Shiftable memory defragmentation

A memory defragmentation system comprising:

• a shiftable memory device comprising a plurality of memory cells, the shiftable memory device having built-in shifting capability to shift a plurality of contiguous subsets of data stored in the memory cells within the shiftable memory device, each contiguous subset of data of the plurality of contiguous subsets of data representing a page of data and having a size that is smaller than a total size of the shiftable memory device;
• a memory defragmenter to perform a shift of the pages of data represented by the plurality of contiguous subsets of data from a first location in the shiftable memory device to a second location adjacent to another page of data stored in the shiftable memory device using the built-in shifting capability, wherein the built-in shifting capability is to:
• shift a first contiguous subset of the plurality of contiguous subsets to be adjacent a second contiguous subset of the plurality of contiguous subsets, and
• following the shifting of the first contiguous subset, shift a group of contiguous subsets including the first and second contiguous subsets together to the second location;
• and
• a controller to select the pages of data and to implement the shift of the pages of data under direction of the memory defragmenter.

A method of memory defragmentation using a shiftable memory device, the method comprising:

• defining an array in memory cells of the shiftable memory device, the shiftable memory device having a plurality of memory cells and a built-in shifting capability to shift a plurality of contiguous subsets of data stored in the array from a first location to a second location, each contiguous subset of data of the plurality of contiguous subsets of data having a size that is less than a total size of the shiftable memory device, wherein the shifting of the plurality of contiguous subsets of data by the built-in shifting capability comprises:
• shifting a first contiguous subset of the plurality of contiguous subsets to be adjacent a second contiguous subset of the plurality of contiguous subsets, and
• following the shifting of the first contiguous subset, shifting a group of contiguous subsets including the first and second contiguous subsets together to the second location;
• and
• performing a memory defragmentation by using the built-in shifting capability to shift data pages representing the plurality of contiguous subsets of data stored in the array from the first location in the shiftable memory device to the second location adjacent to another page of data stored in the shiftable memory device,
• wherein the shifting of the plurality of contiguous subsets of data occurs entirely within the shiftable memory device and only data of the plurality of contiguous subsets of data is shifted.