Controlled die asymmetry during mlc operations for optimal system pipeline

Abstract

Aspects of a storage device including a plurality of dies and a controller are provided which allow for asymmetric die operation handling so that controller overheads associated with common resource intensive operations may be incurred in the background without delaying subsequent die operations. When the controller receives a command to perform an MLC operation such as programming a number of dies, the controller refrains from performing the MLC operation in one or more of the dies for a period of time while simultaneously performing the MLC operation in a remainder of the dies. Instead, the controller performs another operation, such as an SLC operation, another MLC operation, or a transfer operation, that involves a common resource in these dies during the period of time. Controller overheads associated with these other operations thus are incurred without creating bottlenecks when the number of dies is large, thereby improving storage device performance.