Patent ID: 6535949
Filing Date: 2003-03-18
Classification: G06F,G11C,Y10S

Abstract:
A portable electronic device, including:a flash memory store comprising a plurality of erase blocks; a log-structured file system for storing a plurality of logs of contiguous data records in the flash memory store, for reading data from the flash memory store using a plurality of memory mapped pointers that point to the individual data records, and for cleaning inactive records from the flash memory store in order to make room for additional data, wherein at least one of the logs of contiguous data records stores records that change frequently, and at least one other log stores data records that change infrequently, and wherein the log-structured file system is configured to determine whether a current erase block into which a data record is to be stored includes available space to store the data record, and to clean inactive records from a next erase block adjacent to the current erase block in the flash memory store where the current erase block does not include available space to store the data record; wherein the log-structured file system further includes a plurality of pointers for managing the storing of data to the flash memory store and the cleaning of inactive records from the flash memory store; wherein the plurality of pointers includes a log point indicating a position in the current erase block at which the data record is to be stored, and an erase point indicating a beginning of the next erase block; and wherein the log-structured file system is further configured to determine an amount of available space in the current erase block by comparing the erase point and the log point.