US 2017/0364267 A1Published application

Method and apparatus for memory management

AssigneeBlackbird Technology Holdings, Inc.

InventorJohn Peter Norair

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Abstract

One or more circuits of a device may comprise a memory. A first portion of a first block of the memory may store program code and/or program data, a second portion of the first block may store an index associated with a second block of the memory, and a third portion of the first block may store an indication of a write status of the first portion. Each bit of the third portion of the first block may indicate whether an attempt to write data to a corresponding one or more words of the first portion of the first block has failed since the last erase of the corresponding one or more words of the first portion of the first block. Whether data to be written to a particular virtual address is written to the first block or the second block may depend on the write status of the first block and the second block.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method comprising:

performing by one or more circuits comprising memory, in response to an instruction to write data to said memory:
if a first portion of a first block of said memory has been erased more recently than it has been written to, writing data to said first portion of said first block of said memory without first erasing said first block of said memory;
if said first portion of said first block of said memory has been written to more recently than it has been erased, and a first portion of a second block of said memory has been erased more recently than it has been written to, writing data to said first portion of said second block of memory without first erasing said second block of said memory;
if said first portion of said first block of said memory has been written to more recently than it has been erased, and said first portion of said second block of said memory has been written to more recently than it has been erased, recombining said first block of said memory and said second block of said memory and, subsequent to said recombining, writing said data to said first portion of said first block of said memory.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 15/680,478Filed 18 Aug 2017
Priority: 21 Jan 2011
Published: 21 Dec 2017
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification19 codes

G06F 3/061
Specifically adapted to achieve a particular effect: improving I/O performance
G06F 3/0604
Specifically adapted to achieve a particular effect: improving or facilitating administration, e.g. storage management
G06F 3/0608
Specifically adapted to achieve a particular effect: saving storage space on storage systems
G06F 3/0619
Improving the reliability of storage systems: in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors

Family

Application61/461,611Us provisional application · filed 21 Jan 2011
Application13/354,513Continuation · filed 20 Jan 2012
Application14/822,155Continuation · filed 10 Aug 2015
Application14/921,088Continuation · filed 23 Oct 2015
Application15/016,949Continuation · filed 5 Feb 2016
Application15/162,855Continuation · filed 24 May 2016
Application15/400,270Continuation · filed 6 Jan 2017
Application15/680,478Continuation
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From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.