Patrol scrubbing cycle for data storage circuitry

An apparatus comprising:

• data storage circuitry comprising a plurality of entries to store data according to a data storage technology supporting non-destructive reads of data storable in the plurality of entries, each entry associated with an error checking code and an age indication;
• access control circuitry to control access to the data storage circuitry;
• and
• scrubbing circuitry to perform a patrol scrubbing cycle to visit each entry of the data storage circuitry within a scrubbing period, where on a given visit to a given entry, the scrubbing circuitry is configured to perform a scrubbing operation comprising:
• determining, based on the age indication associated with the given entry, whether a check-not-required period has elapsed for the given entry;
• in response to determining that the check-not-required period has elapsed for the given entry, performing an error check on the data of the given entry using the error checking code associated with the given entry;
• and
• in response to determining that the check-not-required period has not yet elapsed for the given entry, omitting the error check for the given visit to the given entry;
• wherein:
• in response to a request causing an update to the data and the error checking code of a write target entry of the data storage circuitry, the access control circuitry is configured to update the age indication associated with the write target entry to restart the check-not-required period for the write target entry;
• and
• in response to a request causing the data of a read target entry to be read non-destructively and subject to the error check, at least when the data of the read target entry is determined to be error-free based on the error checking code of the read target entry, the access control circuitry is configured to update the age indication associated with the read target entry to restart the check-not-required period for the read target entry.