Keeping zones open with intermediate padding
The present disclosure generally relates to methods of operating storage devices. The storage device comprises a controller and a media unit divided into a plurality of zones. Data associated with one or more first commands is written to a first portion of a first zone. Upon a predetermined amount of time passing, dummy data is written to a second portion of the first zone to fill the first zone to a zone capacity. Upon receiving one or more second commands to write data, a second zone is allocated and opened, and the data associated with the one or more second commands is written to a first portion of the second zone. The data associated with the one or more first commands is then optionally re-written to a second portion of the second zone to fill the second zone to a zone capacity, and the first zone is erased.
1. A storage device, comprising:
a media unit, wherein a capacity of the media unit is divided into a plurality of zones, and wherein the media unit comprises a plurality of dies, each of the plurality of dies comprising a plurality of erase blocks; and
a controller coupled to the media unit, the controller configured to:
receive one or more first commands to write data to a first zone of the plurality of zones, wherein the data associated with the one or more first commands is written to a first portion of the first zone, and wherein a second portion of the first zone remains available to write data to;
determine a predetermined amount of time has passed since receiving a first command to write data to the first zone;
write dummy data to the second portion of the first zone to fill the first zone to a zone capacity;
upon receiving one or more second commands to write data to the first zone, open a second zone and write the data associated with the one or more second commands to a first portion of the second zone; and
re-write the data associated with the one or more first commands written to the first portion of the first zone to a second portion of the second zone.
2. The storage device of claim 1 , wherein the first zone is erased after the data associated with the one or more first commands is re-written to the second portion of the second zone.
3. The storage device of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined amount of time is between about 15 minutes to about 3 days.
4. The storage device of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined amount of time is between about 1 day to about 7 days.
5. The storage device of claim 1 , wherein writing the dummy data to the second portion of the first zone switches the first zone to a closed and active state.
6. The storage device of claim 1 , wherein the controller comprises a timer, and wherein the timer determines the predetermined amount of time has passed.
7. The storage device of claim 1 , wherein the data stored in the first zone is stored in a non-sequential order.
8. A storage device, comprising:
a media unit, wherein a capacity of the media unit is divided into a plurality of zones, and wherein the media unit comprises a plurality of dies, each of the plurality of dies comprising a plurality of erase blocks; and
a controller coupled to the media unit, the controller configured to:
receive one or more first commands to write data to a first zone of the plurality of zones, wherein the data associated with the one or more first commands is written to a first portion of the first zone, and wherein a second portion of the first zone remains available to write data to;
determine a first predetermined amount of time has passed since receiving a first command to write data to the first zone;
upon receiving one or more second commands to write data to the first zone, open a second zone and write the data associated with the one or more second commands to a first portion of the second zone;
determine a second predetermined amount of time has passed since receiving a second command to write data to the first zone;
upon receiving one or more third commands to write data to the first zone, open a third zone and write the data associated with the one or more third commands to a first portion of the third zone; and
re-write the data associated with the one or more first commands written to the first portion of the first zone to a second portion of the third zone, and re-write the data associated with the one or more second commands written to the first portion of the second zone to a third portion of the third zone.
9. The storage device of claim 8 , wherein the controller is further configured to: writing dummy data to the second portion of the first zone to fill the first zone to a zone capacity upon determining the first predetermined amount of time has passed.
10. The storage device of claim 8 , wherein the controller is further configured to: writing dummy data to a second portion of the second zone to fill the second zone to a zone capacity upon determining the second predetermined amount of time has passed.
11. The storage device of claim 8 , wherein the controller is further configured to: erasing the first zone and the second zone upon re-writing the data associated with the one or more first commands to the second portion of the third zone and re-writing the data associated with the one or more second commands to the third portion of the third zone.
12. The storage device of claim 8 , wherein the first predetermined amount of time is the same as the second predetermined amount of time.
13. The storage device of claim 12 , wherein the first and second predetermined amounts of time are between about 15 minutes to about 7 days.
14. The storage device of claim 8 , wherein the first predetermined amount of time is different than the second predetermined amount of time.
15. A storage device, comprising:
a media unit, wherein a capacity of the media unit is divided into a plurality of zones, and wherein the media unit comprises a plurality of dies, each of the plurality of dies comprising a plurality of erase blocks; and
a controller coupled to the media unit, the controller configured to:
write data associated with one or more first commands to a first portion of a first zone, and wherein a second portion of the first zone remains available to write data to;
upon a timer expiring a first time, write dummy data to the second portion of the first zone to fill the first zone to a zone capacity;
upon receiving one or more second commands to write data to the first zone, open a second zone and write the data associated with the one or more second commands to a first portion of the second zone;
re-write the data associated with the one or more first commands written to the first portion of the first zone to a second portion of the second zone;
upon the timer expiring a second time, write dummy data to a third portion of the second zone to fill the second zone to a zone capacity;
upon receiving one or more third commands to write data to the first zone, open a third zone and write the data associated with the one or more third commands to a first portion of the third zone; and
re-write the data associated with the one or more first commands written to the second portion of the second zone to a second portion of the third zone, and re-write the data associated with the one or more second commands written to the first portion of the second zone to a third portion of the third zone.
16. The storage device of claim 15 , wherein the controller is further configured to: erasing the first zone upon re-writing the data associated with the one or more first commands to the second portion of the second zone.
17. The storage device of claim 15 , wherein the controller is further configured to: erasing the second zone upon re-writing the data associated with the one or more first commands to the second portion of the third zone and re-writing the data associated with the one or more second commands to the third portion of the third zone.
18. The storage device of claim 15 , wherein the timer is set to expire after a predetermined amount of time, and wherein the predetermined amount of time is between about 15 minutes to about 7 days.
19. The storage device of claim 15 , wherein writing the dummy data to the second portion of the first zone switches the first zone to a closed and active state, and wherein writing the dummy data to the third portion of the second zone switches the second zone to the closed and active state.
20. The storage device of claim 15 , wherein re-writing the data associated with the one or more first commands to the second portion of the third zone and re-writing the data associated with the one or more second commands to the third portion of the third zone causes the data written to the third zone to be stored out of sequential order.