Temperature management in data storage devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017071056-A1
Application number	US-201514848158-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 8, 2015
Priority date	Sep 8, 2015
Publication date	Mar 9, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for managing temperature in a data storage device. A data storage device includes non-volatile solid-state memory, a temperature sensor, a heating device, and a controller. The controller is configured to receive a temperature signal from the temperature sensor indicating a temperature of at least a portion of the data storage device, determine that the temperature is below a first predetermined threshold, activate the heating device to increase the temperature of the at least a portion of the data storage device, and write data associated with a write command to the non-volatile solid-state memory.

First claim

1 . A data storage device comprising:
non-volatile solid-state memory; a temperature sensor; a heating device; and a controller configured to:
receive a write command from a host to write host data to the non-volatile solid-state memory;
receive a temperature signal from the temperature sensor indicating a temperature of at least a portion of the data storage device;
determine that the temperature of the at least a portion of the data storage device is below a first predetermined threshold;
prior to writing the host data to the non-volatile solid-state memory, activate the heating device to increase the temperature of the at least a portion of the data storage device; and
when it is determined that the temperature of the at least a portion of the data storage device has risen above a second predetermined threshold, write the host data to the non-volatile solid-state memory.

2 . The data storage device of claim 1 , wherein the first predetermined threshold is different than the second predetermined threshold.

3 . The data storage device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to perform said determining that the temperature of the at least a portion of the data storage device has risen above the second predetermined threshold.

4 . The data storage device of claim 1 , wherein the first predetermined threshold and the second predetermined threshold are the same.

5 . The data storage device of claim 1 , wherein the heating device comprises a resistive heating device.

6 . The data storage device of claim 1 , further comprising a printed circuit board (PCB), wherein the non-volatile solid-state memory is mounted to a first side of the PCB.

7 . The data storage device of claim 6 , wherein the heating device is mounted to a second side of the PCB opposite the first side.

8 . The data storage device of claim 6 , wherein the heating device is mounted to the first side of the PCB proximate to the non-volatile solid-state memory.

9 . The data storage device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
determine whether a critical write condition exists in response to said receiving the write command; and if the critical write condition exists, perform said writing the host data to the non-volatile solid-state memory without waiting for the temperature of the at least a portion of the data storage device to rise above the second predetermined threshold.

10 . A data storage device comprising:
non-volatile solid-state media; a temperature sensor; and a controller configured to:
receive a write command from a host to write host data to the non-volatile solid-state media;
receive a temperature signal from the temperature sensor indicating a temperature of at least a portion of the data storage device;
determine that the temperature is below a threshold;
prior to writing the host data to the non-volatile solid-state media, transfer data between the controller and the non-volatile solid-state media to increase the temperature of the at least a portion of the data storage device; and
when it is determined that the temperature of the at least a portion of the data storage device has risen above a second predetermined threshold, write the host data to the non-volatile solid-state media.

11 . The data storage device of claim 10 , wherein said transferring data between the controller and the non-volatile solid-state media comprises reading data stored in the non-volatile solid-state media.

12 . The data storage device of claim 11 , wherein said transferring data between the controller and the non-volatile solid-state media further comprises introducing errors into data read from the non-volatile solid-state media to increase error correction activity in the data storage device.

13 . (canceled)

14 . (canceled)

15 . The data storage device of claim 10 , wherein said transferring data between the controller and the non-volatile solid-state media comprises performing one or more data operations on a reserved area of the non-volatile solid-state media that is not used to store host data.

16 . The data storage device of claim 10 , wherein said transferring data between the controller and the non-volatile solid-state media comprises performing data management activities on the non-volatile solid-state media.

17 . The data storage device of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to: after said transferring data between the controller and the non-volatile solid-state media, determine whether the temperature is at or above the threshold, and if so, notify a host device that the data storage device is ready to receive write commands.

18 . A data storage device comprising:
non-volatile solid-state memory; a temperature sensor; and a controller configured to:
receive a write command from a host to write host data to the non-volatile solid-state memory;
receive a temperature signal from the temperature sensor indicating a temperature of at least a portion of the data storage device;
determine that the temperature is below a first predetermined threshold based on the temperature signal;
write the host data to the non-volatile solid-state memory;
store write temperature data indicating that a write temperature associated with said writing the host data is below the first predetermined threshold;
determine that the temperature of the at least a portion of the data storage device has risen above a second predetermined threshold; and
re-write the previously-written host data to the non-volatile solid-state memory based at least in part on the write temperature data in response to said determining that the temperature of the at least a portion of the data storage device has risen above the second predetermined threshold.

19 . The data storage device of claim 18 , wherein said re-writing the host data based at least in part on the write temperature data comprises prioritizing garbage collection operations of the data storage device based on the write temperature data.

20 . The data storage device of claim 18 , wherein the first predetermined threshold and the second predetermined threshold are the same.

21 . The data storage device of claim 18 , wherein the write temperature data indicates whether the data associated with the write command was written when the at least a portion of the data storage device was below the first predetermined threshold.

Assignees

• Western Digital Tech Inc

Inventors

• Stoev Kroum S
• Jenkins Dean Mitcham
• Main Dale Charles

Classifications

• G11B5/40 Primary

  Protective measures on heads, e.g. against excessive temperature  (G11B5/31 takes precedence; protection against wear G11B5/255  {; protective structure of the head: see under structures, e.g. G11B5/3106}) · CPC title

• G11C16/10

  Programming or data input circuits · CPC title

• G11C16/349

  Arrangements for evaluating degradation, retention or wearout, e.g. by counting erase cycles · CPC title

• G11B19/046

  Detection or prevention or problems due to temperature · CPC title

• G11C7/04

  with means for avoiding disturbances due to temperature effects · CPC title