Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi Keiyo Engineering Co., Ltd.

Other

Hitachi Ulsi Engineering Corp.

Hitachi Chubu Software, Ltd.

Renesas Technology Corp.

Hitachi Software Engineering Company, Ltd.

Hitachi Engineering Co., Ltd.

Hitachisoftware Eng. Co., Ltd.

Hitachi Ulsi

Jun Kitahara

Kunihiro Katayama

Kenichi Kaki

Tsunehiro Tobita

Takashi Totsuka

Takashi Tsunehiro

Takeshi Suzuki

Takeshi Wada

Hajime Yamagami

Ryuichi Hattori

Yukihiro Seki

Takashi Kikuchi

Takao Okubo

Masamichi Kishi

Shigeru Kadowaki

Manabu Saito

Yosio Takaya

Akira Yamamoto

Masayuki Yamamoto

Yoshiki Kano

Nagamasa Mizushima

Sadahiro Sugimoto

Masanori Takada

Kazunori Furusawa

Toru Owada

Takeshi Asahi

Akira Fujibayashi

Tomohisa Kohiyama

Ichiro Ote

Kenichi Saitou

Masato Ishii

Sunao Hirata

Takayuki Tamura

Akihiko Araki

Masaya Umemura

Nobuhiko Hara

Seiji Oyama

Takumi Soen

Yasushi Akao

Ikuya Kawasaki

Makoto Sano

Hiromichi Itoh

Hiroshi Wada

Masataka Okayama

Hiroji Shibuya

Katsuya Takanashi

Yoshiaki Kitazume

Toshio Kimura

Yoshiaki Nomura

Mika Teranishi

Kazushige Nagamatsu

Nakaba Sato

Shinichi Sawamura

Masanori Hashio

Sawamura Shin'ichi

Sawamura Shinichi

Hitoshi Takeoka

Junichi Miyata

Mariko Hara

The amount of data to be stored in a semiconductor nonvolatile memory can be reduced and overhead associated with data processing can be reduced. When a microprocessor receives a write request from a host computer and data Dto Dexist in a cache slot, the microprocessor reads the LBA of each piece of the data, manages each piece of the data Dto Dusing a bitmap table by associating them with their LBAs, generates a specific command CMD based on the LBAs of the data Dto D, adds the data Dto Dand addresses ADDto ADDindicating where the data Dto Dare to be stored, to the specific command CMD, and sends it to an FMPK. The FMPK stores each piece of update data in a specified block in the flash memory based on the specific command CMD.

Storage subsystem and its data processing method for reducing the amount of data to be stored in nonvolatile memory

According to this invention, a highly reliable memory device that uses up a life of a flash memory can be provided. The memory device is a nonvolatile memory device including a plurality of memory cells, in which: each of the plurality of memory cells is an FET which includes a floating gate; the plurality of memory cells are divided into a plurality of deletion blocks; and the nonvolatile memory device reads data stored in a first deletion block, detects and corrects an error contained in the read data, stores, when the number of bits of the detected error exceeds a threshold, the corrected data in a second deletion block, sets a smaller value as the threshold as an error frequency detected in the first deletion block is higher, and sets a smaller value as the threshold as the number of deletion times executed in the first deletion block is larger.

Error correcting for improving reliability by combination of storage system and flash memory device

The present invention enables program codes to be shared among processors. To prevent the debug operation of one processorfrom affecting the debug operation of the other processors, when detecting a breakpoint during execution of a program code, a debuggeror a debugger stubcontrols the execution of the program code while exchanging breakpoint informationwith the other debuggersor the other debugger stubs. Furthermore, a circuitis created which prevents the program code being carelessly rewritten due to thermal runaway, a bug, and the like of a processor, and the protection setting by the protection logicin the circuitis released only in case the processoraccesses each of a plurality of registers fromtoin specified order.

Controlling program code execution shared among a plurality of processors

For a storage apparatus where flash memory disks and hard disks coexist, high-density mounting of flash memory modules is achieved. The storage apparatus includes flash memories and a storage controller. A second storage apparatus including magnetic disks is connected to the storage apparatus. The storage controller can form a storage area using a flash memory or a magnetic disk to create a logical volume. When an input/output request is issued from a host computer, if a storage area is formed with a flash memory, the storage controller directly accesses the flash memory to handle the request. When the storage apparatus defines a storage area formed with a flash memory, the storage apparatus defines the storage area by adding up the capacity of a storage area to be provided for the host computer and a substitute area capacity determined in consideration of restrictions on the number deletions of the flash memory.

Accessing a hard disk drive and a flash memory with different formats in a storage system

The storage system includes a plurality of flash memory devices, each of the flash memory devices including a flash memory controller and flash memory chips, which are configured as a RAID group and a storage controller, coupled to the plurality of flash memory devices, configured to receive data from a computer and send the data to a first flash memory device of the plurality of flash memory devices. The flash memory controller of the flash memory device is configured to receive the data from the storage controller and execute a parity operation using the data.

Storage subsystem

Method of correcting error of flash memory device, and, flash memory device and storage system using the same

A storage controller manages address conversion information denoting the correspondence relationship between a logical address and a physical address of storage area (for example, a physical block) inside a flash memory. The storage controller uses the above-mentioned address conversion information to specify a physical address corresponding to a logical address specified by an I/O request from a higher-level device, and sends an I/O command including I/O-destination information based on the specified physical address to a memory controller inside a flash memory module. The memory controller carries out the I/O with respect to a storage area inside a flash memory specified from the I/O-destination information of the I/O command from the storage controller.

Flash memory module and storage system

Allocating substitute area capacity in a storage system using flash memory packages

The amount of data to be stored in a semiconductor nonvolatile memory can be reduced and overhead associated with data processing can be reduced. When a microprocessorreceives a write request from a host computerand data Dto Dexist in a cache slot, the microprocessorreads the LBA of each piece of the data, manages each piece of the data Dto Dusing a bitmap tableby associating them with their LBAs, generates a specific command CMD based on the LBAs of the data Dto D, adds the data Dto Dand addresses ADDto ADDindicating where the data Dto Dare to be stored, to the specific command CMD, and sends it to an FMPK. The FMPKstores each piece of update data in a specified block in the flash memorybased on the specific command CMD.

Storage subsystem and its data processing method for reducing the amount of data to be stored in a semiconductor nonvolatile memory

Read error in a flash memory destroys data that is not requested to be read, and an efficient read disturb check method is therefore needed. In addition, data may be destroyed beyond repair by error correction before a read error check is run. A non-volatile data storage apparatus including a plurality of memory cells and a memory controller, in which the memory controller is configured to: count how many times data read processing has been executed in memory cells within the management area; read, when the data read processing count that is counted for a first management area exceeds a first threshold, data and an error correction code that are stored in the memory cells within the first management area; decode the read error correction code; and write the data corrected by decoding the error correction code in other management areas than the first management area.

Apparatus for detecting and recovering from data destruction caused in an unaccessed memory cell by read, and method therefor

For a storage apparatus in which flash memory disks and hard disks coexist, high-density mounting of flash memory modules is achieved. A storage apparatus in accordance with the present invention includes flash memories and a storage controller. A second storage apparatus including magnetic disks is connected to the storage apparatus. For creation of a logical volume, the storage controller can form a storage area using a flash memory or a magnetic disk. When an input/output request is issued from a host computer, if a storage area is formed with a flash memory, the storage controller directly accesses the flash memory to handle the input/output request. When the storage apparatus defines a storage area formed with a flash memory, the storage apparatus defines the storage area by adding up the capacity of a storage area to be provided for the host computer and a substitute area capacity determined in consideration of restrictions imposed on the number of times of deletion of the flash memory.

Creating substitute area capacity in a storage apparatus using flash memory

To enable a capacity of an entire storage device to be kept by adding a flash drive or a flash module in the flash drive for a flash memory that has a failure, even if the storage device using the flash memory has a failure in its part such as a part of flash memory chip has a failure, for example, the flash memory chip has run out of its lifetime. In a storage deviceequipped with two or more memory device unitswith a plurality of semiconductor memory devices, each of which has a functional capacity unitsmaller than a capacity of an entire semiconductor memory device and has a writing lifetime for each functional capacity unit, only a functional capacity unit whose writing lifetime is run out to be determined as unable to be written is substituted by a functional capacity unit in a memory device of the other memory device unit to keep a predetermined capacity of the entire device.

Storage device and storing method

The present invention provides a digital copying method for preventing complete copying by the use of digital copying. A data generating portion includes a storage device which generates a plurality of digital copies having mutually different amounts of effective information from original digital data, and stores the set of digital content having the digital copies encrypted different numbers of times in a memory. A digital output portion decrypts the set of digital content retrieved from the memory a prescribed number of times, making usable and outputting one of the digital copies in the set of digital content. An analog output portion extracts the digital copy that has been encrypted zero times from the set of digital content, converts that copy to analog data, and outputs that data.

Digital copying method and storage device for digital content

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Jun Kitahara