Storage device with expandable logical address space and operating method thereof

A method of operating a storage device including a memory, the method comprising:

• partitioning an entire area of a first namespace into at least one area based on a reference size, the partitioning performed in response to a namespace creating request from a host, the namespace creating request including size information of the first namespace that corresponds to the entire area of the first namespace;
• partitioning a logical address space of the memory having a size of a physical storage space of the memory into a plurality of segments each having the reference size;
• expanding the logical address space to include an additional segment having the reference size for each of supported namespaces;
• and
• allocating one of the additional segments of the expanded logical address space to a first area of the at least one area when the first area is smaller than the reference size.

A storage device, comprising:

• a memory;
• an address mapping manager configured to manage a logical address space of a memory having a size of a physical storage space of the memory partitioned into a plurality of segments each having a reference size;
• a namespace manager configured to partition an entire area of a first namespace into at least one area based on the reference size, the namespace manager configured to partition the entire area of the first namespace in response to a namespace creating request from a host, the namespace creating request including size information corresponding to the entire area of the first namespace, the namespace manager further configured to allocate a first area of the at least one area to a first segment of the plurality of segments;
• and
• a segment mapping table configured to store mapping information of the first area and the first segment,
• wherein the address mapping manager expands the logic address space to include an additional segment having the reference size when a first area of the at least one area is smaller than the reference size and allocates the additional segment of the expanded logical address space to the first area.