Power Failure Architecture and Verification

• US 20150153802A1
• Filed: 12/19/2013
• Published: 06/04/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SanDisk Technologies LLC (Western Digital Corporation)
• Original Assignee: SanDisk Enterprise IP LLC (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: Lucas, Gregg S., Delpapa, Kenneth B., Ellis, Robert W.
• Granted Patent: US 9,250,676 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 11/1402 Saving, restoring, recovering or retrying
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1441 Resetting or repowering
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2015 Redundant power supplies power supply failure G06F1/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3062 where the monitored property is the power consumption power management in a computing system G06F1/3203

Abstract

The various implementations described herein include systems, methods and devices used to protect data in a storage device. In one aspect, a method includes, performing a soft power fail operation on a section of the device, the operation including: (1) signaling a power test condition to a first controller on the storage device; (2) providing one or more controllers with power from an energy storage device, where the energy storage device is distinct from a power supply used during normal operation; (3) signaling a power fail condition to the one or more controllers on the storage device, where the one or more controllers communicate with the first controller and correspond to said section of the storage device, and where, in response to the power fail condition, each of the one or more controllers performs a data hardening operation; and (4) resuming normal operation on said section of the storage device.

Claims

1. A method of protecting data in a storage device comprising volatile memory and non-volatile memory, the method comprising:

performing a soft power fail operation on a first section of the storage device, the soft power fail operation including;

signaling a power test condition to a first controller on the storage device;

providing one or more controllers with power from an energy storage device, wherein the energy storage device is distinct from a power supply used during normal operation of the storage device;

signaling a power fail condition to the one or more controllers on the storage device;

wherein the one or more controllers communicate with the first controller and correspond to the first section of the storage device; and

wherein, in response to the power fail condition, each of the one or more controllers performs a data hardening operation; and

resuming normal operation on the first section of the storage device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the storage device provides the one or more controllers with power from the energy storage device and signals the power fail condition to the one or more controllers on the storage device simultaneously.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the data hardening operation includes generating a hardening done signal.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising resuming normal operation on the first section of the storage device in response to receiving a respective hardening done signal from at least one of the one or more controllers.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the data hardening operation includes transferring data held in the volatile memory of the storage device to the non-volatile memory of the storage device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein transferring data held in the volatile memory of the storage device to the non-volatile memory of the storage device includes utilizing one or more preset pages in the non-volatile memory.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising, prior to performing the soft power fail operation on the first section of the storage device, initializing the one or more preset pages.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein, during the soft power fail operation, the one or more controllers operate at higher speeds than during normal operation.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein, during the soft power fail operation, the one or more controllers write to more non-volatile memory devices in parallel than during normal operation.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein, during the soft power fail operation, the one or more controllers draw more power than during normal operation.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the data hardening operation includes resetting the one or more controllers.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the data hardening operation includes removing power from the one or more controllers.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the soft power fail operation includes recording time elapsed between signaling the power fail condition to a respective controller and receiving the corresponding hardening done signal from the respective controller.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising, in accordance with a determination that the time elapsed exceeds a predetermined threshold, performing a power fail error operation.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising recording data regarding the soft power fail operation to non-volatile memory.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing the soft power fail operation on the first section of the storage device in response to detecting an error condition.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing the soft power fail operation on the first section of the storage device in response to a received command.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the energy storage device comprises one or more capacitors.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

prior to performing the soft power fail operation on the first section of the storage device;

charging the energy storage device;

determining whether the energy storage device meets a minimum charge level threshold within a predefined charge time; and

in accordance with a determination that the energy storage device does not meet the minimum charge level threshold in the predefined charge time, performing a power fail error operation.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the soft power fail operation on the first section of the storage device includes bringing the energy storage device to a discharged state;

and

the method further comprises resuming normal operation on the first section of the storage device subsequent to the storage device reaching the discharged state.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein resuming normal operation on the first section of the storage device includes bringing the energy storage device to a charged state.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein resuming normal operation on the first section of the storage device includes providing the one or more controllers with the power supply used during normal operation of the storage device.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the soft power fail operation is controlled by a power control processor (PCP) of the storage device.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the first controller on the storage device is a memory controller;

and

wherein, in response to the power test signal, the first controller asserts a hardening done signal and ignores power fail errors received from the one or more controllers.

25. A storage device operable to protect data, comprising:

an interface for coupling the storage device to a host system;

a plurality of controllers; and

supervisory module including one or more processors and an energy storage device, the supervisory module configured to;

perform a soft power fail operation on a first section of the storage device, the soft power fail operation including;

signaling a power test condition to a first controller of the plurality of controllers on the storage device;

providing one or more controllers of the plurality of controllers with power from the energy storage device, wherein the energy storage device is distinct from a power supply used during normal operation of the storage device;

signaling a power fail condition to the one or more controllers on the storage device;

wherein the one or more controllers communicate with the first controller and correspond to the first section of the storage device; and

wherein, in response to the power fail condition, each of the one or more controllers performs a data hardening operation; and

resuming normal operation on the first section of the storage device.

26. The storage device of claim 25, wherein the storage device is configured to provide the one or more controllers with power from the energy storage device and signal the power fail condition to the one or more controllers on the storage device simultaneously.

27. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium, storing one or more programs for execution by one or more processors of a storage device having a plurality of controllers and supervisory module, the one or more programs including instructions for:

performing a soft power fail operation on a first section of the storage device, the soft power fail operation including;

signaling a power test condition to a first controller on the storage device;

providing one or more controllers with power from an energy storage device, wherein the energy storage device is distinct from a power supply used during normal operation of the storage device;

signaling a power fail condition to the one or more controllers on the storage device;

wherein the one or more controllers communicate with the first controller and correspond to the first section of the storage device; and

wherein, in response to the power fail condition, each of the one or more controllers performs a data hardening operation; and

resuming normal operation on the first section of the storage device.