Solid-state drive controller with embedded RAID functions

A novel solid state drive (SSD) controller integrated circuit structure is presented. This controller has up to five flash memory channels. These five channels, regarded as four independent virtual disks in a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) system, can be configured as RAID0 or RAID5 mode. This real silicon controller was silicon proven working well in a single SSD unit with intrinsic RAID (iRAID) functions configured as either RAID0 or RAID5 mode. The traditional concept that RAID has to be built up by multiple independent disks has been changed by this single SSD unit with intrinsic RAID embedded. It brings a new way to make big RAID storage systems at lower costs, higher performances, less power consumption, smaller in size and easier maintenance.