Patent ID: 11868652
Assignee: SK HYNIX INC.
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 7:
8. A method of allocating a buffer memory to a plurality of data storage zones of a data storage system, the method comprising:
receiving a plurality of requests for allocation of at least part of the buffer memory to hold data to be fed to a plurality of first data storage zones of the plurality of data storage zones;
deallocating, upon a determination that a free space size of the buffer memory is smaller than a reallocation threshold size, a portion of a currently allocated buffer memory space that is allocated to at least one of the plurality of data storage zones that has a lower utilization index than a first threshold utilization index for deallocating a currently allocated buffer memory space;
comparing utilization indices of the plurality of first data storage zones to a second threshold utilization index for allocating a deallocated buffer memory space to determine, among the plurality of first data storage zones, high-utilization data storage zones that have utilization indices that are equal to or larger than the second threshold utilization index;
comparing the utilization indices of the high-utilization data storage zones with each other to prioritize the high-utilization data storage zones; and
allocating the deallocated space and the free space of the buffer memory to the high-utilization data storage zones based on utilization priorities of the high-utilization data storage zones,
wherein the first and second threshold utilization indices have different values from each other.