KR20090123674A - Soild state drive usable for a plurality of drive - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An SSD(Solid State Drive) for implementing plural drives is provided to improve data management efficiency by implementing the plural drives as well as HDD(Hard Disk Drive). CONSTITUTION: A first host interface(110) is connected to a host(10). A second host interface(120) is connected to the host. A central control unit(100) independently processes data, transmitted through the first host interface, and data transmitted through the second host interface. A flash memory(130) stores the data processed in the central control unit. In a single mode, the whole area of the flash memory is used. In a multiple mode, the flash memory is divided into two or more areas.

Description

SOILD STATE DRIVE USABLE FOR A PLURALITY OF DRIVE

The present invention relates to a solid state drive, and more particularly to a solid state drive in which a plurality of drives can be implemented.

A hard disk or a fixed disk is one of the secondary storage devices of a computer. It's called 'hard' because it's a hard platter, unlike a floppy disk made of soft material such as film. In general, it is widely used as an indispensable storage device for the operating system of a personal computer.

Recently, a solid state drive (SSD) method has been proposed as a technology capable of solving performance degradation due to a bottleneck during data input / output in a data processing device such as a computer or a notebook computer.

Solid state drives are flash memory-based data storage devices that eliminate the motors and mechanical drives essential to conventional hard disk drives (HDDs). In addition, it is widely used as a next-generation storage device to replace the existing hard disk because it is not only resistant to external shocks but also shows a performance improvement of several tens of times compared to a conventional hard disk.

One or more solid state drives may be mounted in a desktop computer, for example, two, one solid state drive may be used as a program hard disk, and the other solid state drive may be used as a storage hard disk to store data. There is an effect to increase the management efficiency.

However, in a small data processing device such as a notebook, the internal space is very narrow, and many solid state drives cannot be mounted, which causes a problem of inefficient data management.

In addition, although the size and weight of notebooks have recently become smaller, additional devices such as a floppy disk drive (FDD) in addition to the hard disk drive are added, causing a limitation in reducing the size of the notebook.

In the above-described background art, an object of the present invention is to provide a solid state drive that can implement not only a hard disk drive but also a plurality of drives using one solid state drive to improve data management efficiency.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a solid state drive may include a first host interface unit 110 connected to a host 10, and a second host interface unit connected to the host 10. 120, the central control unit 100 and the central control unit 100 independently processing data transmitted through the first host interface unit 110 and data transmitted through the second host interface unit 120. Including a flash memory unit 130 for storing the data to be processed, a single mode using the entire area of the flash memory unit 130 according to the setting and the multiple uses to divide the flash memory unit 130 into two or more areas It is characterized by being used in mode.

In the single mode, the solid state drive may be used as a hard disk drive, and in the multi mode, the solid state drive may be used as two or more drives, including at least one of a floppy disk drive, a home drive, and a super drive. have.

The first host interface unit 110 supports at least one of an ATA protocol, a PATA protocol, and a SATA protocol, and the second host interface unit 120 supports at least one of a USB protocol, an IDE protocol, and a SCSI protocol. Can be.

If the second host interface unit 120 supports two or more interface protocols, an emulation module may be further included.

In the multi-mode mode, data transmitted through the first host interface unit 110 is stored in a first area of the flash memory unit 130 and data transmitted through the second host interface unit 120. May be stored in a second area of the flash memory unit 130.

At system startup, a data image of a specific format among data images stored in the first area of the flash memory unit 130 is copied to the second area, and data stored in the second area of the flash memory unit 130 is stored. Data images of a specific format among the images may be copied to the first area.

Of the data images stored in the first area of the flash memory unit 130, a data image selected by a user through a host program is copied to the second area and stored in the second area of the flash memory unit 130. The data image selected by the user through the host program among the data images may be copied to the first area.

When the system starts, a data image of a specific format among data images stored in the first area of the flash memory unit 130 is converted into an address value for the second area by converting an address value for the second area into an address value for the first area. The data image of a specific format among data images stored as data stored in the second area of the flash memory unit 130 is converted into an address value for the first area by the address value for the second area. It can be output as data stored in the area.

A data image selected by a user through a host program among data images stored in the first area of the flash memory unit 130 is converted into an address value of the first area by converting an address value of the second area into an address value of the first area. The data image, which is output as data stored in the data image selected by the user through a host program among data images stored in the second area of the flash memory unit 130, has an address value of the first area. The data may be output as data stored in the first area by converting to.

According to the present invention, one solid state drive can be used as if two or more drives are mounted, and can be implemented as various types of storage devices. Therefore, the solid state drive according to the present invention has an effect of increasing data management efficiency.

It can also be used to replace a separate internal or external drive used to perform program recovery, boot to change the computer operating system (OS), basic input / output system (BIOS) SETUP, and firmware upgrade (F / W). Can be.

In addition, the present invention has the effect of reducing the size of a personal computer, notebook, etc. because one solid state drive can implement not only the hard disk drive but also the functions of various other drives at the same time.

In addition, disk switching is also possible since multiple additional drives can be configured. For example, in a program configured to use a plurality of floppy disks for program installation, a user can replace a disk without installing / dismounting a device even when an additional floppy disk is required during installation.

In addition, by switching modes, the user can maximize the convenience of the user by simultaneously using the hard disk drive and another drive without a separate program or key manipulation.

In addition, by using multiple host interfaces and adding emulation as needed, you can expand the available drives to reduce the extra cost and hassle of adding drives.

In addition, the memory capacity of the additional drive on the flash memory is not fixed to one value and may be variously changed according to the type and number of additional drives. This will allow for more variety of drives to be added without being limited in multiple modes.

Hereinafter, a configuration and implementation method of a solid state drive capable of recognizing a plurality of drives will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the above and the following description, the solid state drive may be replaced by a solid state disk (Solid State Disk, SSD).

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a solid state drive recognizable by a plurality of drives according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The solid state drive according to the present exemplary embodiment includes a central control unit 100, a first host interface unit 110, a second host interface unit 120, and a flash memory unit 130.

The central control unit 100 allocates a logical address for data input / output and controls data input / output of the flash memory unit 130 and the host interface units 110 and 120 through a logical-physical address mapping algorithm.

The first host interface unit 110 and the second host interface unit 120 are connected to the external host 10 through a bus to receive a data signal from the host 10, and communicate with the host 10 according to a predetermined protocol. The interface is performed. When a plurality of host interfaces are implemented in one solid state drive according to the present embodiment, each host interface may be connected to the host through a different port.

The first host interface 110 and the second host interface 120 may interface with an external host through an ATA protocol, a PATA protocol, a SATA protocol, an ATAPI protocol, a USB protocol, an IDE protocol, and a SCSI protocol. .

Each host interface may be implemented such that different interface protocols are supported. For example, the first host interface unit 110 supports one or more of the ATA protocol, the PATA protocol, the SATA protocol, and the ATAPI protocol, and the second host interface unit 120 supports the USB protocol, the IDE protocol, and the SCSI. It can be implemented to support one or more of the protocols.

When implemented to support two or more protocols in one host interface, the solid state drive according to the present embodiment is configured to further include an emulation module in the central controller 100 or an interface logic unit (not shown) that is separately implemented. Can be.

The emulation module identifies the data for each protocol, processes them independently for each protocol, and operates so that the processed data can be stored in flash memory. For example, this emulation module includes two or more registers that store data processing instructions, each register having a different data processing instruction. The central control unit 100 may perform data input / output independently for each protocol by a register-specific processing instruction of the emulation module.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, when one solid state drive may be recognized as a plurality of drives, when a data processing in a format different from that of a hard disk drive is required, the solid state drive may operate in multiple modes without additional setting. Or, it may be operated in one of a single mode and multiple modes according to user settings. Here single mode refers to the mode in which the solid state drive is recognized as one drive, for example a hard disk drive, and multimode refers to the solid state drive as multiple drives, for example a hard disk drive and a floppy disk drive. Indicates the mode to be.

Mode switching between the single mode and the multiple mode may be performed by receiving selection information from a user by executing a host program at the start of the solid state drive driving. Even if the solid state drive is already running, you will be able to switch modes by running the host program if necessary. Of course, the mode may be switched through a separate user interface 140, for example, a switch mounted outside the solid state drive.

When the multi-mode is configured through mode switching, additional drive information may be input from the user through the above-described host program. Here, the type of drive that may be added may be, for example, a floppy disk drive, a home drive, a super drive, or the like. In this case, the protocol supported by the second host interface unit 120 described above may be determined according to the additional drive type.

The flash memory unit 130 includes at least one flash memory, which is one of nonvolatile memory devices for storing data, and the signal processed by the central controller 100 is stored in a memory area of a designated address of the flash memory. do.

The flash memory unit 130 according to the present exemplary embodiment may be divided into two or more areas by the central control unit 100 to separate and store a plurality of drive data according to multiple modes when the multi-mode is set to multiple modes. Through such a region division, a plurality of drives may be displayed on the user interface 140, for example, a monitor, so that the user may recognize that the plurality of drives are mounted.

In addition, data processed independently for each host interface by the central controller 100 are stored in different areas. For example, assume that the flash memory unit 130 is divided into a first area and a second area. Then, data transmitted / received through the first host interface unit 110 and data transmitted / received through the second host interface unit 120 are processed independently, and respectively, the first area and the second area of the flash memory unit 130. That is, they can be stored in different areas.

In this case, the memory capacity of each region may be set using a value received from a user by executing a host program similarly to the above-described mode switching method. For example, the memory capacity may be set in various ways from 1.44MB, 2.88MB to 100MB, 120MB, 200MB, 260MB, 750MB, etc. according to the additional drive type and capacity.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of implementing a solid state drive recognizable by a plurality of drives according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the single mode solid state drive is used as a hard disk drive.

First, in step S200, the solid state drive receives control information and data from the host through at least one of the first host interface 110 and the second host interface 120. Then, the received control information and data are confirmed. The control information may include information set by the user through the host program.

In operation S210, it is checked whether the solid state drive is set to a single mode or a multi mode. If the check result of step S210 is set to a single mode, the operation as a hard disk drive in step S220.

However, if it is determined in step S210 that the mode is set to the multi mode, the drive type set by the user and the allocated memory capacity of each drive are checked in step S230 to set the variable for each drive, and in step S240, the corresponding memory area is allocated to the area for each drive. Determine. In operation S260, the controller operates as a hard disk drive and an additional drive, for example, a floppy disk drive.

3 is a diagram illustrating a logical structure and a method of implementing a flash memory included in a solid state drive recognizable by a plurality of drives according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example in which the flash memory included in the solid state drive is divided into two or more regions because the solid state drive is set to the multi-mode. According to FIG. 3, the solid state drive is largely divided into two regions, the first region 30 and the second region 31. The first area 30 is used for a hard disk drive, and the second area 31 is used for a floppy disk drive. In addition, the second area 31 may be classified as one floppy disk drive size and may be recognized as having a plurality of floppy disk drives.

When the flash memory areas are divided as illustrated in FIG. 3, data received through the first host interface unit 110 and data received through the second host interface unit 120 are processed independently of each other. Data received through the first host interface unit 110 is stored in the first region 30 of the flash memory, and data received through the second host interface unit 120 is transferred to the second region 31 of the flash memory. Stored.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of implementing a solid state drive recognizable by a plurality of drives according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 4, a method of processing a data image when a data format of a specific format is already stored in an arbitrary region of the flash memory before the solid state drive is converted to and used in the multi mode will be described.

The data image herein means a series of data stored in the original format on the hard disk drive. The above series of data may perform certain functions, and may be stored in a different drive format if the data is in a different drive format from the hard disk drive. For example, the data image may be a boot image in which the contents of the bootable floppy disk are sequentially read and stored on the hard disk drive in the form of a floppy disk drive.

In the method illustrated in FIG. 4, the description of steps S200 to S240 is the same as the description of the corresponding step in FIG. However, in the present embodiment, the control information received in step S200 may further include information related to data image processing of a specific format. This information may include information on the presence / absence of a data image of a specific format, information on a method of processing the data image, and / or information on selecting a part of a plurality of data images, and the like. Can be determined.

Here, the processing for the data image may be implemented by copying or moving a data image of a specific format to a drive area that supports the specific format. Copying here means a process of retaining the data image that was originally stored and adding the data image as it is to the area created by the multi-mode switching. The move means a process of deleting the data image that was originally stored and adding the data image as it is to the area created by the multi-mode switching.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the solid state drive is used in the multi-mode through the user interface or the like and the memory area for each drive is already allocated, the operations for steps S200 to S240 may be omitted.

In step S260, it is checked whether a data image of a specific format is stored according to the present embodiment. This can be confirmed through the format information of the stored data, and can also be confirmed through the control information transmitted from the host. When confirming through the control information, information related to data image processing can be further confirmed.

If the result of the check in step S260 does not include a stored data image or a response to deny copying or moving even if there is a data image, the step S270 operates as a hard disk drive and an added drive, for example, a floppy disk drive without additional operations. . The initial floppy disk drive area is empty.

If there is a stored data image as a result of checking in step S260 or if the response is affirmative to copy or move, the data image stored in the hard disk drive area in step S280 may be copied or moved to the area allocated to the added drive.

If there is a data image of a specific format in step S260, the data image of a specific format stored in the hard disk drive area may be recognized at system startup or program startup, so that the processing of the data image may be automatically performed in step S280.

This method is more effective when the hard disk drive is damaged and booting from the hard disk is not possible and emergency recovery using a floppy disk is required. In other words, in the hard disk drive area of the solid state drive that has been switched to multi-mode, the floppy disk for emergency recovery is recognized by automatically recognizing a data image of a floppy disk drive type stored in advance and automatically copying or moving it to the floppy disk drive area. Could be replaced.

When emergency recovery using a floppy disk is required, the solid state drive according to the present embodiment can be used as a hard disk drive, so that a program can be recovered without adding an additional auxiliary storage device such as a floppy disk drive.

Meanwhile, when there is information related to data image processing of a specific format input by a user through the above-described host program, processing for copying or moving may be performed according to the user's selection. For example, when a plurality of data images are stored, information about some selected data images may be received as information related to data image processing to copy or move only the data images selected in step S280.

In operation S290, the hard disk drive and the added drive, for example, operate as a floppy disk drive. At this time, the initial floppy disk drive area will contain the data image stored in the copy or move process in step S280.

5 and 6 illustrate a logical structure and a method of implementing a flash memory included in a solid state drive recognizable by a plurality of drives according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

First, FIG. 5 illustrates an example of implementing the method described with reference to FIG. 4 based on the flash memory structure illustrated in FIG. 3. That is, FIG. 5 shows a method of copying or moving the data image 51 of the floppy disk drive stored in the hard disk drive area 50 to the floppy disk drive area 52 created by the multi-mode switching. Such an operation may be performed at system startup or host program startup.

6 illustrates an example of implementing the flash memory structure illustrated in FIG. 3 according to a method different from that described with reference to FIG. 4. That is, instead of copying or moving a data image directly to an area allocated as an additional drive, if there is a data input / output command to the floppy disk drive, the hard disk drive area 60 in which the data image 61 related to the data is stored is stored. The method of reading and outputting a data image from the hard disk drive area 60 through the converted address value by converting to an address of.

This method does not read data stored in the area allocated to the floppy disk drive, but the user may recognize that the data is read from the floppy disk drive area.

In the above description, the data image of the floppy disk drive is present in the hard disk drive area. However, the same method may be applied to the case where the data of the hard disk drive is in the floppy disk drive area. In addition, in using a solid state drive in multiple modes, a user may perform data movement between a plurality of drives in the same manner as when a plurality of drives are actually provided.

As described above, according to the present invention, one solid state drive may be used as if two or more drives are mounted, and various types of storage devices may be implemented. Therefore, the solid state drive according to the present invention has an effect of increasing data management efficiency.

Although described above with reference to the drawings and embodiments, those skilled in the art that the present invention can be variously modified and changed within the scope without departing from the spirit of the invention described in the claims below I can understand.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a solid state drive recognizable by a plurality of drives according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of implementing a solid state drive recognizable by a plurality of drives according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a diagram illustrating a logical structure and a method of implementing a flash memory included in a solid state drive recognizable by a plurality of drives according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of implementing a solid state drive recognizable by a plurality of drives according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

5 and 6 illustrate a logical structure and a method of implementing a flash memory included in a solid state drive recognizable by a plurality of drives according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of the code | symbol about the principal part of drawings>

10: host 100: central control unit

110: first host interface unit 120: second host interface unit

130: flash memory unit

Claims (9)

A first host interface 110 connected to the host 10; A second host interface unit 120 connected to the host 10; A central control unit (100) for independently processing data transmitted through the first host interface unit (110) and data transmitted through the second host interface unit (120); And Including a flash memory unit 130 for storing the data processed in the central control unit 100, Solid state drive, characterized in that used in a single mode using the entire area of the flash memory unit 130 and a multi-mode using the flash memory unit 130 divided into two or more areas. The method according to claim 1, And wherein the single mode is used as a hard disk drive and the multi mode is used as two or more drives, further including at least one of a floppy disk drive, a home drive, and a super drive. The method according to claim 2, The first host interface unit 110 supports at least one of an ATA protocol, a PATA protocol, a SATA protocol, and an ATAPI protocol, and the second host interface unit 120 includes at least one of a USB protocol, an IDE protocol, and a SCSI protocol. Solid state drive, characterized in that supporting one. The method according to claim 3, If the second host interface (120) supports more than one interface protocol, characterized in that it further comprises an emulation module, solid state drive. The method according to claim 1, In the multi-mode mode, data transmitted through the first host interface unit 110 is stored in a first area of the flash memory unit 130 and data transmitted through the second host interface unit 120. Is stored in a second area of the flash memory unit (130). The method according to claim 5, At system startup, a data image of a specific format among data images stored in the first area of the flash memory unit 130 is copied to the second area, and data stored in the second area of the flash memory unit 130 is stored. And a data image of a specific format of the image is copied to the first area. The method according to claim 5, Of the data images stored in the first area of the flash memory unit 130, a data image selected by a user through a host program is copied to the second area and stored in the second area of the flash memory unit 130. And a data image selected by the user through the host program among the data images is copied to the first area. The method according to claim 5, When the system starts, a data image of a specific format among data images stored in the first area of the flash memory unit 130 is converted into an address value for the second area by converting an address value for the second area into an address value for the first area. The data image of a specific format among data images stored as data stored in the second area of the flash memory unit 130 is converted into an address value for the first area by the address value for the second area. Solid state drive, characterized in that output as data stored in the area. The method according to claim 5, The data image selected by the user through a host program among the data images stored in the first area of the flash memory unit 130 is converted into an address value of the first area by converting an address value of the second area into an address value of the first area. A data image output as data stored in an area and selected by a user through a host program among data images stored in the second area of the flash memory unit 130 has an address value of the first area. And converting the value into a data stored in the first area.

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