Methods and apparatus for peer-to-peer data channels for storage devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12041124-B2
Application number	US-202217728969-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 25, 2022
Priority date	Mar 4, 2020
Publication date	Jul 16, 2024
Grant date	Jul 16, 2024

Abstract

A method may include transferring data between a host and a first storage device through a first storage interface, transferring data between the host and a second storage device through a second storage interface, and transferring data between the first storage device and the second storage device through a peer-to-peer channel. A storage system may include a host interface, a first storage device having a first storage interface coupled to the host interface, a second storage device having a second storage interface coupled to the host interface, and a peer-to-peer bus coupled between the first and second storage devices. A storage device may include a storage medium, a storage device controller coupled to the storage medium, a storage interface coupled to the storage device controller, and a peer-to-peer interface coupled to the storage device controller.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
transferring data between a host and a first storage device using a first connection;
transferring data between the host and a second storage device using a second connection; and
transferring, based on a performance parameter that is based on a bandwidth of at least one of the first connection, the second connection, or a third connection, data between the first storage device and the second storage device using the third connection;
wherein a determination to transfer the data, based on the performance parameter, is controlled, at least in part, by logic at the first storage device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first storage device is configured for the performance parameter by at least one of the host, a management controller, the first storage device, or the second storage device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performance parameter comprises at least one of a priority, a resource, a performance level, or a Quality-of-Service (QoS) parameter.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transferring data between the host and a third storage device using a fourth connection; and
configuring the first, second and third storage devices as at least one communication group.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first storage device performs at least one of a reliability function, an availability function, or a security function.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing, by the first storage device, a service for the second storage device based on the performance parameter.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising superseding the performance parameter.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performance parameter is a first QoS parameter, the method further comprising:
transferring data between the host and a third storage device using a fourth interface;
configuring the first storage device and the second storage device as a first communication group;
configuring at least two of the first storage device, the second storage device, and the third storage device as a second communication group; and
transferring data within the second communication group, using the third connection, based on a second QoS parameter.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein:
the first communication group performs a first operation based on the first QoS parameter; and
the second communication group performs a second operation based on the second QoS parameter.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performance parameter is based on a policy parameter.

11. A storage system comprising:
a host interface;
a first storage device having a first interface coupled to the host interface;
a second storage device having a second interface coupled to the host interface; and
a communication connection coupled between the first storage device and the second storage device, wherein the communication connection comprises a peer-to-peer bus;
wherein at least one of the first storage device or the second storage device is configured to determine, based on a performance parameter, to transfer data between the first storage device and the second storage device using the communication connection, the performance parameter being based on a bandwidth of at least one of the first interface, the second interface, or the communication connection.

12. The storage system of claim 11 , wherein:
the first interface is coupled to the host interface using a first connector;
the second interface is coupled to the host interface using a second connector; and
the communication connection is coupled between the first connector and the second connector.

13. The storage system of claim 11 , wherein the communication connection comprises a switch fabric.

14. The storage system of claim 11 , wherein the communication connection is located at least partially on one of a midplane, a motherboard, or a switchboard.

15. The storage system of claim 11 , wherein a flow control associated with the performance parameter comprises an acknowledgment.

16. The storage system of claim 15 , wherein the flow control comprises a message sequence.

17. A storage device comprising:
a storage medium;
a storage device controller coupled to the storage medium;
a storage interface coupled to the storage device controller;
a communication interface coupled to the storage device controller; and
logic configured to control, based on a performance parameter that is based on a bandwidth of at least one of the storage interface or the communication interface, a data transfer using the communication interface, wherein a determination to transfer data is controlled, at least in part, by the logic of the storage device.

18. The storage device of claim 17 , wherein the storage interface comprises a two-port interface.

19. The storage device of claim 17 , further comprising a first connector coupled to the storage interface, wherein the first connector is coupled to the communication interface.

20. The storage device of claim 19 , further comprising a second connector coupled to the communication interface.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kachare Ramdas P
• Olarig Sompong Paul
• Bryson Matthew Shaun

Classifications

• H04L47/10

  Flow control; Congestion control · CPC title

• H04L45/02

  Topology update or discovery · CPC title

• H04L41/12

  Discovery or management of network topologies · CPC title

• H04L67/1042 Primary

  using topology management mechanisms · CPC title

• G06F3/0683 Primary

  Plurality of storage devices · CPC title