Patent ID: 6260156
Filing Date: 2001-07-10
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A method for managing bad areas in flash memory, the method comprising:(a) formatting the flash memory into a data area and a spare area, each area having a plurality of blocks, wherein the blocks in the data area are data blocks and the blocks in the spare area are spare blocks and wherein any data block and spare block having a bad area in flash memory is considered to be a bad block;(b) grouping the spare blocks within the spare area into a plurality of chunks;(c) for each of the plurality of chunks in the spare area,(1) storing an original chunk map in at least one spare block within each chunk;(2) storing a copy chunk map in at least one other spare block within each chunk; and(d) for each bad block, mapping content of the bad block to an available spare block in an available chunk by updating the original chunk map and the copy chunk map associated with the available spare block.