System and method for supporting multi-path and/or multi-mode NVMe over fabrics devices

• US 11,100,024 B2
• Filed: 11/17/2020
• Issued: 08/24/2021
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Olarig, Sompong Paul, Worley, Fred, Pham, Son
• Primary Examiner(s): Shyu, Jing-Yih
• Application Number:
  US16/950,624
• Publication Number:
  US 20210073157A1
• Time in Patent Office: 280 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/1668 Details of memory controller
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4022 using switching circuits, e.g. switching matrix, connection or expansion network G06F13/4009 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4068 Electrical coupling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4282 on a serial bus, e.g. I2C bus, SPI bus on daisy chain buses G06F13/4247
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2213/0026 PCI express
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2213/0028 Serial attached SCSI [SAS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2213/0036 Small computer system interface [SCSI]

Abstract

A system includes a fabric switch including a motherboard, a baseboard management controller (BMC), a network switch configured to transport network signals, and a PCIe switch configured to transport PCIe signals; a midplane; and a plurality of device ports. Each of the plurality of device ports is configured to connect a storage device to the motherboard of the fabric switch over the midplane and carry the network signals and the PCIe signals over the midplane. The storage device is configurable in multiple modes based a protocol established over a fabric connection between the system and the storage device.

Claims

1. A fabric-attached device comprising:

a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) module transporting PCie signals to a switch of a switch board; and

a connector configured carry PCie signals,

wherein the fabric-attached device provides device-specific information and sensor information of the fabric-attached device to a controller of the switch board by sending the device-specific information and the sensor information to the controller, and

wherein the device-specification information includes health status information.

2. The fabric-attached device of claim 1, wherein the device-specification information further includes field-replaceable unit (FRU) information.

3. The fabric-attached device of claim 1 further comprising a U.2 connector connecting the fabric-attached device to the switch board.

4. The fabric-attached device of claim 3 further comprising a network engine transporting network signals to the switch board over Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) pins of the U.2 connector.

5. The fabric-attached device of claim 4, wherein the network signals provide discovery services or download services for a new firmware of the fabric-attached device.

6. The fabric-attached device of claim 4, wherein the switch includes an Ethernet port that uses one or more of the SAS pins of the U.2 connector.

7. The fabric-attached device of claim 1, wherein the controller is a baseboard management controller (BMC).

8. The fabric-attached device of claim 7, wherein the fabric-attached device provides the device-specific information and the sensor information of the fabric-attached device to the BMC over a midplane via a PCIe lane.

9. The fabric-attached device of claim 1, wherein the fabric-attached device changes a mode of operation based on a protocol established with a system over a fabric connection.

10. The fabric-attached device of claim 9, wherein the fabric-attached device operates in a high availability (HA) mode or a non-HA mode according to the protocol.

11. A system comprising:

a switch board including a switch and a controller; and

a fabric-attached device comprising;

a peripheral component interconnect express (PCie) module transporting PCie signals to the switch; and

a connector configured carry PCie signals,

wherein the fabric-attached device provides device-specific information and sensor information of the fabric-attached device to the controller of the switch board by sending the device-specific information and the sensor information to the controller, and

wherein the device-specification information includes health status information.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the device-specification information further includes field-replaceable unit (FRU) information.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the fabric-attached device further comprises a U.2 connector connecting the fabric-attached device to the switch board.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the fabric-attached device further comprises a network engine transporting network signals to the switch board over Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) pins of the U.2 connector.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the network signals provide discovery services or download services for a new firmware of the fabric-attached device.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the switch includes an Ethernet port that uses one or more of the SAS pins of the U.2 connector.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the controller of the switch is a baseboard management controller (BMC).

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the fabric-attached device provides the device-specific information and the sensor information of the fabric-attached device to the BMC over a midplane of the system via a PCIe lane.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the fabric-attached device changes a mode of operation based on a protocol established with the system over a fabric connection.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the fabric-attached device operates in a high availability (HA) mode or a non-HA mode according to the protocol.