JP5416697B2 - Method and system for communicating with a non-volatile memory storage device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a nonvolatile memory storage device, and more specifically to communication with a nonvolatile memory storage device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference, filed on June 29, 2007 U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 11 / 771,203 (Patent Document 1) and 2007 Claims the benefit of US patent application Ser. No. 11 / 771,165, filed Jun. 29.

A nonvolatile memory storage device is generally used for storing information. These devices are used in mobile phones, digital cameras, desktop computers, laptop computers, and other similar systems (referred to herein collectively and interchangeably as “host systems” or “hosts”). .
Various host system platforms use a software layer (sometimes referred to as a software development kit (SDK) layer) to communicate with a non-volatile memory storage device via a non-volatile memory storage device driver. In order to access further functions of the non-volatile memory storage device, an SDK layer may be added to the host system, thereby allowing access to additional functions of the non-volatile memory storage device that are not available without these SDK layers. . Porting SDK to different host system providers is cumbersome and it is desirable to mitigate this.

US patent application Ser. No. 11 / 771,203 US patent application Ser. No. 11 / 771,165

  In one embodiment, a method for a storage device is provided. This method includes interpreting a command from the host system by the command analysis module of the storage apparatus, and extracting information related to the operation from the command by the command analysis module.

  In another embodiment, a method for a storage device is provided. In this method, the storage device receives a platform independent command from the host system, interprets the command by the command analysis module of the storage device, and extracts information about the operation from the command by the command analysis module. And sending a response to the host system by the command analysis module after the operation is executed by the storage apparatus.

  In yet another embodiment, a method for a storage device is provided. In this method, the storage device receives a platform independent format command from the host system, the storage device firmware code detects the presence / absence of an operation command, and the command analysis module provides information about the operation. Extracting from the command and sending a response to the host system by the command analysis module after the operation is performed by the storage device.

  In one embodiment, a storage device is provided. The storage apparatus includes a command analysis module that interprets platform-independent commands from the host system and extracts operation information from the commands, and the command analysis module cooperates with the host system.

  In another embodiment, a storage device is provided. This storage device receives a platform independent command from the host system, interprets the command, extracts information about the operation from the command, and sends a response to the host system after the operation is performed by the storage device. Includes modules.

  In yet another embodiment, a storage device is provided. This storage device receives a platform independent format command from the host system, extracts information about the operation from the command after the firmware code of the storage device detects the presence or absence of an operation command in the command, and the operation is executed by the storage device It includes a command parsing module that sends a response to the host system afterwards.

  This brief summary has been provided so that the nature of the description may be understood quickly. A more complete understanding can be obtained by reference to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

  The above-described features and other features will now be described with reference to the drawings of various embodiments. In the drawings, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals. The embodiments shown in the figures are intended to be illustrative rather than limiting. The drawings include the following figures.

1 shows a block diagram of a host system operatively coupled to a non-volatile memory device. An example of the block diagram of the memory controller for non-volatile memory devices is shown. 1 shows a block diagram of an exemplary software architecture used for communication with a non-volatile memory device. FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a system comprising a command analysis module according to one embodiment. 6 illustrates a flow diagram of a process for communicating with a non-volatile memory device, according to one embodiment. 2 illustrates an example process and system for communicating with a non-volatile memory device, according to one embodiment.

  To assist in understanding the various embodiments, the general architecture and operation of computing systems and non-volatile memory storage devices are described first. Next, specific architecture and operation will be described with reference to a general architecture.

FIG. 1A shows a block diagram of an exemplary host system 100 that includes a central processing unit (“CPU”) (or microprocessor or processor) 101 connected to a system bus 105. A random access main memory (“RAM”) 103 coupled to the system bus 105 provides the CPU 101 with access to the memory storage. The CPU 101 stores processing steps in the RAM 103 when executing program instructions, and executes the stored processing steps from the RAM 103.
The host system 100 connects to a computer network (not shown) via the network interface 104. The Internet is one such network, and the host system 100 can download electronic information such as applications, codes, and documents from the Internet.
A read-only memory (“ROM”) 102 is provided to store certain command sequences, such as startup command sequences and basic input / output operating system (BIOS) sequences.
An input / output (“I / O”) device 106 such as a keyboard, keypad, pointing device (“mouse”), monitor, modem, etc. is also provided.

  The nonvolatile memory storage device 111 coupled to the host system 100 includes a controller module 108 (sometimes referred to as “memory controller” or “controller”) and solid state memory modules 109 to 110 (memory module # 1 and memory module #N). And is shown in the figure). The controller module 108 cooperates with the host processor 101 via the bus interface 107, directly via the system bus 105, or via some other peripheral bus (not shown).

The nonvolatile memory storage device 111 may be a flash memory device (or card) in one embodiment. Many flash memory cards such as compact flash (CF), multimedia card (MMC), secure digital (SD), mini-SD, memory stick, smart media, and transflash are currently on the market. Each of these cards has a unique mechanical and / or electrical interface based on a standardized specification (eg, an interface based on the Universal Serial Bus (USB) specification, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). (Or some interface of a different type, such as a wireless interface), but the flash memory built into each is very similar. All of these cards are available from SanDisk Corporation, the applicant.
SanDisk Corporation also offers a series of flash drives under its Cruzer trademark. This is a small handheld memory system having a universal serial bus (USB) plug, and this plug is inserted into the USB insertion port of the host for connection with the host system. These memory cards and flash drives incorporate a controller, and this controller cooperates with the host system to control the operation of the flash memory incorporated in the host system.

  There are many host systems (such as 100) using such a memory card and a flash drive, and various. For example, a personal computer (PC), a portable computer such as a laptop, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a digital still camera, a digital video camera, a portable audio player, and the like can be given. Normally, the host has a built-in port corresponding to one or more types of memory cards or flash drives, but some hosts require an adapter for inserting a memory card.

FIG. 1B shows a block diagram of the internal architecture of the controller module 108. The controller module 108 includes a microcontroller 114 that interacts with various other components through interface logic 116. The memory 115 stores firmware and software instructions for the microcontroller 114 to control the operation of the nonvolatile memory storage device 111. Memory 115 may be volatile reprogrammable random access memory ("RAM"), non-reprogrammable non-volatile memory ("ROM"), one-time programmable memory, or a reprogrammable flash format. Electrically erasable and programmable read only memory ("EEPROM").
The host interface 113 cooperates with the host system 100, and the memory interface 112 cooperates with the memory modules 109 to 110.

FIG. 1C shows a top-level block diagram of a conventional operating system that communicates with the non-volatile memory storage device 111 using the storage device driver 121 and the SDK layer 118. The software application 117 is executed by the host system 100 and transmits a command for reading information stored in the nonvolatile memory storage device 111, a command for writing information in the nonvolatile memory storage device 111, or a command for performing some other function. To do. These operations are performed by the microcontroller 114 that executes the firmware instructions 119.
The host system 100 may require the SDK layer 118 to access the nonvolatile memory storage device 111. Since the operating system to be used differs depending on the host system 100, the SDK layers 118 having different versions are required. This is troublesome for the storage device provider, and may interfere with the user who uses the nonvolatile memory storage device 111.

In one embodiment, the SDK layer 118 is not required to access the non-volatile memory storage device 111A, or a partial SDK layer 120 (a thin version of the SDK layer 118) (referred to as a “thin SDK layer”) is simplified. An architecture is provided. FIG. 1D shows a block diagram of a top-level architecture that communicates with the non-volatile memory storage device 111A in a platform-independent format. The non-volatile memory storage device 111A includes all components of the non-volatile memory storage device 111, and also includes a command analysis module 122 that cooperates with the host system 100, which will be described later.
The command analysis module 122 analyzes a command transmitted from the host system 100 through the storage driver 121 and the thin SDK layer 120. Since these commands take a general-purpose format, it is not necessary to prepare a separate SDK layer 118 for each host system.

  The command analysis module 122 is an XML parser in one embodiment. XML is an abbreviation for standard markup language (Extensible Markup language) defined by the W3C consortium, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. XML is a text-based markup language that is becoming popular. Similar to HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), data is identified using tags (identifiers enclosed in angle brackets, etc.). Both of these tags are called “markups”. However, unlike HTML, XML tags do not specify the way data is displayed, but identify data. The HTML tag specifies “display this data in bold font” (<b>... </ B>), but the XML tag acts like a field name in the program. XML tags can be customized depending on the type of application. The command analysis module 122 of this embodiment can receive and interpret an XML tag (command) from the host system 100.

  Between the partial SDK layer 120 and the command analysis module 122, XML tags corresponding to various file system commands such as read, write, delete, and directory creation commands are defined. An XML tag transmitted by the host system 100 may include execution instructions for a plurality of operations such as directory creation, data writing, and data reading. In executing the operation, the command analysis module 122 extracts information related to the operation and notifies an appropriate component / module (such as the microcontroller 114) of the nonvolatile memory storage device 111A.

FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram of a process for communicating with the non-volatile memory storage device 111A using the thin SDK layer 120 or not using the SDK layer 118. This process starts in step S200 in which the host system 100 transmits a query command to the nonvolatile memory storage device 111A. In step S202, information related to functions supported by the nonvolatile memory storage device 111A is transmitted from the nonvolatile memory storage device 111A.
In step S204, the host system 100 transmits a platform-independent command. The platform independent format means that the command format does not depend on the operating system / environment of the host system 100. For example, XML is a platform independent format.
The command analysis module 122 analyzes the command (or tag) in step S206, and extracts information about an arbitrary operation requested by the host system 100. Information of a plurality of operations can be put in one tag. The command analysis module 122 notifies the module that should execute the operation.
In step S <b> 208, if an operation is executed and the host system 100 desires a response, the command analysis module 122 sends a response back to the host system 100.

Hereinafter, an example of using an XML tag according to an embodiment will be introduced. The host system in this example may send a directory creation command. The italic text described below indicates the XML tag used to perform this operation. If the directory name is entered in the tag “Path” and the host wants to know the status, the “return status” of the operation is accumulated in the tag “RetStatus”. An XML tag for creating a directory is shown below.
<FileSystemOperation>
<OpType> CreateDirectory </ OpType>
<Parameters>
<Path>"0: \\ MyDir \\ MyMusic"</Path>
</ Parameters>
<RetStatus></RetStatus>
</ FileSystemOperation>

FIG. 3 shows an example of using the processing steps of FIG. The host system 100 in this example is a mobile phone. For example, the host system 100 prepares an XML tag (for example, a packet / file “write SNDK.XML”) for creating a directory. This XML tag is identified by the file system operation. If the operation specified by the XML tag is not supported, the nonvolatile memory storage device 111A can return a response (or status) “Interface_Not_Supported” to that effect.
The firmware 119 determines the presence / absence of an operation command using the XML tag prior to writing the tag. This can be accomplished by using a special identifier that firmware 119 can use to identify file system operations.
The command analysis module 122 intercepts the XML packet and notifies the appropriate module to perform the requested operation. After the operation is executed, the command analysis module 122 transmits a status XML packet to the host system 100.
The host system 100 can read back the tag when it is desired to check the operation status. For example, in FIG. 3, “SD_SUCCESS” is returned as a result of creating “0: \\ myDir \\ MyMusic”.
In one embodiment, a partial SDK layer may be required or an SDK layer may be unnecessary when communicating with a nonvolatile memory storage device and accessing its functions.

In the above description of the embodiment, a non-volatile memory storage device is used. However, a storage that uses hardware / software such as a memory controller or a state machine in cooperation with a hard disk, a tape drive, or other types of host systems. It should be noted that the above-described embodiments can be implemented with any type of storage device, such as a device.
While an explanation has been given of what is presently considered to be the preferred embodiment, it should be understood that the description is not limited to that described above. On the contrary, the description herein is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims (18)

A method for the storage device,
Receiving a file from the host system the storage device,
Determining whether the received file includes a command requesting an operation by the storage device;
In response to determining that the file includes a command requesting an operation by the storage device,
Interpreting the command by a command analysis module of the storage device;
Extracting information about operation from the command by the command analysis module;
The content of the received file is modified to include a response to be sent to the host system after an operation is performed by the storage device, the modified file is written to the storage device, and the modified file is written by the host system. in response to the requesting to read the to the storage device by returning the file to the host system, after performing the operation, by the command analysis module, and transmits a response to the host system step And
In response to determining that the command requesting an operation by the storage device is not included in the file, writing the file to the storage device;
Including methods. The method of claim 1, wherein
A method in which information related to a plurality of operations is embedded in the command. The method of claim 1, wherein
The command analysis module provides information related to the operation to a module of the storage apparatus. The method of claim 3, wherein
The method wherein the module is a microcontroller. The method of claim 1, wherein
The command analysis module is an XML parser. The method of claim 1, wherein
The storage device is a non-volatile memory storage device. The method of claim 1, wherein
A method of determining whether or not the file includes a command for requesting an operation by the storage device, based on a firmware code of the storage device . The method of claim 1 , wherein
The command analysis module cooperates with the host system through a partial software layer. The method of claim 1, wherein
Wherein the storage device, how Ru provided with a flash memory drive or a flash memory card provides removable storage to the host system. A storage device,
A command analysis module,
Receive files from the host system,
Determine whether the received file includes a command for requesting an operation by the storage device,
In response to determining that the file includes a command requesting an operation by the storage device,
Interpret the command,
Extract information about the operation from the command,
The content of the received file is modified to include a response to be sent to the host system after an operation is performed by the storage device, the modified file is written to the storage device, and the modified file is written by the host system. In response to issuing a request to read to the storage device, sending a response to the host system after performing an operation by returning the file to the host system, and
The command requesting the operation by the storage device in response to the fact that it is determined to be not included in the file, Bei obtain storage device command analysis module for writing said file to said storage device. The storage apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein
A storage device in which information related to a plurality of operations is embedded in the command. The storage apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein
The command analysis module is a storage device that provides information related to the operation to a module of the storage device. The storage apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein
The module is a storage device that is a microcontroller. The storage apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein
The command analysis module is a storage device that is an XML parser. The storage apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein
The storage device is a non-volatile memory storage device. The storage apparatus according to claim 10, wherein
A storage apparatus that determines, based on a firmware code of the storage apparatus, whether the file includes a command that requests an operation by the storage apparatus. The storage apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein
The command analysis module is a storage device that cooperates with the host system via a partial software layer. The storage apparatus according to claim 10, wherein
The storage apparatus includes a flash memory drive or a flash memory card that provides removable storage to the host system.

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