Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080288814 | APPARATUS FOR DETECTING AND RECOVERING FROM DATA DESTRUCTION CAUSED IN AN UNACCESSED MEMORY CELL BY READ, AND METHOD THEREFOR - Read disturb in a flash memory destroys data that is not requested to be read, and an efficient read disturb check method is therefore needed. In addition, data may be destroyed beyond repair by error correction before a read disturb check is run. Thus, this invention provides a non-volatile data storage apparatus including a plurality of memory cells and a memory controller, in which the memory controller is configured to: count how many times data read processing has been executed in memory cells within the management area; read, when the data read processing count that is counted for a first management area exceeds a first threshold, data and an error correction code that are stored in the memory cells within the first management area; decode the read error correction code; and write the data corrected by decoding the error correction code in other management areas than the first management area. | 11-20-2008 |
20090132875 | METHOD OF CORRECTING ERROR OF FLASH MEMORY DEVICE, AND, FLASH MEMORY DEVICE AND STORAGE SYSTEM USING THE SAME - According to this invention, a highly reliable memory device that uses up a life of a flash memory can be provided. The memory device is a nonvolatile memory device including a plurality of memory cells, in which: each of the plurality of memory cells is an FET which includes a floating gate; the plurality of memory cells are divided into a plurality of deletion blocks; and the nonvolatile memory device reads data stored in a first deletion block, detects and corrects an error contained in the read data, stores, when the number of bits of the detected error exceeds a threshold, the corrected data in a second deletion block, sets a smaller value as the threshold as an error frequency detected in the first deletion block is higher, and sets a smaller value as the threshold as the number of deletion times executed in the first deletion block is larger. | 05-21-2009 |
20090287878 | STORAGE APPARATUS USING FLASH MEMORY - For a storage apparatus in which flash memory disks and hard disks coexist, high-density mounting of flash memory modules is achieved. A storage apparatus in accordance with the present invention includes flash memories and a storage controller. A second storage apparatus including magnetic disks is connected to the storage apparatus. For creation of a logical volume, the storage controller can form a storage area using a flash memory or a magnetic disk. When an input/output request is issued from a host computer, if a storage area is formed with a flash memory, the storage controller directly accesses the flash memory to handle the input/output request. When the storage apparatus defines a storage area formed with a flash memory, the storage apparatus defines the storage area by adding up the capacity of a storage area to be provided for the host computer and a substitute area capacity determined in consideration of restrictions imposed on the number of times of deletion of the flash memory. | 11-19-2009 |
20090292862 | FLASH MEMORY MODULE AND STORAGE SYSTEM - A storage controller manages address conversion information denoting the correspondence relationship between a logical address and a physical address of storage area (for example, a physical block) inside a flash memory. The storage controller uses the above-mentioned address conversion information to specify a physical address corresponding to a logical address specified by an I/O request from a higher-level device, and sends an I/O command including I/O-destination information based on the specified physical address to a memory controller inside a flash memory module. The memory controller carries out the I/O with respect to a storage area inside a flash memory specified from the I/O-destination information of the I/O command from the storage controller. | 11-26-2009 |
20100241797 | STORAGE DEVICE AND STORING METHOD - To enable a capacity of an entire storage device to be kept by adding a flash drive or a flash module in the flash drive for a flash memory that has a failure, even if the storage device using the flash memory has a failure in its part such as a part of flash memory chip has a failure, for example, the flash memory chip has run out of its lifetime. In a storage device equipped with two or more memory device units with a plurality of semiconductor memory devices, each of which has a functional capacity unit smaller than a capacity of an entire semiconductor memory device and has a writing lifetime for each functional capacity unit, only a functional capacity unit whose writing lifetime is run out to be determined as unable to be written is substituted by a functional capacity unit in a memory device of the other memory device unit to keep a predetermined capacity of the entire device. | 09-23-2010 |
20110191520 | STORAGE SUBSYSTEM AND ITS DATA PROCESSING METHOD - The amount of data to be stored in a semiconductor nonvolatile memory can be reduced and overhead associated with data processing can be reduced. When a microprocessor | 08-04-2011 |
20110231713 | FLASH MEMORY MODULE - Logical/physical conversion information is configured from first conversion information and second conversion information. A controller of a flash memory module restores the first conversion information at boot up time, enables an access command to be received from a host after having restored the first conversion information, and restores the second conversion information after an access command is able to be received. | 09-22-2011 |
20110238885 | STORAGE SUBSYSTEM - Processing in accordance with the updating of data is carried out distributively by a control unit that controls a cache memory and by a memory controller that controls a nonvolatile semiconductor memory. When updating flash memory data, a main processor creates an XOR write command and transfers the same to a flash memory controller, a microprocessor of the flash memory controller parses the XOR write command, reads out an old parity from a page of a user area in the flash memory, creates a new parity by carrying out an exclusive OR operation using the read-out old parity, “b” data, which is the old data, and “d” data, which is the new data, and stores the created new parity in a page of a renewal area in a flash memory for storing parity. | 09-29-2011 |
20120191906 | FLASH MEMORY MODULE AND STORAGE SYSTEM - A storage controller manages address conversion information denoting the correspondence relationship between a logical address and a physical address of storage area (for example, a physical block) inside a flash memory. The storage controller uses the above-mentioned address conversion information to specify a physical address corresponding to a logical address specified by an I/O request from a higher-level device, and sends an I/O command including I/O-destination information based on the specified physical address to a memory controller inside a flash memory module. The memory controller carries out the I/O with respect to a storage area inside a flash memory specified from the I/O-destination information of the I/O command from the storage controller. | 07-26-2012 |
20120221783 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ALLOCATING CAPACITY - For a storage apparatus where flash memory disks and hard disks coexist, high-density mounting of flash memory modules is achieved. The storage apparatus includes flash memories and a storage controller. A second storage apparatus including magnetic disks is connected to the storage apparatus. The storage controller can form a storage area using a flash memory or a magnetic disk to create a logical volume. When an input/output request is issued from a host computer, if a storage area is formed with a flash memory, the storage controller directly accesses the flash memory to handle the request. When the storage apparatus defines a storage area formed with a flash memory, the storage apparatus defines the storage area by adding up the capacity of a storage area to be provided for the host computer and a substitute area capacity determined in consideration of restrictions on the number deletions of the flash memory. | 08-30-2012 |
20120297244 | STORAGE SUBSYSTEM - The storage system includes a plurality of flash memory devices, each of the flash memory devices including a flash memory controller and flash memory chips, which are configured as a RAID group and a storage controller, coupled to the plurality of flash memory devices, configured to receive data from a computer and send the data to a first flash memory device of the plurality of flash memory devices. The flash memory controller of the flash memory device is configured to receive the data from the storage controller and execute a parity operation using the data. | 11-22-2012 |
20130132656 | STORAGE SUBSYSTEM AND ITS DATA PROCESSING METHOD - The amount of data to be stored in a semiconductor nonvolatile memory can be reduced and overhead associated with data processing can be reduced. When a microprocessor receives a write request from a host computer and data D | 05-23-2013 |
20130238845 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ALLOCATING CAPACITY - For a storage apparatus where flash memory disks and hard disks coexist, high-density mounting of flash memory modules is achieved. The storage apparatus includes flash memories and a storage controller. A second storage apparatus including magnetic disks is connected to the storage apparatus. The storage controller can form a storage area using a flash memory or a magnetic disk to create a logical volume. When an input/output request is issued from a host computer, if a storage area is formed with a flash memory, the storage controller directly accesses the flash memory to handle the request. When the storage apparatus defines a storage area formed with a flash memory, the storage apparatus defines the storage area by adding up the capacity of a storage area to be provided for the host computer and a substitute area capacity determined in consideration of restrictions on the number deletions of the flash memory. | 09-12-2013 |
20140082457 | ERROR CORRECTING FOR IMPROVING RELIABILITY BY COMBINATION OF STORAGE SYSTEM AND FLASH MEMORY DEVICE - According to this invention, a highly reliable memory device that uses up a life of a flash memory can be provided. The memory device is a nonvolatile memory device including a plurality of memory cells, in which: each of the plurality of memory cells is an FET which includes a floating gate; the plurality of memory cells are divided into a plurality of deletion blocks; and the nonvolatile memory device reads data stored in a first deletion block, detects and corrects an error contained in the read data, stores, when the number of bits of the detected error exceeds a threshold, the corrected data in a second deletion block, sets a smaller value as the threshold as an error frequency detected in the first deletion block is higher, and sets a smaller value as the threshold as the number of deletion times executed in the first deletion block is larger. | 03-20-2014 |
20140304461 | STORAGE SUBSYSTEM - The storage system includes a plurality of flash memory devices, each of the flash memory devices including a flash memory controller and flash memory chips, which are configured as a RAID group and a storage controller, coupled to the plurality of flash memory devices, configured to receive data from a computer and send the data to a first flash memory device of the plurality of flash memory devices. The flash memory controller of the flash memory device is configured to receive the data from the storage controller and execute a parity operation using the data. | 10-09-2014 |