Firmware reversion trigger and control

• US 9,703,636 B2
• Filed: 07/14/2014
• Issued: 07/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/01/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jpmorgan Chase Bank NA As The Agent
• Original Assignee: SanDisk Technologies LLC (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: Ellis, Robert W., Lucas, Gregg S.
• Primary Examiner(s): BONZO, BRYCE P
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gibson, Jonathan
• Application Number:
  US14/331,033
• Publication Number:
  US 20150248334A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,093 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1433 during software upgrading

Abstract

The various embodiments described herein include systems, methods and/or devices used to enable firmware reversion triggering and control in a storage device. In one aspect, the method includes: (1) detecting a reversion trigger, the reversion trigger identifying a set of one or more controllers of a plurality of controllers on the storage device, and (2) in response to the reversion trigger, initiating recovery actions for each controller in the set of one or more controllers, including: for each controller in the set of one or more controllers: (a) asserting a revert signal to the controller to execute a firmware reversion for the controller, and (b) resetting the controller subsequent to asserting the revert signal to the controller.

Claims

1. A method of recovery in a storage device having a supervisory controller and a plurality of additional controllers, the method comprising:

detecting, at the supervisory controller, a reversion trigger, the reversion trigger identifying a set of two or more controllers of the plurality of additional controllers on the storage device; and

in response to detecting the reversion trigger, initiating, at the supervisory controller, recovery actions for each controller in the identified set of two or more controllers, including;

for each controller in the identified set of two or more controllers;

asserting a revert signal to the controller to execute a firmware reversion for the controller; and

resetting the controller subsequent to asserting the revert signal to the controller.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the reversion trigger is generated internally in the storage device when predefined criteria are satisfied, the predefined criteria including detection that two or more controllers of the plurality of additional controllers on the storage device are not operational.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the reversion trigger is received through one or more debug ports associated with the storage device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the reversion trigger includes a reversion command from a host system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein, with respect to a controller in the identified set of two or more controllers, the revert signal is a dedicated general purpose I/O (GPIO) signal associated with the controller.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein, with respect to a controller in the identified set of two or more controllers, the revert signal is asserted using an out-of-band signaling technique.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein:

a controller of the identified set of two or more controllers is a non-volatile memory (NVM) controller; and

the revert signal is a universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) transmit signal.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein, for each controller of the identified set of two or more controllers;

prior to executing the firmware reversion for the controller, the controller uses a first version of firmware; and

subsequent to executing the firmware reversion for the controller, the controller uses a second version of firmware.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the second version of firmware is an earlier version of firmware than the first version of firmware.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

with respect to a controller in the identified set of two or more controllers, subsequent to resetting the controller, installing a new version of firmware.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the storage device includes a dual in-line memory module (DIMM) device.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of additional controllers on the storage device includes:

a memory controller; and

one or more flash controllers, the one or more flash controllers coupled by the memory controller to a host interface of the storage device.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of additional controllers on the storage device includes:

at least one non-volatile memory controller; and

at least one other memory controller other than the at least one non-volatile memory controller.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the plurality of additional controllers on the storage device maps double data rate (DDR) interface commands to serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) interface commands.

15. A storage device, comprising:

an interface for operatively coupling the storage device with a host system;

a supervisory controller with one or more processors and memory; and

a plurality of additional controllers,

the storage device configured to;

detect, at the supervisory controller, a reversion trigger, the reversion trigger identifying a set of two or more controllers of the plurality of additional controllers on the storage device; and

in response to detecting the reversion trigger, initiate, at the supervisory controller, recovery actions for each controller in the identified set of two or more controllers, including;

for each controller in the identified set of two or more controllers;

asserting a revert signal to the controller to execute a firmware reversion for the controller; and

resetting the controller subsequent to asserting the revert signal to the controller.

16. The storage device of claim 15, wherein initiating recovery actions in response to detecting the reversion trigger further includes, with respect to a controller in the identified set of two or more controllers:

prior to resetting the controller, performing a power fail operation for the controller, the power fail operation including;

signaling a power fail condition to the controller; and

transferring data held in volatile memory to non-volatile memory.

17. The storage device of claim 15, wherein, for each controller of the identified set of two or more controllers;

prior to executing the firmware reversion for the controller, the controller uses a first version of firmware; and

subsequent to executing the firmware reversion for the controller, the controller uses a second version of firmware.

18. 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 supervisory controller and a plurality of additional controllers, the one or more programs including instructions for:

detecting, at the supervisory controller, a reversion trigger, the reversion trigger identifying a set of two or more controllers of the plurality of additional controllers on the storage device; and

in response to detecting the reversion trigger, initiating, at the supervisory controller, recovery actions for each controller in the identified set of two or more controllers, including;

for each controller in the identified set of two or more controllers;

asserting a revert signal to the controller to execute a firmware reversion for the controller; and

resetting the controller subsequent to asserting the revert signal to the controller.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the non-transitory computer readable storage medium includes:

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium associated with each of the plurality of additional controllers on the storage device; and

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium associated with the supervisory controller.

20. A method of recovery in a storage device having a supervisory controller and a plurality of additional controllers, the method comprising:

detecting, at the supervisory controller, a reversion trigger, the reversion trigger identifying a set of two or more controllers of the plurality of additional controllers on the storage device; and

in response to detecting the reversion trigger, initiating, at the supervisory controller, recovery actions for each controller in the identified set of two or more controllers, including;

for each controller in the identified set of two or more controllers;

asserting a revert signal to the controller to execute a firmware reversion for the controller;

performing a power fail operation for the controller, the power fail operation including;

signaling a power fail condition to the controller, and

transferring data held in volatile memory to non-volatile memory; and

resetting the controller subsequent to asserting the revert signal to the controller and performing the power fail operation for the controller.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the non-volatile memory comprises one or more flash memory devices.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the non-volatile memory comprises one or more three-dimensional (3D) memory devices.