Patent · US Expired

Controlling operation of flash memories

US7457909B2 · kind B2 · utility

15Cited by
11References
35Claims
0Family size

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJan 14, 2005
Grant dateNov 25, 2008
Priority date
Expiry dateJan 7, 2026

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F12/0246
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method controls write/erase operations in a memory device, such as a NAND flash memory. The method includes dividing the memory device in physical blocks, wherein each physical block is comprised of a number of pages; considering the memory device as comprising consecutive virtual blocks, each virtual block including consecutive sectors; associating to each virtual block a virtual block number; selecting the size of the virtual blocks equal to a multiple of the size of the physical blocks; and creating a virtual-to-physical mapping table having entries. Each entry in the mapping table stores a pointer to a root node of a tree structure that links logically a set of physical blocks in the memory device.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.