-plane media, making the hardware versatile and reducing the need for multiple specialized interfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
Firmware acts as an intermediary layer between the fixed hardware interface and the variable media architecture. The firmware translates and adapts commands between the N-plane hardware interface and the 2N-plane media structure, enabling compatibility without hardware changes.
3Productivity
If custom ASIC controllers are designed for each media generation, then optimal performance can be achieved, but development time and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of designing entirely new ASIC controllers for each media generation, the solution uses firmware images that can be copied and loaded onto the existing hardware platform. This allows performance optimization for new media architectures without the costly and time-consuming process of designing new ASICs.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller's functional characteristics are made dynamic through firmware updates rather than being fixed in hardware. This allows the controller to adapt its behavior and optimization parameters for different media generations while using the same physical hardware, significantly reducing development time and cost.
Data Source
AI summary
A solid state drive includes a controller with a hardware interface to fewer planes of memory cells than included in the nonvolatile storage. For example, a controller hardware interface can include a 1N plane interface coupled to a nonvolatile storage device with 2N planes of memory cells. For data access transactions between the controller and the nonvolatile storage device, first and second consecutive 1N plane command sequences are interpreted as a single 2N plane command sequence.