IP Library Granted Patent US 9,870,170
Granted Patent B2
US 9,870,170 · App. 15/054,333 · Granted Jan 16, 2018

Memory controller, memory system and memory control method

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,870,170
App. No.
15/054,333
Granted
Jan 16, 2018
Kind
B2
Abstract

According to one embodiment, a memory controller includes a first volatile memory, a second volatile memory, and a controller. The first volatile memory temporarily stores therein data acquired from outside. The controller controls the temporarily stored data to be transferred from the first volatile memory to a non-volatile memory, stores correspondence information of the transferred data to the non-volatile memory in the second volatile memory, and updates correspondence information stored in the non-volatile memory based on the correspondence information stored in the second volatile memory by using the first volatile memory after the data transfer as a work area. The correspondence information represents association between a logical address and a physical address of the data.

Claims (35)

1. A memory controller comprising:

a first volatile memory that temporarily stores therein data received from outside of the memory controller;

a second volatile memory that stores therein first correspondence information representing association between a logical address of data that are transferred to a non-volatile memory and a physical address of the non-volatile memory in which the transferred data are stored; and

a controller that controls the temporarily stored data to be transferred from the first volatile memory to the non-volatile memory, stores the first correspondence information of the transferred data into the second volatile memory, and updates second correspondence information stored in the non-volatile memory based on the first correspondence information stored in the second volatile memory by using the first volatile memory as a work area after the data is transferred from the first volatile memory to the non-volatile memory, the second correspondence information representing association between a logical address of the data that are stored in the non-volatile memory and a physical address of the non-volatile memory in which the data are stored.

2. The memory controller according to claim 1 , wherein the controller controls the first volatile memory not to acquire data from outside while the controller is updating the second correspondence information stored in the non-volatile memory.

3. The memory controller according to claim 1 , wherein

the first volatile memory includes a first area and a second area, the first area being used for temporarily storing the data received from the outside and used for the work area, the second area being used for temporarily storing the data received from the outside, and

the controller controls the first volatile memory to update the second correspondence information by using the first area as the work area in parallel with temporarily storing the data received from outside into the second area.

4. A memory system comprising:

a non-volatile memory;

a first volatile memory that temporarily stores therein data received from outside of the memory system;

a second volatile memory that stores therein first correspondence information representing association between a logical address of data that are transferred to a non-volatile memory and a physical address of the non-volatile memory in which the transferred data are stored; and

a controller that

controls the temporarily stored data to be transferred from the first volatile memory to the non-volatile memory,

stores the first correspondence information of the transferred data into the second volatile memory, and

updates second correspondence information stored in the non-volatile memory based on the first correspondence information stored in the second volatile memory by using the first volatile memory as a work area after the data is transferred from the first volatile memory to the non-volatile memory, the second correspondence information representing association between a logical address of the data that are stored in the non-volatile memory and a physical address of the non-volatile memory in which the data are stored.

5. A memory control method of a memory system including a first volatile memory and a non-volatile memory, the method comprising:

temporarily storing data received from outside of the memory system in the first volatile memory;

transferring the data acquired from outside from the first volatile memory to a non-volatile memory for storage;

storing first correspondence information of the transferred data into a second volatile memory, the first correspondence information representing association between a logical address of data that are transferred to the non-volatile memory and a physical address of the non-volatile memory in which the transferred data are stored; and

updating second correspondence information stored in the non-volatile memory based on the first correspondence information stored in the second volatile memory by using the first volatile memory as a work area after the data is transferred from the first volatile memory to the non-volatile memory, the second correspondence information representing association between a logical address of the data that are stored in the non-volatile memory and a physical address of the non-volatile memory in which the data are stored.

6. The memory control method according to claim 5 , wherein the updating includes controlling the first volatile memory not to receive data from the outside.

7. The memory control method according to claim 5 , wherein

the temporarily storing is performed by using a second area of the first volatile memory, and

the updating is performed parallel with the temporarily storing by using a first area of the first volatile memory as the work area, wherein

the first volatile memory includes the first area and the second area,

the second area is used for temporarily storing data received from the outside, and

the first area is used for temporarily storing data received from the outside and used as the work area.

8. The memory controller according to claim 1 , wherein a first area of the first volatile memory that is used for updating the second correspondence information as the work area and a second area of the first volatile memory that is used for temporarily storing the data to be transferred to the non-volatile memory at least partially overlap with each other.

9. The memory system according to claim 4 , wherein the controller controls the first volatile memory not to receive data from the outside while the controller is updating the second correspondence information.

10. The memory system according to claim 4 , wherein

the first volatile memory includes a first area and a second area, the first area being used for temporarily storing the data received from the outside and used as the work area, the second area being used for temporarily storing the data received from the outside, and

the controller controls the first volatile memory to update the second correspondence information by using the first area as the work area in parallel with temporarily storing the data received from the outside into the second area.

11. The memory system according to claim 4 , wherein a first area of the first volatile memory that is used for updating the second correspondence information as the work area and a second area of the first volatile memory that is used for temporarily storing the data to be transferred to the non-volatile memory at least partially overlap with each other.

12. The memory control method according to claim 5 , wherein a first area of the first volatile memory that is used for updating the second correspondence information as the work area and a second area of the first volatile memory that is used for temporarily storing the data to be transferred to the non-volatile memory at least partially overlap with each other.

Assignments (5)
MERGER Recorded Jan 22, 2021
From: TOSHIBA MEMORY CORPORATION
To: K.K. PANGEA
Reel/Frame 055659/0471 →
CHANGE OF NAME AND ADDRESS Recorded Jan 22, 2021
From: TOSHIBA MEMORY CORPORATION
To: KIOXIA CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 055669/0001 →
CHANGE OF NAME AND ADDRESS Recorded Jan 22, 2021
From: K.K. PANGEA
To: TOSHIBA MEMORY CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 055669/0401 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 5, 2017
From: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA
To: TOSHIBA MEMORY CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 043088/0620 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 26, 2016
From: OSHIYAMA, NAOTO; MAGAKI, IKUO; KABURAKI, SATOSHI; OGASAWARA, TAKASHI
To: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA
Reel/Frame 037836/0230 →