Memory management schemes for non-volatile memory devices

Abstract

A method includes storing data in a non-volatile memory that includes multiple memory blocks. At least first and second regions are defined in the non-volatile memory. A definition is made of a first over-provisioning ratio between a first logical address space and a first physical memory space of the first region, and a second over-provisioning ratio, different from the first over-provisioning ratio, between a second logical address space and a second physical memory space of the second region. Portions of the data are compacted, individually within each of the first and second regions and independently of the other region, by copying the portions from one or more source memory blocks to one or more destination memory blocks using the first and second over-provisioning ratios, respectively.

1 . An apparatus, comprising:
 a memory including a plurality of memory cells; and   a controller coupled to the memory, wherein the controller is configured to:
 receive data from a host for storage in the memory; 
 store the data using a first storage density in response to a determination that the data is included in a file of a first file type; and 
 store the data using a second storage density in response to a determination that the data is included in a file of a second file type. 
   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the first file type includes sensitive files, and wherein the second file type includes non-sensitive files. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the first storage density is less than the second storage density. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein to store the data using the first storage density, the controller is further configured to store the data using a first number of data bits per memory cell, and wherein to store the data using the second storage density, the controller is further configured to store the data using a second number of data bits per memory cell, wherein the second number of data bits is greater than the first number of data bits. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein to receive the data from the host for storage, the controller is further configured to identify a file header included in the data. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein each memory cell of the plurality of memory cells includes a non-volatile memory cell. 
     
     
         7 . A method, comprising:
 receiving data from a host for storage in a memory;   storing the data in the memory using a first storage density in response to determining that the data is included in a file of a first file type; and   storing the data in the memory using a second storage density in response to determining that the data is included in a file of a second file type.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the first file type includes sensitive files, and wherein the second file type include non-sensitive file. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the first storage density is less than the second storage density. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein storing the data using the first storage density includes storing the data using a first number of data bits per memory cell, and wherein storing the data using the second storage density includes storing the data using a second number of data bits per memory cell. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the first file type includes file included in a file allocation table (FAT). 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein receiving the data from the host for storage includes identifying a file header included in the data. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the memory includes a plurality of non-volatile memory cells. 
     
     
         14 . A system, comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory configured to:
 receive data from the processor; 
 store the data using a first storage density in the response to a determination that the data is included in a file of a first file type; and 
 store the data using a second storage density in response to a determination that the data is included in a file of a second file type. 
   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the first file type includes sensitive files, and wherein the second file type includes non-sensitive files. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the first storage density is less than the second storage density. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein to store the data using the first storage density, the memory is further configured to store the data using a first number of data bits per memory cell, and wherein to store the data using the second storage density, the memory is further configured to store the data using a second number of data bits per cells, wherein the second number of data bits is greater than the first number of data bits. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein to receive the data from the host for storage, the memory is further configured to identify a file header included in the data. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the first file type includes file included in a file allocation table (FAT). 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the memory includes a plurality of non-volatile memory cells.