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

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021281639-A1
Application number	US-202016885249-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 27, 2020
Priority date	Mar 4, 2020
Publication date	Sep 9, 2021
Grant date	—

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

1 . A method comprising:
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.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising discovering a topology of the peer-to-peer channel.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein discovering the topology is performed at least partially by one or more of the host, a management controller, or at least one of the storage devices.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising configuring the first and second storage devices for Quality-of-Service (QoS).

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the storage devices are configured for QoS by one or more of the host, a management controller, or at least one of the storage devices.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the QoS comprises one or more of a priority, a resource, or a performance level.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transferring data between the host and a third storage device through a third storage interface; and configuring the first, second and third storage devices as one or more peer-to-peer groups.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein a peer-to-peer group is created dynamically.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein a peer-to-peer group may be configured for one or more of one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many communication.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the storage devices performs at least one of a reliability, availability, or security function autonomously from the host.

11 . A storage system comprising:
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.

12 . The storage system of claim 11 , wherein:
the first storage interface is coupled to the host interface through a first storage connector; the second storage interface is coupled to the host interface through a second storage connector; and the peer-to-peer bus is coupled between the first storage connector and the second storage connector.

13 . The storage system of claim 11 , wherein the peer-to-peer bus comprises a switch fabric.

14 . The storage system of claim 11 , wherein the peer-to-peer bus is located at least partially on one of a midplane, a motherboard, or a switchboard.

15 . The storage system of claim 11 , wherein:
the first storage device is coupled to the peer-to-peer bus through a first peer-to-peer connector; and the second storage device is coupled to the peer-to-peer bus through a second peer-to-peer connector.

16 . 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; and a peer-to-peer interface coupled to the storage device controller.

17 . The storage device of claim 16 , wherein the peer-to-peer interface comprises one or more of a wired interface, a wireless interface, or an optical interface.

18 . The storage device of claim 16 , wherein the storage interface comprises a two-port interface.

19 . The storage device of claim 16 , further comprising a storage connector coupled to the storage interface, wherein the storage connector is coupled to the peer-to-peer interface.

20 . The storage device of claim 19 , further comprising an additional connector coupled to the peer-to-peer 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