Techniques for reducing memory write operations using coalescing memory buffers and difference information
The present disclosure relates to examples of reducing memory write operations using coalescing memory buffers. In one example implementation according to aspects of the present disclosure, a method comprises computing a difference between a current state of data of at least one block of a storage device to which data is to be written and a state that would result from a write operation. The method further comprises populating at least one coalescing memory buffer with difference information associated with the difference and to be used to update an associated block of the storage device.
1. An apparatus comprising:
a coalescing memory containing at least one coalescing memory buffer; and
a difference computation module programmed to perform the steps of:
computing a difference between a current state of data of at least one block of a storage device to which data is to be written by a write operation and a state that would result from the write operation, the storage device being separate from the coalescing memory, the storage device comprising a non-volatile memory having a limited lifetime, and
populating the at least one coalescing memory buffer with difference information associated with the difference and to be used to update the at least one block of the storage device, the difference information comprising a set of instructions, each instruction comprising an operation code, a source starting address, a size, and data,
wherein using the difference information to update the at least one block of the storage device comprises at least appending the difference information from the at least one coalescing memory buffer to difference information contained in a portion of the at least one block, and
wherein the difference computation module is further programmed to reconstruct the current state of the data of the at least one block utilizing the difference information contained in the portion of the at least one block and any difference information in the at least one coalescing memory buffer associated with the at least one block.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the difference computation module is further programmed to perform the steps of:
receiving a command initiating an operation to be applied to the storage device; and
identifying the operation as a write operation directed to the at least one block of the storage device.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the difference computation module is further programmed to perform the step of determining whether the at least one coalescing memory buffer is full.
4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the difference computation module is further programmed to perform the step of updating the at least one block from the difference information in the at least one coalescing memory buffer based on the determination of fullness of the at least one coalescing memory buffer.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the operation code of each instruction indicates one of a replace operation, a move up operation, a move down operation, a delete operation, an insert operation, or an end marker.
6. A method comprising:
computing a difference between a current state of data of at least one block of a storage device to which data is to be written by a write operation and a state that would result from a write operation, the storage device comprising a non-volatile memory having a limited lifetime; and
populating at least one coalescing memory buffer in a coalescing memory with difference information associated with the difference and to be used to update the at least one block of the storage device, the difference information comprising a set of instructions, each instruction comprising an operation code, a source starting address, a size, and data, the coalescing memory being separate from the storage device,
wherein using the difference information to update the at least one block of the storage device comprises at least appending the difference information in the at least one coalescing memory buffer to difference information contained in a portion of the at least one block, and
wherein reconstructing the current state of the data of the at least one block of the storage device comprises utilizing the difference information contained in the portion of the at least one block and any difference information in the at least one coalescing memory buffer associated with the at least one block.
7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
receiving a command from a host processor initiating an operation to be applied to the storage device; and
identifying the operation as a write operation directed to the at least one block of the storage device.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the at least one coalescing memory buffer is coupled between the host processor and the storage device.
9. The method of claim 6 , wherein appending the difference information in the at least one coalescing memory buffer to the difference information contained in the portion of the at least one block is performed upon a determination of fullness of the at least one coalescing memory buffer.
10. The method of claim 6 , wherein the operation code of each instruction indicates one of a replace operation, a move up operation, a move down operation, a delete operation, an insert operation, or an end marker.
11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processing resource, cause the processing resource to perform steps comprising:
computing a difference between a current state of data of at least one block of a storage device to which data is to be written by a write operation and a state that would result from a write operation, the storage device comprising a non-volatile memory having a limited lifetime; and
populating a coalescing memory buffer in a coalescing memory with difference information associated with the difference and to be used to update the at least one block of the storage device, the coalescing memory being separate from the storage device, the difference information comprising a set of instructions, each instruction comprising an operation code, a source starting address, a size, and data,
wherein using the difference information to update the at least one block of the storage device comprises at least appending the difference information in the coalescing memory buffer to difference information contained in a portion of the at least one block, and
wherein reconstructing the current state of the data of the at least one block of the storage device comprises utilizing the difference information contained in the portion of the at least one block and any difference information in the coalescing memory buffer associated with the at least one block.
12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the steps further comprise:
receiving a command from a host processor initiating an operation to be applied to the storage device; and
identifying the operation as a write operation directed to the at least one block of the storage device.
13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein appending the difference information in the coalescing memory buffer to the difference information contained in the portion of the at least one block is performed upon a determination of fullness of the coalescing memory buffer.
14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the operation code of each instruction indicates one of a replace operation, a move up operation, a move down operation, a delete operation, an insert operation, or an end marker.