Corruption tolerant method and system for deploying and modifying data in flash memory

An apparatus for storing write data, comprising:

• a plurality of data structures adapted to hold data and adapted for forming a contiguous data chain structure, the plurality of data structures comprising a plurality of headers and a plurality of data elements;
• a length member and a lengthnot member in one of the plurality of headers, the length and lengthnot members adapted to hold complementary values representing a size of write data to be stored in one of the plurality of data elements;
• a signature member in the header, the signature member adapted for storing a signature value for use in confirming completion of writing the write data;
• a length comparison module, the length comparison module adapted to compare the length and lengthnot values to determine whether a storage area defining the one of the plurality of data elements was properly allotted based on the size of write data;
• and
• a signature confirmation module, the signature confirmation module adapted to validate the signature value and to determine whether the write data in the one of the plurality of data elements is corrupt.

A method of searching for write data in electronic memory, comprising:

• traversing a contiguous chain of data structures beginning at a target position and finding a data structure, the data structure comprising a header and a data element;
• checking a length member value in the header with a lengthnot member value in the header to determine whether a length allocation occurred, the length member of the header being based on an amount of memory required to store the write data in the data element;
• checking a signature member of the header to determine its validity if the length and lengthnot members confirm that the length allocation occurred;
• and
• continuing to traverse the contiguous chain of data structures beginning at a new target position, the new target position being a location in memory relative to a position of the header based on results from checking the length member value with the lengthnot member value.

A flash memory comprising:

• a plurality of data structures adapted to hold data and adapted for forming a contiguous data chain structure, the plurality of data structures comprising a plurality of headers and a plurality of data elements;
• a length member and a lengthnot member in one of the plurality of headers, the length and lengthnot members adapted to hold complementary values representing a size of write data to be stored in one of the plurality of data elements;
• and
• a signature member in the header, the signature member adapted for storing a signature value for use in confirming completion of writing the write data.

An apparatus for storing write data in a memory device, the memory device including a plurality of data structures adapted to hold data and adapted for forming a contiguous data chain structure, the plurality of data structures comprising a plurality of headers and a plurality of data elements;

• a length member and a lengthnot member in one of the plurality of headers, the length and lengthnot members adapted to hold complementary values representing a size of write data to be stored in one of the plurality of data elements;
• and a signature member in the header, the signature member adapted for storing a signature value for use in confirming completion of writing the write data;
• the apparatus comprising:
• a length comparison module, the length comparison module adapted to compare the length and lengthnot values to determine whether a storage area defining the one of the plurality of data elements was properly allotted based on the size of write data;
• and
• a signature confirmation module, the signature confirmation module adapted to validate the signature value and to determine whether the write data in the one of the plurality of data elements is corrupt.

A computer program for storing write data in a memory device, the memory device including a plurality of data structures adapted to hold data and adapted for forming a contiguous data chain structure, the plurality of data structures comprising a plurality of headers and a plurality of data elements;

• a length member and a lengthnot member in one of the plurality of headers, the length and lengthnot members adapted to hold complementary values representing a size of write data to be stored in one of the plurality of data elements;
• and a signature member in the header, the signature member adapted for storing a signature value for use in confirming completion of writing the write data;
• the computer program comprising:
• a machine readable medium;
• and
• computer code stored on the machine readable medium and adapted to compare the length and lengthnot values to determine whether a storage area defining the one of the plurality of data elements was properly allotted based on the size of write data, and to validate the signature value and to determine whether the write data in the one of the plurality of data elements is corrupt.