| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20090222616 | MEMORY SYSTEM - A controller includes an identification information management table that manages identification information indicating, for each of addresses in second-management unit, whether one or more data in first management unit belonging to the addresses is stored in the second or the third storing area. When the controller executes a process of flushing data from the first storing area to the second storing area or the third storing area, the controller updates the identification information in the identification information management table. The controller executes a process of reading data from the second storing area or the third storing area by referring to the identification information. As a result, the speed of searches conducted in the management table is increased. | 09-03-2009 |
| 20090222617 | MEMORY SYSTEM - A memory system includes a volatile first storing unit, a nonvolatile second storing unit in which data is managed in a predetermined unit, and a controller that writes data requested by a host apparatus in the second storing unit via the first storing unit and reads out data requested by the host apparatus from the second storing unit to the first storing unit and transfers the data to the host apparatus. The controller includes a management table for managing the number of failure areas in a predetermined unit that occur in the second storing unit and switches, according to the number of failure areas, an operation mode in writing data in the second storing unit from the host apparatus. | 09-03-2009 |
| 20090222628 | MEMORY SYSTEM - A controller determines whether data stored in a first storing area should be flushed to a second storing area or a third storing area. When flushing of data in a track unit from at least one of the first storing area and the second storing area unit to the third storing area unit is determined, the controller collects data included in the flushed data in the track unit from at least one of the first storing area and the second storing area including the storing area from which the flushing of the data is determined, merges the flushed data and the collected data, and writes the merged data in the third storing area. | 09-03-2009 |
| 20090222629 | MEMORY SYSTEM - A memory system includes a controller that reads out, data written in a nonvolatile second storing area, from which data is read out and in which data is written in a page unit, to a first storing area as a cache memory included in a semiconductor memory and transfers the data to the host apparatus. The controller performs, when a readout request from the host apparatus satisfies a predetermined condition, at least one of first pre-fetch for reading out, to the first storing area data from a terminal end of a logical address range designated by a readout request being currently processed to a boundary of a logical address aligned in the page unit and a second pre-fetch for reading out data from the boundary of the logical address aligned in the page unit to a next boundary of the logical address. | 09-03-2009 |
| 20090222636 | MEMORY SYSTEM AND MEMORY INITIALIZING METHOD - A memory system includes a controller that writes internal information concerning an operation state of the memory system in a special LBA area allocated to a predetermined logical address range in a second storing memory and writes the internal information in a first storing memory, and reads out, when the memory system is started up, the internal information to manage the operation state. The controller stores the internal information written in the first storing memory in the second storing memory as a snapshot when a predetermined condition is satisfied and, when an error occurs and the internal information written in the special LBA area cannot be read out when the memory system is started up, captures the internal information stored as the snapshot into the first storing memory and reads out the internal information. | 09-03-2009 |
| 20090240871 | MEMORY SYSTEM - A system includes: a first input buffer that functions as an input buffer for a third storing area; and a second input buffer that functions as an input buffer for the third storing area and that separately stores data with a high update frequency for the third storing area. In the system, a plurality of data written in a first storing area or a second storing area are flushed to the first input buffer in units of logical blocks. Also, a plurality of data written in the first input buffer are relocated to the third storing area in units of logical blocks. | 09-24-2009 |
| 20090241010 | MEMORY SYSTEM - A memory system includes a controller that manages data stored in the first and second storing areas. The controller determines, when a readout error occurs when the stored data in the second storing area is read out, success or failure of error correction to the read-out data based on the result of the error correction stored in a storage buffer, writes, when the error correction is successful, correction data corresponding to the read-out data stored in the storage buffer, and writes, when the error correction fails, the read-out data itself not subjected to error correction processing. | 09-24-2009 |
| 20090248964 | MEMORY SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING A NONVOLATILE SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY - A memory system includes a nonvolatile semiconductor memory having blocks, the block being data erasing unit; and a controller configured to execute; an update processing for; writing superseding data in a block, the superseding data being treated as valid data; and invalidating superseded data having the same logical address as the superseding data, the superseded data being treated as invalid data; and a compaction processing for; retrieving blocks having invalid data using a management tablet the management table managing blocks in a linked list format for each number of valid data included in the block; selecting a compaction source block having at least one valid data from the retrieved blocks; copying a plurality of valid data included in the compaction source blocks into a compaction target block; invalidating the plurality of valid data in the compaction source blocks; and releasing the compaction source blocks in which all data are invalidated. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20100011260 | MEMORY SYSTEM - To provide a memory system which determines a memory state such as an exhaustion level and allows a memory to be efficiently used. | 01-14-2010 |
| 20100107021 | SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE - This disclosure concerns a memory including: a first memory region including memory groups including a plurality of memory cells, addresses being respectively allocated for the memory groups, the memory groups respectively being units of data erase operations; a second memory region temporarily storing therein data read from the first memory region or temporarily storing therein data to be written to the first memory region; a read counter storing therein a data read count for each memory group; an error-correcting circuit calculating an error bit count of the read data; and a controller performing a refresh operation, in which the read data stored in one of the memory groups is temporarily stored in the second memory region and is written back the read data to the same memory group, when the error bit count exceeds a first threshold or when the data read count exceeds a second threshold. | 04-29-2010 |
| 20100138591 | MEMORY SYSTEM - A memory system includes a volatile first storing unit, a nonvolatile second storing unit, and a controller. The controller stores management information of data stored in the second storing unit during a startup operation into the first storing unit and performs data management while updating the management information. The management information in a latest state stored into the first storing unit is also stored in the second storing unit. The management information includes a pre-log before and after change generated before a change occurs in the management information and a post-log, which is generated after the change occurs in the management information, concerning the change in the management information. The pre-log and the post-log are stored in the same areas of different blocks. | 06-03-2010 |
| 20100161881 | MEMORY SYSTEM - A memory system ( | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100274950 | MEMORY SYSTEM - A controller executes first processing for writing a plurality of data in a sector unit in the first storing area; second processing for flushing the data stored in the first storing area to the first input buffer in a first management unit twice or larger natural number times as large as the sector unit; third processing for flushing the data stored in the first storing area to the second input buffer in a second management unit twice or larger natural number times as large as the first management unit; fourth processing for relocating a logical block in which all pages are written in the first input buffer to the second storing area; fifth processing for relocating a logical block in which all pages are written in the second input buffer to the third storing area; and sixth processing for flushing a plurality of data stored in the second storing area to the second input buffer in the second management unit. | 10-28-2010 |
| 20100281204 | MEMORY SYSTEM - A memory system includes a WC | 11-04-2010 |
| 20100312948 | MEMORY SYSTEM - A memory system includes a DRAM | 12-09-2010 |
| 20110022784 | MEMORY SYSTEM - A memory system according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: a memory amount required for management table creation is reduced by adopting a nonvolatile semiconductor memory including a plurality of parallel operation elements respectively having a plurality of physical blocks as units of data erasing and a controller that can drive the parallel operation elements in parallel and has a number-of-times-of-erasing managing unit that manages the number of times of erasing in logical block units associated with a plurality of physical blocks driven in parallel. | 01-27-2011 |
| 20110055462 | MEMORY SYSTEM, CONTROLLER, AND DATA TRANSFER METHOD - According to one embodiment, a memory system includes a nonvolatile first memory, a nonvolatile second memory, a data-copy processing unit and a data invalidation processing unit. The first memory has a storage capacity for n (n≧2) pages per word line. The nonvolatile second memory temporarily stores user data write-requested from a host apparatus. The data-copy processing unit executes data copy processing including reading out, in page units, the user data stored in the second memory and sequentially writing the read-out user data in page units in the first memory. The data invalidation processing unit selects, after the execution of the data copy processing, based on whether the memory cell group per word line stores user data for n pages, user data requiring backup out of the user data subjected to the data copy processing and leaves the selected user data in the second memory as backup data. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110099349 | MEMORY SYSTEM - A controller executes first processing for writing a plurality of data in a sector unit in the first storing area; second processing for flushing the data stored in the first storing area to the first input buffer in a first management unit twice or larger natural number times as large as the sector unit; third processing for flushing the data stored in the first storing area to the second input buffer in a second management unit twice or larger natural number times as large as the first management unit; fourth processing for relocating a logical block in which all pages are written in the first input buffer to the second storing area; fifth processing for relocating a logical block in which all pages are written in the second input buffer to the third storing area; and sixth processing for flushing a plurality of data stored in the second storing area to the second input buffer in the second management unit. | 04-28-2011 |
