Memory system and information processing system
A memory system is connectable to a host and includes a nonvolatile memory including a plurality of memory cells, a data buffer connected to the nonvolatile memory, and a memory controller configured to control the nonvolatile memory and including a tag recognition circuit. The tag recognition circuit is configured to recognize whether a storage state tag is assigned to first data in the data buffer, wherein the storage state tag indicates a mode of writing the first data in the memory cells.
1. A memory system that is connectable to a host, the memory system comprising:
a nonvolatile memory including a plurality of memory cells;
a data buffer connected to the nonvolatile memory; and
a memory controller configured to control the nonvolatile memory, the memory controller including a tag recognition circuit configured to recognize whether a storage state tag is assigned to first data in the data buffer, and a tag assigning circuit, wherein:
the first data is write data to be written into the nonvolatile memory and the storage state tag indicates a mode of writing the first data in the memory cells;
when the tag recognition circuit recognizes that the storage state tag is assigned to the write data, the tag recognition circuit transmits a first command in accordance with the storage state tag to the memory controller;
when the tag recognition circuit does not recognize that the storage state tag is assigned to the write data, the tag assigning circuit assigns the storage state tag to the write data; and
when the memory controller receives the first command, the memory controller performs control to write the write data to the memory cells in accordance with a mode indicated by the storage state tag.
2. The memory system according to claim 1 , wherein modes of writing the write data in the memory cells include a first write mode according to which n1 bit(s) are stored per memory cell and a second write mode according to which n2 bits are stored per memory cell, where n2>n1.
3. The memory system according to claim 1 , wherein
when a write request is made, the memory controller sends a command to access the data buffer to the tag recognition circuit.
4. The memory system according to claim 1 , wherein
the tag assigning circuit adds the first-storage state tag to management data of the write data.
5. The memory system according to claim 1 , wherein
when a read request is made to read second data from the nonvolatile memory, the memory controller sends a command to access the data buffer to the tag recognition circuit.
6. The memory system according to claim 5 , wherein
the tag assigning circuit assigns the storage state tag to the second data when the tag recognition circuit does not recognize that the storage state tag is assigned to the second data.
7. The memory system according to claim 6 , wherein the storage state tag assigned to the second data indicates the mode by which the first second data was stored in the memory cells.
8. An information processing system comprising:
a memory system including a nonvolatile memory including a plurality of memory cells, a data buffer connected to the nonvolatile memory, and a memory controller configured to control the nonvolatile memory, the memory controller including a tag recognition circuit and a tag assigning circuit; and
a host connected to the memory system, wherein
the tag recognition circuit is configured to check whether a storage state tag is assigned to first data in the data buffer,
when the tag recognition circuit recognizes that the storage state tag is assigned to the first data, the memory controller performs control to write the first data to the memory cells in accordance with a mode indicated by the storage state tag, or performs control to transmit the first data to the host, and
when the tag recognition circuit does not recognize that the storage state tag is assigned to the first data, the tag assigning circuit assigns a storage state tag to the first data.
9. The information processing system according to claim 8 , wherein
when the first data is read data read from the nonvolatile memory and the tag recognition circuit does not recognize that the storage state tag is assigned to the first data, the tag assigning circuit assigns the storage state tag which indicates the mode by which the read data was stored in the memory cells.
10. The information processing system according to claim 8 , wherein
the storage state tag is one of a first storage state tag, which indicates a first mode of writing data in the memory cells, and a second storage state tag, which indicates a second mode of writing data in the memory cells.
11. The information processing system according to claim 10 , wherein n1 bit(s) are stored per memory cell in the first mode of writing and n2 bits are stored per memory cell in the second mode of writing, where n2>n1.
12. The information processing system according to claim 11 , wherein
when the first data is write data and the tag recognition circuit does not recognize that the storage state tag is assigned to the write data, the tag assigning circuit assigns the first storage state tag to the write data.
13. The information processing system according to claim 8 , wherein the tag assigning circuit adds the storage state tag to management data of the first data.
14. A method of writing data to a nonvolatile memory including a plurality of memory cells, said method comprising:
reading data from a first block of the memory cells and storing the data in a write buffer;
assigning a storage state tag to the data stored in the write buffer; and
writing the data stored in the write buffer in a second block of the memory cells according to a mode of writing indicated by the storage state tag, wherein:
the storage state tag is one of a first storage state tag, which indicates a first mode of writing data in the memory cells, and a second storage state tag, which indicates a second mode of writing data in the memory cells;
n1 bit(s) are stored per memory cell in the first mode of writing and n2 bits are stored per memory cell in the second mode of writing, where n2>n1; and
if no storage state tag was assigned to the data, the first storage state tag is assigned to the data when read from the first block of the memory cells and stored in the write buffer.
15. The method according to claim 14 , wherein if the first storage state tag was assigned to the data, the second storage state tag is assigned to the data when read from the first block of the memory cells and stored in the write buffer.