| FUSION-IO, INC. Patent applications |
| Patent application number | Title | Published |
|---|
| 20120131413 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD TO INCREASE DATA INTEGRITY IN A REDUNDANT STORAGE SYSTEM - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed to increase data integrity in a redundant storage system. The receive module receives a read request to read data from an ECC chunk spanning N storage elements of an array of N+P storage elements. The N storage elements each store a portion of the ECC chunk and the P storage elements store parity data. The data read module reads data from each of X number of storage elements of the N+P storage elements where (N+P)>X≧N. The ECC correction module corrects the read data of the ECC chunk using Error Correcting Code (“ECC”) in response to the ECC chunk comprising a number of bit errors below a correctable bit error threshold. The substitution module may correct the read data with substitute data from a substitute storage element. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120124294 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR DESTAGING CACHED DATA - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for satisfying storage requests while destaging cached data. A monitor module samples a destage rate for a nonvolatile solid-state cache, a total cache write rate for the cache, and a dirtied data rate. The dirtied data rate comprises a rate at which write operations increase an amount of dirty data in the cache. A target module determines a target cache write rate for the cache based on the destage rate, the total cache write rate, and the dirtied data rate to target a destage write ratio. The destage write ratio comprises a predetermined ratio between the dirtied data rate and the destage rate. A rate enforcement module enforces the target cache write rate such that the total cache write rate satisfies the target cache write rate. | 05-17-2012 |
| 20120084611 | Apparatus, System, and Method for Bad Block Remapping - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for bad block remapping. A bad block identifier module identifies one or more data blocks on a solid-state storage element as bad blocks. A log update module writes at least a location of each bad block identified by the bad block identifier module into each of two or more redundant bad block logs. A bad block mapping module accesses at least one bad block log during a start-up operation to create in memory a bad block map. The bad block map includes a mapping between the bad block locations in the bad block log and a corresponding location of a replacement block for each bad block location. Data is stored in each replacement block instead of the corresponding bad block. The bad block mapping module creates the bad block map using one of a replacement block location and a bad block mapping algorithm. | 04-05-2012 |
| 20120079175 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR DATA TRANSFORMATIONS WITHIN A DATA STORAGE DEVICE - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for executing data transformations for a data storage device. A storage controller module executes a storage operation for a set of data within a data storage device. A transformation module determines to apply a data transformation to the set of data in response to a transformation indicator. A processing module applies the data transformation to the set of data internally on the data storage device prior to completing the storage operation. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120079174 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR A DIRECT INTERFACE BETWEEN A MEMORY CONTROLLER AND NON-VOLATILE MEMORY USING A COMMAND PROTOCOL - A method for a direct interface between a memory controller and a non-volatile memory controller using a command protocol includes receiving a command from a memory controller to a non-volatile memory controller over a wire interface by way of a command protocol. The memory controller is coupled to one or more processors and the non-volatile memory controller, in one embodiment, is coupled to non-volatile memory media. The command protocol includes a control path that enables the memory controller to distinguish among different memory modules. The non-volatile memory controller stores data sequentially on the non-volatile memory media to preserve an ordered sequence of memory operations performed on the non-volatile memory media. The method includes executing the command within the non-volatile memory controller in response to determining that the non-volatile memory controller is capable of satisfying the command. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120066439 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR MANAGING LIFETIME OF A STORAGE DEVICE - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for managing lifetime for a data storage device. A target module determines a write bandwidth target for a data storage device. An audit module monitors write bandwidth of the data storage device relative to the write bandwidth target. A throttle module adjusts execution of one or more write operations on the data storage device in response to the write bandwidth of the data storage device failing to satisfy the write bandwidth target. | 03-15-2012 |
| 20120063231 | Apparatus, System, and Method for Non-Volatile Storage Element Programming - Methods, storage controllers, and systems for non-volatile storage element programming are described. One method includes programming user data in pages associated with a set of wordlines of an erase block of a non-volatile, solid-state storage element. The method further includes selecting at least one of the wordlines of the set programmed with the user data and restricting further programming of user data in the pages associated with the selected wordline. In some embodiments, the selected wordline occurs subsequent to the pages associated with the other wordlines of the set in a page programming order for the erase block. | 03-15-2012 |
| 20120059981 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR STORAGE SPACE RECOVERY - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for storage space recovery. A storage division selection module selects a first storage division for recovery. The first storage division comprises a portion of solid-state storage in a solid-state storage device. A data recovery module reads valid data from the first storage division in response to selecting the first storage division for recovery. The data recovery module stores the valid data in a second storage division of the solid-state storage device. The data recovery module passes the valid data through at least a portion of a write data pipeline for the solid-state storage device without passing the valid data to a host device and/or without routing the valid data outside of a solid-state storage controller for the solid-state storage device. | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120030408 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR ATOMIC STORAGE OPERATIONS - A virtual storage layer (VSL) for a non-volatile storage device presents a logical address space of a non-volatile storage device to storage clients. Storage metadata assigns logical identifiers in the logical address space to physical storage locations on the non-volatile storage device. Data is stored on the non-volatile storage device in a sequential log-based format. Data on the non-volatile storage device comprises an event log of the storage operations performed on the non-volatile storage device. The VSL presents an interface for requesting atomic storage operations. Previous versions of data overwritten by the atomic storage device are maintained until the atomic storage operation is successfully completed. Data pertaining to a failed atomic storage operation may be identified using a persistent metadata flag stored with the data on the non-volatile storage device. Data pertaining to failed or incomplete atomic storage requests may be invalidated and removed from the non-volatile storage device. | 02-02-2012 |
| 20120011340 | Apparatus, System, and Method for a Virtual Storage Layer - A virtual storage layer (VSL) for a non-volatile storage device presents a large, logical address space having a logical capacity that may exceed the storage capacity of the non-volatile storage device. The VSL implements persistent storage operations within the logical address space; storage operations performed within the logical address space may be persisted on the non-volatile storage device. The VSL maintains storage metadata to allocate ranges of the logical address space to storage entities. The VSL provides for allocation of contiguous logical address ranges, which may be implemented by segmenting logical identifiers into a first portion referencing storage entities, and a second portion referencing storage entity offsets. The VSL persists data on the non-volatile storage device in a sequential, log-based format. Accordingly, storage clients, such as file systems, databases, and other applications, may delegate logical allocations, physical storage bindings, and/or crash-recovery to the VSL. | 01-12-2012 |
| 20120005443 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR COORDINATING STORAGE REQUESTS IN A MULTI-PROCESSOR/MULTI-THREAD ENVIRONMENT - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for coordinating storage requests in a multi-processor/multi-thread environment. An append/invalidate module generates a first append data storage command from a first storage request and a second append data storage command from a second storage request. The storage requests overwrite existing data with first and second data including where the first and second data have at least a portion of overlapping data. The second storage request is received after the first storage request. The append/invalidate module updates an index by marking data being overwritten as invalid. A restructure module updates the index based on the first data and updates the index based on the second data. The updated index is organized to indicate that the second data is more current than the first data regardless of processing order. The modules prevent access to the index until the modules have completed updating the index. | 01-05-2012 |
| 20110314354 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING ERROR CORRECTION - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for providing error correction for a data storage device. A determination module determines an error-correcting code (“ECC”) characteristic of the data storage device. An ECC module validates requested data read from the data storage device using a hardware ECC decoder. In response to the requested data satisfying a correction threshold, a software ECC decoder module validates the data using a software ECC decoder. The software ECC decoder is configured according to the ECC characteristic of the data storage device. | 12-22-2011 |
| 20110307758 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING ERROR CORRECTION - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for providing error correction for a data storage device. A determination module determines a set of error-correcting code (“ECC”) characteristics for a data storage device. The set of ECC characteristics includes at least one attribute selected from a plurality of supported attributes. A decoder configuration module configures an ECC decoder to operate in compliance with the set of ECC characteristics. An ECC module validates requested data read from the data storage device using the ECC decoder. | 12-15-2011 |
| 20110296277 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR A FRONT-END, DISTRIBUTED RAID - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for a front-end, distributed redundant array of independent drives (“RAID”). A storage request receiver module receives a storage request to store object or file data in a set of autonomous storage devices forming a RAID group. The storage devices independently receive storage requests from a client over a network, and one or more of the storage devices are designated as parity-mirror storage devices for a stripe. The striping association module calculates a stripe pattern for the data. Each stripe includes N data segments, each associated with N storage devices. The parity-mirror association module associates a set of the N data segments with one or more parity-mirror storage devices. The storage request transmitter module transmits storage requests to each storage device. Each storage request is sufficient to store onto the storage device the associated data segments. The storage requests are substantially free of data. | 12-01-2011 |
| 20110296133 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR CONDITIONAL AND ATOMIC STORAGE OPERATIONS - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for implementing conditional storage operations. Storage clients access and allocate portions of an address space of a non-volatile storage device. A conditional storage request is provided, which causes data to be stored to the non-volatile storage device on the condition that the address space of the device can satisfy the entire request. If only a portion of the request can be satisfied, the conditional storage request may be deferred or fail. An atomic storage request is provided, which may comprise one or more storage operations. The atomic storage request succeeds if all of the one or more storage operations are complete successfully. If one or more of the storage operations fails, the atomic storage request is invalidated, which may comprise deallocating logical identifiers of the request and/or invalidating data on the non-volatile storage device pertaining to the request. | 12-01-2011 |
| 20110289267 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR SOLID-STATE STORAGE AS CACHE FOR HIGH-CAPACITY, NON-VOLATILE STORAGE - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for solid-state storage as cache for high-capacity, non-volatile storage. The apparatus, system, and method are provided with a plurality of modules including a cache front-end module and a cache back-end module. The cache front-end module manages data transfers associated with a storage request. The data transfers between a requesting device and solid-state storage function as cache for one or more HCNV storage devices, and the data transfers may include one or more of data, metadata, and metadata indexes. The solid-state storage may include an array of non-volatile, solid-state data storage elements. The cache back-end module manages data transfers between the solid-state storage and the one or more HCNV storage devices. | 11-24-2011 |
| 20110258512 | Apparatus, System, and Method for Storing Data on a Solid-State Storage Device - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for storing data on a solid-state storage device. A method includes receiving a storage request to store data on the solid-state storage device, representing the data in an object entry in an object index maintained by a solid-state storage device controller, storing the data as one or more object data segments on the solid-state storage device, and referencing in the object entry the one or more object data segments on the solid-state storage device. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110258391 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR DESTAGING CACHED DATA - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for destaging cached data. A controller detects one or more write requests to store data in a backing store. The cache controller sends the write requests to a storage controller for a nonvolatile solid-state storage device. The storage controller receives the write requests and caches the data associated with the write requests in the nonvolatile solid-state storage device by appending the data to a log of the nonvolatile solid-state storage device. The log includes a sequential, log-based structure preserved in the nonvolatile solid-state storage device. The cache controller receives at least a portion of the data from the storage controller in a cache log order and destages the data to the backing store in the cache log order. The cache log order comprises an order in which the data was appended to the log of the nonvolatile solid-state storage device. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110252190 | Apparatus, System, and Method for Managing Data From a Requesting Device with an Empty Data Token Directive - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for managing data with an empty data segment directive at the requesting device. The apparatus, system, and method include a token directive generation module and a token directive transmission module. The token directive generation module generates a storage request with a token directive. The token directive includes a request to store on the storage device a data segment token. The token directive substitutes for a series of repeated, identical characters or a series of repeated, identical character strings to be stored as a data segment. The token directive includes at least a data segment identifier and a data segment length. The data segment token and the token directive are substantially free from data of the data segment. The token directive transmission module transmits the token directive to the storage device. | 10-13-2011 |
| 20110182119 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING A READ VOLTAGE THRESHOLD FOR SOLID-STATE STORAGE MEDIA - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for determining a read voltage threshold for solid-state storage media. A data set read module reads a data set from storage cells of solid-state storage media. The data set is originally stored in the storage cells with a known bias. A deviation module determines that a read bias for the data set deviates from the known bias. A direction module determines a direction of deviation for the data set. The direction of deviation is based on a difference between the read bias of the data set and the known bias. An adjustment module adjusts a read voltage threshold for the storage cells of the solid-state storage media based on the direction of deviation. | 07-28-2011 |
| 20110179225 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR A SHARED, FRONT-END, DISTRIBUTED RAID - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for a shared, front-end, distributed redundant array of independent drives (“RAID”). A multiple storage request receiver module receives at least two storage requests from at least two clients to store file or object data in one or more storage devices of a storage device set. The storage requests are concurrent and have at least a portion of the data in common. The storage device set includes autonomous storage devices forming a RAID group. Each storage device is capable of independently receiving storage requests from a client over a network. A striping module calculates a stripe pattern and writes N data segments per stripe to N storage devices. A parity-mirror module writes a set of N data segments to parity-mirror storage devices. A sequencer module ensures completion of a first storage request prior to executing a second storage request. | 07-21-2011 |
| 20110157992 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR BIASING DATA IN A SOLID-STATE STORAGE DEVICE - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for improving performance in a non-volatile solid-state storage device. Non-volatile solid-state storage media includes a plurality of storage cells. The plurality of storage cells is configured such that storage cells in an empty state store initial binary values that satisfy a bias. An input module receives source data for storage in the plurality of storage cells of the non-volatile solid-state storage media. Bits of the source data have a source bias that is different from the bias of the plurality of storage cells. A bit biasing module biases the bits of the source data toward the bias of the plurality of storage cells. A write module writes the biased source data to the plurality of storage cells of the non-volatile solid-state storage media. | 06-30-2011 |
| 20110066808 | Apparatus, System, and Method for Caching Data on a Solid-State Storage Device - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for caching data on a solid-state storage device. The solid-state storage device maintains metadata pertaining to cache operations performed on the solid-state storage device, as well as storage operations of the solid-state storage device. The metadata indicates what data in the cache is valid, as well as information about what data in the nonvolatile cache has been stored in a backing store. A backup engine works through units in the nonvolatile cache device and backs up the valid data to the backing store. During grooming operations, the groomer determines whether the data is valid and whether the data is discardable. Data that is both valid and discardable may be removed during the grooming operation. The groomer may also determine whether the data is cold in determining whether to remove the data from the cache device. The cache device may present to clients a logical space that is the same size as the backing store. The cache device may be transparent to the clients. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110060927 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR POWER REDUCTION IN A STORAGE DEVICE - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for managing power consumption in a data storage device. An audit module monitors a power consumption rate of the data storage device relative to a power consumption target. A throttle module adjusts execution of one or more operations on the data storage device in response to the power consumption rate of the data storage device failing to satisfy the power consumption target. A verification module verifies whether the power consumption rate of the data storage device satisfies the power consumption target in response to adjusting the execution of the one or more operations. | 03-10-2011 |
| 20110060887 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR ALLOCATING STORAGE - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for allocating non-volatile storage. The storage device may present a logical address, which may exceed a physical storage capacity of the device. The storage device may allocate logical capacity in the logical address space. An allocation request may be allowed when there is sufficient unassigned and/or unallocated logical capacity to satisfy the request. Data may be stored on the non-volatile storage device by requesting physical storage capacity. A physical storage request, such as a storage request or physical storage reservation, when there is sufficient available physical storage capacity to satisfy the request. The device may maintain an index to associate logical identifiers (LIDs) in the logical address space with storage locations on the storage device. This index may be used to make logical capacity allocations and/or to manage physical storage space. | 03-10-2011 |
| 20110058440 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR POWER REDUCTION MANAGEMENT IN A STORAGE DEVICE - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for power loss management in a nonvolatile data storage device. A monitor module initiates a power loss mode in the nonvolatile data storage device in response to a primary power source failing to supply electric power above a predefined threshold to the nonvolatile data storage device. A secondary power source supplies electric power to the nonvolatile data storage device for at least a power hold-up time during the power loss mode. A power loss module adjusts execution of in-process operations on the nonvolatile data storage device during the power loss mode so that essential in-process operations execute within the power hold-up time. | 03-10-2011 |
| 20110047437 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR GRACEFUL CACHE DEVICE DEGRADATION - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for graceful cache device degradation. The method may include determining the risk of data loss on the cache device, which may increase (as with Flash memory) with use and age. If the risk of data loss on the cache devices exceeds a threshold risk level, a modified cache policy may be implemented for the cache device to reduce the risk of data loss below the threshold level. This process may iterate until the cache device cannot guarantee performance sufficient to merit continued use of the cache device, and the cache device is logically removed from the system. The changes in cache policy and in the risk of data loss may be hidden from clients that make use of the cache device. The cache policies may transition, for example, in the following order: write back; write through; write around; read only; and bypass. | 02-24-2011 |
| 20110047356 | APPARATUS,SYSTEM,AND METHOD FOR MANAGING COMMANDS OF SOLID-STATE STORAGE USING BANK INTERLEAVE - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for efficiently managing commands in a solid-state storage device that includes a solid-state storage arranged in two or more banks. Each bank is separately accessible and includes two or more solid-state storage elements accessed in parallel by a storage input/output bus. The solid-state storage includes solid-state, non-volatile memory. The solid-state storage device includes a bank interleave that directs one or more commands to two or more queues, where the one or more commands are separated by command type into the queues. Each bank includes a set of queues in the bank interleave controller. Each set of queues includes a queue for each command type. The bank interleave controller coordinates among the banks execution of the commands stored in the queues, where a command of a first type executes on one bank while a command of a second type executes on a second bank. | 02-24-2011 |
| 20110029496 | Apparatus, System, and Method for Coordinating Storage Requests in a Multi-Processor/Multi-Thread Environment - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for coordinating storage requests in a multi-processor/multi-thread environment. An append/invalidate module generates a first append data storage command from a first storage request and a second append data storage command from a second storage request. The storage requests overwrite existing data with first and second data including where the first and second data have at least a portion of overlapping data. The second storage request is received after the first storage request. The append/invalidate module updates an index by marking data being overwritten as invalid. A restructure module updates the index based on the first data and updates the index based on the second data. The updated index is organized to indicate that the second data is more current than the first data regardless of processing order. The modules prevent access to the index until the modules have completed updating the index. | 02-03-2011 |
