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Computer Organization Case study -2

Solid-state drive

A solid-state drive (SSD) is a solid-state storage device that uses integrated circuit
assemblies as memory to store data persistently. SSD technology primarily uses electronic
interfaces compatible with traditional block input/output (I/O) hard disk drives (HDDs), which
permit simple replacements in common applications. New I/O interfaces like SATA Express
and M.2 have been designed to address specific requirements of the SSD technology.

SSDs have no moving mechanical components. This distinguishes them from traditional
electromechanical magnetic disks such as hard disk drives (HDDs) or floppy disks, which
contain spinning disks and movable read/write heads. Compared with electromechanical
disks, SSDs are typically more resistant to physical shock, run silently, and have lower access
time and lower latency.

As of 2017, most SSDs use 3D TLC NAND-based flash memory, which is a type of non-volatile
memory that retains data when power is lost. For applications requiring fast access but not
necessarily data persistence after power loss, SSDs may be constructed from random-access
memory (RAM). Such devices may employ batteries as integrated power sources to retain
data for a certain amount of time after external power is lost.

NAND flash

NAND flash also uses floating-gate transistors, but they are connected in a way that resembles
a NAND gate: several transistors are connected in series, and the bit line is pulled low only if
all the word lines are pulled high (above the transistors' VT). These groups are then connected
via some additional transistors to a NOR-style bit line array in the same way that single
transistors are linked in NOR flash.

NAND flash might address it by page, word and bit. Bit-level addressing suits bit-serial
applications (such as hard disk emulation), which access only one bit at a time. Execute-in-
place applications, on the other hand, require every bit in a word to be accessed
simultaneously. This requires word-level addressing.

To read data, first the desired group is selected next, most of the word lines are pulled up
above the VT of a programmed bit, while one of them is pulled up to just over the VT of an
erased bit. The series group will conduct (and pull the bit line low) if the selected bit has not
been programmed.

Writing and erasing NAND flash uses tunnel injection for writing and tunnel release for erasing.
NAND flash memory forms the core of the removable USB storage devices known as USB
flash drives, as well as most memory card formats and solid-state drives available today.
Architecture and function

Every SSD includes a Controller that incorporates the electronics that bridge the NAND
memory components to the host computer. The controller is an embedded processor that
executes firmware-level code and is one of the most important factors of SSD performance
Some of the functions performed by the controller include:

Bad block mapping


Read and write caching
Encryption
Error detection and correction via Error-correcting code (ECC)
Garbage collection
Read scrubbing and read disturb management
Wear levelling

The performance of an SSD can scale with the number of parallel NAND flash chips used in
the device. A single NAND chip is relatively slow, due to the narrow (8/16 bit) asynchronous
I/O interface, and additional high latency of basic I/O operations (typical for SLC NAND, ~25 s
to fetch a 4 KB page from the array to the I/O buffer on a read, ~250 s to commit a 4 KB page
from the IO buffer to the array on a write, ~2 ms to erase a 256 KB block). When multiple
NAND devices operate in parallel inside an SSD, the bandwidth scales, and the high latencies
can be hidden, as long as enough outstanding operations are pending and the load is evenly
distributed between devices.

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