Abstract:
A storage controlling and judging methods of flash memory is provided. According to an aspect of the present invention, the flash memory comprises plurality sets of mother and child blocks for temporarily saving the written data in order to increase the saving/retrieving speed of the flash memory. According to another aspect of the present invention, the correlation concept of the mother and child block is used to substantially reduce the erase frequency for extending the service life of the flash memory.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to a memory device, and more particularly to a storage controlling and judging method of flash memory capable of reducing the erasing frequency of the flash memory to extend the service life thereof.  
         [0002]     Presently, the flash memory has become popular because of its advantageous features, namely, nonvolatile, shock-proof, high storage capacity and others. Among many portable devices, the flash memory has taken the prominent place of EEPROM or the memory, which require battery. As the semiconductor technology has become mature nowadays, the storage capacity and transmission speed of the flash memory have been far upgraded then ever, and therefore the flash memory is applied in a broad field replacing the conventional storage media, such as the hard disk driver.  
         [0003]     However, the flash memory has the hardware characteristics circumscription, the flash memory requires a new space management method and an efficient erasing strategy to evenly erase the storage block and reduce erase frequency to substantially upgrade the efficiency, extend the service life and reduce the power consumption of the system. Bad management method of the flash memory storage device could increase the cost and shorten the service life thereof.  
         [0004]     Due to physical characteristics of the flash memory, after about a million times of erase operation, the flash memory gets damaged and should be replaced. Therefore, to reduce the erase frequency is a way for extending the service life of the flash memory. Referring to  FIGS. 1, 2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5  and  6 , a conventional data writing method is shown, wherein when the manager prepares to write two pages from page  3  of block  0 A into the flash memory, the flash memory finds a new block  1 B and defines block  0 A as an old block and moves the pages above page  3  of block  0 A to block  1 B; then the manager writes the page into page  3  and page  4  of block  1 B and moves the pages below page  4  of block  0 A to block  1 B, finally, block  0 A is erased and is replace by block  1 B to complete writing.  
         [0005]     A new block is required each data writing operation then the old block is erase, accordingly, the frequency of erase is higher and therefore the chances of damaging the flash memory is higher. Therefore, how to reduce the erase frequency for extending the life span of the flash memory, as well as increasing the storing speed thereof has become the important target for the manufacturers in the field.  
       SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
       [0006]     Accordingly, in the view of the foregoing, the present inventor makes a detailed study of related art to evaluate and consider, and uses years of accumulated experience in this field, and through several experiments, to create a new storage controlling and judging method of a flash memory. The present invention provides an innovated cost effective storage controlling and judging method of a flash memory, which is capable of reducing the erase frequency for extending the service life of the flash memory.  
         [0007]     According to an aspect of the present invention, the flash memory comprises plurality sets of mother and child blocks for temporarily saving the written data in order to increase the saving/retrieving speed of the flash memory.  
         [0008]     According to another aspect of the present invention, the correlationship concept of the mother and child block is used to substantially reduce the erase frequency for extending the service life of the flash memory. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0009]     For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference will now be made to the following detailed description of preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the following accompanying drawings.  
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a view showing the step  1  of a conventional data writing method.  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is a view showing the step  2  of the conventional data writing method.  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  is a view showing the step  3  of the conventional data writing method.  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  is a view showing the step  4  of the conventional data writing method.  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  is a view showing the step  5  of the conventional data writing method.  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  is a view showing the step  6  of the conventional data writing method.  
         [0016]      FIG. 7  is a view showing the step  1  of creating a mother and a child block according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0017]      FIG. 8  is a view showing the step  2  of creating a mother and a child block according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0018]      FIG. 9  is a view showing the step  3  of creating a mother and a child block according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0019]      FIG. 10  is a write judging step  1  of a mother and a child block according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0020]      FIG. 11  is a write judging step  2  of a mother and a child block according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0021]      FIG. 12  is a write judging step  3  of a mother and a child block according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0022]      FIG. 13  is a write judging step  4  of a mother and a child block according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0023]      FIG. 14  is a write judging step  5  of a mother and a child block according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0024]      FIG. 15  is a write judging step  6  of a mother and a child block according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0025]      FIG. 16  is a write judging step  7  of a mother and a child block according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0026]      FIG. 17  is a write judging step  8  of a mother and a child block according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0027]      FIG. 18  is a flow chart of a judging procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0028]      FIG. 19  is a flowchart of a writing procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0029]     Reference will be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.  
         [0030]     Referring  FIGS. 7, 8  and  9 , the steps  1 ,  2  and  3  of creating a mother and a child block according to an embodiment of the present invention are shown. When the host issues a command pointing at page  8  to  24  of block A for writing data, the manager finds a new block and defines it as the child block  1 , as well as defines block A as the mother block  2 . In this way, a set of mother and child block is being built. Next, the manager writes data in an orderly manner starting from page  8  to page  24  of the child block  1 . After this writing command is accomplished, the validspace of the mother block  2  is from page  0  to page  7 , and from page  25  to page  31 ; the validspace of the child block  1  is from page  8  to page  24 . There are three possibilities that may happen when the host issues a command for writing into the set of mother and child block, as described with reference to  FIGS. 10 and 11 , the write judging steps  1  and  2  of a mother and a child block according to an embodiment of the present invention. When a new starting page for writing data is behind the ending page, say page  24  of the child block  1 , there is no need to create a new child block  1  because the pages behind page  24  of the child block  1  are all empty, and the manager continues to write into the validpages of the child block  1 . If the writing of the data starts from page  27  and ends at page  29 , the manager, first of all, copies from page  25  to page  26  of the mother block  2  to the child block  1 , and then writes the new data from page  27  to page  29  of the child block  1  to accomplish writing procedure. And then the validspaces, page  0  to page  7 , and page  25  to page  31 , of the mother block  2  are replaced by page  0  to page  7 , and page  30  to page  31 ; the validspaces, page  8  to page  24 , of the child block  1  are replaced by page  8  to page  29 . If the writing starts from page  25 , the manager can directly write from page  25  of the child block  1  since the procedure of coping mother block  2  to the child block  1  is omitted. Furthermore, referring  FIGS. 12 and 13 , in the write judging steps  3  and  4  of a mother and a child block according to an embodiment of the present invention, if the new writing of data starts from page  3  and ends at page  28 , the starting page is or ahead of the starting page, say page  8 , of the child block  1 , and the ending page is or behind the ending page, say page  24 , of the child block  1 , in this situation, the manager has to find a new block and define as the new child block  3  as the crossed area is beyond the validrange of the child block  1 , and then the data is written in an orderly manner into page  3  to page  28  of the new child block  3 . After completing the writing procedure, the manager erases the child block  1  and replaces it by the new child block  3 . Now referring to  FIGS. 14, 15 ,  16  and  17 , the write judging steps  5 ,  6 ,  7  and  8  of a mother and a child block according to an embodiment of the present invention, if the new data writing starts from page  7  and ends at page  23 , then the procedure is unlike either one of the above two situations. The manager copies the data stored in the validrange of the mother block  2  and the child block  1  and combines to the new block of which defining as the new mother block  4 , then finds a new block as the new child block  5 . Then, to command for writing data from page  7  in an orderly manner to page  23  of the new child block  5  and the validpages of the new mother block  4  are page  0  to page  6  and page  24  to page  31 , and the validpages of the new child block  5  are page  7  to page  23 . However, the new block will be required to be created for meeting the above writing conditions, which possibly end up to the last page, to copy the validpages of the mother block  2  and the child block  1  therein; after the validpages are copied to the new block, then manager erases the mother block  2  and the child block  1  and they become another two new blocks.  
         [0031]     A judging procedure is set according to the above depiction, referring to  FIG. 18 , a flow chart of the judging procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention is described. When the host issues a command for writing data to the set of mother and child block, the manager executes the following steps:the procedure starts in step ( 601 ) ;in step ( 602 ), the page R to be written is checked whether it is or ahead page N in the validpages of the child block of the set of mother and child block, if no, then the procedure proceeds to step ( 603 ) if yes, the procedure proceeds to step ( 606 );in step ( 603 ), the page R to be written is checked whether it is or behind page M in the validpages of the child block of the set of mother and child block, if yes, then procedure proceeds to step ( 604 ), if not, the procedure proceeds to step ( 607 );in step ( 604 ), page M+1 to page R−1 of the mother block are copied to the child block;the writing procedure ends in step ( 605 );in step ( 606 ), the page S is compared to check whether writing end is or behind page M in the validpages of the child block of the set mother and child block, if no, then the procedure proceeds to step ( 607 ), if yes, the procedure proceeds to step ( 608 );in step ( 607 ), the mother block and the child block are combined as a new mother block; andin step ( 608 ), a new child block is created to replace the old child block and the procedure proceeds to step ( 605 ).  
         [0032]     In file management, FAT 1 , FAT 2  and FDB addresses are altered constantly when the host processes data writing operations. In such case, if judging method of plurality sets of mother and child blocks is applied therein, not only the efficiency can be upgraded but also the erase frequency of the flash memory can be reduced. Therefore, the above judging method when applied to plurality sets of mother and child blocks can substantially aid in increasing the data storing speed as well as reduce the erasing frequency while the flash memory altering the fixed address. Referring to  FIG. 19 , a flow chart of a writing procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention, when the manager receives writing command from the host, the procedure for the flash memory is executed is as follows:in step ( 701 ), the writing command is received; In step ( 702 ), checking whether the block for writing has a set mother and child block, proceeding step ( 706 ) for yes, or ( 703 ) for no;in step ( 703 ), the flash memory is checked whether it has a set of mother and child block, if yes, the procedure proceeds to step ( 704 ), if not, the procedure proceeds to step ( 705 );in step ( 704 ), whether the numbers of the used set of mother and child block reach the preset number in the manager is judged, if yes, a set of the mother and child block is located and combined as a new block, then this block defined as the mother block to proceed the step ( 705 ), if not, the procedure proceeds to step ( 705 ) directly;in step ( 705 ), a blank block is located and defined as the child block, and the block is defined for preparing for writing as the mother block, then the mother block and child block are combined as a new set of mother and child block and the procedure continues to proceed to step ( 707 );in step ( 706 ), judging method proceeds as described above (step  601  to step  601 ) for writing;in step ( 707 ), writing process is executed from the page belonging to the child block of the set of mother and child block;in step ( 708 ), writing is executed into the page;in step ( 709 ), whether the written page is the last page of the child block is judged, if no, the procedure proceeds to step ( 712 ), if yes, the procedure proceeds to step ( 710 );in step ( 710 ), the mother and child block are combined as a new set of mother and child block, and the set of mother block and child block are erased, and then the procedure proceeds to step ( 711 );in step ( 711 ), whether to continue writing into pages is judged, if not, the procedure proceeds to step ( 713 ), if yes, the procedure proceeds to step ( 702 );in step ( 712 ), whether to continue writing into pages is judged, if not, the procedure proceeds to step ( 713 ), if yes, the procedure proceeds to step ( 708 ); andin step ( 713 ), the writing operation ends.  
         [0033]     According to the above description, the storage controlling and judging methods of the flash memory of the present invention can substantially upgrade the data storing speed and reduce the erase frequency of the flash memory.  
         [0034]     While the invention has been described in conjunction with a specific best mode, it is to be understood that many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variations in which fall within the spirit and scope of the included claims. All matters set forth herein or shown in the accompanying drawings are to be interpreted in an illustrative and nonlimiting sense.