IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,737,289
Granted Patent B2
US 12,737,289 · App. 18/999,874 · Granted Sep 15, 2026

Storage device including nonvolatile memory device and operating method of storage device

Inventors: Joon-Whan Bae (Suwon-si, KR); Junyeong Han (Suwon-si, KR); Kui-Yon Mun (Suwon-si, KR); Heetak Shin (Suwon-si, KR)
Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
G06F12/0292G06F3/0604G06F3/0619G06F3/0631G06F3/064G06F3/0647G06F3/0652G06F3/0656G06F3/0679G06F11/1068G06F11/1451G06F12/023G06F2212/1016
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,737,289
App. No.
18/999,874
Granted
Sep 15, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A storage device, including: a nonvolatile memory device including a plurality of memory cells; and a controller configured to, based on receiving an open zone command from an external host device: based on a number of free erase units from among a plurality of erase units included in the plurality of memory cells being greater than a threshold value, allocate at least two free erase units to a first-type zone, and based on the number of the free erase units being smaller than or equal to the threshold value, allocate the at least two free erase units to a second-type zone, wherein the controller is further configured to permit a random write based on a random logical address received from the external host device for the first-type zone, and to permit a zone write based on a sequential logical address received from the external host device for the second-type zone.

Claims (52)

1 . A method of operating a storage device comprising a nonvolatile memory device including a plurality of memory cells and a controller, the controller configured to perform a write operation on at least one write unit included in the plurality of memory cells, and to perform an erase operation on at least one erase unit included in the plurality of memory cells, the method comprising:

based on receiving a first open zone command from an external host device and based on a number of free erase units from among a plurality of erase units included in the plurality of memory cells being greater than a threshold value, allocating, by the controller, at least two free erase units from among the free erase units to a first-type zone, and permitting a random write based on a random logical address received from the external host device for the first-type zone; and

based on receiving a second open zone command and based on the number of the free erase units being smaller than or equal to the threshold value, allocating, by the controller, the at least two free erase units to a second-type zone, and permitting a zone write based on a sequential logical address received from the external host device for the second-type zone

wherein a number of bits per memory cell of the first-type zone is smaller than a number of bits per memory cell of the second-type zone.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transmitting, by the controller, a response comprising information about a zone type to which the at least two free erase units are allocated to the external host device.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

based on a write booster being activated, allocating, by the controller, the at least two free erase units to a zone from among the first-type zone and the second-type zone based on a number of the at least two free erase units; and

based on the write booster being deactivated, allocating, by the controller, the at least two free erase units to the second-type zone.

4 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

based on the write booster being deactivated, transmitting, by the controller, a response to the external host device,

wherein the response does not include information about a zone type to which the at least two free erase units are allocated.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

based on at least one open zone command from among the first open zone command and the second open zone command comprising information indicating the first-type zone, allocating, by the controller, the at least two free erase units to a zone from among the first-type zone and the second-type zone based on the number of the at least two free erase units, and

based on the at least one open zone command comprising information indicating the second-type zone, or based on the at least one open zone command not comprising zone type information, allocating, by the controller, the at least two free erase units to the second-type zone.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

based on the at least one open zone command comprising the information indicating the first-type zone, transmitting, by the controller, a response comprising information about a zone type to which the at least two free erase units are allocated to the external host device.

7 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

based on the at least one open zone command not comprising the zone type information, transmitting, by the controller, a response to the external host device which does not include information about a zone type to which the at least two free erase units are allocated.

8 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

based on the at least one open zone command comprising the information indicating the first-type zone and the number of the free erase units being smaller than or equal to the threshold value, transmitting, by the controller, a response which includes information indicating that allocation of the first-type zone is impossible, to the external host device.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

after transmitting the response, allocating, by the controller, the at least two free erase units to the second-type zone based on a new request received from the external host device.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein memory cells corresponding to the first-type zone are operated as single level cells (SLCs), and

wherein memory cells corresponding to the second-type zone are operated as triple level cells (TLCs).

11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

based on data having continuous logical addresses corresponding to a physical address of the second-type zone being written at physical addresses of the first-type zone, migrating, by the controller, the data to the physical address of the second-type zone.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

migrating, by the controller, the data to sequential logical addresses in the second-type zone.

13 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising migrating, by the controller, the data based on at least one of receiving a close zone request from the external host device, entering a power-saving mode, or entering an idle state.

14 . A method of operating a storage device comprising a nonvolatile memory device including a plurality of memory cells and a controller, the controller configured to perform a write operation on at least one write unit included in the plurality of memory cells, and to perform an erase operation on at least one erase unit included in the plurality of memory cells, the method comprises:

allocating, by the controller, a plurality of zones to a storage space of the nonvolatile memory device based on a request received from an external host device,

selecting, by the controller, two or more erase units from among a plurality of erase units of the plurality of memory cells to be allocated to each zone of the plurality of zones,

fixedly and sequentially managing, by the controller, logical addresses of data to be written in the plurality of zones,

receiving, by the controller, a write request for a first zone from among the plurality of zones from the external host device, the write request corresponding to write data received from the external host device, and

based on an amount of the write data exceeding a free capacity of the first zone, opening, by the controller, a second zone which follows the first zone in the logical addresses based on a feature of the first zone and a feature of the second zone.

15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprises:

based on the second zone being opened, writing, by the controller, excess data which exceeds the free capacity of the first zone in the second zone.

16 . The method of claim 14 , further comprises:

based on the second zone being writable, opening, by the controller, the second zone.

17 . The method of claim 14 , further comprises:

based on the second zone being an empty zone, opening, by the controller, the second zone.

18 . The method of claim 14 , further comprises:

based on the feature of the second zone being identical to the feature of the first zone, opening, by the controller, the second zone.

19 . The method of claim 14 , further comprises:

based on the second zone being a gap zone, opening, by the controller, a third zone which follows the second zone in the logical addresses based on the feature of the first zone and a feature of the third zone.

20 . A method of operating a storage device comprising a nonvolatile memory device comprising a plurality of memory cells and a controller, the controller configured to perform a write operation on at least one write unit included in the plurality of memory cells, and to perform an erase operation on at least one erase unit included the plurality of memory cells, the method comprises:

based on a first open zone command received from an external host device and based on a number of free erase units from among a plurality of erase units included in the plurality of memory cells being greater than a threshold value, allocating, by the controller, at least two free erase units from among the free erase units to a first-type zone,

based on a second open zone command and based on the number of the free erase units being smaller than or equal to the threshold value, allocating, by the controller, the at least two free erase units to a second-type zone,

receiving, by the controller, a write request for a first zone from the external host device, the write request corresponding to write data received from the external host device, and

based on an amount of the write data exceeding a free capacity of the first zone, opening, by the controller, a second zone based on a feature of the first zone and a feature of the second zone,

wherein logical addresses corresponding to the second zone follow logical addresses corresponding to the first zone.

Priority Claims (13)
KR 10-2022-0109942 · Aug 31, 2022 · national
KR 10-2022-0149964 · Nov 10, 2022 · national
KR 10-2023-0004966 · Jan 12, 2023 · national
KR 10-2023-0004994 · Jan 12, 2023 · national
KR 10-2023-0005013 · Jan 12, 2023 · national
KR 10-2023-0005033 · Jan 12, 2023 · national
KR 10-2023-0005041 · Jan 12, 2023 · national
KR 10-2023-0005043 · Jan 12, 2023 · national
KR 10-2023-0005044 · Jan 12, 2023 · national
KR 10-2023-0005046 · Jan 12, 2023 · national
KR 10-2023-0005048 · Jan 12, 2023 · national
KR 10-2023-0005050 · Jan 12, 2023 · national
KR 10-2023-0005053 · Jan 12, 2023 · national
Continuity (2)
Continuation 18237806 · Aug 24, 2023
Related Publication 20250190344A1 · Jun 12, 2025
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