Data protection system

Abstract

Systems and methods for logically organizing data for storage and recovery on a data storage medium using a multi-level format are described. Embodiments include systems and methods for protecting data stored on a data storage medium so that the data may be recovered without errors.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A data storage medium including:
 a first partition, the first partition comprising a first contiguous subdivision of the data storage medium within which all data is written in one format and at one density;   first user data residing within the first partition;   a second partition, the second partition comprising a second contiguous subdivision of the data storage medium within which all data is written in one format and at one density; and   a first structure residing within the second partition, wherein the first structure describes a host defined logical block address of the first data and a physical address of the first data in the data storage medium.   
     
     
         2 . The data storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein data density of the first partition differs from data density of the second partition. 
     
     
         3 . The data storage medium of  claim 2 , further comprising error correction residing within the first partition and error correction residing within the second partition, wherein the error correction residing within the first partition differs from the error correction residing within the second partition in either or both of (i) type of error correction code and (ii) amount of data redundancy. 
     
     
         4 . The data storage medium of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 a third partition, the third partition comprising a third contiguous subdivision of the data storage medium within which all data is written in one format and at one density; and   second data residing within the third partition, wherein the first structure further describes a host defined logical block address of the second data and a physical address of the second data in the data storage medium.   
     
     
         5 . The data storage medium of  claim 4 , further comprising a second structure that describes the host defined logical block address of the first data, wherein the second structure resides within the first partition. 
     
     
         6 . The data storage medium of  claim 4 , further comprising error correction residing within the first partition and error correction residing within the second partition, wherein the error correction residing within the first partition differs from the error correction residing within the second partition in either or both of (i) type of error correction code and (ii) amount of data redundancy. 
     
     
         7 . A data storage medium comprising:
 first user data recorded on the data storage medium;   a first data structure recorded on the data storage medium, the first structure describing a host defined logical block address of the first user data and a physical address of the first user data on the data storage medium;   a second data structure recorded on the data storage medium, the second data structure describing the host defined logical block address of the first data and the physical address of the first data on the data storage medium; and   second user data recorded on the data storage medium;   an updated first data structure describing the host defined logical block address of the first data, the physical address of the first data on the data storage medium, a host defined logical block address of the second data, and a physical address of the second data on the data storage medium.   
     
     
         8 . The data storage medium of  claim 7 , wherein the updated first data structure points to the location of the first data structure in the data storage medium. 
     
     
         9 . The data storage medium of  claim 7 , further comprising an updated second data structure describing the host defined logical block address of the first data, the physical address of the first data on the data storage medium, the host defined logical block address of the second data, and the physical address of the second data on the data storage medium. 
     
     
         10 . A method of storing data to a data storage medium, the method comprising:
 receiving a first logical block from a host, the first logical block including first data;   writing the first data to the data storage medium;   creating a first data structure, wherein the first data structure describes a host defined logical block address of the first data and a physical address of the first data on the data storage medium;   writing the first data structure to the data storage medium;   creating a second data structure, wherein the second data structure describes the host defined logical block address of the first data and the physical address of the first data on the data storage medium; and   writing the second data structure to the data storage medium.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 receiving a second logical block from the host, the second logical block including second data;   writing the second data to the data storage medium;   creating an updated first structure by updating the first structure to describe a host defined logical block address of the second data and a physical address of the second data on the data storage medium;   writing the updated first structure to the data storage medium;   creating an updated second structure by updating the second structure to describe the host defined logical block address of the second data and the physical address of the second data on the data storage medium; and   writing the updated second data structure to the data storage medium.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the data storage medium comprises flash memory. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising writing error correction to the data storage medium for each of the first data, the second data, the first data structure, and the second data structure, wherein the error correction for the first data differs from the error correction for the first data structure in either or both of type of error correction code or amount of data redundancy. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the error correction for the first data structure differs from the error correction for the second data structure in either or both of type of error correction code or amount of data redundancy. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the error correction for the first data differs from the error correction for the second data in either or both of type of error correction code or amount of data redundancy. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein a security level for the first data differs from a security level for the second data. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the first data structure describes how to find the second data structure in the data storage medium. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising creating first and second partitions in the data storage medium, each of the first and second partitions comprising a contiguous subdivision of the data storage medium within which all data is written in one format and at one density, wherein:
 the first user data, the second data structure, and the updated second data structure are written to the data storage medium within the first data structure;   the first data structure and the updated first data structure are written to the data storage medium within the second data structure.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the second user data is written to the data storage medium within the second partition. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the data storage medium consists of flash memory.