In-band transport mechanism for carrying communications among functional components of a storage I/O interface stack
US8190784B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 30, 2011 |
| Grant date | May 29, 2012 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 30, 2031 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F21/6227
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An in-band protocol transport carries command-response protocol communications between first and second functional components of a storage input/output (I/O) interface stack, for example to control encryption-related processing of storage I/O commands. A storage read command used as a protocol transport message has protocol data in a read data buffer, and predetermined read address information, such as a prime-numbered starting block address and a small, odd-valued length value, unlikely to occur in normal (non-transport) storage read commands. The second functional component determines that the storage read command contains the predetermined read address information, indicating that the storage read command is a protocol transport message rather than a normal read. For greater confidence, it also determines that the protocol data in the read data buffer includes protocol identification data such as a protocol signature. The protocol data is used to control a processing action for subsequent normal storage I/O commands, such as encryption-related processing, and a protocol response is returned by creating and storing response data in the read data buffer and signaling completion of…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.