Patent ID: 6457092
Filing Date: 2002-09-24
Classification: G06F,G11C

Abstract:
A semiconductor disk storage to be coupled with a system bus for receiving a write request accompanied with first and second blocks of data through said system bus from an external information processing system, wherein said first and second blocks of data are each comprised of a first predetermined number of bytes, comprising:a plurality of nonvolatile flash semiconductor memories which store said first and second blocks of data therein; a buffer memory, coupled commonly with said plurality of nonvolatile flash semiconductor memories, which holds said first and second blocks of data as write data to be written into said plurality of nonvolatile flash semiconductor memories; and a control means to be coupled to said system bus, and coupled to said plurality of nonvolatile flash semiconductor memories and to said buffer memory, which carries out read operations of said write data from said buffer memory and write operations of said write data read out from said buffer memory into said plurality of nonvolatile flash semiconductor memories, responsive to said write request; wherein said control means, responsive to said write request, sends a first write command to write said first block of data comprised of said first predetermined number of bytes into one of said plurality of nonvolatile flash semiconductor memories and a second write command to write said second block of data comprised of said first predetermined number of bytes into another of said plurality of nonvolatile flash semiconductor memories different from said one of said plurality of nonvolatile flash semiconductor memories to which said first write command has been sent; wherein said first block of data comprised of said first predetermined number of bytes is solely written into said one of said plurality of nonvolatile flash semiconductor memories but not written into said other of said plurality of nonvolatile flash semiconductor memories, and wherein said second block of data comprised of said first predetermined number of bytes is solely written into said other of said plurality of nonvolatile flash semiconductor memories but not written into said one of said plurality of nonvolatile flash semiconductor memories; wherein said control means, responsive to said write request, sends said first write command to write said first block of data into said one of said plurality of nonvolatile flash semiconductor memories and, after the first write command has been sent, the control means sends said second write command to write said second block of data into said other of said plurality of nonvolatile flash semiconductor memories different from said one of said nonvolatile flash semiconductor memories to which said first write command has been sent, and wherein said control means sends said first block of data accompanied with said first write command to said one of said plurality of nonvolatile flash semiconductor memories and subsequently sends said second block of data accompanied with said second write command to said other of said plurality of nonvolatile flash semiconductor memories while said one of said nonvolatile flash semiconductor memories is under said write operation responsive to said first write command.