Thesis Abstract

We attempt to implement the Methuselah Flash algorithm, which intends to increase the lifespan of an SSD memory system with limited rewrites, in both a C simulation and a Xilinx development board with attached SSD. While it increases the overhead associated with storing any particular dataword, the Methuselah Flash algorithm increases the average number of rewrites to SSD pages since it uses a one-to-many convolutional coset encoding and selects the optimal codeword. In this paper, we compare the number of rewrites allowed before needing to erase the SSD page both with and without Methuselah Flash encoding, then apply it to a realistic custom benchmark derived from file changes in the Linux repository. The use of Methuselah Flash allowed for almost a six fold increase in number of rewrites. Second, we determine that accessing the SSD while running the Methuselah Flash algorithm in the Flash Translation Layer is prohibitively time-consuming and suggest future improvements to the experimental setup.