Disk controller methods and apparatus with improved striping, redundancy operations and interfaces
US8074149B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 29, 2009 |
| Grant date | Dec 6, 2011 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 29, 2029 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F2211/1054
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A RAID disk drive controller (FIG. 33) implements disk storage operations, including striping and redundancy operations with multiple disk drives connected via respective SATA ports (520). Configurable data path switch logic (460) provides dynamic configuration of two or more attached drives into one or more arrays. Data transfers are synchronized locally by leveraging the SATA port transport layer FIFO (530). Synchronous transfers allow on-the-fly redundancy (XOR) operations (FIG. 36) for improved performance and reduced hardware complexity. XOR accumulator hardware (FIG. 42-FIG. 43) reduces buffer requirements for multiple DMA channels otherwise required for synchronization, and various narrow and wide striping modes are supported.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.