Hardware based map acceleration using forward and reverse cache tables

Apparatus and method for managing map data in a data storage device. A programmable processor issues a find command to locate and place a requested map page of a map structure into a first cache to service a received host command. A non-programmable hardware circuit searches a forward table to determine whether the requested map page is in a second cache, and if so, loads the map page to the first cache. If not, the hardware circuit requests the requested map page from a back end processor which retrieves the requested map page from a non-volatile memory (NVM), such as a flash memory array. The hardware circuit searches a reverse table and the first cache to select a candidate location in the second cache for the retrieved requested map page from the NVM, and directs the storage of a copy of the requested map page at the candidate location.