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US5588110A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Method for transferring data between two devices that insures data recovery in the event of a fault

Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Ltd
•
Filing: 1995-05-23
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Granted: 1996-12-24
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Expires: 2015-05-23
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Abstract

Abstract A method of insuring recovery of a quantity write request data in a storage device having a plurality of controllers includes the steps of (1) providing a primary controller for storing the write request data received from a host device, (2) providing an alternate controller having a memory area allocated for use by the primary controller, (3) maintaining a first control block in the primary controller for indicating status of the write request data stored in the primary controller, and (4) maintaining a second control block in the alternate controller for indicating status of the write request data stored in the primary controller.

Inventors

  • 👤 Rodney A. DeKoning
  • 👤 Donald R. Humlicek
  • 👤 Max L. Johnson

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-06 00:38
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F11/00; G06F11/07; G06F11/16; G06F11/20; G06F11/2053; G06F11/2056; G06F11/2082; G06F11/14; G06F11/1402; G06F11/1415; G06F11/1435; G06F11/2089; G06F11/2097; G11; G11C; G11C29/00; G11C29/70; G11C29/74

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 34
Claim 1
Independent Claim 98 words
A method of insuring recovery of a quantity of write request data in a computer system having a host device and a storage device, with the storage device having a first controller and a second controller, comprising the steps of: transferring the write request data from said host device to said first controller so as to store the write request data therein; allocating a memory area in said second controller for use by said first controller; and maintaining a control block in said second controller for indicating status of the write request data stored in said first controller.
Claim 2
Independent Claim 98 words
A method of insuring recovery of a quantity of write request data in a computer system having a host device and a storage device, with the storage device having a first controller and a second controller, comprising the steps of: transferring the write request data from said host device to said first controller so as to store the write request data therein; allocating a memory area in said second controller for use by said first controller; and maintaining a control block in said second controller for indicating status of the write request data stored in said first controller.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 53 words
The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: copying the write request data from said first controller to said memory area of said second controller; and updating said control block to indicate that the write request data was copied from said first controller to said memory area of said second controller.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 45 words
The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of: copying the write request data from said first controller to a storage medium; and updating said control block to indicate that the write request data was copied from said first controller to said storage medium.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 105 words
The method of claim 1, wherein: said transferring step includes the step of transferring the write request data from said host device to a first cache memory of said first controller so as to store the write request data therein; said allocating step includes the step of allocating said memory area in a second cache memory of said second controller for use by said first controller, and said maintaining step includes the step of maintaining said control block in said second cache memory of said second controller for indicating status of the write request data stored in said first cache memory of said first controller.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 73 words
The method of claim 4, further comprising the steps of: copying the write request data from said first cache memory of said first controller to said memory area of said second cache memory of said second controller, and updating said control block to indicate that the write request data was copied from said first cache memory of said first controller to said memory area of said second cache memory of said second controller.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 55 words
The method of claim 5, further comprising the steps of: copying the write request data from said first cache memory of said first controller to a storage medium, and updating said control block to indicate that the write request data was copied from said first cache memory of said first controller to said storage medium.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 29 words
The method of claim 1, wherein: said storage device includes a peripheral disk drive apparatus, and said peripheral disk drive apparatus includes said first controller and said second controller.
Claim 9
Independent Claim 127 words
A method of insuring recovery of a quantity of write request data in a computer system having a host device and a storage device, with the storage device having a primary controller and an alternate controller, comprising the steps of: transferring the write request data from said host device to a first memory area in said primary controller so as to store the write request data therein; allocating a second memory area in said alternate controller for use by said primary controller; maintaining a first control block in said primary controller for indicating status of the write request data stored in said primary controller; and maintaining a second control block in said alternate controller for indicating status of the write request data stored in said primary controller.
Claim 10
Independent Claim 127 words
A method of insuring recovery of a quantity of write request data in a computer system having a host device and a storage device, with the storage device having a primary controller and an alternate controller, comprising the steps of: transferring the write request data from said host device to a first memory area in said primary controller so as to store the write request data therein; allocating a second memory area in said alternate controller for use by said primary controller; maintaining a first control block in said primary controller for indicating status of the write request data stored in said primary controller; and maintaining a second control block in said alternate controller for indicating status of the write request data stored in said primary controller.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 37 words
The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of: updating said first control block to indicate that the write request data was transferred from said host device to said first memory area of said primary controller.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 52 words
The method of claim 9, wherein the step of updating said first control block to indicate that the write request data was transferred from said host device to said first memory area of said primary controller includes the step of: setting a bit in the first control block to a particular value.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 37 words
The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of: updating said second control block to indicate that the write request data was transferred from said host device to said first memory area of said primary controller.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 52 words
The method of claim 11, wherein the step of updating said second control block to indicate that the write request data was transferred from said host device to said first memory area of said primary controller includes the step of: setting a bit in the second control block to a particular value.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 48 words
The method of claim 11, wherein said first control block is identical to said second control block after said step of updating said second control block to indicate that the write request data was transferred from said host device to said first memory area of said primary controller.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 66 words
The method of claim 11, further comprising the steps of: copying the write request data from said first memory area of said primary controller to said second memory area of said alternate controller; and updating said second control block to indicate that said write request data was copied from said first memory area of said primary controller to said second memory area of said alternate controller.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 57 words
The method of claim 14, wherein the step of updating said second control block to indicate that the write request data was copied from said first memory area of said primary controller to said second memory area of said alternate controller includes the step of: setting a bit in the second control block to a particular value.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim 42 words
The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of: updating said first control block to indicate that said write request data was copied from said first memory area of said primary controller to said second memory area of said alternate controller.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim 57 words
The method of claim 16, wherein the step of updating said first control block to indicate that the write request data was copied from said first memory area of said primary controller to said second memory area of said alternate controller includes the step of: setting a bit in the first control block to a particular value.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim 53 words
The method of claim 16, wherein said first control block is identical to said second control block after said step of updating said first control block to indicate that said write request data was copied from said first memory area of said primary controller to said second memory area of said alternate controller.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim 79 words
The method of claim 16, wherein the step of updating said first control block to indicate that the write request data was copied from said first memory area of said primary controller to said second memory area of said alternate controller is performed before the step of updating said second control block to indicate that the write request data was copied from said first memory area of said primary controller to said second memory area of said alternate controller.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim 56 words
The method of claim 19, further comprising the steps of: copying the write request data from said first memory area of said primary controller to a storage medium; and updating said first control block to indicate that the write request data was copied from said first memory area of said primary controller to said storage medium.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim 52 words
The method of claim 20, wherein the step of updating said first control block to indicate that the write request data was copied from said first memory area of said primary controller to said storage medium includes the step of: setting a bit in the first control block to a particular value.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim 37 words
The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of: updating said second control block to indicate that the write request data was copied from said first memory area of said primary controller to said storage medium.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim 52 words
The method of claim 22, wherein the step of updating said second control block to indicate that the write request data was copied from said first memory area of said primary controller to said storage medium includes the step of: setting a bit in the second control block to a particular value.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim 48 words
The method of claim 22, wherein said first control block is identical to said second control block after said step of updating the second control block to indicate that the write request data was copied from said first memory area of said primary controller to said storage medium.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim 41 words
The method of claim 22, further comprising the step of: updating said first control block to indicate that said first memory area of said primary controller is available for storing another quantity of write request data received from said host device.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim 55 words
The method of claim 25, wherein the step of updating said first control block to indicate that said first memory area of said primary controller is available for storing another quantity of write request data from said host device includes the step of: setting a bit in the first control block to a particular value.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim 29 words
The method of claim 8, wherein: said storage device includes a peripheral disk drive apparatus, and said peripheral disk drive apparatus includes said primary controller and said alternate controller.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim 137 words
The method of claim 8, wherein: said transferring step includes the step of transferring the write request data from said host device to a first memory area in a first cache memory of said primary controller so as to store the write request data therein; said allocating step includes the step of allocating a second memory area in a second cache memory of said alternate controller for use by said primary controller; maintaining a first control block in said first cache memory of said primary controller for indicating status of the write request data stored in said first cache memory of said primary controller; and maintaining a second control block in said second cache memory of said alternate controller for indicating status of the write request data stored in said first cache memory of said primary controller.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim 118 words
A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program or instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for insuring recovery of a quantity of write request data in a computer system having a host device and a storage device, with the storage device having a first controller and a second controller, said method steps comprising: transferring the write request data from said host device to said first controller so as to store the write request data therein; allocating a memory area in said second controller for use by said first controller; and maintaining a control block in said second controller for indicating status of the write request data stored in said first controller.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim 118 words
A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program or instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for insuring recovery of a quantity of write request data in a computer system having a host device and a storage device, with the storage device having a first controller and a second controller, said method steps comprising: transferring the write request data from said host device to said first controller so as to store the write request data therein; allocating a memory area in said second controller for use by said first controller; and maintaining a control block in said second controller for indicating status of the write request data stored in said first controller.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim 29 words
The method of claim 29, wherein: said storage device includes a peripheral disk drive apparatus, and said peripheral disk drive apparatus includes said first controller and said second controller.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim 105 words
The method of claim 29, wherein: said transferring step includes the step of transferring the write request data from said host device to a first cache memory of said first controller so as to store the write request data therein; said allocating step includes the step of allocating said memory area in a second cache memory of said second controller for use by said first controller, and said maintaining step includes the step of maintaining said control block in said second cache memory of said second controller for indicating status of the write request data stored in said first cache memory of said first controller.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US5274645A Cited
US5377342A Cited
US5341493A Cited
US5212784A Cited
US5398324A Cited
US5448719A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1999-12-24 2000-06-24 2000-12-24 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2003-12-24 2004-06-24 2004-12-24 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2007-12-24 2008-06-24 2008-12-24 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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