Encoded drive power enable for storage enclosures with storage drives

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10747288-B2
Application number	US-201816165516-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 19, 2018
Priority date	Oct 19, 2018
Publication date	Aug 18, 2020
Grant date	Aug 18, 2020

Abstract

A method and system for power management of storage drives. The method includes selecting an initial predetermined dual bit pattern that corresponds to a select power state of the storage drive, for providing to a first and second bit pin of a bit pin pair of a power control circuit that respectively connects to the storage drive. The method includes providing the initial predetermined dual bit pattern to the power control circuit which generates a discrete signal to the storage drive. The method includes encoding the initial predetermined dual bit pattern on the first bit pin and the second bit pin to selectively implement a power change on the storage drive in response to identification of a fault condition. In response to detection of the fault condition, the method includes selectively managing power to the storage drive based on input of the discrete signal.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A method in an information handling system (IHS) for power management of a storage drive in a storage device, the method comprising:
selecting an initial predetermined dual bit pattern that corresponds to a select power state of the storage drive for providing to a first bit pin and a second bit pin of a bit pin pair of a power control circuit, wherein the power control circuit respectively connects to at least a portion of the storage drive;
providing the initial predetermined dual bit pattern to a circuit element of the power control circuit, wherein the circuit element converts the initial predetermined dual bit pattern to a single bit, which provides a discrete signal to a power input component of the storage drive to selectively implement a power change during a fault condition; and
encoding, by a processor, the initial predetermined dual bit pattern on the first bit pin and the second bit pin of the bit pin pair of the power control circuit in response to identification of a fault condition associated with the storage drive; and
in response to detection of a fault generated dual bit pattern, selectively managing power to the storage drive based on input of the discrete signal, wherein the discrete signal selectively identifies a power state that conditionally implements a power change.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, at the power control circuit, the fault generated dual bit pattern on at least one bit pin pair of the power control circuit, and selectively enabling and disabling power to the storage drive based on a first dual bit pattern and a second dual bit pattern, wherein, the first dual bit pattern is for enabling power to the storage drive and the second dual bit pattern is different from the first dual bit pattern.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the initial predetermined dual bit pattern correlates to a desirable state of the storage drive in response to the fault condition, which is a specific fault condition from among a plurality of fault conditions, wherein each fault condition generates a unique detectable signal that corresponds to a preidentified fault activity associated with the specific fault condition.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the processor encodes the initial predetermined dual bit pattern on the first bit pin of the bit pin pair and the second bit pin of the bit pin pair based on an initial operating state for the storage drive.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: providing one of an active high signal and an active low signal for each bit pin of the initial predetermined dual bit pattern to the circuit element via a shift register.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the circuit element receives one of the active high signal and the active low signal from the shift register for generating the discrete signal to manage a power input of the storage drive.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the circuit element is a p-channel field effect transistor.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the power control circuit comprises: a first control circuit and a second control circuit respectively couple to a power input of the storage drive via a first diode and a second diode, wherein the first diode and the second diode isolate the first control circuit and the second control circuit from reverse bias current flow.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the processor encodes the initial predetermined dual bit pattern on each pair of bit pins of a shift register when the storage drive is connected at a respective pair of bit pins associated with the shift register.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the processor is a specialized service processor for monitoring a physical state of the IHS.

11. An information handling system (IHS) comprising:
a processor;
a storage drive;
a power control circuit having a first control circuit and a second control circuit that is respectively coupled to a power input of the storage drive to selectively power the storage drive; and
a service processor communicatively coupled to the storage drive and to the power control circuit and which executes a power encoder module that configures the service processor to:
select an initial predetermined dual bit pattern that corresponds to a select power state of the storage drive during a fault condition for providing to a first bit pin and a second bit pin of a bit pin pair of a power control circuit that respectively connects to the storage drive;
provide the initial predetermined dual bit pattern to a circuit element of the power control circuit, wherein the circuit element converts the initial predetermined dual bit pattern to a single bit, which generates a discrete signal to a power input component of the storage drive to selectively implement a power change for use during a fault condition;
encode the initial predetermined dual bit pattern on the first bit pin and the second bit pin of the bit pin pair of the power control circuit to selectively implement a power change, corresponding to the initial predetermined dual bit pattern, on the storage drive; and
in response to detection of a fault generated dual bit pattern, selectively managing power to the storage drive based on input of the discrete signal, wherein the discrete signal selectively identifies a power state that conditionally implements a power change.

12. The IHS of claim 11 , wherein the power encoder module further configures the service processor to:
encode the initial predetermined dual bit pattern on the first bit pin and the second bit pin based on an initial state of a shift register, wherein each circuit of the power control circuit includes therein a first terminal for coupling to a first bit pin of a bit pin pair and a second terminal for coupling to a second bit pin of the bit pin pair.

13. The IHS of claim 11 , wherein the first control circuit and the second control circuit are respectively coupled to the storage drive via a first diode and a second diode, wherein the first diode and the second diode isolate the first control circuit and the second control circuit from reverse bias current flow.

14. The IHS of claim 11 , wherein the power encoder module further configures the service processor to:
generate a second predetermined bit pattern to one or more subsequent bit pin pairs of the power control circuit for selectively enabling and disabling power to another storage drive, wherein a power enable predetermined bit pattern is a different bit pattern from a power disable predetermined dual bit pattern.

15. The IHS of claim 11 , wherein the power encoder module further configures the service processor to: select each predetermined dual bit pattern to correlate to a desirable state of the storage drive in response to the fault condition, which is a specific fault condition from among a plurality of fault conditions, wherein each fault condition generates a unique detectable signal that corresponds to a preidentified fault activity associated with the specific fault condition.

16. The IHS of claim 11 , wherein the power encoder module further configures the service processor to:
input the discrete signal to manage a power input of the storage drive via one or more of a general purpose input/output (GPIO) drive, serial GPIO drive, a two wire interface, field programmable gate array, and a serial in parallel out shift register.

17. The IHS of claim 11 , wherein the power encoder module further configures the service processor to:
provide one of an active high signal and an active low signal for each bit pin of the initial predetermined du

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Mcdaniel Ryan C

Classifications

• G06F11/0751

  Error or fault detection not based on redundancy (power supply failures G06F1/30; network fault management H04L41/06) · CPC title

• G06F11/0727

  in a storage system, e.g. in a DASD or network based storage system (drivers for digital recording or reproducing units G06F3/06; circuits for error detection or correction within digital recording or reproducing units 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 title

• G06F2201/85

  Active fault masking without idle spares · CPC title

• G06F1/30 Primary

  Means for acting in the event of power-supply failure or interruption, e.g. power-supply fluctuations (for resetting only G06F1/24) · CPC title

• G06F1/26 Primary

  Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof (for memories G11C) · CPC title