An effective flash memory manager for reliable flash memory space management

Han Joon Kim, Sang Goo Lee

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

57 Scopus citations

Abstract

We propose a new effective method of managing flash memory space for flash memory-specific file systems based on a log-structured file system. Flash memory has attractive features such as non-volatility and fast I/O speed, but it also suffers from inability to update in situ and from limited usage (erase) cycles. These drawbacks necessitate a number of changes to conventional storage (file) management techniques. Our focus is on lowering cleaning cost and evenly utilizing flash memory cells while maintaining a balance between these two often-conflicting goals. The proposed cleaning method performs well especially when storage utilization and the degree of locality are high. The cleaning efficiency is enhanced by dynamically separating cold data and non-cold data, which is called 'collection operation'. The second goal, that of cycle-leveling, is achieved to the degree that the maximum difference between erase cycles is below the error range of the hardware. Experimental results show that the proposed technique provides sufficient performance for reliable flash storage systems.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)950-964
Number of pages15
JournalIEICE Transactions on Information and Systems
VolumeE85-D
Issue number6
StatePublished - Jun 2002

Keywords

  • Cleaning algorithm
  • Cycle leveling
  • Data collection
  • Flash memory
  • Logging

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