APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR POWER REDUCTION MANAGEMENT IN A STORAGE DEVICE

• US 20110058440A1
• Filed: 09/09/2010
• Published: 03/10/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SanDisk Technologies LLC (Western Digital Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fusion-IO Incorporated (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: Smith, Lance L., Inskeep, Bill, Flynn, David, Thatcher, Jonathan, Fillingim, Jeremy, Strasser, John
• Granted Patent: US 8,289,801 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 365/229
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/30 Means for acting in the event of power-supply failure or interruption, e.g. power-supply fluctuations for resetting only G06F1/24
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1048 using arrangements adapted for a specific error detection or correction feature
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1076 Parity data used in redundant arrays of independent storages, e.g. in RAID systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1441 Resetting or repowering
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1471 involving logging of persistent data for recovery
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2015 Redundant power supplies power supply failure G06F1/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3034 where the computing system component is a storage system, e.g. DASD based or network based digital input from or digital output to record carriers G06F3/06; digital recording or reproducing G11B20/18; for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS], H04L67/1097
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3058 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring environmental properties or parameters of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring of power, currents, temperature, humidity, position, vibrations thermal management in cooling arrangements of a computing system G06F1/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/81 Threshold
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 16/10 Programming or data input circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 16/30 Power supply circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 5/141 Battery and back-up supplies

Abstract

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.

Claims

1. A method for power loss management in a storage device, the apparatus comprising:

initiating a power loss mode in a 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;

accepting electric power for the nonvolatile data storage device from a secondary power source for at least a power hold-up time during the power loss mode; and

adjusting execution of in-process operations on the nonvolatile data storage device during the power loss mode such that essential in-process operations execute within the power hold-up time.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting execution of the in-process operations comprises terminating one or more non-essential operations from the in-process operations on the nonvolatile data storage device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more non-essential operations comprise write operations that have not been acknowledged to one or more clients of the nonvolatile data storage device, erase operations, and read operations.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising powering off the nonvolatile data storage device without executing the one or more non-essential operations.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting execution of the in-process operations comprises skipping one or more non-essential operations in one or more command queues such that the one or more non-essential operations are not performed on the non-volatile data storage device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the essential in-process operations comprise write operations that have been acknowledged to the one or more clients of the nonvolatile data storage device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting execution of the in-process operations comprises resetting one or more nonvolatile memory components of the nonvolatile data storage device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein adjusting execution of the in-process operations further comprises executing the essential in-process operations on the one or more nonvolatile memory components in response to resetting the one or more nonvolatile memory areas.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the one or more nonvolatile memory components comprise substantially all nonvolatile memory components of the nonvolatile data storage device.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the one or more nonvolatile memory components comprise one or more banks of nonvolatile memory components currently processing a non-essential operation from the in-process operations, each bank comprising a plurality of nonvolatile memory dies.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the non-essential operation comprises an erase operation.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting execution of the in-process operations comprises reordering selection of in-process operations to execute the essential in-process operations within the power hold-up time.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising quiescing operation of one or more subcomponents of the nonvolatile data storage device in response to initiating the power loss mode, wherein quiescing the operation of the one or more subcomponents conserves energy of the secondary power source to provide the power hold-up time.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting execution of the in-process operations comprises flushing buffered incomplete data associated with essential in-process operations to nonvolatile memory of the nonvolatile data storage device such that the nonvolatile memory stores the buffered incomplete data within the power hold-up time.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing, on the nonvolatile data storage device, an identifier that the nonvolatile data storage device initiated the power loss mode, the identifier stored for retrieval from the nonvolatile data storage device in response to a restoration of power to the nonvolatile data storage device.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing, on the nonvolatile data storage device, an identifier to identify that the essential in-process operations completed execution within the power hold-up time, the identifier stored for retrieval from the nonvolatile data storage device in response to a restoration of power to the nonvolatile data storage device.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the secondary power supply comprises one or more capacitors capable of storing sufficient energy to provide the power hold-up time to execute the essential in-process operations.

18. An apparatus for power loss management in a storage device, the apparatus comprising:

a monitor module that initiates a power loss mode in a 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 that supplies electric power to the nonvolatile data storage device for at least a power hold-up time during the power loss mode; and

a power loss module that adjusts execution of in-process operations on the nonvolatile data storage device during the power loss mode such that essential in-process operations execute within the power hold-up time.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the power loss module adjusts execution of in-process operations by resetting one or more nonvolatile memory components of the nonvolatile data storage device currently processing a non-essential operation from the in-process operations to terminate the non-essential operation.

20. A system for power loss management in a storage device, the system comprising:

an adapter configured to receive two or more nonvolatile data storage devices;

a primary power source electrically coupled to the adapter to supply electric power to the two or more nonvolatile data storage devices;

at least one monitor module that initiates a power loss mode in the nonvolatile data storage devices in response to the primary power source failing to supply electric power above a predefined threshold;

at least one secondary power source electrically coupled to the adapter, each secondary power source configured to supply electric power to at least one of the nonvolatile data storage devices for at least a power hold-up time during the power loss mode; and

one or more power loss modules that adjust execution of in-process operations on the nonvolatile data storage devices during the power loss mode such that essential in-process operations execute within the power hold-up time.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the one or more power loss modules comprise a separate power loss module for each nonvolatile storage device, each separate power loss module configured to adjust execution of in-process operations on the associated nonvolatile data storage device.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the one or more power loss modules comprise a single system power loss module configured to adjust execution of in-process operations on the two or more nonvolatile data storage devices.