High-speed solid state storage system having a hierarchy of different control units that process data in a corresponding memory area and method of controlling the same

A solid state storage system having a hierarchy of different control units that systematically process data in a corresponding memory area is disclosed. The solid state storage system includes a first control unit and at least one second control unit. The first control unit distributes and transmits external command signals that are provided from a host interface. The second control unit is controlled by the first control unit and performs an address mapping operation, an error checking/correcting operation, and a defective block managing operation on a corresponding plurality of memory chips in the memory area.