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Block-erasable non-volatile semiconductor memory which tracks and stores the total number of write/erase cycles for each block    
United States Patent5544356   
Link to this pagehttp://www.wikipatents.com/5544356.html
Inventor(s)Robinson; Kurt B. (Newcastle, CA); Elbert; Dale K. (Citrus Heights, CA); Levy; Markus A. (Citrus Heights, CA)
AbstractA non-volatile semiconductor memory that is erasable only in blocks is described. Each bit of the non-volatile semiconductor memory cannot be overwritten from a first logical state to a second logical state without a prior erasure. Each bit of the non-volatile semiconductor memory can be overwritten from a second logical state to a first logical state without a prior erasure. The non-volatile semiconductor memory comprises an active block for storing a first file, a reserve block for storing a second file, and a directory block. The second file is a copy of the first file. The copy is made during a clean-up operation prior to erasure of the active block. The directory block comprises a directory entry for identifying the first file.



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Drawing from US Patent 5544356
Block-erasable non-volatile semiconductor memory which tracks and stores

     the total number of write/erase cycles for each block - US Patent 5544356 Drawing
Block-erasable non-volatile semiconductor memory which tracks and stores the total number of write/erase cycles for each block
Inventor     Robinson; Kurt B. (Newcastle, CA); Elbert; Dale K. (Citrus Heights, CA); Levy; Markus A. (Citrus Heights, CA)
Owner/Assignee     Intel Corporation (Santa Clara, CA)
Patent assignment
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Publication Date     August 6, 1996
Application Number     08/400,272
PAIR File History     Application Data   Transaction History
Image File Wrapper   Patent Term   Fees
Litigation
Filing Date     March 3, 1995
US Classification     707/205 365/185.11 711/103 714/5
Int'l Classification     G06F 017/30
Examiner     Black; Thomas G.
Assistant Examiner     Lintz; Paul R.
Attorney/Law Firm     Blakely, Sokoloff, Taylor & Zafman
Address
Parent Case     This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/153,666, filed Nov. 16, 1993, abandoned, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/636,238, filed Dec. 31, 1990, abandoned.
Priority Data    
USPTO Field of Search     395/425 395/600 395/430 395/182.03 365/185 365/218 365/230.03 365/900 365/185.11
Patent Tags     block-erasable non-volatile semiconductor memory which tracks stores total number write/erase cycles each block
   
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5398142
Davy
360/48
Mar,1995

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Barrett

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Weiser
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Harari

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Harari
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Kobayashi
703/25
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Milligan
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 Technical Review Submit all comments and votes
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What is claimed is:

1. A processor-controlled method of file management for a nonvolatile semiconductor memory with a plurality of physical erase blocks, wherein bits of the memory cannot be overwritten from a first logical state to a second logical state without a prior erasure, wherein erasure is by physical erase block and not on an individual byte basis, the method comprising the steps of:

(1) allocating a first physical erase block of the memory for storing an active file and a deleted file;

(2) allocating a second physical erase block of the memory for storing a copy of the active file;

(3) storing in an allocated first portion of a third physical erase block of the memory information as to whether a physical erase block of the memory has been allocated to store the active and deleted files or allocated to store the copy of the active file;

(4) reclaiming memory space by storing in the second physical erase block of the memory the copy of the active file and by erasing the entire first physical erase block of the memory in order to permit reuse of the first physical erase block of the memory for storage;

(5) tracking a number of times a physical erase block of the memory has been cycled and storing that number as a cycle count in an allocated second portion of the third physical erase block of the memory;

(6) storing in an allocated third portion of the third physical erase block of the memory a directory of active files:

(7) minimizing cycling distributions between physical erase blocks of the memory by choosing for reclamation a physical erase block of the memory with a lowest cycle count.

2. The processor-controlled method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of storing in an allocated fourth portion of the third physical erase block of the memory (1) an indication as to whether a physical erase block of the memory is in use or not and (2) and indication as to whether a physical erase block of the memory is defective or not.

3. The processor-controlled method of claim 1, further comprising the step of storing in an allocated fourth portion of the third physical erase block of the memory information concerning a file structure of the memory.

4. The processor-controlled method of claim 3, wherein the information stored in the fourth portion of the third physical erase block of the memory comprises

(i) information concerning a file structure type of the memory;

(ii) information that defines a formattable capacity of the file structure;

(iii) information concerning the directory of active files.

5. The processor-controlled method of claim 1, wherein the directory of active files comprises a linked list.

6. The processor-controlled method of claim 3, wherein the file structure is a variable-length file structure.

7. The processor-controlled method of claim 3, wherein the file structure is a sectored file structure.

8. The processor-controlled method of claim 1, further comprising the step of storing information in an allocated fourth portion of the third physical erase block of the memory that indicates a maximum number of erase cycles recommended for the memory.

9. A processor-controlled method of file management for a nonvolatile semiconductor first memory with a plurality of physical erase blocks, wherein bits of the first memory cannot be overwritten from a first logical state to a second logical state without a prior erasure, wherein erasure is by physical erase block and not on an individual byte basis, the method comprising the steps of:

(1) allocating a first physical erase block of the first memory for storing an active file and a deleted file;

(2) allocating a second physical erase block of the first memory for storing a copy of the active file;

(3) storing in an allocated first portion of a second memory information as to whether a physical erase block of the first memory has been allocated to store the active and deleted files or allocated to store the copy of the active file;

(4) reclaiming memory space of the first memory by storing in the second physical erase block of the first memory the copy of the active file and by erasing the entire first physical erase block of the first memory in order to permit reuse of the first physical erase block of the first memory for storage;

(5) tracking a number of times a physical erase block of the first memory has been cycled and storing that number as a cycle count in an allocated second portion of the second memory;

(6) storing in an allocated third portion of the second memory a directory of active files;

(7) minimizing cycling distributions between physical erase blocks of the first memory by choosing for reclamation a physical erase block of the first memory with a lowest cycle count.

10. The processor-controlled method of claim 9, further comprising the step of storing in an allocated fourth portion of the second memory (1) an indication as to whether a physical erase block of the first memory is in use or not and (2) an indication as to whether a physical erase block of the first memory is defective or not.

11. The processor-controlled method of claim 9, further comprising the step of storing in an allocated fourth portion of the second memory information concerning a file structure of the first memory.

12. The processor-controlled method of claim 11, wherein the information stored in the fourth portion of the second memory comprises

(i) information concerning a file structure type of the first memory;

(ii) information that defines a formattable capacity of the file structure;

(iii) information concerning the directory of active files.

13. The processor-controlled method of claim 9, wherein the directory of active files comprises a linked list.

14. The processor-controlled method of claim 9, wherein the directory of active files is an alterable hierarchical directory.

15. The processor-controlled method of claim 11, wherein the file structure is a variable-length file structure.

16. The processor-controlled method of claim 11, wherein the file structure is a sectored file structure.

17. The processor-controlled method of claim 9, wherein the second memory is a byte-alterable electrically erasable programmable read-only memory.

18. The processor-controlled method of claim 9, wherein the second memory is a random-access memory.

19. The processor-controlled method of claim 9, further comprising the step of storing information in an allocated fourth portion of the second memory that indicates a maximum number of erase cycles recommended for the first memory.

20. A processor-controlled method of file management for a nonvolatile semiconductor memory with a plurality of physical erase blocks, wherein bits of the memory cannot be overwritten from a first logical state to a second logical state without a prior erasure, wherein erasure is by physical erase block and not on an individual byte basis, the method comprising the steps of:

(1) allocating a first sector of a first physical erase block of the memory for storing an active file and a second sector of the first physical erase block for storing a deleted file;

(2) allocating a first sector of a second physical erase block of the memory for storing a copy of the active file;

(3) storing in a first portion of an allocated third physical erase block of the memory information as to whether a sector of a physical erase block of the memory has been allocated to store one of the active and deleted files or allocated to store the copy of the active file;

(4) reclaiming memory space by storing in the first sector of the second physical erase block of the memory the copy of the active file and by erasing the entire first physical erase block of the memory in order to permit reuse of the first physical erase block of the memory for storage;

(5) tracking a number of time a physical erase block of the memory has been cycled and storing that number as a cycle count in a second portion of the allocated third physical erase block of the memory;

(6) storing in a third portion of the allocated third physical erase block of the memory a directory of active files;

(7) minimizing cycling distributions between physical erase blocks of the memory by choosing for reclamation a physical erase block of the memory with a lowest cycle court.

21. The processor-controlled method of claim 20, further comprising the step of storing in a fourth portion of the allocated third physical erase block of the memory (1) an indication as to whether a physical erase block of the memory is in use or not and (2) an indication as to whether a physical erase block of the memory is defective or not.

22. The processor-controlled method of claim 20, further comprising the step of storing in a fourth portion of the allocated third physical erase block of the memory information concerning a file structure of the memory.

23. The processor-controlled method of claim 20, wherein the directory of active files comprises a linked list.

24. The processor-controlled method of claim 20, further comprising the step of storing information in an allocated fourth portion of the third physical erase block that indicates a maximum number of erase cycles recommended for the memory.

25. A processor-controlled method of file management for a nonvolatile semiconductor first memory with a plurality of physical erase blocks, wherein bits of the memory cannot be overwritten from a first logical state to a second logical state without a prior erasure, wherein erasure is by physical erase block and not on an individual byte basis, the method comprising the steps of:

(1) allocating a first sector of a first physical erase block of the first memory for storing an active file and a second sector of the first physical erase block for storing a deleted file;

(2) allocating a first sector of a second physical erase block of the first memory for storing a copy of the active file;

(3) storing in an allocated first portion of a second memory separate from the first memory information as to whether a sector of a physical erase block of the memory has been allocated to store one of the active and deleted files or allocated to store the copy of the active file;

(4) cleaning up the first memory by storing in the first sector of the second physical erase block of the first memory the copy of the active file and by erasing the entire first physical erase block of the first memory in order to permit reuse of the first physical erase block of the first memory for storage;

(5) tracking a number of times a physical erase block of the first memory has been cycled and storing that number as a cycle count in an allocated second portion of the second memory;

(6) storing in a allocated third portion of the second memory a directory of active files;

(7) minimizing cycling distributions between physical erase blocks of the first memory by choosing for reclamation a physical erase block of the first memory with a lowest cycle count.

26. The processor-controlled method of claim 25, further comprising the step of storing in an allocated fourth portion of the second memory (1) an indication as to whether a physical erase block of the memory is in use or not and (2) an indication as to whether a physical erase block of the memory is defective or not.

27. The processor-controlled method of claim 25, further comprising the step of storing in an allocated fourth portion of the second memory information concerning a file structure of the first memory.

28. The processor-controlled method of claim 25, wherein the directory of active files comprises a linked list.

29. The processor-controlled method of claim 25, wherein the directory of active files is an alterable hierarchical directory.

30. The processor-controlled method of claim 25, wherein the second memory is a byte-alterable electrically erasable programmable read-only memory.

31. The processor-controlled method of claim 25, wherein the second memory is a random-access memory.

32. The processor-controlled method of claim 25, further comprising the step of storing information in an allocated fourth portion of the second memory that indicates a maximum number of erase cycles recommended for the first memory.

33. A processor-controlled method of file management for a nonvolatile semiconductor memory with a plurality of physical erase blocks, wherein bits of the memory cannot be overwritten from a first logical state to a second logical state without a prior erasure, wherein erasure is by physical erase block and not on an individual byte basis, the method comprising the steps of:

(1) allocating a first portion of the memory in a first physical erase block for storing an active file and a deleted file;

(2) allocating a second portion of the memory in a second physical erase block for storing a copy of the active file;

(3) storing in an allocated third portion of the memory information as to whether a portion of the memory has been allocated to store the active and deleted files or allocated to store the copy of the active file;

(4) reclaiming memory space by storing in the second portion of the memory the copy of the active file and by erasing the first physical erase block including the first portion of the memory in order to permit reuse of the first portion of the memory for storage;

(5) tracking a number of times a portion of the memory has been cycled and storing the number as a cycle count in an allocated fourth portion of the memory;

(6) minimizing cycling distributions between physical erase blocks of the memory by choosing for reclamation a portion of the memory with a lowest cycle count.
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