Disk array controller for performing exclusive or operations

Claim 2

A memory controller for controlling operations of a memory device, wherein the memory controller is allocated an address space having a first address range and a second address range, and wherein write commands containing addresses and data are issued to the memory controller to perform write operations to the memory device, the memory controller comprising: receiving logic for receiving a write command; mapping logic responsive to the write command address of said received write command for mapping addresses in the first address range and addresses in the second address range to a physical region in the memory device; and read-modify-write logic coupled to said receiving logic and said mapping logic for generating a read-modify-write cycle to the memory device if the received write command address is in the second address range, wherein said read-modify-write cycle reads data from the memory device address associated with the received write command address, performs an exclusive OR operation of said read data with the received write command data to generate exclusive OR data, and writes said exclusive-OR data back to the memory device address associated with the received write command address.

Claim 3

The memory controller of claim 1, wherein addresses in the first address range and addresses in the second address range are mapped to the same physical region in the memory device.

Claim 4

The memory controller of claim 2, wherein the memory controller address space is represented by a plurality of address bits, said address bits having a first number of bits representing the physical locations in the memory device, and wherein one of said address bits other than said first number of address bits determine if an address is in the first address range or the second address range.

Claim 5

The memory controller of claim 1, wherein addresses in the first address range and addresses in the second address range are mapped to different physical regions in the memory device.

Claim 6

The memory controller of claim 1, further comprising: write logic coupled to said receiving logic and said read-modify-write logic generating a normal write cycle if the received write command address is in the first address range, wherein the received write command data is written to the memory device address associated with the received write command address.

Claim 7

The memory controller of claim 1, wherein each write command further contains a transfer length value to specify the amount of write data to be transferred, and wherein said read-modify-write logic performs read-modify-write cycles starting at the write command address until the amount of data specified by said transfer length value has been transferred.

Claim 8

The memory controller of claim 1, the memory device being used for general write operations and parity operations, wherein the memory device includes an XOR buffer to which write operations in the second address range are directed, said XOR buffer having a storage capacity that is programmable to different values.

Claim 9

A disk controller board for controlling accesses to a hard disk drive subsystem from a host computer, comprising: a bus; a hard disk controller coupled between said bus and the hard disk drive subsystem for transferring data between said bus and the hard disk drive subsystem; a memory device; a memory controller coupled between said bus and said memory device, wherein said memory controller is allocated an address space having a first address range and a second address range; and a local processor coupled to said bus, wherein at least one of said hard disk controller or said local processor issues write commands having addresses and data to said memory controller to perform write operations, wherein said memory controller includes: receiving logic coupled to said bus and receiving a write command; read-modify-write logic coupled to said bus and responsive to said write command address of said received write command for mapping addresses in said first address range and addresses in said second address range to a physical region in said memory device; and read-modify-write logic coupled to said receiving means and said mapping means for generating a read-modify-write cycle to said memory device if the received write command address is in said second address range, wherein said read-modify-write cycle reads data from said memory device address associated with the received write command address, performs an exclusive OR operation of said read data with the received write command data to generate exclusive OR data, and writes said exclusive-OR data back to said memory device address associated with the received write command address.

Claim 10

A disk controller board for controlling accesses to a hard disk drive subsystem from a host computer, comprising: a bus; a hard disk controller coupled between said bus and the hard disk drive subsystem for transferring data between said bus and the hard disk drive subsystem; a memory device; a memory controller coupled between said bus and said memory device, wherein said memory controller is allocated an address space having a first address range and a second address range; and a local processor coupled to said bus, wherein at least one of said hard disk controller or said local processor issues write commands having addresses and data to said memory controller to perform write operations, wherein said memory controller includes: receiving logic coupled to said bus and receiving a write command; read-modify-write logic coupled to said bus and responsive to said write command address of said received write command for mapping addresses in said first address range and addresses in said second address range to a physical region in said memory device; and read-modify-write logic coupled to said receiving means and said mapping means for generating a read-modify-write cycle to said memory device if the received write command address is in said second address range, wherein said read-modify-write cycle reads data from said memory device address associated with the received write command address, performs an exclusive OR operation of said read data with the received write command data to generate exclusive OR data, and writes said exclusive-OR data back to said memory device address associated with the received write command address.

Claim 11

The disk controller board of claim 8, wherein addresses in said first address range and addresses in said second address range are mapped to the same physical range in said memory device.

Claim 12

The disk controller board of claim 9, wherein said memory controller address space is represented by a plurality of address bits, said address bits having a first number of bits representing the physical locations in said memory device, and wherein one of said address bits other than said first number of address bits determine if an address is in said first address range or said second address range.

Claim 13

The disk controller board of claim 8, wherein addresses in said first address range and addresses in said second address range are mapped to different physical ranges in said memory device.

Claim 14

The disk controller board of claim 8, wherein said memory controller further includes write logic coupled to said receiving logic and said mapping logic for generating a normal write cycle if the received write command address is in said first address range, wherein the received write command data is written to said memory device address associated with the received write command address.

Claim 15

The disk controller board of claim 8, wherein the hard disk drive subsystem implements a fault tolerant scheme which utilizes parity information to correct errors in related data stored in the hard disk drive subsystem, said related data being divided into at least two portions, wherein said parity information is the exclusive OR of said at least two portions of said related data.

Claim 16

The disk controller board of claim 13, wherein if a write having new data is directed to one portion of original related data, new parity information is generated by issuing a new write command with said new data and with an address in said second address range and sequentially writing the remaining at least one portion of said original related data to said memory controller at said new write command address.

Claim 17

The disk controller board of claim 13, wherein if a write having new data is directed to one portion of original related data, new parity information is generated by issuing a new write command with said new data and with an address in said second address range and sequentially writing said one portion of said original related data and corresponding original parity information to said memory controller at said new write command address.

Claim 18

The disk controller board of claim 13, wherein if writes having new data are directed to said at least two portions of related data, new parity information is generated by sequentially issuing new write commands with said new data and with an address in said second address range to said memory controller.

Claim 19

The disk controller board of claim 13, wherein if an error occurs in one portion of original related data, said erroneous portion can be regenerated by sequentially writing the remaining at least one portion of said original related data and corresponding original parity information to said memory controller at an address in said second address range.

Claim 20

The disk controller board of claims 14, 15, 16 or 17, wherein said local processor issues a zero-fill command to said memory controller to cause a region in said memory device to be filled with zeros before the writing operations in said second address range are performed.

Claim 21

The disk controller board of claim 8, wherein each write command issued to said memory controller further contains a transfer length value to specify the amount of data to be written, and wherein said read-modify-write logic performs read-modify-write cycles starting at the write command address until the amount of data specified by said transfer length value has been transferred.

Claim 22

The disk controller board of claim 8, the memory device being used for general write operations and parity operations, wherein said memory device includes an XOR buffer to which the write operations in said second address range are directed, said XOR buffer being programmable to various different sizes.

Claim 23

The disk controller board of claim 8, wherein said memory device further includes a write posting cache to post write data of write requests from the host computer to the hard disk drive subsystem.

Claim 26

The method of claim 22, wherein addresses in the first address range and addresses in the second address range are mapped to the same physical region in the memory device.

Claim 27

The method of claim 23, wherein the memory controller address space is represented by a plurality of address bits, said address bits having a first number of bits representing the physical locations in the memory device, and wherein one of said address bits other than said first number of address bits determine if an address is in the first address range or the second address range.

Claim 28

The method of claim 22, wherein addresses in the first address range and addresses in the second address range are mapped to different physical regions in the memory device.

Claim 29

The method of claim 22, wherein the memory controller and memory device are located in a disk controller board for controlling operations to a hard disk drive subsystem, wherein said hard disk drive subsystem implements a fault tolerant scheme which utilizes parity information to correct errors in related data stored in said hard disk drive subsystem, said related data being divided into at least two portions, wherein said parity information is the exclusive OR of said at least two portions of said related data.

Claim 30

The method of claim 26, wherein if a write having new data is directed to one portion of original related data, the method further comprising the steps of: generating new parity information by writing said new data to the memory controller at a write address in the second address range; and sequentially writing the remaining at least one portion of said original related data to the memory controller at said new write address.

Claim 31

The method of claim 26, wherein if a write having new data is directed to one portion of original related data, the method further comprising the steps of: generating new parity information by writing said new data to the memory controller at a write address in the second address range; and sequentially writing said one portion of said original related data and corresponding original parity information to the memory controller at said new write address.

Claim 32

The method of claim 26, wherein if writes having new data are directed to said at least two portions of related data, the method further comprising the step of: generating new parity information by sequentially writing said new data to the memory controller at a write address in the second address range.

Claim 33

The method of claim 26, wherein if an error occurs in one portion of original related data, the method further comprising the step of: regenerating said erroneous portion by sequentially writing the remaining at least one portion of said original related data and corresponding original parity information to the memory controller at an address in the second address range.

Claim 35

The method of claim 22, wherein a transfer length is specified with said writing step, said transfer length specifying the amount of data to be transferred, wherein said writing step transfers the specified amount of write data into the memory device.

Claim 36

The method of claim 22, further comprising the step of: the memory controller generating a normal write cycle in response to said writing step if said destination address is in the first address range, said normal write cycle writing said write data into the memory device address associated with said destination address.