Patent · US Active

Garbage collection in a storage system

US8527544B1 · kind B1 · utility

881Cited by
35References
33Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 29, 2011
Grant dateSep 3, 2013
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 1, 2032

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F16/1748
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A system and method for performing garbage collection. A system includes a storage medium, a first table including entries which map a virtual address to locations in the storage medium, and a second table with entries which include a reverse mapping of a physical address in a data storage medium to one or more virtual addresses. A storage controller is configured to perform garbage collection. During garbage collection, the controller is configured to identify one or more entries in the second table which correspond to a segment to be garbage collected. In response to determining the first table includes a valid mapping for a virtual address included in an entry of the one of the one or more entries, the controller is configured to copy data from a first location identified in the entry to a second location in the data storage medium, and reclaim the first storage location.

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