Patent ID: 8176237

Claim:
A solid state drive with an input buffer comprising: an interface controller configured to receive data from a host apparatus; a volatile memory configured to store data transmitted from the interface controller; a nonvolatile memory configured to store data transmitted from the volatile memory in at least one of a plurality of blocks, each one of the plurality of blocks being a unit of data erasing and including a plurality of pages, each one of the plurality of pages being a unit of data programming; and a controller coupled with the interface controller, the volatile memory, and the nonvolatile memory via at least one internal bus, wherein the controller is configured to: allocate at least one free block to an input buffer; allocate at least one free block to a storage area; flush data stored in the volatile memory to the input buffer, when a first condition is satisfied; write data flushed from the volatile memory in the input buffer; relocate at least one active block from the input buffer to the storage area, when a second condition is satisfied; copy valid data stored in the storage area to a compaction block, when a third condition is satisfied; and release at least one active block in which no valid data is stored from the storage area for reclaiming the active block.