Patent Document

RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This patent application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/884,419, filed Jan. 11, 2007, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
         [0002]    This patent application is related to U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. ______ of the same inventor, which is entitled “METHODS FOR SUPPORTING READYDRIVE AND READYBOOST ACCELERATORS IN A SINGLE FLASH-MEMORY STORAGE DEVICE” and filed on the same day as the present application. That patent application, also claiming priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/884,419, is incorporated in its entirety as if fully set forth herein. 
     
    
     FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The present invention relates to systems for supporting ReadyDrive™ and ReadyBoost™ Windows™ PC accelerators in a single flash-memory storage device. 
         [0004]    Hybrid Hard-Disk Drives (H-HDDs) are well-known in the art of computer engineering, and combine the large capacity of hard-disk drives (HDDs) with the high speed of flash-memory drives. In the prior art, the flash-memory component of an H-HDD is embedded as a part of the disk-drive assembly, and both are managed by a single controller. 
         [0005]    This is a simple configuration for the operating system (OS) to handle, but is problematic for inventory management, specifically because the “mean time between failures” (MTBF) of flash memory is much shorter than that of an HDD. Such problems can be solved by installing an external flash-memory storage device that is not embedded in the HDD, and operating the flash-memory device, together with the HDD, as a hybrid drive. 
         [0006]    The prior art uses two important performance accelerators (ReadyBoost and ReadyDrive), available from Microsoft™ Corporation, to enhance operation. ReadyBoost and ReadyDrive (defined in the Summary) are hardware and software modules configured for two different modes of interaction between an HDD and a flash-memory device. Each of the hardware modules is configured to work with its own flash-memory device. 
         [0007]    The prior art implements these two modules with two separate flash-memory devices. Such an independent implementation has two disadvantages that limit functionality of the accelerators.
       (1) Each of the flash-memory devices has its own capacity; there is no way to shift storage space between the two devices in order to maintain storage-space balance with varying demand.   (2) The life expectancy of the total storage of the flash-memory devices is low when split into two devices. This is because wear leveling must be applied separately to each memory device, and cannot level the total storage space.       
 
         [0010]    It would be desirable to have a flash-memory storage device that supports both the ReadyDrive and the ReadyBoost Windows PC accelerators, and does so as a single device that can apply “wall-to-wall” wear-leveling and offer maximum storage space for each of the accelerators. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0011]    It is the purpose of the present invention to provide systems for supporting ReadyDrive and ReadyBoost Windows PC accelerators in a single flash-memory device. 
         [0012]    For the purpose of clarity, several terms which follow are specifically defined for use herein. The term “ReadyDrive” is used herein to refer to a feature of Windows Vista that allows Vista-enabled computers equipped with an H-HDD to boot up faster, resume from hibernation in less time, and reduce battery-power consumption. Further information regarding ReadyDrive can be found in Appendix A. The term “ReadyBoost” is used herein to refer to a disk-caching technology, intended to make computers running Windows Vista more responsive by using flash memory on a USB 2.0 drive, SD Card, Compact Flash, or other form of flash memory. Further information regarding ReadyBoost can be found in Appendix A. 
         [0013]    The term “SuperFetch” is used herein to refer to a technology that speeds up the loading of commonly-used files and programs by pre-loading the files into memory. SuperFetch also keeps track of which applications are used, and at what time, during a day, enabling SuperFetch to intelligently pre-load information that is expected to be used in the near future. Further information regarding SuperFetch can be found in Appendix A. The term “H-HDD” is used herein to refer to a hybrid drive. H-HDDs are a new type of large-buffer HDD. H-HDDs differ from standard HDDs in that an H-HDD employs a large buffer (e.g. up to 1 GB) of non-volatile flash memory to cache data during normal use. Further information regarding H-HDDs can be found in Appendix B. The term repartitioning is used herein to refer to changing the partitioning of a flash-memory storage device that implements both ReadyDrive and ReadyBoost accelerators, so that the storage space used for each of the two accelerators is modified. 
         [0014]    The present invention teaches a single flash-based, non-volatile memory (NVM) storage device that can support both the ReadyDrive and the ReadyBoost accelerators. 
         [0015]    In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a host system can apply a conventional wear-leveling process over the entire flash-memory storage-space in order to maximize the life expectancy of the flash media beyond the life expectancy of the prior art. 
         [0016]    In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a conventional flash-memory management system can partition the storage space between the two functional units arbitrarily, and shift storage space from one functional unit to the other. The partition can be either for customization of the computer for the user upon installation, or for fulfilling an active requirement or request. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the partition can be modified by repartitioning (described in detail below). 
         [0017]    In other preferred embodiments of the present invention, methods for implementing the Windows PC performance accelerators via different physical interfaces, not only via the PCI express interface, are provided. 
         [0018]    In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a flash controller monitors the performance of the flash-memory device, and alerts the host system upon deterioration of the flash memory. 
         [0019]    In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the partitioning of the flash-memory storage-space between a ReadyBoost storage-space and a ReadyDrive storage-space is performed, after both storage spaces are emptied, by copying the content from each storage space to the HDD, and restoring the content after the process of changing the partition is completed. 
         [0020]    Therefore, according to the present invention, there is provided for the first time a flash-memory storage device for implementing both ReadyBoost and ReadyDrive Windows PC accelerators, the device including: (a) a single flash-memory module adapted to be configured as a ReadyBoost accelerator and as a ReadyDrive accelerator; and (b) a controller for controlling the flash-memory module. 
         [0021]    Preferably, the device further includes: (c) a mechanism for wear-leveling the flash-memory module. 
         [0022]    Preferably, the device further includes: (e) a mechanism for repartitioning the flash-memory module. 
         [0023]    Most preferably, the mechanism is configured to erase the flash-memory module. 
         [0024]    According to the present invention, there is provided for the first time a flash-memory storage device including: (a) a flash-memory module having at least one partition, wherein at least one partition is adapted to be alternatively reversibly configured as a ReadyBoost accelerator and as a ReadyDrive accelerator; and (b) a controller for controlling the flash-memory module. 
         [0025]    Preferably, the device further includes: (c) a mechanism for wear-leveling the flash-memory module. 
         [0026]    These and further embodiments will be apparent from the detailed description and examples that follow. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0027]    The present invention is herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
           [0028]      FIG. 1A  is a simplified block diagram of an HDD having two main logical units, according to the prior art; 
           [0029]      FIG. 1B  is a simplified block diagram of an H-HDD, according to the prior art; 
           [0030]      FIG. 2A  is a simplified schematic block diagram of the high-level hardware and software architecture of a host system and a storage device having an embedded H-HDD device, according to the prior art; 
           [0031]      FIG. 2B  is a simplified schematic block diagram of the high-level hardware and software architecture of a host system and a storage device having a split H-HDD device, according to the prior art; 
           [0032]      FIG. 3  is a simplified schematic block diagram of the high-level hardware and software architecture of a host system and a storage device having an integrated external H-HDD, according to preferred embodiments of the present invention; 
           [0033]      FIG. 4  is a simplified schematic block diagram of selected components of  FIG. 3  in greater detail, according to preferred embodiments of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0034]    The present invention relates to systems for supporting ReadyDrive and ReadyBoost Windows PC accelerators in a single flash-memory device. The principles and operation for supporting ReadyDrive and ReadyBoost Windows PC accelerators in a single flash-memory device, according to the present invention, may be better understood with reference to the accompanying description and the drawings. 
         [0035]    Referring now to the drawings,  FIG. 1A  is a simplified block diagram of a hard-disk drive having two main logical units, according to the prior art. The HDD includes a hardware controller  20  and magnetic parts  22 . Hardware controller  20 , shown simplistically as one block in  FIG. 1A , actually includes a logic-controller interface, an analog controller that manages the disk-spinning operation, and a magnetic-head signal amplifier.  FIG. 1B  is a simplified block diagram of a hybrid disk drive, according to the prior art. The H-HDD includes a special internal flash-memory module  24  that supports the ReadyDrive accelerator. 
         [0036]      FIG. 2A  is a simplified schematic block diagram of the high-level hardware and software architecture of a host system and a storage device having an embedded H-HDD device, according to the prior art. The architecture is separated into two parts: a host system  30  and a storage device  32 . Host system  30  has two main logic components: an OS  34  and standard drivers  36  for an HDD. The Windows Vista OS provides two logical interfaces for supporting a ReadyBoost interface A and a ReadyDrive interface B. Standard drivers  36  use two different interfaces to communicate with two hardware modules of storage device  32 : an H-HDD  38  and a ReadyBoost NVM  40 . In order to communicate with H-HDD  38 , host system  30  uses a SATA interface C (the SATA designation stands for serial ATA). For ReadyBoost NVM  40 , host system  30  supports a high-speed USB 2.0 interface, a PCI-e interface, and other standard interfaces. 
         [0037]    H-HDD  38  is managed by a controller  42  that has two logical functions: management of a flash memory  44  and management of magnetic media  46 . Depending on the implementation, controller  42  can be two different controllers. 
         [0038]    SATA interface C supports a special set of ATA8-ACS commands in order to support the ReadyDrive accelerator. Controller  42  directs the commands and data to and from the relevant destination/origin (i.e. flash memory  44  and/or magnetic media  46 ). Flash memory  44  provides a write-buffer caching space to satisfy read operations while rotating magnetic media  46  is spinning down, and supports “pinning” management for fast hibernation power-up and hibernation power-down. 
         [0039]    ReadyBoost NVM  40  has a controller  48  that supports the relevant protocol of a physical interface D and a flash memory  50 . Flash memory  50  is the cache memory that host system  30  uses to store the performance data crucial for fast random-access read-operations. 
         [0040]      FIG. 2B  is a simplified schematic block diagram of the high-level hardware and software architecture of a host system and a storage device having a split H-HDD device, according to the prior art. The configuration of  FIG. 2B  differs from the configuration of  FIG. 2A  in that H-HDD  38  of  FIG. 2A  is replaced by two separate hardware modules in a storage device  52  of  FIG. 2B . a regular magnetic HDD  54 , and a flash-NVM cache module  56  that serves both the ReadyDrive and ReadyBoost accelerators. Cache module  56  includes a controller  58  that is linked to special drivers  60  of a host system  62  through a PCI-e interface E. Controller  58  has two separate flash-memory modules  64  and  66 , one for each accelerator (i.e. ReadyDrive and ReadyBoost). 
         [0041]    Besides magnetic media  46 , HDD  54  has a controller  68  to support a basic SATA (or PATA) interface F. In this configuration, host system  62  requires add-on special drivers  60  in order to distribute HDD  54  and the special ATA8-ACS commands of cache module  56  between controllers  68  and  58 , respectively. 
         [0042]      FIG. 3  is a simplified schematic block diagram of the high-level hardware and software architecture of a host system and a storage device having an integrated external H-HDD, according to preferred embodiments of the present invention. A storage device  70  has two hardware modules. HDD  54 , having magnetic media  46  and controller  68 , and interface F remain as described with regard to  FIG. 2B . Storage device  70  also has a flash-NVM cache module  72  having only one flash-memory module  74  that provides a single wear-leveling space for the entire memory. A unique controller  76  calibrates the relevant shared memory for ReadyDrive and ReadyBoost according to a chosen flash-memory management policy. Controller  76  provides efficient flash-memory management that allows the entire flash media to be used as a single manageable unit. 
         [0043]    A host system  80  has special drivers  82  for supporting this configuration. Drivers  82  communicate with OS  84  through two unique Windows Vista interfaces: a ReadyBoost interface G and a ReadyDrive interface H. Drivers  82  are required for emulation associated with HDD  54 , and can be used to support PCI-e or SATA interfaces for communication with controller  76  through a physical interface I. 
         [0044]      FIG. 4  is a simplified schematic block diagram of selected components of  FIG. 3  in greater detail, according to preferred embodiments of the present invention. Flash-NVM cache module  72  is shown with flash-memory module  74  and controller  76 . Controller  76  includes unique and efficient flash-memory management components that provide one wear-leveling space for the entire flash media, which can include several physical elements (i.e. chip components). Access to the NAND-type flash-memory components is provided through a NAND-type flash-memory interface J. Controller  76  also enables flash-memory module  74  to be partitioned into two logical units: a main storage-space  86  (for use by ReadyBoost), and a hidden storage-space  88  (for use by ReadyDrive). 
         [0045]    Controller  76  communicates with host system  80  through physical interface I (e.g. a PCI-e or SATA interface). Controller  76  can be logically partitioned into two functional components: a physical-interface component  90  and a microcontroller  92 . Physical-interface component  90  can be implemented with a bridge solution for physical connectivity, but is depicted in  FIG. 4  as one functional component. Hidden storage-space  88  is transparent to the file system of host system  80 , and is accessible only through a logical command channel K via microcontroller  92 . 
         [0046]    Microcontroller  92  needs to support logical command channel K with special drivers  82 . Using command channel K, drivers  82  redirect special commands coming from OS  84  through two virtual command channel: a ReadyDrive channel L and a ReadyBoost channel M to microcontroller  92 . The special commands must support the following functionality: (1) emulate ATA-8 NVRAM commands, (2) flash-media configuration commands, and (3) flash-media “health”-monitoring commands. All commands are implemented over a unique software protocol that is based on standard ATA vendor-specific commands in drivers  82 . 
         [0047]    In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, host system  80  protects flash-memory module  74 , which embeds the ReadyDrive and ReadyBoost accelerators, by monitoring the frequency of write commands. If the frequency becomes dangerous to the life expectancy of flash-memory module  74 , host system  80  suspends the use of flash-memory module  74 , and serves an application request with longer latency. This procedure, which results in longer access times, is preferable compared to the risk of reducing the life expectancy of flash-memory module  74 . Once the frequency of write commands to flash-memory module  74  returns to an acceptable frequency, the use of flash-memory module  74  resumes. 
         [0048]    While the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, it will be appreciated that many variations, modifications, and other applications of the invention may be made. 
       Appendices 
     Appendix A 
       [0049]    (taken from the Microsoft website at: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/sysperf/accelerator.mspx) 
       Windows PC Accelerators: Performance Technology for Windows Vista 
       [0050]    Windows Vista includes a collection of performance-enhancing features called Windows PC Accelerators that address responsiveness issues related to demand paging. 
         [0051]    Windows SuperFetch memory management technology intelligently maintains optimal memory content based on historic usage patterns on the Windows-based PC, allowing Windows Vista to make intelligent decisions about what content should be present in system memory at any given time. SuperFetch also allows Windows Vista to detect and evade troublesome memory usage patterns that would otherwise push higher priority content out of memory. 
         [0052]    Windows ReadyBoost-capable Flash Devices extend the disk caching capabilities of Windows Vista main memory. ReadyBoost-capable devices can be implemented as USB 2.0 flash drives, Secure Digital (SD) cards, or CompactFlash cards. Using ReadyBoost-capable flash memory devices for caching allows Windows Vista to service random disk reads with performance that is typically 8-10 times faster than random reads from traditional hard drives. 
         [0053]    An external ReadyBoost-capable device might be removed at any time, but ReadyBoost technology ensures there is no interruption of system service or loss of data. All data writes are made to the hard disk before being copied to the flash device, so every bit of data held within the flash device is safely duplicated on the hard disk. ReadyBoost also encrypts the content for use only on the PC system where the data was generated. 
         [0054]    Windows ReadyDrive and Hybrid Hard Disk Drives are standard hard drives that include both rotating media and an integrated cache of non-volatile flash memory (also known as NVRAM). This cache buffers disk writes and allows the disk drive to stay spun down for longer periods of time to increase battery life and the overall reliability of the drives in mobile systems. Serving data from the non-volatile cache increases the performance of the boot and resume processes as well as disk- and memory-intensive applications by avoiding the latency of random disk I/Os. 
       Appendix B 
       [0055]    (taken from the Wikipedia website at: http://en.wikiedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_HDD) 
       Overview 
       [0056]    A hybrid drive, Hybrid Hard Drive (HHD), is a new type of large-buffer computer hard disk drive. It is different from standard hard drives in that it employs a large buffer (up to 1 GB) of non-volatile flash memory to cache data during normal use. By primarily using this large buffer for non-volatile data storage, the platters of the hard drive are at rest almost all of the time, instead of constantly spinning as they are in current hard drives. This offers numerous benefits, chief among them speed, decreased power consumption, improved reliability, and a faster boot process. 
         [0057]    Hybrid drives were anticipated to be released, primarily for notebook computers, in early 2007, with Samsung introducing their first drives in January, and Seagate in the first three months. Samsung does appear to be the first to market with the new drives, having released the first hybrid drives to OEMs in March of 2007. 
         [0058]    At the moment, they are only known to be filly compatible with the Windows Vista operating system; Microsoft uses the name ReadyDrive to describe the software side of this technology. 
         [0059]    The command interface will be standardized in the new revision 8 of the ATA standard. 
       Function Explanation 
       [0060]    Unlike most standard hard drives, the hybrid drive in its normal state has its platters at rest, as if it were off. During this time, any data that the user must write to the hard drive is written instead to the buffer. While working on a text document, for example, or browsing through the Internet, any temporary save files or the browser&#39;s disk cache will be saved to the buffer, instead of being written to the hard drive every time. 
         [0061]    The hybrid drive&#39;s platters will spin up in only two situations. When the buffer begins to near its capacity, the platters of the hard drive will spin up, and all of the data in the buffer will be cleared onto the hard drive, whereupon the platters will again return to an off state, and the cache will be empty for use again. The second instance is when the user must access data from the hard drive that is not already stored in the buffer. In this case, the platters must spin up to access the file and place it onto the buffer, whereupon the platters will once again return to an off state. 
         [0062]    Because the hybrid drive utilizes nonvolatile flash memory (such as those in a USB key), as opposed to volatile memory (such as RAM), the buffer is able to retain all the data even in the event of a sudden power failure or reboot, and can even store boot-up data into the buffer (see below). 
         [0063]    Early estimates place the actual hard drive usage (when the platters are spinning) at anywhere between 1.25% and 10% for normal users, although there are obviously situations where hard drive usage will be much higher, such as the encoding or editing of very large video files. See flash memory for more disadvantages. 
       Benefits 
       [0064]    The hybrid drive is claimed to offer several benefits over the standard hard drive, especially for use in notebook computers.
       Decreased Power Consumption: Because the platters will almost always be in an off state, power consumption by the hard drive will be reduced. Although not so much of an issue for desktop computers (apart from the impact on pollution), this can greatly extend the battery life of notebook computers.   Decreased Heat Generation: The reduced spinning of the platters also greatly decreases the amount of heat generated, as few parts of the hard drive are physically moving (and generating friction).   Decreased Noise Levels: In addition to the decrease in noise due to needing less overall cooling because of decreased power consumption and heat generation, hybrid drives are almost completely silent due the decreased use of the hard drive platters.   Improved Reliability: As the platters won&#39;t be spinning nearly as much, the wear and tear on the hard drive is drastically reduced. Hybrid drives should be able to last much longer than today&#39;s standard notebook drives. In addition to this, head crashes—in which a sudden movement, such as a violent impact, causes the read/write head of the hard drive to physically impact one of the platters—can become much less frequent, as the head will be able to be docked most of the time.       
 
       Drawbacks 
       [0069]    There are also drawbacks to the use of hybrid drives:
       Increased seek time for non-cached data: If the data being accessed is not in the cache and the drive has spun down, seek time will be greatly increased since the platters will need to spin up again.   Increased Cost: Flash memory chips are much more expensive per-gigabyte than comparably-sized traditional hard drives.   Increased frequency of spin-up: a hard drive, once spinning, suffers almost no wear. A significant proportion of wear arises during the spin-up and spin-down processes. A hybrid drive requires spin-up and spin-down more often than a normal hard drive, which is often spinning constantly.   Disk spin-up is also the time when HDD uses the most power.
 
Two other potential issues arise with regard to flash memory:
   Lower recoverability—After failure, any data in flash memory is completely lost, as the cell is destroyed; if a normal HDD suffers mechanical failure, the data can often be retrieved by data recovery experts. The amount of data lost if the cache of a hybrid drive is lost may be significant due to the cache size compared to the cache on non-hybrid drives.   Lower reliability—Flash based solutions don&#39;t have as reliable lifetimes as HDDs partly because of limited read/write cycles of a flash cell.       
 
       Software Implementation 
       [0076]    The basic functionality described here may also be implemented purely in software, using system memory instead of a buffer on board the hard drive itself. Often, performance of the buffer can be more effective, since the speed is now limited by the system memory bandwidth, not the hard drive interface bandwidth. Examples of such a system include the SuperCache-II software system, and Windows Vista ReadyBoost.

Technology Category: g