IP Library Granted Patent US 9,153,337
Granted Patent B2
US 9,153,337 · App. 12/365,455 · Granted Oct 6, 2015

Fatigue management system and method for hybrid nonvolatile solid state memory system

Inventor: Pantas Sutardja (Los Gatos, CA)
Assignee: Marvell World Trade Ltd.
G11C16/349G06F12/0246G11C16/3495G06F2212/1036G06F2212/7208G06F2212/7211
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,153,337
App. No.
12/365,455
Filed
Feb 4, 2009
Granted
Oct 6, 2015
Kind
B2
Art Unit
2139
USPC
711/103
Abstract

A solid state memory system comprises a first nonvolatile semiconductor memory having a first write cycle lifetime and a first set of physical addresses, and a second nonvolatile semiconductor memory having a second write cycle lifetime and a second set of physical addresses. The first write cycle lifetime is greater than the second write cycle lifetime. The system further comprises a fatigue management module to generate a write frequency ranking for a plurality of logical addresses. The fatigue management module maps each of the plurality of logical addresses to a physical address of the first set of physical addresses or the second set of physical addresses based on the write frequency rankings.

Claims (61)

1. A solid state memory system, comprising:

a first nonvolatile semiconductor memory having a first write cycle lifetime and a first set of physical addresses;

a second nonvolatile semiconductor memory having a second write cycle lifetime and a second set of physical addresses, wherein the first write cycle lifetime is greater than the second write cycle lifetime; and

a fatigue management module configured to

generate write frequency rankings for a plurality of logical addresses, wherein each of the write frequency rankings is based on an elapsed time since a last write cycle of a respective one of the plurality of logical addresses,

based on the write frequency rankings, map each of the plurality of logical addresses to a physical address of the first set of physical addresses or the second set of physical addresses, and

wherein the write frequency ranking for one of the plurality of logical addresses is based on a weighted time-decay average of write counts for the one of the plurality of logical addresses.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the write frequency ranking for the one of the plurality of logical addresses is based on a number of write operations to the one of the plurality of logical addresses.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the write frequency ranking for the one of the plurality of logical addresses is based on a number of write operations to the one of the plurality logical addresses during a predetermined period.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the weighted time-decay average of write counts is based on:

WCA ( n+ 1)= WCA ( n )* d+WE ( n )* a,

where

WCA(n) is a time averaged write count at timestep n,

WE(n) is an actual write event at timestep n,

WE(n) equals 1 if a write event occurred at timestep n and otherwise equals 0,

d is a first constant, and

a is a second constant.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein:

the first constant d is a decay rate constant;

the second constant a is an attack rate constant; and

the first constant d is equal to 1 minus the second constant a.

6. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a wear leveling module, wherein the wear leveling module is configured to:

generate a first wear level for the first nonvolatile semiconductor memory based on the first write cycle lifetime; and

generate a second wear level for the second nonvolatile semiconductor memory based on the second write cycle lifetime, and

wherein the mapping of the plurality of logical addresses is further based on the first wear level and the second wear level.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein a lowest write frequency rating of the logical addresses mapped to the first nonvolatile semiconductor memory is greater than a highest write frequency rating of the logical addresses mapped to the second nonvolatile semiconductor memory.

8. A fatigue management method for a solid state memory system, comprising:

providing a first nonvolatile semiconductor memory having a first write cycle lifetime and a first set of physical addresses;

providing a second nonvolatile semiconductor memory having a second write cycle lifetime and a second set of physical addresses, wherein the first write cycle lifetime is greater than the second write cycle lifetime;

generating write frequency rankings for a plurality of logical addresses, wherein each of the write frequency rankings is based on an elapsed time since a last write cycle of a respective one of the plurality of logical addresses; and

based on the write frequency rankings, mapping each of the plurality of logical addresses to a physical address of the first set of physical addresses or the second set of physical addresses,

wherein the write frequency ranking for one of the plurality of logical addresses is based on a weighted time-decay average of write counts for the one of the plurality of logical addresses.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the write frequency ranking for the one of the plurality of logical addresses is based on a number of write operations to the one of the plurality of logical addresses.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the write frequency ranking for the one of the plurality of logical addresses is based on a number of write operations to the one of the plurality logical addresses during a predetermined period.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the time averaged write count is based on:

WCA ( n+ 1)= WCA ( n )* d+WE ( n )* a,

where

WCA(n) is a time averaged write count at timestep n,

WE(n) is an actual write event at timestep n,

WE(n) equals 1 if a write event occurred at timestep n and otherwise equals 0,

d is a first constant, and

a is a second constant.

12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

generating a first wear level for the first nonvolatile semiconductor memory based on the first write cycle lifetime; and

generating a second wear level for the second nonvolatile semiconductor memory based on the second write cycle lifetime,

wherein the mapping of the plurality of logical addresses is further based on the first wear level and the second wear level.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein a lowest write frequency rating of the logical addresses mapped to the first nonvolatile semiconductor memory is greater than a highest write frequency rating of the logical addresses mapped to the second nonvolatile semiconductor memory.

14. A solid state memory system, comprising:

a first nonvolatile semiconductor memory having a first write cycle lifetime and a first set of physical addresses;

a second nonvolatile semiconductor memory having a second write cycle lifetime and a second set of physical addresses, wherein the first write cycle lifetime is greater than the second write cycle lifetime; and

a fatigue management module configured to

generate write frequency rankings for a plurality of logical addresses, wherein each of the write frequency rankings is based on an elapsed time since a last write cycle of a respective one of the plurality of logical addresses, and

based on the write frequency rankings, map each of the plurality of logical addresses to a physical address of the first set of physical addresses or the second set of physical addresses,

wherein each of the write frequency rankings is based on averages of elapsed times between write cycles of a respective one of the plurality of logical addresses.

15. A solid state memory system, comprising:

a first nonvolatile semiconductor memory having a first write cycle lifetime and a first set of physical addresses;

a second nonvolatile semiconductor memory having a second write cycle lifetime and a second set of physical addresses, wherein the first write cycle lifetime is greater than the second write cycle lifetime; and

a fatigue management module configured to

generate write frequency rankings for a plurality of logical addresses, wherein each of the write frequency rankings is based on an average of elapsed time between write cycles for a respective one of the plurality of logical addresses,

based on the write frequency rankings, map each of the plurality of logical addresses to a physical address of the first set of physical addresses or the second set of physical addresses, and

normalize the averages of the elapsed times between the write cycles of the plurality of logical addresses based on the first write cycle lifetime and the second write cycle lifetime.

Assignments (7)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 16, 2020
From: CAVIUM INTERNATIONAL
To: MARVELL ASIA PTE, LTD.
Reel/Frame 053475/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 20, 2020
From: MARVELL INTERNATIONAL LTD.
To: CAVIUM INTERNATIONAL
Reel/Frame 052918/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 29, 2020
From: MARVELL WORLD TRADE LTD.
To: MARVELL INTERNATIONAL LTD.
Reel/Frame 051778/0537 →
LICENSE Recorded Apr 11, 2012
From: MARVELL WORLD TRADE LTD.
To: MARVELL INTERNATIONAL LTD.
Reel/Frame 028029/0660 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 4, 2009
From: MARVELL INTERNATIONAL LTD.
To: MARVELL WORLD TRADE LTD.
Reel/Frame 022205/0493 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 4, 2009
From: SUTARDJA, PANTAS
To: MARVELL SEMICONDUCTOR, INC.
Reel/Frame 022205/0355 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 4, 2009
From: MARVELL SEMICONDUCTOR, INC.
To: MARVELL INTERNATIONAL LTD.
Reel/Frame 022205/0462 →
Continuity (4)
Continuation In Part 11952648 · Dec 7, 2007
Provisional Application 61032774 · Feb 29, 2008
Provisional Application 60869493 · Dec 11, 2006
Related Publication 20090138654A1 · May 28, 2009