Managing configuration parameters for a non-volatile medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9251053-B2
Application number	US-201313830989-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 14, 2013
Priority date	Mar 14, 2013
Publication date	Feb 2, 2016
Grant date	Feb 2, 2016

Abstract

An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for managing configuration parameters of a non-volatile storage device. The method includes storing a first set of configuration parameters for a non-volatile recording device. The first set of configuration parameters are configured for a storage operation on a storage element of the non-volatile recording device. The method also includes storing a second set of configuration parameters for the non-volatile recording device during execution of the storage operation on the storage element. The second set of configuration parameters are configured for a second storage operation on the storage element of the non-volatile recording device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
storing a first set of configuration parameters for a non-volatile recording device, the first set of configuration parameters configured for a storage operation on a storage element of the non-volatile recording device; and
storing a second set of configuration parameters for the non-volatile recording device during execution of the storage operation on the storage element, the second set of configuration parameters configured for a second storage operation on the storage element of the non-volatile recording device, wherein storing the first and second sets of configuration parameters comprises writing the first and second sets of configuration parameters to an input of a pipeline, the pipeline comprising two or more memory buffers on the non-volatile recording device.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising writing one or more additional sets of configuration parameters for the storage element to the non-volatile recording device during execution of the storage operation.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining one or more of the first set of configuration parameters and the second set of configuration parameters based on one or more media characteristics of the storage element of the non-volatile recording device.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
selecting a first memory buffer of the non-volatile recording device to store the first set of configuration parameters; and
selecting a second memory buffer of the non-volatile recording device to store the second set of configuration parameters.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising selecting the first memory buffer of the non-volatile recording device to store a third set of configuration parameters, the first set of configuration parameters no longer being valid, the first set of configuration parameters having been used for the storage operation.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising alternating between a first and a second memory buffer of the non-volatile recording device for storing additional sets of configuration parameters.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second sets of configuration parameters are written to control registers on the storage element that includes a non-volatile recording medium.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the storage element comprises one or more of a chip, a die, and a die plane.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein writing the first set of configuration parameters comprises writing a plurality of configuration parameters asynchronously without a mandated delay between the plurality of configuration parameters.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second sets of configuration parameters comprise one or more storage thresholds for storage cells of a non-volatile recording medium of the non-volatile recording device.

11. An apparatus comprising:
a first buffer configured to receive configuration parameters for a storage operation on a non-volatile memory element; and
a second buffer configured to receive configuration parameters while the non-volatile memory element is performing the storage operation based on the configuration parameters from the first buffer, the first buffer and the second buffer comprising a pipeline on the non-volatile memory element such that configuration parameters are written to the second buffer and from the second buffer to the first buffer in the pipeline.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , further comprising an integrated circuit die comprising the first buffer and the second buffer.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , the integrated circuit die further comprising:
a configuration module configured to select one of the first buffer and the second buffer; and
an execution module configured to perform storage operations on the non-volatile memory element using configuration parameters stored in the selected buffer.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the configuration module comprises a cache, the cache configured to store more than two sets of configuration parameters while the execution module is executing storage operations on the non-volatile memory element based on configuration parameters stored in one of the first buffer and the second buffer.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the configuration module comprises a multiplexer.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the configuration module is configured to alternate between the first and second buffers by selecting the second buffer using the multiplexer in response to completing the storage operation using the configuration parameters from the first buffer.

17. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the configuration module is configured to select one of the first buffer and the second buffer in response to a selection by a client.

18. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the configuration module is configured to receive a set of configuration parameters for an additional storage operation while the execution module is executing the storage operation, the configuration module storing the set of configuration parameters in the selected buffer in response to completing execution of the storage operation.

19. An apparatus comprising:
a non-volatile storage device, the non-volatile storage device comprising,
a non-volatile storage medium;
a first register configured to receive a first read voltage threshold for a storage operation for the non-volatile storage medium; and
a second register configured to receive a second read voltage threshold for the storage operation asynchronously without a predefined delay between receiving the first and second read voltage thresholds; and

a controller for the non-volatile storage device, the controller configured to write the first read voltage threshold to the first register, to write the second read voltage threshold to the second register asynchronously without a predefined delay between writing the first and second read voltage thresholds, and to alternate writing of consecutive read voltage thresholds between the first register and the second register.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , further comprising a host in communication with the non-volatile storage device, the controller comprising a device driver for the non-volatile storage device, the controller executing on the host.

21. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing computer usable program code executable to perform operations, the operations comprising:
receiving a set of configuration parameters, the set of configuration parameters defining execution of a storage operation on a non-volatile recording device, and the set of configuration parameters comprising a first read voltage threshold;
executing the storage operation on the non-volatile recording device using the set of configuration parameters;
receiving one or more additional sets of configuration parameters during execution of the storage operation on the non-volatile recording device, the one or more additional sets of configuration parameters defining execution of one or more additional storage operations on the non-volatile recording device, and the one or more additional sets of configuration parameters comprising a second read voltage threshold; and
alternating storage of consecutively received sets of configuration parameters between a first memory buffer and a second memory buffer.

22. An apparatus comprising:
means for writing a first set of configuration paramet

Assignees

• Fusion Io Inc
• Sandisk Technologies Inc

Inventors

• Hyun Jea
• Wood Robert
• Sun Hairong

Classifications

• G06F2212/7203

  Temporary buffering, e.g. using volatile buffer or dedicated buffer blocks · CPC title

• G06F12/0238 Primary

  Memory management in non-volatile memory, e.g. resistive RAM or ferroelectric memory · CPC title

• G06F2212/7206

  Reconfiguration of flash memory system · CPC title

• G06F2212/7207

  management of metadata or control data · CPC title

• G06F12/0646

  Configuration or reconfiguration · CPC title