STORAGE DEVICE WITH MULTIPLE STORAGE UNITS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF

• US 20120005468A1
• Filed: 06/30/2010
• Published: 01/05/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Felicity Taiwan Corporation
• Original Assignee: Felicity Taiwan Corporation
• Inventors: Yu, Chun-Te
• Granted Patent: US 8,412,876 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3268 Power saving in hard disk drive
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3275 Power saving in memory, e.g. RAM, cache
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1417 Boot up procedures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2094 Redundant storage or storage space G06F11/2056 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

A storage device with multiple storage units, which is applicable to a system end. The storage device is a hard disk drive (HDD) or solid state disk (SSD) with a standard size. The storage device includes a first storage unit and at least one memory storage unit. The memory storage unit and the first storage unit serve to back up and update each other. The storage device further includes a multiplex control unit and a power control unit connected to the multiplex control unit. According to the decision of the multiplex control unit, the power control unit controls turning on/off of the first storage unit and the memory storage unit.

Claims

1. A storage device with multiple storage units, the storage device being applicable and connectable to a system end, the storage device comprising:

an interface unit having at least one transmission interface electrically connected to the system end;

a first storage unit having a software element including at least one operation system;

at least one memory storage unit, the memory storage unit and the first storage unit serving to back up and update each other, the memory storage unit storing said software element and serving as a first-priority boot execution unit;

a multiplex control unit, data being transmitted between the multiplex control unit and the system end via the interface unit, the multiplex control unit serving to access the software element stored in the first storage unit and the memory storage unit and generate a mode selection signal according to a working mode parameter; and

a power control unit connected to the multiplex control unit, the first storage unit and the memory storage unit, whereby according to the mode selection signal, the power control unit controls turning on/off of the first storage unit and the memory storage unit.

2. The storage device with multiple storage units as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transmission interface is selected from the group consisting of Parallel ATA series, Serial ATA (SATA) series, SCSI series, USB series and SAS series.

3. The storage device with multiple storage units as claimed in claim 2, wherein the multiplex control unit is inbuilt with multiple parameters including the working mode parameter and a synchronous update parameter, whereby according to the synchronous update parameter, the multiplex control unit generates a synchronous update signal.

4. The storage device with multiple storage units as claimed in claim 2, wherein the multiplex control unit is connected to an operation mode selection unit.

5. The storage device with multiple storage units as claimed in claim 4, wherein the operation mode selection unit is inbuilt with multiple parameters including the working mode parameter and a synchronous update parameter, whereby according to the synchronous update parameter, the multiplex control unit generates a synchronous update signal.

6. The storage device with multiple storage units as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first storage unit is a mechanical hard disk or a memory-type hard disk.

7. The storage device with multiple storage units as claimed in claim 3, wherein the at least one memory storage unit includes a first memory storage unit as the first-priority boot execution unit, the first storage unit serving as a backup execution unit.

8. The storage device with multiple storage units as claimed in claim 3, wherein the at least one memory storage unit includes a first memory storage unit and a second memory storage unit, the first memory storage unit serving as the first-priority boot execution unit, the second memory storage unit serving as a first backup execution unit and the first storage unit serving as a second backup execution unit.

9. The storage device with multiple storage units as claimed in claim 8, wherein the parameters further include three storage unit data backup parameters.

10. An electronic equipment comprising the storage device as claimed in claim 1, the electronic equipment being connected to the multiplex control unit via the interface unit.

11. The electronic equipment as claimed in claim 10, wherein the electronic equipment is a computer, a personal digital assistant or a portable device.

12. A control method of a storage device connected to a system end, the storage device including an interface unit having at least one transmission interface, a first storage unit, a first memory storage unit, a multiplex control unit and a power control unit, the control method comprising steps of:

booting the system end, the multiplex control unit making a self-check and identifying the type of the transmission interface connected to the system end;

selecting working mode, the multiplex control unit transmitting a mode selection requirement to the system end, the system end selecting the working mode between the standard working mode and the intelligent working mode;

selecting the standard working mode, the multiplex control unit sending information of the first storage unit and the first memory storage unit to the system end;

selecting boot execution unit, the system end reading the first storage unit and the first memory storage unit and selecting one of the first storage unit and the first memory storage unit as the boot execution unit;

selecting the first memory storage unit as the boot execution unit, via the interface unit, the multiplex control unit transmitting the software element in the first memory storage unit to the system end to complete the loading of operation system;

selecting the first storage unit as the boot execution unit, via the interface unit, the multiplex control unit transmitting the software element in the first storage unit to the system end to complete the loading of operation system; and

performing ordinary operation or shutdown.

13. The control method as claimed in claim 12, wherein in the case that the system end selects the intelligent working mode, the control method of the storage device comprising steps of:

selecting the intelligent working mode, the multiplex control unit sending information of the first storage unit and the first memory storage unit to the system end;

selecting boot execution unit, the system end reading the first storage unit and the first memory storage unit and selecting one of the first storage unit and the first memory storage unit as the boot execution unit;

selecting the first memory storage unit as the boot execution unit, via the power control unit, the multiplex control unit powering on the first memory storage unit and powering off the first storage unit, via the interface unit, the multiplex control unit also transmitting the software element in the first memory storage unit to the system end to complete the loading of operation system;

selecting the first storage unit as the boot execution unit, via the power control unit, the multiplex control unit powering on the first storage unit and powering off the first memory storage unit, via the interface unit, the multiplex control unit also transmitting the software element in the first storage unit to the system end to complete the loading of operation system;

setting a synchronous update parameter and starting timing, the system end setting the time corresponding to the synchronous update parameter, after set, the multiplex control unit starting timing according to the synchronous update parameter;

performing ordinary operation and judging whether the time is up, after the operation system is loaded into the system end, the storage device operating and the multiplex control unit judging whether the time is counted to the corresponding time;

backup and update, the multiplex control unit executing data duplication operation;

judging whether the system end selects shutdown, the multiplex control unit judging whether the system end selects shutdown, if so, the system end being shut down, if not, the system end performing the ordinary operation; and

shutdown.

14. The control method as claimed in claim 13, wherein in the step of judging whether the time is up, the multiplex control unit judges whether the timing is completed, if not, the ordinary operation required by the system end being performed, if so, the step of backup and update being executed.

15. The control method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the step of backup and update includes sub-steps of:

powering on the non-boot execution unit;

duplicating the file;

powering off the non-boot execution unit; and

rereading the synchronous update parameter and starting timing.

16. A control method of a storage device connected to a system end, the storage device including an interface unit having at least one transmission interface, a first storage unit, a first memory storage unit, a second memory booting the system end, the multiplex control unit making a self-check and identifying the type of the transmission interface connected to the system end;

selecting working mode, the multiplex control unit transmitting a mode selection requirement to the system end, the system end selecting the working mode between the standard working mode and the intelligent working mode;

selecting the standard working mode, the multiplex control unit sending information of the first storage unit, the first memory storage unit and the second memory storage unit to the system end;

selecting boot execution unit, the system end reading the first storage unit, the first memory storage unit and the second memory storage unit and selecting one of the first storage unit, the first memory storage unit and the second memory storage unit as the boot execution unit;

selecting the first memory storage unit as the boot execution unit, via the interface unit, the multiplex control unit transmitting the software element in the first memory storage unit to the system end to complete the loading of operation system;

selecting the second memory storage unit as the boot execution unit, via the interface unit, the multiplex control unit transmitting the software element in the second memory storage unit to the system end to complete the loading of operation system; and

performing ordinary operation or shutdown required by the system end.

17. The control method as claimed in claim 16, wherein in the case that the system end selects the intelligent working mode, the control method of the storage device comprising steps of:

selecting the intelligent working mode, the multiplex control unit sending information of the first storage unit, the first memory storage unit and the second memory storage unit to the system end;

selecting boot execution unit, the system end reading the first storage unit, the first memory storage unit and the second memory storage unit and selecting one of the first storage unit, the first memory storage unit and the second memory storage unit as the boot execution unit;

selecting the first memory storage unit as the boot execution unit, via the power control unit, the multiplex control unit powering on the first memory storage unit and powering off the first storage unit and the second memory storage unit, via the interface unit, the multiplex control unit also transmitting the software element in the first memory storage unit to the system end to complete the loading of operation system;

selecting the second memory storage unit as the boot execution unit, via the power control unit, the multiplex control unit powering on the second memory storage unit and powering off the first storage unit and the first memory storage unit, via the interface unit, the multiplex control unit also transmitting the software element in the second memory storage unit to the system end to complete the loading of operation system;

setting a synchronous update parameter and starting timing, the system end setting the time corresponding to the synchronous update parameter, after set, the multiplex control unit starting timing according to the synchronous update parameter;

performing ordinary operation and judging whether the time is up, after the operation system is loaded into the system end, the storage device operating and the multiplex control unit judging whether the time is counted to the corresponding time;

backup and update, the multiplex control unit executing data duplication operation;

judging whether the system end selects shutdown, the multiplex control unit judging whether the system end selects shutdown, if so, the system end being shut down, if not, the system end performing the ordinary operation; and

shutdown.

18. The control method as claimed in claim 17, wherein in the step of judging whether the time is up, the multiplex control unit judges whether the timing is completed, if not, the ordinary operation required by the system end being performed, if so, the step of backup and update being executed.

19. The control method as claimed in claim 18, wherein the step of backup and update includes sub-steps of:

powering on the non-boot execution unit according to the set three storage unit data backup parameters;

duplicating the file;

powering off the non-boot execution unit; and

rereading the synchronous update parameter and starting timing.