Method and apparatus for logically removing defective pages in non-volatile memory storage device

A method processed by a memory controller coupled to a non-volatile storage for logically decommissioning a non-volatile memory (“NVM”) page, wherein the NV storage contains a plurality of blocks and each block is divided into multiple NVM pages wherein each NVM page contains at least four (4) kilobyte of storage capacity, the method comprising:

• executing a read operation to read information from a first NVM page in a first NVM block;
• determining read operation status associated with the read operation after completion of the read operation;
• identifying the first NVM page as a defective page if the read operation status fails to meet predefined minimal conditions for a read operation;
• retrieving a first page status table from a designated NVM page in the first NVM block;
• marking a location of the first page status table corresponding to the first NVM page to indicate the first NVM page as defective;
• storing the first page status table containing page defective information associated with the first NVM page at a predefined page location in the first NVM block;
• and
• preserving the first page status table at a storage location for subsequent restoration of the page defective information when the first NVM block is to be recycled.

A solid-state device (“SSD”) containing a plurality of non-volatile memory (“NVM”), comprising:

• an NVM device configured to store information persistently, the NVM device configured to include a plurality of NVM blocks, wherein each of the plurality of NVM blocks includes a plurality of NVM pages and one of the plurality of NVM pages is allocated to store a page status table, the page status table configured to include a plurality of entries, wherein the plurality of entries of the page status table is associated to the plurality of NVM pages to indicate defective status of the plurality of NVM pages within each NVM block;
• a page decommission manager coupled to the NVM device and configured to preserve the defective status in the page status table for subsequent restoration of page defective information during an NVM block recycling process;
• and
• a memory controller coupled to the NVM device and configured to logically decommission a defective NVM page in accordance with information stored in the page status table.