Patent ID: 8171203

Claim:
A method of operating a nonvolatile memory unit having nonvolatile memory storage locations organized into blocks of nonvolatile memory cells, each block having one or more physical sectors of nonvolatile storage locations that are represented by one or more logical sectors, the method comprising: designating one or more blocks of nonvolatile memory cells for storing only information corresponding to user system data that is frequently accessed; counting a number of times a physical sector is accessed by a write command and storing the number of access times in an overhead information portion of a logical sector representative of the physical sector; designating a logical sector corresponding to user system data as containing user system data that is frequently accessed if the stored number of access times for that designated logical sector indicates that the designated logical sector is being accessed more frequently than other sectors; writing updated information of the designated logical sector corresponding to user system data that is frequently accessed only to a free physical sector of one of the designated blocks of nonvolatile memory cells until the one of the designated blocks is filled; and writing updated information of a logical sector corresponding to user system data that is not designated as frequently accessed only to a free physical sector of a block of nonvolatile memory cells other than the blocks designated for storing only information corresponding to user system data that is frequently accessed.