Abstract: A memory management method applicable to a data storage device is provided. The memory management method includes steps of: requesting a private memory space from a host; recording a reserved memory space given by the host; dividing a mapping table into a plurality of sub-mapping tables; determining whether a capacity of the reserved memory space is sufficient to store the sub-mapping tables; and if yes, uploading the sub-mapping tables to the reserved memory space via an interface logic.

Abstract: A garbage collection method is provided and applied to a data storage device. The garbage collection method includes the following steps: selecting source blocks from data blocks, wherein a total number of valid data of the source blocks is larger than or equal to a predetermined data number of a block; copying valid data of a part of the source blocks into a destination block, wherein a total number of the valid data of the part of the source blocks is smaller than the predetermined data number; copying all or a part of valid data of remaining source blocks into the destination block; updating a logical to physical addresses mapping table based on a mapping information of the destination block; and recovering all or a part of the source blocks as spare blocks.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for executing host commands, which is performed by a host interface in a flash controller, to include: determining whether a preset number of successive unaligned host long-write commands have been detected, where a first starting logical block address (LBA) number of data to be written, which is requested by each unaligned host long-write command, does not align with a first physical page of one super page; if so, calculating an offset, so that a second starting LBA number of data to be written, which is requested by a host write command, plus the offset aligns with a first physical page of one super page; generating a third starting LBA number by adding the offset to the second starting LBA number; and storing an entry in an LBA shifting table, which includes information about the second starting LBA number and the offset.

Abstract: A method for performing memory access of a Flash cell of a Flash memory includes: performing a plurality of sensing operations respectively corresponding to a plurality of sensing voltages to generate a first digital value and a second digital value of the Flash cell, the second digital value representing at least one candidate threshold voltage of the Flash cell; determining a threshold voltage of the Flash cell according to whether the at least one candidate threshold voltage is high or low; determining soft information of a bit stored in the Flash cell according to the threshold voltage of the Flash cell; and using the soft information to perform soft decoding.

Abstract: A method for performing access management in a memory device, the associated memory device and the controller thereof, and the associated electronic device are provided. The method may include: receiving a host command and a logical address from a host device; performing a checking operation to obtain a checking result, for determining whether to load a logical-to-physical (L2P) table from the NV memory to a random access memory (RAM) of the memory device; reading the target data and associated metadata from the NV memory, wherein a latest version of the L2P table is available in the RAM when reading the target data from the NV memory is performed; and checking whether a recorded logical address within the metadata and the logical address received from the host device are equivalent to each other, to control whether to send the target data to the host device.

Abstract: A method for performing memory access management with aid of machine learning in a memory device, the associated memory device and the controller thereof, and the associated electronic device are provided. The method may include: in the memory device, during a training phase, performing machine learning according to a predetermined database regarding threshold voltage distribution, to generate at least one threshold voltage identification model, wherein the at least one threshold voltage identification model is utilized for determining bit information read from a memory cell of the NV memory; and in the memory device, during an identification phase, obtaining representative information of one or more reference voltages when reading the NV memory, for performing machine identification according to the at least one threshold voltage identification model to generate read data, wherein the read data includes the bit information.

Abstract: The invention introduces an apparatus for handling flash physical-resource sets, at least including a random access memory (RAM), a processing unit and an address conversion circuit. The RAM includes multiple segments of temporary space and each segment thereof stores variables associated with a specific flash physical-resource set. The processing unit accesses user data of a flash physical-resource set when executing program code of a Flash Translation Layer (FTL). The address conversion circuit receives a memory address issued from the FTL, converts the memory address into a relative address of one segment of temporary space associated with the flash physical-resource set and outputs the relative address to the RAM for accessing a variable of the associated segment of temporary space.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for performing access management of a memory device in a Host Performance Booster (HPB) architecture with aid of device side table information are provided. The method may include: sending internal information of the memory device to a host device, to allow the host device to store the internal information of the memory device in a memory within the host device as host side table information at the host device; generating and storing multiple entries of at least one address mapping control table into a random access memory (RAM) as at least one portion of device side table information at the memory device; determining at least two physical addresses associated with at least two logical addresses according to the at least one address mapping control table; and reading data from the NV memory according to the at least two physical addresses.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for performing on-system phase-locked loop (PLL) management in a memory device are provided. The method may include: utilizing a processing circuit within the memory controller to set multiple control parameters among multiple parameters stored in a register circuit of a transmission interface circuit within the memory controller, for controlling parameter adjustment of a PLL of the transmission interface circuit; utilizing a trimming control circuit to perform the parameter adjustment of the PLL according to the multiple control parameters, to adjust a set of voltage parameters among the multiple parameters, for optimizing a control voltage of a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO); and during the parameter adjustment of the PLL, utilizing the trimming control circuit to generate and store multiple processing results in the register circuit, for being sent back to the processing circuit, to complete the parameter adjustment of the PLL, thereby achieving the on-system PLL management.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for performing access control of a memory device with aid of a multi-phase memory-mapped queue are provided. The method includes: receiving a first host command from a host device; and in response to the first host command, utilizing a processing circuit within the controller to send a first operation command to the NV memory through a control logic circuit of the controller, and trigger a first set of secondary processing circuits within the controller to operate and interact via the multi-phase memory-mapped queue, for accessing the first data for the host device, wherein the processing circuit and the first set of secondary processing circuits share the multi-phase memory-mapped queue, and use the multi-phase memory-mapped queue as multiple chained message queues associated with multiple phases, respectively, for performing message queuing for a chained processing architecture including the processing circuit and the first set of secondary processing circuits.

Abstract: The invention relates to methods, and an apparatus for data reads in a host performance acceleration (HPA) mode. One method is performed in a host side to include: obtaining a value of an extended device-specific data (Ext_CSD) register in a flash controller from the flash controller, where the host side and the flash controller communicate with each other in an embedded multi-media card (eMMC) protocol; and allocating space in a system memory as an HPA buffer, and storing a plurality of first logical-block-address to physical-block-address (L2P) mapping entries obtained from the flash controller when the value of the Ext_CSD register comprises information indicating that an HPA function is supported, where each L2P mapping entry stores information indicating which physical address that user data of a corresponding logical address is physically stored in a flash device.

Abstract: The invention introduces a method for performing data writes into a flash memory, at least including the steps: determining whether at least one host write command that requires to process immediately is presented in a submission queue (SQ) before performing a portion of a Host-Flash mapping (H2F) table update or a GC process; and executing the host write command that requires to process immediately in a batch and then performing the portion of the H2F table update or the GC process when the determination is positive.

Abstract: The present invention provides a control method of a flash memory controller, wherein the flash memory controller is configured to access a flash memory module, and the control method includes the steps of: receiving a settling command from a host device to configure a portion of the flash memory module as a zoned namespace; and determining a number of blocks within each block according to a size of each zone and a size of each block within the flash memory module.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method for accessing a secure digital (SD) card, which includes a voltage supply pin for receiving voltage supply from a host, at least one ground pin, a clock pin for receiving a clock signal from a host, a command pin for receiving a command from a host, and four data pins for writing data into the SD card or reading data from the SD card. The method includes receiving, via the command pin, an address extension command including a first address from a host, receiving, via the command pin, an access command including a second address from a host, and accessing, via the data pins, at least a memory location of the SD card indicated by a third address, which is a combination of the first address and the second address. The access command indicates an access operation to be performed on the SD card selected from: a single read operation, a single write operation, a multiple read operation, a multiple write operation and an erase operation.

Abstract: The invention introduces an apparatus for segmenting a data stream, installed in a physical layer, to include a host interface, a data register and a boundary detector. The data register is arranged to operably store data received from the host side through the host interface. The boundary detector is arranged to operably detect the content of the data register. When the data register includes a boundary-lock pattern or a special symbol, the boundary detector outputs a starting address that the boundary-lock pattern or the special symbol is stored in the data register to an offset register to update a value stored in the offset register, thereby enabling a stream splitter to divide data bits of the data register according to the updated value of the offset register.

Abstract: An efficient mapping information management technology for non-volatile memory is disclosed. When a host requests to access data of a first logical address, a microprocessor of a controller of the non-volatile memory loads a first sub-mapping table from the non-volatile memory to a volatile memory. The microprocessor loads hierarchical pointer tables related to the first logical address into the volatile memory. Among the hierarchical pointer tables, each higher-level pointer table lists non-volatile memory physical addresses of lower-level pointer tables. A non-volatile memory physical address of the first sub-mapping table is obtained from a first pointer table according to a first index, for the microprocessor to load the first sub-mapping table from the non-volatile memory into the volatile memory for mapping information of the first logical address, and the first pointer table is in the lowest level among the hierarchical pointer tables loaded in the volatile memory.

Abstract: The invention introduces a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for adjusting operating frequencies when executed by a processing unit of a device, containing program code to: collect an interface-activity parameter comprising information about data transmissions on a host access interface and/or a flash access interface; select one from multiple frequencies according to the interface-activity parameter; and drive a clock generator to output a clock signal at the selected frequency, thereby enabling the host access interface and/or the flash access interface to operate at an operating frequency.

Abstract: The present invention provides a flash memory controller, wherein the flash memory controller is arranged to access a flash memory module, and the flash memory controller includes a ROM, a microprocessor and a time-management circuit. The ROM stores a program code, the microprocessor is configured to execute the program code to control the access of the flash memory module, and the time-management circuit is configured to generate current time information. In the operations of the flash memory controller, when the microprocessor writes data into last pages of a specific block of the flash memory module, the microprocessor writes the time information generated by the time-management circuit into one of the last pages of the specific block.

Abstract: The present invention provides a server including a SSD, a first node and a second node, wherein the first node comprises a first processor and a first memory, and the second node comprises a second processor and a second memory. When the first processor receives data from another device via network, the first processor stores the data in the first memory, and the first processor further sends the data to the second node; when the second processor receives the data from the first node, the second processor stores the data in the second memory, and the second processor further sends a notification to the first node to inform that the data is successfully stored in the second memory; and after and only after the first processor receives the notification from the second node, the first processor starts to write the data into the SSD.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method performed by a secure digital (SD) card supporting both an SD mode and a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) mode for initializing the SD card. The method includes: (a) after receiving a first supply voltage through a first voltage supply pin from a host coupled to the SD card, entering the SD mode if the SD card is not in the PCIe mode and a CMD0 command for entering the SD mode is received through a command pin from the host coupled to the SD card; and (b) after receiving the first supply voltage through the first voltage supply pin from the host coupled to the SD card, performing a PCIe linkup process if the SD card is not in the SD mode and a second supply voltage is received through a second voltage supply pin from the host coupled to the SD card. The SD card enters the PCIe mode if the PCIe linkup process succeeds.