SSD Wear Leveling via Host-Controlled Data Relocation

The patent extracts the wear leveling data movement operations from the SSD and transfers them to the host system. The SSD controller identifies blocks requiring wear leveling and sends notifications to the host, which then performs the actual data relocation operations. This separation allows the SSD to maintain low-latency operations while the host handles background wear leveling tasks during its available cycles.

The patent creates a simplified copy of the media policy information that the host needs to perform wear leveling. Instead of requiring the host to integrate with complex SSD internal policies and mechanisms, the SSD controller translates and communicates only the essential block identification and relocation requirements to the host. This abstraction layer maintains ease of operation while minimizing host integration complexity.

The patent implements a self-service mechanism where the host system utilizes its own available processing cycles and resources to perform wear leveling operations on the SSD. The SSD controller identifies when wear leveling is needed and notifies the host, which then autonomously performs the data relocation using its spare processing capacity. This approach improves SSD productivity without requiring continuous SSD resource allocation, as the host services its own storage maintenance needs during idle periods.