WO2020134038A1

WO2020134038A1 - Control method for storage device, storage device, and electronic device

Info

Publication number: WO2020134038A1
Application number: PCT/CN2019/096435
Authority: WO
Inventors: 林前锋; 郭丹; 邓恩华; 李志雄
Original assignee: 深圳市江波龙电子股份有限公司
Priority date: 2018-12-26
Filing date: 2019-07-17
Publication date: 2020-07-02
Also published as: CN111367465A

Abstract

A control method for a storage device, the storage device, and an electronic device. The storage device (100) comprises a controller (110) and at least two models of storage units (1211, 122), and the controller is electronically connected to all of the storage units. The control method (200) comprises: in response to an operation instruction, determining a target storage unit affected by the operation instruction, and calling, according to a target model of the determined target storage unit, a control command corresponding to the target model (210); and executing the operation instruction on the target storage unit according to the control command corresponding to the target model (220). According to the solution, the combination of different types of storage units is implemented.

Description

Control method of storage equipment, storage equipment and electronic equipment

【Technical field】

The disclosed embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of storage technology, and more specifically, to a storage device control method, storage device, and electronic device.

【Background technique】

In the field of storage technology, solid-state storage devices have become an important choice for different electronic devices with high speed and small size, such as computers and smart phones. In current solid-state storage devices, a certain memory device is usually controlled through different chip select pins. For example, chip select pin 1 is connected to one memory device A, and chip select pin 2 is connected to another memory device A, that is, different chip select pins control the same type of memory device. However, for a solid-state storage device, the storage devices are all of the same type, and each storage device has the same capacity, which is prone to waste capacity, and each storage device has the same type, and packaging space is prone to waste during packaging Happening.

[Invention content]

In view of this, the present invention provides a control method of a storage device, a storage device, and an electronic device to solve the above technical problems.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a control method of a storage device is provided. The storage device includes a controller and at least two types of storage units. The controller is electrically connected to each of the storage units. The control method includes determining a target storage unit to which the operation instruction acts in response to the operation instruction. And calling the control command corresponding to the target model according to the determined target model of the target storage unit; and executing the operation instruction on the target storage unit according to the control command corresponding to the target model.

According to a second aspect of the invention, a storage device is provided. The storage device includes: at least one controller; and at least two storage units communicatively connected to the at least one controller; wherein the storage unit stores instructions executable by the at least one controller, and the instructions are The at least one controller executes to enable the at least one controller to execute the control method described in the first aspect.

According to a third aspect of the invention, an electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes the storage device in the second aspect.

The beneficial effects of the present invention include: the storage device includes at least two types of storage units, and by determining the target storage unit to which the operation instruction acts, and then according to the target storage unit's target model, the corresponding control instruction is invoked, so that according to the control instruction, The operation instructions are executed on the target storage unit to control different types of storage units to operate, and to combine different types of storage units.

[Description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a flowchart of a storage device control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flowchart of a storage device control method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a schematic view of the state of the storage device in FIG.

5 is a flowchart of a storage device control method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a schematic diagram of the state of the storage device in FIG. 1.

7 is a schematic diagram of the state of the storage device in FIG.

8 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

【detailed description】

Certain terms used throughout this specification and claims refer to specific components. As those skilled in the art can understand, electronic device manufacturers can use different names to refer to the same component. This article does not distinguish parts by name, but by function. In the following description and claims, the term "including" is an open-ended qualified word, so it should be interpreted to mean "including but not limited to...". In addition, the term "coupled" is intended to mean an indirect electrical connection or a direct electrical connection. Therefore, when one device is coupled to another device, this connection may be a direct electrical connection or an indirect electrical connection through other devices and connections.

In order to facilitate understanding of the present invention, the storage device of the present invention will be described in detail first.

As shown in FIG. 1, it is a schematic diagram of a storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The storage device 100 includes but is not limited to SD (Secure Digital Memory Card) card, TF (Trans-flash Card) card, MMC (Multi-Media Card) card, EMMC (Embedded Multi Media Card) card, EMCP (Embedded Multi-Chip Package) card, CF (Compact Flash) card, U disk (USB Flash) Drive, SSD (Solid State Drive, Solid State Drive).

The storage device 100 includes a controller 110 and at least two types of storage units, wherein the controller 110 is electrically connected to each storage unit. In an example, each memory cell is an independent memory die. Further, the storage unit may be a NAND Flash chip. The model can be one or any combination of storage unit type, manufacturer, manufacturing process, capacity and communication protocol.

When the storage unit is a NAND Flash storage unit, in the case of classification according to the principle of storing data, the storage unit type includes but is not limited to SLC, MLC, TLC, QLC, and in the case of stacking classification, the storage unit type includes but not Limited to 2D Nand and 3D Nand. The manufacturer refers to the manufacturer of the storage unit, the manufacturing process refers to the manufacturing process for manufacturing the storage unit, the capacity refers to the storage capacity of the storage unit, and the communication protocol refers to the communication protocol adopted by the storage unit, and the adopted communication protocols include but not Limited to one of SD protocol, eMMC protocol, UFS protocol, SATA, PCIe, NVMe, etc.

In an embodiment, the controller 110 includes at least one chip select pin, for example, a chip select pin 111a and/or a chip select pin 112a, and each chip select pin is electrically connected to at least one memory unit. As shown in FIG. 1, the storage device 100 includes a storage unit 1211 and a storage unit group 122. The storage unit group 122 includes storage units 1221-122n, wherein the chip select pin 111a is electrically connected to the storage unit 1211, and the chip select pin 112a is connected to the storage The unit group 122 is electrically connected. The storage units 1211 and the storage units 1221-122n in the storage unit group 122 have different models. Assuming that the model of each storage unit in the storage unit group 122 is a storage capacity of 512M, and the storage unit 1211 is a storage capacity of 1G, the storage capacity of the storage units 1221-122n is 512M, and the storage capacity of the storage unit 1211 is 1G, Thus, a storage unit combining different storage capacities can be realized.

In an example, the controller 110 includes at least two chip select pins, for example, a chip select pin 111a and a chip select pin 112a, etc., each chip select pin is electrically connected to at least one memory unit, and then the controller 110 is electrically connected to each storage unit. For example, the storage unit 1211 is connected to the chip selection pin 111a, and the storage unit group 122 is connected to the chip selection pin 112a. It can be seen that the number of storage units electrically connected to each chip selection pin is different, that is, the chip selection pin 111a is electrically connected to one memory cell 1211, and the chip select pin 112a is electrically connected to a plurality of memory cells 1221-122n. In other examples, the number of memory cells electrically connected to each chip select pin may be the same, for example, the number of memory cells electrically connected to each chip select pin may be equal to 1, that is, each chip select pin is One storage unit is electrically connected.

The controller 110 also includes a command pin 111b, an address pin 111c, and several data pins 111d. The storage unit group, such as the storage unit group 122, is also connected to the command pin 111b, the address pin 111c, and several data pins 111d, that is, each storage unit in the storage unit group 122 is also connected to the command Pin 111b, address pin 111c and several data pins 111d are connected. In one example, the number of data pins 111d is 8.

It should be noted that although only two types of storage units are shown in FIG. 1, in other embodiments, storage units of other types are also included. Meanwhile, in the controller 110 in FIG. 1, for clarity and conciseness, several data pins 111d are represented by one dot.

As shown in FIG. 2, it is a flowchart of a storage device control method according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the execution subject of the control method 200 is the controller 110 in FIG. 1. The following describes with reference to FIG. 1, the control method 200 includes:

Step 210: In response to the operation instruction, determine the target storage unit to which the operation instruction acts, and call the control command corresponding to the target model according to the determined target model of the target storage unit.

The target storage unit refers to a storage unit that the controller 110 is about to perform related operations on, for example, a storage unit to which the controller 110 reads, writes, erases, garbage collects, idles fast acceleration, etc. In other words, the target storage unit refers to the object that the operation instruction is about to act on.

In one embodiment, the operation instructions include operation instructions issued by the host and operation instructions generated by the controller executing its own internal firmware. In an example, when the operation instruction is an operation instruction issued by the host, before step 210, the control method 200 further includes: receiving the operation instruction issued by the host.

The controller 110 stores control commands of different types of storage units. After determining the target type of the target storage unit, the corresponding control commands are called.

Step 220: Perform an operation instruction on the target storage unit according to the control command corresponding to the target model.

After calling the control command corresponding to the target model, the controller 110 executes an operation instruction on the target storage unit according to the control command.

In this embodiment, the storage device includes at least two types of storage units. By determining the target storage unit to which the operation instruction acts, and then according to the target storage unit's target model, the corresponding control instruction is called, so that according to the control instruction, the The target storage unit executes operation instructions, controls different types of storage units to operate, and realizes combining different types of storage units.

In an embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, when the target storage unit is the storage unit 1211, only one storage unit 1211 is connected to the chip select 111a. As shown in FIG. 3, it is a flowchart of a control method of a storage device according to another embodiment of the present invention. The control method is based on the control method 200 of the foregoing embodiment, and the same parts are not repeated here. Among them, as shown in FIG. 3, the target storage unit for determining the operation instruction includes:

Step 310: Send a chip selection instruction to the storage unit electrically connected to each chip selection pin to select the target storage unit.

As described above, the target storage unit refers to a storage unit to which the controller 110 will perform related operations, for example, a storage unit to which the controller 110 reads, writes, erases, garbage collects, idles fast acceleration, and the like. In other words, the target storage unit refers to the object that the operation instruction is about to act on.

The chip selection instruction includes voltage information of each chip selection pin, and each storage unit determines whether it is a target storage unit according to the voltage information.

Specifically, in an embodiment, step 310 includes: lowering the voltage of the target chip select pin connected to the target storage unit; and raising the voltage of other chip select pins except the target chip select pin, to Select the target storage unit. In this embodiment, the target storage unit is the storage unit 1211, and the controller 110 pulls down the target chip select pin 111a, and pulls up other chip select pins, for example, the chip select pin 112a. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4 As shown, the storage unit 1211 is selected (gray in the figure indicates that it is selected). In one example, the chip select instruction includes a signal with a low level. In other words, the controller 110 pulls down the voltage of the chip select pin.

In this embodiment, in a case where the target storage unit is only one storage unit electrically connected to a certain chip selection pin, by sending only a chip selection instruction to select the target storage unit, the target storage unit can be determined.

In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, at least one memory cell connected to each chip select pin constitutes a memory cell group, that is, a memory cell 1211 electrically connected to the chip select pin 111a constitutes a memory cell Group, memory cells 1221-122n electrically connected to the chip select pins 112a constitute a memory cell group 122. The following uses the target storage unit group as the storage unit group 122 as an example for illustration. The following description also applies to the case where the target storage unit group is the storage unit group composed of the storage units 1211. When the target storage unit is a storage unit in the storage unit group 122, as shown in FIG. 5, it is a flowchart of a storage device control method according to another embodiment of the present invention, the control method is based on the above embodiment Of the control method 200, the same part will not be repeated here. Wherein, as shown in FIG. 5, the target storage unit for determining the operation instruction includes:

Step 510: Send a chip selection instruction to each storage unit group to select all storage units in the target storage unit group.

As described above, the target storage unit refers to a storage unit on which the controller 110 is about to perform related operations, for example, a storage unit to which the controller 110 reads, writes, erases, garbage collects, and idles fast acceleration. In other words, the target storage unit refers to the object that the operation instruction is about to act on. The target storage unit group refers to a combination of all storage units electrically connected to the chip select pins electrically connected to the target storage unit, that is, the storage unit group where the "target storage unit" is located is the target storage unit group. As described above, the storage units in the storage unit group have the same model number. Therefore, the other storage units in the target storage unit group are the same as the target model of the target storage unit, that is, the other storage units in the target storage unit group are also The target model.

The chip selection instruction includes voltage information of each chip selection pin, and the storage unit/storage unit group judges whether it is the target storage unit/target storage unit group according to the voltage information.

In this embodiment, the target storage unit group is the storage unit group 122, and the controller 110 sends the chip selection instruction to the storage unit group 122. At this time, the storage unit group 122 receives the chip selection instruction, and judges that it is the target storage unit group. As shown in FIG. 6, the storage units 1221-122n in the storage unit group 122 are selected (gray in the figure indicates that they are selected).

In an embodiment, step 510 includes: lowering the voltage of the target chip select pin electrically connected to the target memory cell group; and raising the voltage of other chip select pins except the target chip select pin to select All storage units in the target storage unit group. In this embodiment, the target memory cell group is the memory cell group 122, the chip select pin 112a electrically connected to the memory cell group 122 is the target chip select pin, and the controller 110 pulls down the target chip select pin 112a and pulls Other chip select pins are higher, for example, the chip select pin 111a. At this time, as shown in FIG. 6, the storage units 1221-122n in the storage unit group 122 are selected (gray in the figure indicates being selected). Conversely, if the target chip select pin 112a is pulled up, the target memory cell group 122 is cancelled.

In one example, the chip select instruction includes a signal with a low level. In other words, the controller 110 pulls down the voltage of the target chip select pin.

Step 520: Send a notification command to the target storage unit group to notify all storage units in the target storage unit group that a target storage unit selection will be made.

In this embodiment, the target storage unit group is the storage unit group 122. After sending the chip select instruction, the storage units 1221-122n in the storage unit group 122 are selected, and then, the controller 110 sends a notification to the target storage unit group 122 In response, the controller 110 notifies the storage units 1221-122n in the target storage unit group 122 that a target storage unit selection will be made.

In an embodiment, step 520 includes: raising the voltage of the command pin and lowering the voltage of the address pin; sending a notification command to the target storage unit group through the data pin. In this embodiment, the controller 110 pulls up the voltage of the command pin 111b and pulls down the voltage of the address pin 111c, and then sends a notification command to the target storage unit group 122 through the data pin 111d. At this time, the target storage unit group The storage units 1221-122n in 122 receive the notification command and learn that the target storage unit will be selected.

In one example, the controller 110 pulls up the voltage of the command pin 111b, that is, sends a signal of high level to the command pin 111b, in other words, the controller 110 pulls up the command pin 111b. In one example, the controller 110 pulls down the voltage of the address pin 111c, that is, sends a signal of low level to the address pin 111c. In other words, the controller 110 pulls down the address pin 111c.

In one embodiment, the notification command occupies 1 bit. When the notification command is 00000000, it means to notify the target storage unit group to select the target storage unit, or when the command bit is 00000001, it means to notify the target storage unit group to select the target storage unit.

Step 530: Send an address command to the target storage unit group to select the target storage unit.

The address command includes the address of the target storage unit, so that the storage unit in the target storage unit group determines whether it is the target storage unit according to the address.

In this embodiment, after sending a notification command to the target storage unit group 122, the controller 110 notifies the storage units 1221-122n in the target storage unit group 122 that the selection of the target storage unit will be performed. Subsequently, the controller 110 sends an address command to the target storage unit group 122. At this time, the storage units 1221-122n in the target storage unit group 122 respectively receive the address command and determine whether they are selected according to the address information in the address command, that is, the storage unit 1221 in the target storage unit group 122 -122n judges whether it is the target storage unit according to the address command. As shown in FIG. 7, assuming that the storage unit 1221 is a target storage unit, the storage unit 1221 determines that it is a target storage unit according to the address command.

In one embodiment, step 530 includes: lowering the voltage of the command pin and raising the voltage of the address pin; sending an address command to the target storage unit group through the data pin to select the target according to the address information contained in the address command Storage unit. In this embodiment, the controller 110 pulls down the voltage of the command pin 111b and the voltage of the address pin 111c, and then sends an address command to the target storage unit group 122 through the data pin 111d. At this time, the target storage unit group The storage units 1221-122n in 122 receive the address command and determine whether they are selected according to the address information in the address command, that is, the storage units 1221-122n determine whether they are the target storage unit according to the address command. As shown in FIG. 7, assuming that the storage unit 1221 is a target storage unit, the storage unit 1221 determines that it is a target storage unit according to the address command.

In one example, the controller 110 pulls up the voltage of the address pin 111c, that is, sends a signal of high level to the address pin 111c, in other words, the controller 110 pulls up the address pin 111c. In one example, the controller 110 pulls down the voltage of the command pin 111b, that is, sends a signal of low level to the command pin 111b, in other words, the controller 110 pulls down the command pin 111b.

In one embodiment, the address command occupies 1 bit. Assume that the target storage unit group is the storage unit group 122, and the storage unit group 122 includes two storage units, for example, the storage unit 1221 and the storage unit 1222, the address of the storage unit 1221 is 00000000; the address of the storage unit 1222 is 00000001. In one example, if the address in the received address command is 00000000, it indicates that the storage unit 1221 is selected; if the address in the received address command is 00000001, it indicates that the storage unit 1222 is selected.

Suppose that the storage unit group 122 includes three storage units, namely, storage unit 1221, storage unit 1222, and storage unit 1223. At this time, the address of storage unit 1221 is 00000000; the address of storage unit 1222 is 00000001; the address of storage unit group 1223 Is 00000010. If the address in the received address command is 00000000, it means that the storage unit 1221 is selected; if the address in the received address command is 00000001, it means that the storage unit 1222 is selected; if the address in the received address command is 00000010 indicates that the storage unit 1223 is selected.

In this embodiment, when the target storage unit is one of the multiple storage units, that is to say, when there are multiple storage units of the target model type, the target storage unit group is determined by sending a chip select instruction, Send a notification command to the target storage unit group to notify the storage unit in the target storage unit group that the target storage unit will be selected, and send the address command to the target storage unit group to select the target storage unit to achieve one chip select control for multiple identical Model storage unit. When there is only one target storage unit, that is, when there is only one storage unit whose model is the target signal, similarly, by sending a chip select instruction, the target storage unit group is determined, and a notification command is sent to the target storage unit group to notify the target storage The storage unit in the unit group will select the target storage unit, and send the address command to the target storage unit group, select the target storage unit, and realize a chip select to control multiple storage units of the same model.

The invention also provides a storage device. In an embodiment, the storage device includes at least one controller and at least two storage units communicatively connected to the at least one controller, the storage unit stores instructions executable by the at least one controller, and the instructions are stored by the at least one controller Execution to enable at least one controller to execute the control method of the above embodiment. In an example, the storage device is the storage device 100 in the foregoing embodiment, that is, the storage device 100 in FIG. 1. In this example, at least one controller includes a controller 110. For details, see the foregoing embodiment. No longer.

As shown in FIG. 8, the present invention also provides an electronic device. The electronic device 800 may be a computer, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a camera, a video camera, a set-top box, a smart home, or an in-vehicle electronic product. The electronic device 800 includes the storage device in the foregoing embodiment, that is, the storage device 100 in FIG. 1. For a detailed description, refer to the foregoing embodiment, and details are not described herein again.

Those skilled in the art can easily understand that many modifications and changes can be made to the device and method while maintaining the teaching content of the present invention. Therefore, the above disclosure should be considered as limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

A control method of a storage device, wherein the storage device includes a controller and at least two types of storage units, the controller is electrically connected to each storage unit, and the control method includes:

In response to the operation instruction, determine the target storage unit to which the operation instruction acts, and call the control command corresponding to the target model according to the determined target model of the target storage unit; and

The operation instruction is executed on the target storage unit according to the control command corresponding to the target model.
The control method according to claim 1, wherein the operation instructions include operation instructions issued by the host and operation instructions generated by the controller executing its own internal firmware.
The control method according to claim 2, wherein when the operation instruction is an operation instruction issued by a host, the control method further comprises: receiving an operation instruction issued by the host.
The control method according to claim 1, wherein the model is any combination of the following: different storage unit types, different manufacturers, different manufacturing processes, different capacities, and different communication protocols.
The control method according to claim 1, wherein the controller includes at least one chip select pin, and each of the chip select pins is electrically connected to a storage unit; the determining the role of the operation instruction The target storage unit, including:

A chip selection instruction is sent to each of the storage units to select the target storage unit.
The control method according to claim 1, wherein the controller includes at least one chip select pin, each of the chip select pins is electrically connected to at least one memory unit; and each of the chip select pins At least one storage unit connected to the foot constitutes a storage unit group; the determining of the target storage unit to which the operation instruction acts specifically includes:

Sending a chip selection instruction to each of the storage unit groups to select all storage units in the target storage unit group;

Send a notification command to the target storage unit group to notify all storage units in the target storage unit group that a target storage unit selection will be made; and

Send an address command to the target storage unit group to select the target storage unit.
The control method according to claim 6, wherein the controller includes at least two chip select pins, and the number of memory cells electrically connected to each of the chip select pins may be the same or different.
The control method according to claim 7, wherein:

Send a chip selection instruction to each of the storage unit groups to select all storage units in the target storage unit group, specifically including:

Pull down the voltage of the target chip select pin electrically connected to the target memory cell group; and

Raise the voltage of other chip select pins except the target chip select pin to select all the memory cells in the target memory cell group.
The control method according to any one of claims 6-8, wherein the controller further includes a command pin, an address pin, and a number of data pins; each of the storage units and the command The pin, the address pin and the several data pins are electrically connected;

The sending a notification command to the target storage unit group specifically includes:

Pull up the voltage of the command pin; pull down the voltage of the address pin; and

The notification command is sent to the target storage unit group through the data pin.
The control method according to claim 9, wherein the sending an address command to the target storage unit group to select the target storage unit includes:

Pull the voltage of the command pin low and the voltage of the address pin high; and

The address command is sent to the target storage unit group through the data pin to select the target storage unit according to the address information included in the address command.
A storage device, characterized in that the storage device includes:

At least one controller; and

At least two storage units are communicatively connected with the at least one controller; wherein,

The storage unit stores instructions executable by the at least one controller, the instructions being executed by the at least one controller to enable the at least one controller to execute any one of claims 1-10 Control method.
An electronic device characterized by comprising the storage device according to claim 11.