Configuration information backup in memory systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9552159-B2
Application number	US-201514877144-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 7, 2015
Priority date	Sep 27, 2012
Publication date	Jan 24, 2017
Grant date	Jan 24, 2017

Abstract

According to one configuration, a memory system includes a configuration manager and multiple memory devices. The configuration manager includes status detection logic, retrieval logic, and configuration management logic. The status detection logic receives notification of a failed attempt by a first memory device to be initialized with custom configuration settings stored in the first memory device. In response to the notification, the retrieval logic retrieves a backup copy of configuration settings information from a second memory device in the memory system. The configuration management logic utilizes the backup copy of the configuration settings information retrieved from the second memory device to initialize the first memory device.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving notification of a failed attempt by a first non-volatile memory device to initialize the first non-volatile memory device with first configuration settings information;
retrieving a copy of the first configuration settings information stored in a second memory device, the second memory device storing second configuration settings information used to initialize the second memory device;
utilizing the copy of the first configuration settings information retrieved from the second memory device to initialize the first non-volatile memory device for subsequent access to data stored in the first non-volatile memory device; and
retrieving the copy of the first configuration settings information from the second memory device subsequent to receiving a communication indicating that the second memory device was able to properly initialize itself based on use of the second configuration settings information stored in the second memory device.

2. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the second memory device is disparately located with respect to the first non-volatile memory device in a memory system.

3. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the second configuration settings information is unique with respect to the copy of the first configuration settings information.

4. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:
initiating storage of the first configuration settings information to the first non-volatile memory device, the first configuration settings information used by a controller in the first non-volatile memory device to initialize the first non-volatile memory device for subsequent access.

5. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:
in response to receiving the notification of the failed attempt, mapping an identity of the first non-volatile memory device in the memory system to the second memory device in the memory system.

6. The method as in claim 1 , wherein receiving the notification includes:
receiving the notification of the failed attempt by the first non-volatile memory device at power up during which a controller of the first non-volatile memory device attempts to initialize the first non-volatile memory device for subsequent access.

7. The method as in claim 1 , wherein receiving the notification of the failed attempt includes:
receiving the notification from the first non-volatile memory device, the notification indicating that the first non-volatile memory device was unable to use the first configuration settings information stored in the first non-volatile memory device to properly initialize the first non-volatile memory device for subsequent access of data stored in the first non-volatile memory device.

8. The method as in claim 7 , wherein retrieving the copy of the first configuration settings information from the second memory device includes:
at an access controller disparately located with respect to the first non-volatile memory device and the second memory device, mapping an identity of the first non-volatile memory device to the second memory device that stores the copy of the first configuration settings information.

9. The method as in claim 8 , wherein each of the first non-volatile memory device and the second memory device is operable to perform self-initialization upon power up.

10. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the first non-volatile memory device and the second memory device are operable to perform self-initialization for subsequent data access, the method further comprising:
receiving the notification of the failed attempt and a corresponding notification from the second memory device, each of the notifications indicating a status of performing the self-initialization.

11. The method as in claim 7 , wherein the second memory device comprises a non-volatile memory device, the first configuration settings information indicating how to initialize the first non-volatile memory device for retrieval of the data stored in the first non-volatile memory device.

12. The method as in claim 11 , wherein the first configuration settings information specifies how to control operation of the first non-volatile memory device.

Assignees

• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Wu Ning
• Frickey Robert E
• Belgal Hanmant P
• Guo Xin

Classifications

• G06F3/0604 Primary

  Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. storage management · CPC title

• G06F3/065

  Replication mechanisms · CPC title

• G06F3/0647

  Migration mechanisms · CPC title

• G06F3/0632 Primary

  by initialisation or re-initialisation of storage systems · CPC title

• G06F11/1417 Primary

  Boot up procedures · CPC title