Using a virtual to physical map for direct user space communication with a data storage device

A method comprising:

• receiving, at a memory controller, a virtual to physical memory address translation map from a host device, wherein a physical memory address includes a physical address for memory on the host device;
• storing the virtual to physical memory address translation map in a memory module on the memory controller;
• receiving commands directly from an application running on the host device such that the commands bypass a driver and a kernel on the host device, wherein the commands include virtual memory addresses that refer to the memory on the host device;
• and
• translating the virtual memory addresses to physical memory addresses using the virtual to physical memory address translation map.

A system comprising:

• a host device configured to generate a virtual to physical memory address translation map, the host device including memory, a driver, a kernel and at least one application running on the host;
• and
• a data storage device operationally coupled with the host device, the data storage device comprising:
• a plurality of flash memory devices, each of the flash memory devices being arranged into a plurality of blocks having a plurality of pages for storing data;
• and
• a memory controller operationally coupled with the flash memory devices, the memory controller being configured to:
• receive the virtual to physical memory address translation map from the host device, wherein a physical memory address includes a physical address for the memory on the host device;
• store the virtual to physical memory address translation map in a memory module on the memory controller;
• receive commands directly from the at least one application running on the host device such that the commands bypass the driver and the kernel on the host device, wherein the commands include virtual memory addresses that refer to the memory on the host device;
• and
• translate the virtual memory addresses to physical memory addresses using the virtual to physical memory address translation map.