Method and system for concurrent background and foreground operations in a non-volatile memory array

1. A method of operating a memory system having an array of non-volatile memory cells, the method comprising the memory system:

receiving data at a front end of the memory system from a host, wherein the data comprises a plurality of host logical block addresses (LBAs);

selecting at least one subarray of a plurality of subarrays in the array in which to execute a host write operation for the received data, wherein each of the plurality of subarrays is associated with a unique, fixed region of host LBA addresses and each of the plurality of subarrays is associated with a separate subarray controller;

selecting at least one other subarray of the plurality of subarrays in which to execute a second operation on data already residing in the at least one other subarray;

executing the host write operation and the second operation substantially concurrently in the at least one subarray and the at least one other subarray;

wherein the plurality of subarrays are arranged in a plurality of memory banks, each memory bank comprising at least two subarrays, and wherein the memory system comprises an activity limit, the method further comprising the front end preventing execution of the second operation upon detection that the activity limit will be exceeded; and

wherein the activity limit comprises a maximum number of concurrent host write and second operations that is less than a total number of subarrays of the plurality of subarrays.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second operation is a copy operation, the copy operation comprising copying data from one location to another location within the other subarray.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second operation comprises a read operation.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second operation comprises a background operation, wherein the background operation comprises an operation initiated by the memory device when no host command relating to data within the unique, fixed region of host LBA addresses for the at least one other subarray is pending.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the at least one subarray and the at least one other subarray comprises selecting subarrays from within a same memory bank.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the activity limit comprises a memory system power consumption limit.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the activity limit comprises a memory system supply current limit.

8. A memory system comprising:

an array of non-volatile memory cells arranged into a plurality of subarrays, each subarray addressed by a unique, fixed region of host logical block address (LBA) addresses;

a plurality of subarray controllers, each of the plurality of subarray controllers configured to control data read or write operations in a respective one of the plurality of subarrays independent of read or write operations in any other of the plurality of subarrays; and

a front end controller in communication with the plurality of subarray controllers, the front end controller adapted to:

select at least one subarray of a plurality of subarrays in the array in which to execute a host write operation for data received from a host;

select at least one other subarray of the plurality of subarrays in which to execute a second operation on data already residing in the at least one other subarray;

initiate execution of the host write operation and the second operation substantially concurrently in the at least one subarray and the at least one other subarray;

wherein the plurality of subarrays are arranged in a plurality of memory banks, each memory bank comprising at least two subarrays, and wherein the memory system comprises an activity limit, the front end controller further configured to prevent execution of the second operation upon detection that the activity limit will be exceeded; and

wherein the activity limit comprises a maximum number of concurrent host write and second operations that is less than a total number of subarrays of the plurality of subarrays.

9. The memory system of claim 8 , wherein the front end controller is configured to select the at least one subarray and the at least one other subarray from within a same memory bank.

10. The memory system of claim 9 , wherein each memory bank comprises a single data channel in communication with the front end controller.

11. The memory system of claim 8 , wherein the activity limit comprises a memory system power consumption limit.

12. The memory system of claim 8 , wherein the activity limit comprises a memory system supply current limit.

13. The memory system of claim 8 , wherein the second operation comprises a copy operation, the copy operation comprising copying data from one location to another location within the other subarray.

14. The memory system of claim 8 , wherein the second operation comprises a read operation.

15. The memory system of claim 8 , wherein the second operation comprises a background operation, and wherein the background operation comprises an operation initiated by the memory device when no host command relating to data within the unique, fixed region of host LBA addresses for the at least one other subarray is pending.

16. A memory system comprising:

an array of non-volatile memory cells arranged into a plurality of subarrays, each subarray addressed by a unique, fixed region of host logical block address (LBA) addresses;

wherein the subarrays are arranged in a two-dimensional array having an X-dimension and a Y-dimension, and wherein host LBA addresses are interleaved in host LBA metapage increments in the X-dimension and host LBA addresses are interleaved in metablock increments in the Y-dimension;

a plurality of subarray controllers, each of the plurality of subarray controllers configured to control data read or write operations in a respective one of the plurality of subarrays independent of read or write operations in any other of the plurality of subarrays; and

a front end controller in communication with the plurality of subarray controllers, the front end controller adapted to:

select at least one subarray of a plurality of subarrays in the array in which to execute a host write operation for data received from a host;

select at least one other subarray of the plurality of subarrays in which to execute a second operation; and

initiate execution of the host write operation and the second operation substantially concurrently in the at least one subarray and the at least one other subarray.

17. The memory system of claim 16 , wherein each subarray comprises at least one metablock having a plurality of metapages and the unique, fixed region of host logical block address (LBA) addresses comprises interleaved metapage addresses across subarrays in each of the memory banks, such that for a particular subarray a first LBA address of a first metapage differs from a first LBA address of a next consecutive metapage in the particular subarray by an integer multiple of a length of a metapage and a total number of memory banks.

18. The memory system of claim 16 , wherein the second operation comprises a background operation, and wherein the background operation comprises an operation initiated by the memory device when no host command relating to data within the unique, fixed region of host LBA addresses for the at least one other subarray is pending.

19. A memory system comprising:

an array of non-volatile memory cells arranged into a plurality of subarrays, each subarray addressed by a unique, fixed region of host logical block address (LBA) addresses;

a plurality of subarray controllers, each of the plurality of subarray controllers configured to control data read or write operations in a respective one of the plurality of subarrays independent of read or write operations in any other of the plurality of subarrays;

wherein the plurality of subarray controllers comprises a single processor configured to execute a separate instance of controller firmware for each subarray; and

a front end controller in communication with the plurality of subarray controllers, the front end controller adapted to:

select at least one subarray of a plurality of subarrays in the array in which to execute a host write operation for data received from a host;

select at least one other subarray of the plurality of subarrays in which to execute a second operation; and

initiate execution of the host write operation and the second operation substantially concurrently in the at least one subarray and the at least one other subarray.

20. The memory system of claim 19 , wherein the second operation comprises a background operation, and wherein the background operation comprises an operation initiated by the memory device when no host command relating to data within the unique, fixed region of host LBA addresses for the at least one other subarray is pending.

21. A memory system comprising:

an array of non-volatile memory cells arranged into a plurality of subarrays, each subarray addressed by a unique, fixed region of host logical block address (LBA) addresses;

a plurality of subarray controllers, each of the plurality of subarray controllers configured to control data read or write operations in a respective one of the plurality of subarrays independent of read or write operations in any other of the plurality of subarrays;

wherein the plurality of subarray controllers comprises a plurality of processors, each processor associated with a different subarray and each processor positioned on a single die separate from any die comprising the subarrays; and

a front end controller in communication with the plurality of subarray controllers, the front end controller adapted to:

select at least one subarray of a plurality of subarrays in the array in which to execute a host write operation for data received from a host;

select at least one other subarray of the plurality of subarrays in which to execute a second operation; and

initiate execution of the host write operation and the second operation substantially concurrently in the at least one subarray and the at least one other subarray.

22. The memory system of claim 21 , wherein the second operation comprises a background operation, and wherein the background operation comprises an operation initiated by the memory device when no host command relating to data within the unique, fixed region of host LBA addresses for the at least one other subarray is pending.

23. A memory system comprising:

an array of non-volatile memory cells arranged into a plurality of subarrays, each subarray addressed by a unique, fixed region of host logical block address (LBA) addresses;

a plurality of subarray controllers, each of the plurality of subarray controllers configured to control data read or write operations in a respective one of the plurality of subarrays independent of read or write operations in any other of the plurality of subarrays;

wherein the plurality of subarray controllers comprises a plurality of processors, each processor associated with a different subarray and each processor positioned on a different die comprising a different one of the subarrays; and

a front end controller in communication with the plurality of subarray controllers, the front end controller adapted to:

select at least one subarray of a plurality of subarrays in the array in which to execute a host write operation for data received from a host;

select at least one other subarray of the plurality of subarrays in which to execute a second operation; and

initiate execution of the host write operation and the second operation substantially concurrently in the at least one subarray and the at least one other subarray.

24. The memory system of claim 23 , wherein the second operation comprises a background operation, and wherein the background operation comprises an operation initiated by the memory device when no host command relating to data within the unique, fixed region of host LBA addresses for the at least one other subarray is pending.

25. A method of operating a memory system having an array of non-volatile memory cells, the method comprising the memory system:

receiving data at a front end of the memory system from a host, wherein the data comprises a plurality of host logical block addresses (LBAs);

selecting at least one subarray of a plurality of subarrays in the array in which to execute a host write operation for the received data, wherein each of the plurality of subarrays is associated with a unique, fixed discontinuous region of host LBA addresses and each of the plurality of subarrays is associated with a separate subarray controller;

selecting at least one other subarray of the plurality of subarrays in which to execute a second operation on data already residing in the other subarray; and

executing the host write operation and the second operation substantially concurrently in the at least one subarray and the at least one other subarray.

26. A memory system comprising:

an array of non-volatile memory cells arranged into a plurality of subarrays, each subarray addressed by a unique, fixed discontinuous region of host logical block address (LBA) addresses;

a plurality of subarray controllers, each of the plurality of subarray controllers configured to control data read or write operations in a respective one of the plurality of subarrays independent of read or write operations in any other of the plurality of subarrays; and

a front end controller in communication with the plurality of subarray controllers, the front end controller adapted to:

select at least one subarray of a plurality of subarrays in the array in which to execute a host write operation for data received from a host;

select at least one other subarray of the plurality of subarrays in which to execute a second operation; and

initiate execution of the host write operation and the second operation substantially concurrently in the at least one subarray and the at least one other subarray.