ECC in memory arrays having subsequent insertion of content

A temporary storage memory system for storing data files transferred between a host computer system and a data storage system, said data files having an initially supplied stream of data and having at least one subsequently supplied header, said header including first check symbols calculated from said header with a Reed-Solomon generator polynomial and arranged in a block format of length (l), said temporary storage memory system comprising:

• a memory array having a predefined access width (w) directly related to said block length (l);
• at least one input for receiving said data and for receiving said header;
• a data block formatter coupled to said data input for arranging said data in said block format, each block of length (l), and for adding at least one gap block of length (l) to said data for subsequent insertion of said header block substituting for said gap block;
• ECC encoding logic coupled to said data block formatter for calculating ECC check symbols, employing an identical Reed-Solomon generator polynomial as said first check symbols, for said block format data for a partition comprising a multiple (m) of said blocks, the length of said partition (k) equaling said multiple times said block length (m)*(l);
• and
• a memory input device coupled to said memory array, to said data block formatter, to said ECC encoding logic, and to said header input for supplying said data blocks to said memory array in a sequence of blocks, said sequence of blocks stored in said memory array beginning at a boundary defining a partition so that no said gap block spans a partition boundary, for supplying said ECC Reed-Solomon check symbols to said memory array separately from said blocks, and for subsequently substituting for each said gap block a header block with said included first check symbols, whereby said header block provides no net contribution to said ECC.

A method for storing initially received data and subsequently received content to be added to said data, said content having appended first check symbols calculated from said content with a Reed-Solomon generator polynomial and formatted into blocks of length (l), in a memory system having a memory array of a predefined access width (w) directly related to said block length (l), comprising the steps of:

• formatting said received data in said block format, each block having a length (l);
• supplying gap blocks of length (l) to said formatted data for subsequent insertion of said content blocks substituting for said gap blocks;
• calculating ECC check symbols, employing an identical Reed-Solomon generator polynomial as said first check symbols, for said block format data for a partition comprising a multiple (m) of said blocks, the length of said partition (k) equaling said multiple times said block length (m)*(l);
• supplying said data and said gap blocks to said memory array in a sequence of blocks beginning at a partition boundary and with no said gap block spanning a partition boundary;
• supplying said ECC Reed-Solomon check symbols to said memory array separately from said data blocks;
• and
• subsequently substituting for each said gap block a block of said subsequently received content, said content block including said first check symbols, whereby said received content block provides no net contribution to said ECC.

A method for storing initially received data and subsequently received content for said data, said content having appended first check symbols calculated from said content with a Reed-Solomon generator polynomial and formatted into blocks of length (l) in, and retrieving said data and said content from, a memory system having a memory array of a predefined access width (w) directly related to said block length (l), comprising the steps of:

• formatting said received data in said block format, each block having a length (l);
• supplying gap blocks of length (l) to said formatted data for subsequent insertion of said content blocks substituting for said gap blocks;
• calculating ECC check symbols, employing an identical Reed-Solomon generator polynomial as said first check symbols, for said block format data for a partition comprising a multiple (m) of said blocks, the length of said partition (k) equaling said multiple times said block length (m)*(l);
• supplying said data and said gap blocks to said memory array in a sequence of blocks beginning at a partition boundary and with no said gap block spanning a partition boundary;
• supplying said ECC Reed-Solomon check symbols to said memory array separately from said data and said gap blocks;
• subsequently substituting for each said gap block a block of said subsequently received content, said content block including said first check symbols, whereby said received content block provides no net contribution to said ECC;
• reading from said memory array said data and said content blocks of at least one of said data files;
• reading from said offset grouping of said memory array said ECC Reed-Solomon check symbols associated with said read data and said content blocks;
• calculating Reed-Solomon syndromes as a function of said read data and said content blocks and of said read associated ECC Reed-Solomon check symbols, for detecting certain of errors therein;
• and
• halting said reading steps, upon said step of calculating Reed-Solomon syndromes detecting an error, to enable correction of said error.

A memory system, comprising:

• a memory array having a predefined access width (w);
• an input for receiving data;
• a data block formatter coupled to said input for arranging said data in a block format, each block of length (l) directly related to said predefined access width (w);
• ECC encoding logic coupled to said input for calculating check symbols, employing a Reed-Solomon generator polynomial, for said block format data for a partition comprising a multiple (m) of said blocks, the length of said partition (k) equaling said multiple times said block length (m)*(l);
• and
• a memory input device coupled to said memory array, to said input, and to said ECC encoding logic for supplying said data blocks to said memory array in a sequence of blocks, and for supplying said Reed-Solomon check symbols to said memory array separately from said data blocks, said memory input device supplying said Reed-Solomon check symbols for each partition to said memory array at predetermined offset from said data block partitions, and in sequentially incremented locations.

A method for storing received data in a memory system having a memory array of a predefined access width (w), comprising the steps of:

• formatting said received data in a block format, each block having a length (l) directly related to said predefined access width (w);
• calculating check symbols, employing a Reed-Solomon generator polynomial, for said block format data for a partition comprising a multiple (m) of said blocks, the length of said partition (k) equaling said multiple times said block length (m)*(l);
• supplying said data blocks to said memory array in a sequence of blocks;
• and
• supplying said Reed-Solomon check symbols for each partition to said memory array at predetermined offset from said data block partitions, and in sequentially incremented locations.

A method for storing received data in, and retrieving said data from, a memory system having a memory array of a predefined access width (w), comprising the steps of:

• formatting said received data in a block format, each block having a length (l) directly related to said predefined access width (w);
• calculating check symbols, employing a Reed-Solomon generator polynomial, for said block format data for a partition comprising a multiple (m) of said blocks, the length of said partition (k) equaling said multiple times said block length (m)*(l);
• supplying said data blocks to said memory array in a sequence of blocks;
• and
• supplying said Reed-Solomon check symbols for each partition to said memory array at predetermined offset from said data block partitions, and in sequentially incremented locations;
• reading from said memory array said data blocks of at least one of said data files;
• reading said Reed-Solomon check symbols associated with said read data blocks from said predetermined offset and sequentially incremented locations;
• and
• calculating Reed-Solomon syndromes as a function of said read data blocks and of said read associated Reed-Solomon check symbols, for detecting and correcting certain of errors therein.