Namespace management in non-volatile memory devices

A method implemented in a computer storage device, the method comprising:

• dividing a logical address capacity of non-volatile storage media of the computer storage device into blocks according to a predetermined block size;
• maintaining a data structure to identify:
• a first subset of the blocks that are available for allocation to new namespaces;
• and
• a second subset of the blocks that have been allocated to existing namespaces;
• receiving, via a host interface of the computer storage device, a request from a host to allocate a first namespace of a quantity of non-volatile memory;
• allocating, in response to the request, a first set of blocks from the first subset to the first namespace;
• updating content of the data structure in response to the first set of blocks being allocated to the first namespace;
• and
• translating logical addresses in the first namespace to physical addresses for the non-volatile storage media using the content of the data structure;
• wherein the data structure includes:
• an array of identifications of blocks in the second subset;
• pointers to portions of the array containing corresponding sets of identifications of blocks that are allocated to respective ones of the existing namespaces;
• an array of identifications of blocks in the first subset;
• and
• a set of indicators for the respective ones of the existing namespaces, each of the indicators indicating whether or not a respective set of identifications of blocks allocated to a corresponding one of the existing namespaces is contiguous in the logical address capacity.

A non-transitory computer storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by a controller of a computer storage device, cause the controller to perform a method, the method comprising:

• dividing a logical address capacity of non-volatile storage media of the computer storage device into blocks according to a predetermined block size;
• maintaining a data structure having content identifying:
• a first subset of the blocks that are available for allocation to new namespaces;
• and
• a second subset of the blocks that have been allocated to existing namespaces;
• receiving, via a host interface of the computer storage device, a request from a host to allocate a first namespace of a quantity of non-volatile memory;
• allocating, in response to the request, a first set of blocks from the first subset to the first namespace;
• updating the content of the data structure in response to the first set of blocks being allocated to the first namespace;
• and
• translating logical addresses in the first namespace to physical addresses for the non-volatile storage media using the content of the data structure;
• wherein the block size is a power of two;
• and the first set of blocks are not contiguous in the logical address capacity;
• wherein the logical address capacity is not a multiple of the block size;
• and the quantity of non-volatile memory requested for the first namespace is not a multiple of the block size.

A computer storage device, comprising:

• a host interface;
• a controller;
• non-volatile storage media;
• and
• firmware containing instructions which, when executed by the controller, instruct the controller to at least:
• store a block size of logical addresses;
• divide a logical address capacity of the non-volatile storage media into blocks according to the block size;
• maintain a data structure to identify:
• a first subset of the blocks that are available for allocation to new namespaces;
• and
• a second subset of the blocks that have been allocated to existing namespaces;
• receive, via the host interface, a request from a host to allocate a first namespace of a quantity of non-volatile memory;
• allocate, in response to the request, a first set of blocks from the first subset to the first namespace;
• update content of the data structure in response to the first set of blocks being allocated to the first namespace;
• and
• translate logical addresses in the first namespace to physical addresses for the non-volatile storage media using the content of the data structure;
• wherein the first set of blocks are not contiguous in the logical address capacity;
• wherein the block size is a power of two;
• and
• wherein the logical address capacity is not a multiple of the block size.

A non-transitory computer storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by a controller of a computer storage device, cause the controller to perform a method, the method comprising:

• dividing a logical address capacity of non-volatile storage media of the computer storage device into blocks according to a predetermined block size;
• maintaining a data structure having content identifying:
• a first subset of the blocks that are available for allocation to new namespaces;
• and
• a second subset of the blocks that have been allocated to existing namespaces;
• receiving, via a host interface of the computer storage device, a request from a host to allocate a first namespace of a quantity of non-volatile memory;
• allocating, in response to the request, a first set of blocks from the first subset to the first namespace;
• updating the content of the data structure in response to the first set of blocks being allocated to the first namespace;
• and
• translating logical addresses in the first namespace to physical addresses for the non-volatile storage media using the content of the data structure;
• wherein the block size is a power of two;
• and the first set of blocks are not contiguous in the logical address capacity;
• wherein the data structure further includes:
• an array of identifiers of blocks in the second subset grouped for the existing namespaces;
• and
• for each respective namespace in the existing namespaces, a pointer identifying a portion of the array that contains identifiers of blocks allocated for the respective namespace.