48th week of 2012 patent applcation highlights part 64 |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20120303820 | Resource Controlled User Interface Resource Management - A communication link may be managed between the user interface and a system, where the user interface allows a user to select the system. The user interface is determined to be capable of being used with the system. It is communicated that the user interface may be used with the system. The user requests that the user interface be allocated for use with the system. The user interface is allocated for use with the system. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303821 | Programmatic Management of Software Resources in a Content Framework Environment - Methods, systems, and computer program products are disclosed for dynamically integrating software resources (such as web services and other back-end software resources) using the services of a content framework (such as a portal platform). A portlet model is leveraged to allow programmatic portlets to serve as proxies for web services, thereby extending portlets beyond their traditional visual role. A deployment interface and a system interface are described for these portlet proxies. The deployment interface is used for composing new web services, and a composition tool is described. The system interface allows for run-time management of the web services by the portal platform. The service provider for a particular function may be bound to the portlet proxy at development time or at run-time. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303822 | MULTIPATH OVERLAY NETWORK AND ITS MULTIPATH MANAGEMENT PROTOCOL - A method of wireless communication includes aggregating data in a streaming communication session from a source node in a destination aggregator node, wherein data in the streaming session is transported over multiple paths from the source node to the aggregator node via a multipath overlay network discovered by the source node and the aggregator node. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303823 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR HOST AND OS AGNOSTIC MANAGEMENT OF CONNECTED DEVICES THROUGH NETWORK CONTROLLED STATE ALTERATION - A method and system for establishing network connectivity with a device is disclosed. A connectivity platform detects a plurality of networks. A network policy of each of the plurality of networks is determined. A signal quality of each of the plurality of networks is determined. The network policy and the signal quality of each of the plurality of networks is analyzed. A connection is established between the device and the first network of the plurality of networks based on the analysis of the network policy and the signal quality of each of the plurality of networks. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303824 | CLOUD-ASSISTED NETWORK DEVICE INTEGRATION - A system for integrating a networked device into a domain is described and includes: a network operation control coupled with a local server and including a device class determiner for establishing a device class for at least one device residing in a domain at a premises, wherein based on the establishing the device class, an action is enabled to be mapped to the device, thereby enabling an application to run on and utilize a capability of said device; and a domain manager coupled with a remote server and the network operation control, the domain manager including, coupled with the remote server: an action identifier; a device driver determiner; a comparer; and a device driver implementer for, based on comparing by the comparer, implementing a device driver associated with the device when a first protocol corresponds to a second protocol such that the action is enabled for performance. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303825 | METHOD AND DEVICE CONFIGURED FOR PROCESSING AN SDP REQUEST IN A MEDIA PATH OPTIMIZATION PROCESS - The present invention provides a method and device configured for processing an SDP request in a media path optimization process. In this case, the method comprises: an application layer gateway (ALG) receiving a session description protocol (SDP) request; the ALG determining that media connection information used by the SDP request is different from media connection information in last accessible domain information in node information of the SDP request; and the ALG sequentially adding its forward accessible domain information and its backward accessible domain information to an end of a queue of the node information of the SDP request, and then sending the SDP request. By virtue of the present invention, an optimized media path and normal communication can be ensured. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303826 | AIRCRAFT DATA SERVICES - A method and system provide efficient, flexible, and convenient data communication services over public wireless systems. The system includes a data communication server, having a plurality of interface units, for facilitating data communication between a moving object and one or more ground terminals via a radio communication path. The data communication server establishes the radio communication path over one of a plurality of wireless data networks including packet data networks and satellite data networks and preferably includes a pre-determined software architecture. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303827 | Location Based Access Control - A policy enforcement system may use device location as a parameter for granting or denying access to a resource. An access policy may include location parameters that may permit or deny access to the resource based on the physical location of the device. In some cases, the location may be authenticated by a server that may verify the device's location. The access policy may grant or deny full or partial access to the resource, which may be a data resource, such as a file, database, URL, or other information, an application resource, or a physical resource such as a network or a peripheral device. The policy enforcement system may use the device location for regulatory compliance, restricting access to sensitive information, or as a primary or secondary condition for limiting access to a resource. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303828 | CLOUD ENABLED VIRTUAL GATEWAY - Various embodiments include methods and systems for a cloud enabled virtual gateway. The virtual gateway can masquerade to a cloud-based application as a gateway at a geographic location. The virtual gateway can also receive a request from the cloud-based application for a device at the geographic location. The virtual gateway can then communicate with a third-party system to satisfy the request where the third-party system is communicatively coupled to the device. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303829 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO A NETWORK - A network access system for use with a charging station is provided. The network access system is configured to receive at least one signal representative of a network. The network access system is also configured to prompt a user for at least one input. Moreover, the network access system is configured to receive the input from the user, wherein the input includes a confirmation to receive access to the network. The network access system provides at least one unique identifier to the user to enable the user to receive access to the network within a distance from the charging station while a battery is being charged. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303830 | DATA PROCESSING DEVICE AND DATA PROCESSING METHOD - The data processing device includes a registration data receptor which receives first registration data sent from a client, a URL generator which generates a URL which includes the first registration data, a URL notification unit which notifies the client of the URL, a login URL processor which receives the URL from the client, and extracts the URL from the first registration data while displaying to the client a login screen corresponding to the URL, an authentication request receptor which receives an authentication request which includes second registration data sent from the client, and an authentication enforcement unit which judges whether to authenticate the client according to whether the first registration data and the second registration data match. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303831 | Systems and Methods for Authorizing Services in a Telecommunications Network - A computer-implemented method for authorizing access by a user device to at least one service offered over an Internet Protocol (IP) network is provided. A server receives a message from the user device. The message indicates that the user device is configured to support the at least one service. The server then retrieves from a database policy data associated with the user device. The server validates based on the policy data that the user device is authorized to advertise the at least one service and the at least one service is available for access by the user device. If the at least one service is unauthorized or unavailable for access by the user device, the server modifies the message to indicate one or more authorized and available services for the user device without including the at least one service. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303832 | ACHIEVING A UNIFORM DEVICE ABSTRACTION LAYER - A system for achieving a uniform device abstraction layer is described. The system includes a device class determiner coupled with a local server, the device class determiner configured for establishing a device class for at least one device residing in a domain at a premises, wherein the domain is coupled with a remote server, and a device of the at least one device includes a communication port that supports a first protocol corresponding to a second protocol, wherein the second protocol is supported by a device driver coupled with the domain, wherein based on the establishing the device class, an action is enabled to be mapped to the device, thereby enabling an application to run on and utilize a capability of the device. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303833 | METHODS FOR TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING A DIGITAL SIGNAL, TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER - According to one embodiment, a method for transmitting a digital signal is provided that includes dividing data representing the digital signal into a plurality of data blocks, processing each data block in accordance with a desired amount of data included in the data block, determining, for each processed data block, the size of the processed data block, generating a message including, in a message body of the message, the processed data blocks and, for each data block, a message field specifying the size of the processed data block and transmitting the message. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303834 | SEAMLESS DIGITAL STREAMING OVER DIFFERENT DEVICE TYPES - The claimed invention provides a single generic solution by treating live video capture as any other running application on the end-user screen. This allows the technique of capturing consecutive snapshots of a running application window to be applicable to live video capture as well. Specifically, the invention captures and generates video streams for the different content types as follows: (1) live video. Unlike prior art approaches where the capturing software interacts directly with an on-board camera, the invention interacts with and streams the camera playback window; (2) Static video. Rather than streaming directly off the video file, the invention enables the video file to be played on the screen and the playback window to be captured and streamed; and (3) View of running application and view of user desktop. The invention takes consecutive snapshots of an application window or desktop, generates video out of the snapshots, and streams it. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303835 | Implementing EPC in a Cloud Computer with Openflow Data Plane - A method for implementing a control plane of an evolved packet core (EPC) of a third generation partnership project (3GPP) long term evolution (LTE) network in a cloud computing system, including initializing the plurality of control plane modules of the EPC within the controller, each control plane module in the plurality of control plane modules initialized as a separate virtual machine by the cloud manager; monitoring resource utilization of each control plane module and the control plane traffic handled by each control plane module; detecting a threshold level of resource utilization or traffic load for one of the plurality of control plane modules of the EPC; and initializing a new control plane module as a separate virtual machine by the cloud manager in response to detecting the threshold level, the new control plane module to share the load of the one of the plurality of control plane modules. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303836 | SLAVE ID CONFIGURATION - Disclosed is a method in which slaves are cascaded on a bus, and cascading slave-to-slave communication is used to prioritize (or sequence) the software slave ID programming, enabling users to uniquely identify identical components in a circuit. In one embodiment, the first slave in the cascade stalls the programming of other slaves until the first slave's programming is complete. Once completed, the first slave then enables programming of the second slave, and so on. This embodiment allows multiple placements of identical slaves on the bus, and provides a method to uniquely identify and control each slave by using cascading software slave ID programming. In another embodiment, a structure with a similar effect may be created by lack of enablement (instead of disablement), wherein initially only the first slave is enabled, and subsequent slaves are not initially enabled. Additionally, the present disclosure is compatible with the MIPI RFFE standard interface. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303837 | ACHIEVING A UNIFORM DEVICE ABSTRACTION LAYER - A system for achieving a uniform device abstraction layer is described. The system includes a device class determiner coupled with a local server, the device class determiner configured for establishing a device class for at least one device residing in a domain at a premises, wherein the domain is coupled with a remote server, and a device of the at least one device includes a communication port that supports a first protocol corresponding to a second protocol, wherein the second protocol is supported by a device driver coupled with the domain, wherein based on the establishing the device class, an action is enabled to be mapped to the device, thereby enabling an application to run on and utilize a capability of the device. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303838 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR IDENTIFYING DEVICE PORTS OF DATA CARD IN LINUX SYSTEM - A method and an apparatus for identifying device ports of a data card in a Linux system are provided, the method comprises: acquiring information of a Universal Serial Bus (USB) device; recording device information that is related to the USB device to be identified in said information; acquiring port information of each port of said USB device to be identified according to the device information of the said USB device to be identified; identifying attributes of said ports according to the information of each port. By acquiring the device information and the port information, the Attention (AT) port and the Modem port could be identified correctly according to the feature that the AT port and the Modem port could send and receive AT commands as well as the preset order attribute of the AT port and the Modem port, thus identifying the attributes of each port of the device accurately. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303839 | Elastomeric Input Device - An input device for tracking three-dimensional movements. The input device includes a tracking structure and is in electronic communication with a computing device. The tracking structure is detectable by a tracking device. The tracking structure is configured so that as the input device is deformed, the tracking structure deforms correspondingly. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303840 | DMA DATA TRANSFER MECHANISM TO REDUCE SYSTEM LATENCIES AND IMPROVE PERFORMANCE - A method of implementing a data transfer mechanism to reduce latencies and improve performance comprising the steps of reading a first data element, storing the first data element, and writing the first data element. The first data element may be read from a host. The first data element may be stored in a storage portion of a controller. The first data element may be written to a first destination device. The first data element may also be written to a second destination device prior to deleting the first data element from the storage portion. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303841 | PROCESS TO GENERATE VARIOUS LENGTH PARAMETERS IN A NUMBER OF SGLS BASED UPON THE LENGTH FIELDS OF ANOTHER SGL - A method of generating length parameters, comprising the steps of reading a data stream from a host, detecting a particular field of the data stream, and calculating a variable based on a length parameter of a first list to be transferred. The data stream may comprise a plurality of definitions. The method may also comprise the step of selecting one of the list definitions. One of the list definitions may be used to generate a length parameter used in a second list in response to (i) the particular field of the data stream and (ii) the length parameter of the first list. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303842 | SELECTING DIRECT MEMORY ACCESS ENGINES IN AN ADAPTOR FOR PROCESSING INPUT/OUTPUT (I/O) REQUESTS RECEIVED AT THE ADAPTOR - Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for selecting Direct Memory Access (DMA) engines in an adaptor for processing Input/Output requests received at the adaptor. A determination is made of an assignment of a plurality of processors to the DMA engines, wherein each processor is assigned to use one of the DMA engines. I/O request related work for a received I/O request directed to the storage is processed by determining the DMA engine assigned to the processor processing the I/O request related work and accessing the determined DMA engine to perform the I/O related work. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303843 | VARIABLE DEPTH BUFFER - A variable depth buffer includes: a set of buffer units to receive input data in a First in First Out (FIFO) manner, with links between the buffer units such that the input data can be transferred sequentially from a first buffer unit that initially receives the input data to each subsequent buffer unit in the set; and a multiplexer, inputs of the multiplexer being connected to outputs of the respective buffer units and an output of the multiplexer to output data such that a depth of the buffer varies depending on which buffer unit output is selected by the multiplexer. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303844 | CONTROLLER AND CONTROLLING METHOD THEREOF - A controller includes a first input port, a first buffering unit, a timer, and a package processing unit. When a first byte from the first input device is received by the first buffering unit, the timer starts counting time. If a second byte from the first input device is received by the first buffering unit during a preset time interval, the timer re-counts time. Whereas, if no second byte from the first input device is received by the first buffering unit during the preset time interval, the timer issues a time out signal. In response to the time out signal, all bytes in the first buffering unit are packed into a first packet by the package processing unit and an interrupt request is issues to a controlling circuit. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303845 | Home gateway and method for adapting USB modem - A home gateway for adapting a Universal Serial Bus (USB) modem includes a system drive module; a wide area network (WAN) connection management module; a drive adaption module, which determines the mode of the USB modem, adapts a drive of an application layer interface of the USB modem and transmits a drive adaption complete message to an application adaption module; and the application adaption module, which selects a corresponding initialization process, initializes an application layer of the USB modem, transmits an initialization complete message to the WAN connection management module and performs a network connection via the WAN interface management module. A method for adapting the USB modem is also disclosed. The home gateway and method can reduce the economic burden of users, and facilitate the popularization of home gateway products and a wireless net surfing service via the USB modem. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303846 | Method for implementing audio transmission and mobile terminal - The disclosure discloses a method for implementing audio transmission and a mobile terminal, wherein the method includes: setting an interface descriptor for a Universal Serial Bus (USB) audio device in a USB composite device, wherein the interface descriptor is used for describing information needed by the USB audio device for transmitting audio data; sending the interface descriptor of the USB audio device to a USB host by the USB audio device to enable the USB host to complete enumeration and identification of the USB audio device according to the interface descriptor of the USB audio device; and performing audio data transmission by the USB audio device with the USB host. By means of the disclosure, a high-quality audio transmission effect can be ensured. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303847 | SENSOR INTERFACE ENGINEERING - A method for communication between function modules in drive engineering is described, wherein a first function module has a first sensor interface, wherein a second function module has a second sensor interface, wherein the first sensor interface is functionally assigned to the second sensor interface, wherein the first function module is assigned to a first automation component, wherein the second function module is assigned to a second automation component, wherein an address, in particular a logical address, for the transfer of sensor data is automatically specified. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303848 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ALLOCATING TRANSACTION ID IN A SYSTEM WITH A PLURALITY OF PROCESSING MODULES - A system and method for allocating transaction ID in a system with a plurality of processing modules is disclosed. In one embodiment, a method for assigning transaction ID to a processing module in a network on a chip system (NOCS) with a plurality of processing modules is disclosed. An address space is provided to each of the processing modules. A portion of the address space is selected. A subset of the selected portion of the address space for each of the processing module is selected as Valid Bits. The Valid Bits of the processing module is associated to a transaction ID. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303849 | ADVANCED EXTENSIBLE INTERFACE BUS AND CORRESPONDING DATA TRANSMISSION METHOD - An advanced extensible interface (AXI) bus is disclosed. 2×2 AXI crossbars are used as basic units; each including two slave interfaces and two master interfaces; an N | 2012-11-29 |
20120303850 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ADVANCED INTERRUPT SCHEDULING AND PRIORITY PROCESSING IN A STORAGE SYSTEM ENVIRONMENT - Methods and systems for advanced interrupt processing and scheduling are provided. The system comprises a memory operable to store interrupt priorities, an interface, and a processor operable to acquire incoming interrupts and to handle the incoming interrupts according to the interrupt priorities. The processor is also operable to receive interrupt processing criteria from the interface (sent, for example, from a device not directly coupled with the system), and to modify the interrupt priorities of the memory based upon the interrupt processing criteria without losing incoming processing requests for the system. Additionally, the processor is operable to process the incoming interrupts according to the modified interrupt priorities responsive to modifying the interrupt priorities. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303851 | Establishing Wireless Communication Between a Mobile Computing Device and a Docking System - In general, the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in methods, systems, and program products. A mobile computing device that is physically contacting a docking system receives one or more electrical signals via a physical electrical connection between the mobile computing device and the docking system. The mobile computing device identifies, based on the received one or more electrical signals, a type of the docking system. The mobile computing device determines, based on having identified the type of the docking system, that a setting for automatically establishing wireless communication between the mobile computing device and the docking system is activated. The mobile computing device establishes, as a result of determining that the setting is activated, the wireless communication between the mobile computing device and the docking system. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303852 | METHOD OF CONNECTING MASS STORAGE DEVICE - Method for connecting mass storage device(s) with data connection device(s) connecting to data port(s) with the same data interface type(s) as that of the mass storage device(s) for data transmission and with power connection device(s) connecting to power port(s), for power supply, on a bus of technologies with power management capabilities and facilities in computer-related or computer-controlled or operating-system-controlled machines or devices for using and swapping the mass storage device(s). | 2012-11-29 |
20120303853 | ENGINEERING OF A DATA COMMUNICATION - In a method for communication between function modules in the field of automation systems, a first function module has a first communication interface, and a second function module has a second communication interface. The first communication interface is assigned to the second communication interface, and the assignment is stored. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303854 | MODULAR INTERFACE-INDEPENDENT STORAGE SOLUTION SYSTEM - A storage system provides a modular interface-independent architecture. The storage system includes multiple of storage devices removably coupled to a backplane. The backplane is configured to receive the signals from the storage devices, and separate the received signals into groups of power and data signals. The backplane is further configured to modify the second data signals to include information describing storage devices associated with the data signals, and convert the data signals into a predetermined interface technology signal format. The storage system also includes a bridge configured to modify the converted data signals to remove information describing storage devices associated with the data signals. The bridge is further configured to group the modified converted data signals into multiple data blocks and assign each of the plurality of data blocks to an output port of the bridge. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303855 | IMPLEMENTING STORAGE ADAPTER PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION WITH HARDWARE ACCELERATORS OFFLOADING FIRMWARE FOR BUFFER ALLOCATION AND AUTOMATICALLY DMA - A method and controller for implementing storage adapter performance optimization with automatic chained hardware operations eliminating firmware operations, and a design structure on which the subject controller circuit resides are provided. The controller includes a plurality of hardware engines and a control store configured to store a plurality of control blocks. Each control block is designed to control a hardware operation in one of the plurality of hardware engines. A plurality of the control blocks is selectively arranged in a respective predefined chain to define sequences of hardware operations. An automatic hardware structure is configured to build the respective predefined chain controlling the hardware operations for a predefined hardware function. The predefined hardware function includes buffer allocation and automatic DMA data from a host system to the controller for write operations, eliminating firmware operations. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303856 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME - A microcomputer includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a DMA (Direct Memory Access) processing unit, and a control unit. The control unit controls a processing speed of the CPU to be faster as the number of holding transfers increases, in which the number of holding transfers is the number of DMA transfers held to the DMA processing unit. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303857 | Checkpointed Tag Prefetcher - A cache management method using checkpoint tags in checkpoint mode includes steps of: receiving a request to save data; fetching at least one cache block including the data from cache memory; writing the data from the at least one cache block into the data array; writing a physical address and metadata of the cache block into an array of cache memory tags; and upon receipt of a restore request: fetching an identifier for the at least one cache block stored in the checkpoint tag array; reloading the cache memory with the at least one cache block in the checkpoint tag array; and switching to normal mode. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303858 | ADJUSTING AVAILABLE PERSISTENT STORAGE DURING EXECUTION IN A VIRTUAL COMPUTER SYSTEM - The amount of virtual disk space that is available for use by software executing within a virtual machine (VM) may be dynamically adjusted while the VM is running in a virtual computer system. A method for reservation of disk space from a virtual machine is provided. A request is received at a first VM relating to reserving a portion of a virtual disk used by the first VM. In response, the first VM allocates additional storage in the virtual disk to a guest file stored in the virtual disk, wherein the guest file is not used to store meaningful data and then communicates sectors of the virtual disk corresponding to the additional storage for the guest file to the virtualization layer. The virtualization layer provides to a second VM access to sectors of the physical storage space that correspond to the sectors of the virtual disk that were allocated as additional storage to the guest file. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303859 | IMPLEMENTING STORAGE ADAPTER PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION WITH PARITY UPDATE FOOTPRINT MIRRORING - A method and controller for implementing storage adapter performance optimization with parity update footprint mirroring between dual adapters minimizing firmware operations, and a design structure on which the subject controller circuit resides are provided. Each of a first controller and a second controller includes a plurality of hardware engines, a control store configured to store parity update footprint (PUFP) data; a data store; and a nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM). One controller operates in a first initiator mode for transferring PUFP data to the other controller operating in a target mode. Respective initiator hardware engines transfers PUFP data from the initiator control store, selectively updating PUFP data, and writing PUFP data to the initiator data store and to the initiator NVRAM, and simultaneously transmitting PUFP data to the other controller. Respective target hardware engines write PUFP data to the target data store and the target NVRAM, eliminating firmware operations. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303860 | Method and Controller for Identifying a Unit in a Solid State Memory Device for Writing Data To - In a method for identifying a unit in a solid state memory device for writing data to a tier structure is maintained the tier structure comprising at least two tiers for assigning units available for writing data to. In response to receiving a request for writing data it is determined if a unit for writing data to is available in a first tier of the at least two tiers. In response to determining that a unit is available for writing data to in the first tier this unit is identified for writing data to, and in response to determining that no unit is available for writing the data to in the first tier it is determined if a unit is available for writing data to in a second tier of the at least two tiers subject to a priority of the write request. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303861 | POPULATING STRIDES OF TRACKS TO DEMOTE FROM A FIRST CACHE TO A SECOND CACHE - Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for populating strides of tracks to demote from a first cache to a second cache. A first cache maintains modified and unmodified tracks from a storage system subject to Input/Output (I/O) requests. A determination is made to demote tracks from the first cache. A determination is made as to whether there are enough tracks ready to demote to form a stride, wherein tracks are written to a second cache in strides defined for a Redundant Array of Independent Disk (RAID) configuration. A stride is populated with tracks ready to demote in response to determining that there are enough tracks ready to demote to form the stride. The stride of tracks, to demote from the first cache, are promoted to the second cache. The tracks in the second cache that are modified are destaged to the storage system. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303862 | CACHING DATA IN A STORAGE SYSTEM HAVING MULTIPLE CACHES INCLUDING NON-VOLATILE STORAGE CACHE IN A SEQUENTIAL ACCESS STORAGE DEVICE - Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for caching data in a storage system having multiple caches. A sequential access storage device includes a sequential access storage medium and a non-volatile storage device integrated in the sequential access storage device, received modified tracks are cached in the non-volatile storage device, wherein the non-volatile storage device is a faster access device than the sequential access storage medium. A spatial index indicates the modified tracks in the non-volatile storage device in an ordering based on their physical location in the sequential access storage medium. The modified tracks are destaged from the non-volatile storage device by comparing a current position of a write head to physical locations of the modified tracks on the sequential access storage medium indicated in the spatial index to select a modified track to destage from the non-volatile storage device to the storage device. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303863 | USING AN ATTRIBUTE OF A WRITE REQUEST TO DETERMINE WHERE TO CACHE DATA IN A STORAGE SYSTEM HAVING MULTIPLE CACHES INCLUDING NON-VOLATILE STORAGE CACHE IN A SEQUENTIAL ACCESS STORAGE DEVICE - Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for using an attribute of a write request to determine where to cache data in a storage system having multiple caches including non-volatile storage cache in a sequential access storage device. Received modified tracks are cached in the non-volatile storage device integrated with the sequential access storage device in response to determining to cache the modified tracks. A write request having modified tracks is received. A determination is made as to whether an attribute of the received write request satisfies a condition. The received modified tracks for the write request are cached in the non-volatile storage device in response to determining that the determined attribute does not satisfy the condition. A destage request is added to a request queue for the received write request having the determined attribute not satisfying the condition. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303864 | CACHE MANAGEMENT OF TRACKS IN A FIRST CACHE AND A SECOND CACHE FOR A STORAGE - Provided a computer program product, system, and method for cache management of tracks in a first cache and a second cache for a storage. The first cache maintains modified and unmodified tracks in the storage subject to Input/Output (I/O) requests. Modified and unmodified tracks are demoted from the first cache. The modified and the unmodified tracks demoted from the first cache are promoted to the second cache. The unmodified tracks demoted from the second cache are discarded. The modified tracks in the second cache that are at proximate physical locations on the storage device are grouped and the grouped modified tracks are destaged from the second cache to the storage device. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303865 | Write Operation with Immediate Local Destruction of Old Content in Non-Volatile Memory - Method and apparatus for writing data to a non-volatile memory device, such as a solid state drive (SSD). In accordance with various embodiments, a host write command is serviced by writing a newer copy of user data to a first selected empty physical location in a non-volatile memory, and by concurrently overwriting an older copy of said user data previously stored to a different, second selected occupied physical location of the non-volatile memory. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303866 | Storage device with inline address indirection metadata storage - Methods are described that allow disk drives, such as shingle-written magnetic recording (SMR) drives, to recover an Indirection Address Table mapping of LBAs to PBAs after an emergency power off (EPO). Indirection Address Table (IAT) snapshots are periodically written inline with user data stores, and in one embodiment Cumulative Delta Lists (CDLs) with incremental address update information are stored between snapshots. In an embodiment of the invention, when an imminent loss of power is detected, the current CDL, covering IAT updates not yet written to disk, is saved to a nonvolatile memory. The IAT snapshots combined with the set of CDLs provide the information needed to recreate the current Indirection Address Table when power is restored after an emergency power loss. In an alternative embodiment the CDL is obviated by including metadata in the sector that encodes the address indirection mapping and the last snapshot ID. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303867 | IMPLEMENTING ENHANCED EPO PROTECTION FOR INDIRECTION DATA - A method and a storage system are provided for implementing indirection tables for persistent media or disk drives with enhanced emergency power outage (EPO) protection for the indirection data, such as shingled perpendicular magnetic recording (SMR) indirection tables. Chaining of indirection data is provided with one block pointing to another block of the indirection data stored to disk or flash memory. An EPO-safe buffer is used to store a metadata entry responsive to completing each host write command. Each metadata entry is added to a metadata block, a pointer is stored in the EPO-safe buffer to a current metadata block and a previous metadata block. For a next EPO-safe buffer update entries are removed for the previous metadata block, keeping the last two metadata pointers and last metadata block. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303868 | IDENTIFYING A LOCATION CONTAINING INVALID DATA IN A STORAGE MEDIA - A system includes storage media and control logic coupled to the storage media, where the control logic is configured to receive a write request and determine whether the write request specifies writing a predetermined pattern to a particular location of the storage media. In response to determining that the write request specifies writing the predetermined pattern to the particular location, the control logic is configured to identify with an indicator that the particular location contains invalid data. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303869 | HANDLING HIGH PRIROITY REQUESTS IN A SEQUENTIAL ACCESS STORAGE DEVICE HAVING A NON-VOLATILE STORAGE CACHE - Modified tracks for write requests to a sequential access storage medium in a sequential access storage device are cached in a non-volatile storage, which is a faster access device than the sequential access storage medium. A request queue includes destage requests to destage the modified tracks in the non-volatile storage device to the sequential access storage medium and read requests to access read requested tracks from the sequential access storage medium. A comparison is made of a current position of a read/write mechanism with respect to physical locations on the sequential access storage medium of the tracks subject to the destage requests indicated in the request queue. A determination is made of one of the destage requests to process based on the comparison. The modified track for the determined destage request is written from the non-volatile storage device to the sequential access storage medium. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303870 | MEMORY CHIP, MEMORY SYSTEM, AND METHOD OF ACCESSING THE MEMORY CHIP - A memory chip, a memory system, and a method of accessing the memory chip. The memory chip includes a substrate, a first storage unit, and a second storage unit. The first storage unit includes a plurality of first memory cells may have a first storage capacity of 2 | 2012-11-29 |
20120303871 | SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME - According to one embodiment, a semiconductor memory device includes a memory cell array including a plurality of memory cells, a first register configured to store data of the memory cells, and a sequence control circuit configured to control the memory cell array and the first register. In at least a data read operation of the memory cells, the sequence control circuit reads out, from the memory cell array, data including flag information representing whether the number of failed bits is in an allowable range. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303872 | CACHE MANAGEMENT OF TRACKS IN A FIRST CACHE AND A SECOND CACHE FOR A STORAGE - Provided a computer program product, system, and method for cache management of tracks in a first cache and a second cache for a storage. The first cache maintains modified and unmodified tracks in the storage subject to Input/Output (I/O) requests. Modified and unmodified tracks are demoted from the first cache. The modified and the unmodified tracks demoted from the first cache are promoted to the second cache. The unmodified tracks demoted from the second cache are discarded. The modified tracks in the second cache that are at proximate physical locations on the storage device are grouped and the grouped modified tracks are destaged from the second cache to the storage device. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303873 | METHOD FOR STORAGE DEVICES TO ACHIEVE LOW WRITE AMPLIFICATION WITH LOW OVER PROVISION - A solid state drive (SSD) includes an SSD control module configured to determine frequencies corresponding to how often data stored in respective logical addresses associated with the SSD is updated and form groups of the logical addresses according to the frequencies, and a memory control module configured to rewrite the data to physical addresses in blocks of an SSD storage region based on the groups. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303874 | INFORMATION PROCESSING UNIT AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD - There are provided an information processing unit and an information processing method which are capable of reducing a startup time. The information processing unit includes: a volatile memory temporarily holding, as memory data, information which indicates a plurality of programs; a nonvolatile memory; and a page information generation section generating page information which identifies memory data for a plurality of predetermined pages from memory data stored in the volatile memory. The page information includes a memory address for each page in the volatile memory, and a program number of a program including memory data for each page. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303875 | POPULATING STRIDES OF TRACKS TO DEMOTE FROM A FIRST CACHE TO A SECOND CACHE - Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for populating strides of tracks to demote from a first cache to a second cache. A first cache maintains modified and unmodified tracks from a storage system subject to Input/Output (I/O) requests. A determination is made to demote tracks from the first cache. A determination is made as to whether there are enough tracks ready to demote to form a stride, wherein tracks are written to a second cache in strides defined for a Redundant Array of Independent Disk (RAID) configuration. A stride is populated with tracks ready to demote in response to determining that there are enough tracks ready to demote to form the stride. The stride of tracks, to demote from the first cache, are promoted to the second cache. The tracks in the second cache that are modified are destaged to the storage system. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303876 | CACHING DATA IN A STORAGE SYSTEM HAVING MULTIPLE CACHES INCLUDING NON-VOLATILE STORAGE CACHE IN A SEQUENTIAL ACCESS STORAGE DEVICE - Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for caching data in a storage system having multiple caches. A sequential access storage device includes a sequential access storage medium and a non-volatile storage device integrated in the sequential access storage device, received modified tracks are cached in the non-volatile storage device, wherein the non-volatile storage device is a faster access device than the sequential access storage medium. A spatial index indicates the modified tracks in the non-volatile storage device in an ordering based on their physical location in the sequential access storage medium. The modified tracks are destaged from the non-volatile storage device by comparing a current position of a write head to physical locations of the modified tracks on the sequential access storage medium indicated in the spatial index to select a modified track to destage from the non-volatile storage device to the storage device. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303877 | USING AN ATTRIBUTE OF A WRITE REQUEST TO DETERMINE WHERE TO CACHE DATA IN A STORAGE SYSTEM HAVING MULTIPLE CACHES INCLUDING NON-VOLATILE STORAGE CACHE IN A SEQUENTIAL ACCESS STORAGE DEVICE - Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for using an attribute of a write request to determine where to cache data in a storage system having multiple caches including non-volatile storage cache in a sequential access storage device. Received modified tracks are cached in the non-volatile storage device integrated with the sequential access storage device in response to determining to cache the modified tracks. A write request having modified tracks is received. A determination is made as to whether an attribute of the received write request satisfies a condition. The received modified tracks for the write request are cached in the non-volatile storage device in response to determining that the determined attribute does not satisfy the condition. A destage request is added to a request queue for the received write request having the determined attribute not satisfying the condition. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303878 | Method and Controller for Identifying a Unit in a Solid State Memory Device for Writing Data to - In a method for identifying a unit in a solid state memory device for writing data to a tier structure is maintained the tier structure comprising at least two tiers for assigning units available for writing data to. In response to receiving a request for writing data it is determined if a unit for writing data to is available in a first tier of the at least two tiers. In response to determining that a unit is available for writing data to in the first tier this unit is identified for writing data to, and in response to determining that no unit is available for writing the data to in the first tier it is determined if a unit is available for writing data to in a second tier of the at least two tiers subject to a priority of the write request. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303879 | Memory Device and Method for Programming Flash Memory Utilizing Spare Blocks - An access method for use in a memory device. The memory device comprises a data area having a plurality of data blocks and a spare area having a plurality of spare blocks. First, data from a host is received. A spare block is popped from the spare area and the received data is programmed into the popped spare block accordingly. A data block corresponding to the data is pushed to the spare area. The pushed data block is erased when the memory device is waiting for a specific instruction to be issued from the host. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303880 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ENCRYPTING AND PROCESSING DATA IN FLASH TRANSLATION LAYER - A method and apparatus for preventing a user from interpreting optional stored data information even when the user extracts the optional stored data, by managing data associated with a flash memory in a flash translation layer, the method comprising searching at least one page of the flash memory when writing data to the flash memory, determining whether authority information corresponding to respective searched pages includes an encryption storage function, generating, corresponding to respective searched pages, a page key according to an encrypting function when the authority information includes the encryption storage function encrypting the data using the generated page key and storing the encrypted data in the respective searched pages, and storing the data in the respective searched pages without encryption when the authority information does not include the encryption storage function. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303881 | Method and Memory Device that Powers-Up in a Read-Only Mode and Is Switchable to a Read/Write Mode - One-time programmable (OTP) and write-once read-many (WORM) memory devices and methods for use therewith are provided. These embodiments can be used to provide compatibility between a memory device that uses an OTP (or few-time programmable (FTP)) memory array and host devices that use a file system, such as the DOS FAT file system, that expects to be able to rewrite to a memory address in the memory device. These embodiments can also be used to prevent accidental or deliberate overwrites, changes, or deletions to existing data in a WORM memory device. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303882 | USB MEMORY DEVICE - A flash memory drive comprising: a male USB connector; a female USB connector; a flash memory chip to store file data; a computing processor, operatively connected to the flash memory chip, to manage tranfers of data to and from the flash memory chip; and a changeover switch, operatively connected to the computing processor, to connect the computing processor to one of the male USB connector and the female USB connector; wherein there is no data communication link between the male USB connector and the female USB connector when the changeover switch is connected to one of the male USB connector and the female USB connector. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303883 | IMPLEMENTING STORAGE ADAPTER PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION WITH CACHE DATA/DIRECTORY MIRRORING - A method and controller for implementing storage adapter performance optimization with cache data and cache directory mirroring between dual adapters minimizing firmware operations, and a design structure on which the subject controller circuit resides are provided. One of the first controller or the second controller operates in a first initiator mode includes firmware to set up an initiator write operation building a data frame for transferring data and a respective cache line (CL) for each page index to the other controller operating in a second target mode. Respective initiator hardware engines transfers data, reading CLs from an initiator control store, and writing updated CLs to an initiator data store, and simultaneously sends data and updated CLs to the other controller. Respective target hardware engines write data and updated CLs to the target data store, eliminating firmware operations of the controller operating in the second target mode. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303884 | IMPLEMENTING ENHANCED UPDATES FOR INDIRECTION TABLES - A method and a storage system are provided for implementing indirection tables and providing enhanced updates of the indirection tables for persistent media or disk drives, such as shingled perpendicular magnetic recording (SMR) indirection tables. A plurality of memory pools are used to store indirection data. An exception pointer table provides a pointer to an exception list for an I-Track. The exception list includes predetermined-size exception entries sorted by an offset from a start of the I-Track. An insert exception entry is provided for a new host write and merged to an updated exception list using an offset of the insert exception entry. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303885 | MULTIPLE PROCESSOR SYSTEM AND METHOD INCLUDING MULTIPLE MEMORY HUB MODULES - A processor-based electronic system includes several memory modules arranged in first and second ranks. The memory modules in the first rank are directly accessed by any of several processors, and the memory modules in the second rank are accessed by the processors through the memory modules in the first rank. The data bandwidth between the processors and the memory modules in the second rank is varied by varying the number of memory modules in the first rank that are used to access the memory module in the second set. Each of the memory modules includes several memory devices coupled to a memory hub. The memory hub includes a memory controller coupled to each memory device, a link interface coupled to a respective processor or memory module, and a cross bar switch coupling any of the memory controllers to any of the link interfaces. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303886 | IMPLEMENTING STORAGE ADAPTER PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION WITH HARDWARE CHAINS TO SELECT PERFORMANCE PATH - A method and controller for implementing storage adapter performance optimization with a predefined chain of hardware operations configured to implement a particular performance path minimizing hardware and firmware interactions, and a design structure on which the subject controller circuit resides are provided. The controller includes a plurality of hardware engines; and a data store configured to store a plurality of control blocks selectively arranged in one of a plurality of predefined chains. Each predefined chain defines a sequence of operations. Each control block is designed to control a hardware operation in one of the plurality of hardware engines. A resource handle structure is configured to select a predefined chain based upon a particular characteristic of the system. Each predefined chain is configured to implement a particular performance path to maximize performance. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303887 | METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIA FOR CACHING AND USING SCATTER LIST METADATA TO CONTROL DIRECT MEMORY ACCESS (DMA) RECEIVING OF NETWORK PROTOCOL DATA - Methods, systems, and computer readable media for caching and using scatter list metadata to control DMA receiving of network protocol data are described. According to one method, metadata associated with partially used scatter list entries is cached in memory of a scatter list caching engine. Data to be written to host system memory is received. The scatter list caching engine provides the metadata associated with partially used scatter list entries to a DMA controller to control the DMA writing of the data into host system memory. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303888 | DESTAGING OF WRITE AHEAD DATA SET TRACKS - Exemplary methods, computer systems, and computer program products for efficient destaging of a write ahead data set (WADS) track in a volume of a computing storage environment are provided. In one embodiment, the computer environment is configured for preventing destage of a plurality of tracks in cache selected for writing to a storage device. For a track N in a stride Z of the selected plurality of tracks, if the track N is a first WADS track in the stride Z, clearing at least one temporal bit for each track in the cache for the stride Z minus 2 (Z−2), and if the track N is a sequential track, clearing the at least one temporal bit for the track N minus a variable X (N−X). | 2012-11-29 |
20120303889 | SMR storage device with user controls and access to status information and parameter settings - Shingled magnetic recording (SMR) devices are described that include a command processor for accepting commands from the host/user for executing selected SMR related operations, setting selected SMR parameters and reading selected SMR related statistics and status indicators. The commands allow a host/user to control defragmentation and destaging operations. Embodiments include some or all of the set of features allowing selection of formatting settings, selection of optimization settings; command to immediately run defragmentation operation; command to change waiting time before starting defragmentation operation; and command to temporarily suspend defragmentation operation until certain usage threshold is met (e.g., E-region(s) near full). | 2012-11-29 |
20120303890 | WRITING OF NEW DATA OF A FIRST BLOCK SIZE IN A RAID ARRAY THAT STORES BOTH PARITY AND DATA IN A SECOND BLOCK SIZE - A Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) controller receives new data that is to be written, wherein the new data is indicated in blocks of a first block size. The RAID controller reads old data, and old parity that corresponds to the old data, stored in blocks of a second block size that is larger in size than the first block size. The RAID controller computes new parity based on the new data, the old data, and the old parity. The RAID controller writes the new data and the new parity aligned to the blocks of the second block size, wherein portions of the old data that are not overwritten by the RAID controller are also written to the blocks of the second block size. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303891 | WRITING OF DATA OF A FIRST BLOCK SIZE IN A RAID ARRAY THAT STORES AND MIRRORS DATA IN A SECOND BLOCK SIZE - Data that is to be written is received, wherein the data is indicated in one or more blocks of a first block size. Each of the one or more blocks of the first block size is written in consecutive blocks of a second block size that is larger is size than the first block size, wherein each of the consecutive blocks of the second block size stores only one block of the first block size, and wherein each of the consecutive blocks of the second block size has empty space remaining, subsequent to the writing of each of the one or more blocks of the first block size. Filler data is written in the empty space remaining in each of the consecutive blocks of the second block size. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303892 | WRITING OF NEW DATA OF A FIRST BLOCK SIZE IN A RAID ARRAY THAT STORES BOTH PARITY AND DATA IN A SECOND BLOCK SIZE - A Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) controller receives new data that is to be written, wherein the new data is indicated in blocks of a first block size. The RAID controller reads old data, and old parity that corresponds to the old data, stored in blocks of a second block size that is larger in size than the first block size. The RAID controller computes new parity based on the new data, the old data, and the old parity. The RAID controller writes the new data and the new parity aligned to the blocks of the second block size, wherein portions of the old data that are not overwritten by the RAID controller are also written to the blocks of the second block size. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303893 | WRITING OF DATA OF A FIRST BLOCK SIZE IN A RAID ARRAY THAT STORES AND MIRRORS DATA IN A SECOND BLOCK SIZE - Data that is to be written is received, wherein the data is indicated in one or more blocks of a first block size. Each of the one or more blocks of the first block size is written in consecutive blocks of a second block size that is larger is size than the first block size, wherein each of the consecutive blocks of the second block size stores only one block of the first block size, and wherein each of the consecutive blocks of the second block size has empty space remaining, subsequent to the writing of each of the one or more blocks of the first block size. Filler data is written in the empty space remaining in each of the consecutive blocks of the second block size. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303894 | TRANSPORT AGNOSTIC SCSI I/O REFERRALS - The present invention is a method for providing multi-pathing via Small Computer System Interface Input/Output (SCSI I/O) referral between an initiator and a storage cluster which are communicatively coupled via a network. The method includes receiving an input/output (I/O) at a first target device from the initiator via the network. The I/O includes a data request. The method further includes transmitting a SCSI I/O referral list to the initiator when data included in the data request is not stored on the first target device, but is stored on a second target device. The referral list includes first and second port identifiers for identifying first and second ports of the second target device respectively. The first and second ports of the target device are identified as access ports for accessing the data requested in the data request. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303895 | HANDLING HIGH PRIORITY REQUESTS IN A SEQUENTIAL ACCESS STORAGE DEVICE HAVING A NON-VOLATILE STORAGE CACHE - Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for handling high priority requests in a sequential access storage device. Received modified tracks for write requests are cached in a non-volatile storage device integrated with the sequential access storage device. A destage request is added to a request queue for a received write request having modified tracks for the sequential access storage medium cached in the non-volatile storage device. A read request indicting a priority is received. A determination is made of a priority of the read request as having a first priority or a second priority. The read request is added to the request queue in response to determining that the determined priority is the first priority. The read request is processed at a higher priority than the read and destage requests in the request queue in response to determining that the determined priority is the second priority. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303896 | INTELLIGENT CACHING - Intelligent caching includes defining a cache policy for a data source, selecting parameters of data in the data source to monitor, the parameters forming a portion of the cache policy, and monitoring the data source for an event based on the cache policy. Upon an occurrence of an event, the intelligent caching also includes retrieving target data subject to the cache policy from a first location and moving the target data to a second location. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303897 | CONFIGURABLE SET ASSOCIATIVE CACHE WAY ARCHITECTURE - System and method for dynamically configuring a set associative cache way architecture based on an application is disclosed. In one embodiment, a memory size required for the application is determined by a cache controller. Further, a required cache way size and a required number of cache ways in a set associative cache way are computed based on the determined memory size. Furthermore, the set associative cache way architecture is configured to power off selected areas of the set associative cache way based on the computed required cache way size and the required number of cache ways for running the application. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303898 | MANAGING UNMODIFIED TRACKS MAINTAINED IN BOTH A FIRST CACHE AND A SECOND CACHE - Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for managing unmodified tracks maintained in both a first cache and a second cache. The first cache has unmodified tracks in the storage subject to Input/Output (I/O) requests. Unmodified tracks are demoted from the first cache to a second cache. An inclusive list indicates unmodified tracks maintained in both the first cache and a second cache. An exclusive list indicates unmodified tracks maintained in the second cache but not the first cache. The inclusive list and the exclusive list are used to determine whether to promote to the second cache an unmodified track demoted from the first cache. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303899 | MANAGING TRACK DISCARD REQUESTS TO INCLUDE IN DISCARD TRACK MESSAGES - Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for managing track discard requests to include in discard track messages. A backup copy of a track in a cache is maintained in the cache backup device. A track discard request is generated to discard tracks in the cache backup device removed from the cache. Track discard requests are queued in a discard track queue. In response to detecting that a predetermined number of track discard requests are queued in the discard track queue while processing in a discard multi-track mode, one discard multiple tracks message is sent indicating the tracks indicated in the queued predetermined number of track discard requests to the cache backup device instructing the cache backup device to discard the tracks indicated in the discard multiple tracks message. In response to determining a predetermined number of periods of inactivity while processing in the discard multi-track mode, processing the track discard requests is switched to a discard single track mode. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303900 | PROCESSING PIPELINE CONTROL - A graphics processing unit | 2012-11-29 |
20120303901 | Distributed caching and analysis system and method - Distributed caching and analysis system and method are disclosed. In an example, a method for distributed caching and analyzing includes processing a local data partition on a distributed caching platform (DCP) by a query engine at each node in the DCP. The method also includes aggregating query results for a client from multiple nodes in the DCP for real-time, parallel analytics. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303902 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANAGING DATA STORAGE - An apparatus for controlling a log-structured data storage system, operable with a first log-structured data storage area for storing data, comprises a metadata storage component for controlling the first log-structured data storage area and comprising a second log-structured data storage area for storing metadata; and means for nesting the second log-structured data storage area for storing metadata within the first log-structured data storage area. The apparatus may further comprise at least a third log-structured data storage area for storing further metadata, and means for nesting the at least a third log-structured data storage area within the second log-structured data storage area. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303903 | System, Method, and Computer Program Product for Modeling Changes to Large Scale Datasets - A system, method, and computer program product for modeling, the user appears to have a body of information in a data structure that can be manipulated independently of an underlying database. In an embodiment of the invention, the data structure is an entity cache. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303904 | MANAGING UNMODIFIED TRACKS MAINTAINED IN BOTH A FIRST CACHE AND A SECOND CACHE - Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for managing unmodified tracks maintained in both a first cache and a second cache. The first cache has unmodified tracks in the storage subject to Input/Output (I/O) requests. Unmodified tracks are demoted from the first cache to a second cache. An inclusive list indicates unmodified tracks maintained in both the first cache and a second cache. An exclusive list indicates unmodified tracks maintained in the second cache but not the first cache. The inclusive list and the exclusive list are used to determine whether to promote to the second cache an unmodified track demoted from the first cache. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303905 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IMPLEMENTING CACHE - In embodiments of the present invention, a file access request sent by an application to a hard disk is obtained, file information of the accessed file is acquired according to the request, the file accessed by the application is fragmented to obtain at least one file fragment, a condition for copying the file fragment from the hard disk to the cache is set, and the file fragment is copied to the cache when the copying condition is met in a storage unit. Compared with a technical solution in the prior art where the file is copied to the cache, utilization efficiency of the cache is effectively improved. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303906 | WRITE-THROUGH-AND-BACK-CACHE - Embodiments are provided for cache memory systems. In one general embodiment, a method that includes receiving a host write request from a host computer, creating a sequential log file in a storage device, and copying data received during the host write request to a storage buffer. The method further includes determining if a selected quantity of data has been accumulated in the storage buffer and executing a write through of data to sequentially write the data accumulated in the storage buffer to the sequential log file and to a storage class memory device if the selected quantity of data has been accumulated in the storage buffer. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303907 | Dynamically Maintaining Coherency Within Live Ranges of Direct Buffers - Reducing coherency problems in a data processing system is provided. Source code that is to be compiled is received and analyzed to identify at least one of a plurality of loops that contain a memory reference. A determination is made as to whether the memory reference is an access to a global memory that should be handled by a direct buffer. Responsive to an indication that the memory reference is an access to the global memory that should be handled by the direct buffer, the memory reference is marked for direct buffer transformation. The direct buffer transformation is then applied to the memory reference. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303908 | MANAGING CONCURRENT ACCESSES TO A CACHE - Various embodiments of the present invention allow concurrent accesses to a cache. A request to update an object stored in a cache is received. A first data structure comprising a new value for the object is created in response to receiving the request. A cache pointer is atomically modified to point to the first data structure. A second data structure comprising an old value for the cached object is maintained until a process, which holds a pointer to the old value of the cached object, at least one of one of ends and indicates that the old value is no longer needed. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303909 | IMPLEMENTING STORAGE ADAPTER PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION WITH ENHANCED HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE INTERFACE - A method and controller for implementing storage adapter performance optimization with chained hardware operations and an enhanced hardware (HW) and firmware (FW) interface minimizing hardware and firmware interactions, and a design structure on which the subject controller circuit resides are provided. The controller includes a plurality of hardware engines; and a processor. A data store is configured to store a plurality of control blocks. A global work queue includes a plurality of the control blocks selectively arranged in a predefined chain to define sequences of hardware operations. The global work queue includes a queue input coupled to the processor and the hardware engines and an output coupled to the hardware engines. The control blocks are arranged in respective engine work queues designed to control hardware operations of the respective hardware engines and respective control blocks are arranged in an event queue to provide completion results to the processor. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303910 | Detecting Potential Access Errors In A Multi-Threaded Application - In one embodiment, a method includes maintaining thread analysis metadata for a multi-threaded application. The metadata may include a thread vector clock for threads of the application and a synchronization vector clock for synchronization objects of the application. In addition, an initialization log and an access log can be generated and maintained for memory accesses occurring during execution of the application. From this metadata, it may be determined if an access to a memory element by a thread is a potential invalid access for a different scheduling of the application. Other embodiments are described and claimed. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303911 | ELECTRONIC DEVICE WITH REVERSING STACK DATA CONTAINER AND RELATED METHODS - An electronic device may include a memory, and a processor coupled to the memory for storing and accessing data in the memory. The processor may arrange the data in a stack data container including values extending from a stack top to a stack bottom, operate the stack data container in first and second modes of operation, and while in the first mode of operation, push and pop a respective value from the stack top of the stack data container. The processor may also while in the second mode, reverse an orientation of the stack data container and the values therein, and push and pop a respective value from the stack bottom of the reversed stack data container. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303912 | STORAGE ACCOUNT MIGRATION BETWEEN STORAGE STAMPS - Embodiments of the present invention relate to invoking and managing migration operations applied to partitions within a distributed computing environment, where each partition represents a key range of data for a storage account. The partitions affected by the migration operations are source partitions hosted on a primary storage stamp and/or destination partitions hosted on a secondary storage stamp, where the primary and secondary storage stamps are equipped to replicate the storage account's data therebetween upon initiating a migration. Upon substantial completion of a bootstrapping phase of replication, one migration operation includes designating the secondary storage stamp as a new primary storage stamp such that the destination partitions commence processing client requests, sending resultant transactions to the source partitions, and providing read and write access thereto. Another migration operation includes designating the primary storage stamp as a new secondary storage stamp such that the source partitions commence replaying the transactions. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303913 | TRANSPARENT FILE SYSTEM MIGRATION TO A NEW PHYSICAL LOCATION - Transparent file system migration including a method that identifies a source physical storage location in a file system that supports simultaneous access by multiple independent processes. A target physical storage location in the file system is identified and its contents are migrated to the target physical storage location. The migrating includes disallowing new allocations to the source physical storage location and copying contents from the source physical storage location to the target physical storage location. A write request to write data to the source physical storage location is received prior to or during the migrating. The write request is serviced contemporaneously with the migrating. Read and write requests directed to the source physical storage location are redirected to the target physical storage location. The redirecting is responsive to the migrating completing. The requests are from the multiple independent processes and include both logical and physical input/outputs. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303914 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BACKUP AND RECOVERY USING STORAGE BASED JOURNALING - A storage system maintains a journal of journal entries and at least one snapshot of one or more data volumes. By assigning a unique sequence number to journal and snapshot, it is easy to find a journal which can be applied to the snapshot. A technique is described for detecting an overflow condition of running out of journal space and recovering the journal space. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303915 | TRANSMISSION CONTROL DEVICE, MEMORY CONTROL DEVICE, AND PLC INCLUDING THE TRANSMISSION CONTROL DEVICE - A transmission control device in the present invention includes: a data storage memory in which data are written; a plurality of data copy memories into which the data written in the data storage memory are copied; an unread copy-memory selection unit that selects one of the data copy memories for which reading of data is not performed from among the data copy memories; a memory copy unit that copies the data written in the data storage memory into a data copy memory selected by the unread copy-memory selection unit; a read copy-memory selection unit that selects a data copy memory into which the memory copy unit copies data from among the data copy memories; and a data output unit that reads data from a data copy memory selected by the read copy-memory selection unit and outputs the read data to a transmission unit. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303916 | DEFRAGMENTATION OF DATA STORAGE POOLS - In a computer-implemented data storage system comprising at least one storage control and data storage, wherein data is stored in the form of volumes, at least a plurality of volumes having at least some freespace, and a grouping of a plurality of volumes comprises a pool. In response to a defragmentation request, the storage control initiates migration of data from a pool to generate additional freespace. Subsequent to the migration of data, fragmentation of data of the pool is computed, and the amount of existing freespace of the pool is determined. The amount of existing freespace is compared to a freespace threshold, where the freespace threshold is related to the computed fragmentation. If the comparison indicates the amount of freespace is below the threshold, spill volumes are added to the pool; and, else, the pool is kept intact without adding spill volumes. Then, defragmentation of the pool is initiated. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303917 | SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND PHYSICAL COMPUTER STORAGE MEDIA TO OPTIMIZE DATA PLACEMENT IN MULTI-TIERED STORAGE SYSTEMS - A system includes a data collector, a plurality of data placement optimizers, a data placement arbitrator, and a data mover. The data collector is configured to collect system configuration data and system performance data. The plurality of data placement optimizers are each configured to analyze the system configuration data and the system performance data for developing a corresponding data movement plan. The data placement arbitrator is configured to arbitrate conflicts between at least two data movement plans of generated by the plurality of data placement optimizers to form an execution plan. The data mover is configured to perform the data movement plans according to the execution plan. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303918 | DEFRAGMENTATION OF DATA STORAGE POOLS - In a computer-implemented data storage system comprising at least one storage control and data storage, wherein data is stored in the form of volumes, at least a plurality of volumes having at least some freespace, and a grouping of a plurality of volumes comprises a pool. In response to a defragmentation request, the storage control initiates migration of data from a pool to generate additional freespace. Subsequent to the migration of data, fragmentation of data of the pool is computed, and the amount of existing freespace of the pool is determined. The amount of existing freespace is compared to a freespace threshold, where the freespace threshold is related to the computed fragmentation. If the comparison indicates the amount of freespace is below the threshold, spill volumes are added to the pool; and, else, the pool is kept intact without adding spill volumes. Then, defragmentation of the pool is initiated. | 2012-11-29 |
20120303919 | WRITE-ERASE ENDURANCE LIFETIME OF MEMORY STORAGE DEVICES - A memory management system and method for managing memory blocks of a memory device of a computer. The system includes a free block data structure including free memory blocks for writing, and sorting the free memory blocks in a predetermined order based on block write-erase endurance cycle count and receiving new user-write requests to update existing data and relocation write requests to relocate existing data separately, a user-write block pool for receiving youngest blocks holding user-write data (i.e., any page being updated frequently) from the free block data structure, a relocation block pool for receiving oldest blocks holding relocation data (i.e., any page being updated infrequently) from the free block data structure, and a garbage collection pool structure for selecting at least one of user-write blocks and relocation blocks for garbage collection, wherein the selected block is moved back to the free block data structure upon being relocated and erased. | 2012-11-29 |