Of Peripheral Subsystem Patents (Class 714/5.1)
  • Patent number: 8103900
    Abstract: A method and circuit for implementing enhanced memory reliability using memory scrub operations to determine a frequency of intermittent correctable errors, and a design structure on which the subject circuit resides are provided. A memory scrub for intermittent performs at least two reads before moving to a next memory scrub address. A number of intermittent errors is tracked where an intermittent error is identified, responsive to identifying one failing read and one passing read of the at least two reads.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2012
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Richard E. Fry, Marc A. Gollub, Eric E. Retter, Kenneth L. Wright
  • Patent number: 8090979
    Abstract: Availability of an information system including a storage apparatus and a computer is improved. First and second storage apparatuses execute remote copy of copying data written into a first primary volume from the computer to a second primary volume, at least one of the first and second storage apparatuses executes local copy of copying the data written into the first or second primary volume in a self-storage apparatus to the corresponding first or second secondary volume, and the computer switches the destination of a write request of the data from the first storage apparatus to the second storage apparatus in case of a failure occurring in the first storage apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2012
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasuo Watanabe, Yasutomo Yamamoto, Kenta Ninose, Yoshiaki Eguchi, Takashige Iwamura, Hisao Homma
  • Publication number: 20110320860
    Abstract: Detection, notification and/or processing of events, such as errors associated with adapters, are facilitated. Hardware detects an event, places one or more adapters in an error state to prevent access to/from the adapters, and notifies the operating system of the event.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 23, 2010
    Publication date: December 29, 2011
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Anthony F. Coneski, David Craddock, Charles W. Gainey, JR., Beth A. Glendening, Thomas A. Gregg, Ugochukwu C. Njoku, Peter K. Szwed
  • Patent number: 8082465
    Abstract: A system, method and computer program product for detecting a failed storage device within an “n” device array. The “n” device array is configured to store “n” device array formatted data. The “n” device array is reconfigured into an “n?1” device array. The “n” device array formatted data is written to the “n?1” device array in an “n?1” device array format.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2011
    Assignee: EMC Corporation
    Inventors: Kiran Madnani, David W. DesRoches
  • Publication number: 20110307735
    Abstract: A method is provided for mapping a data center to a disaster recovery site. Data center information including production hardware and production applications is retrieved from a database. Disaster recovery site information including disaster recovery hardware is retrieved from the database. A list is created of the production applications and a valid list of the production applications is automatically determined from the list based on rules in the database. A list is created of the production hardware, and a valid list of the production hardware is automatically determined from the list based on the rules in the database, which includes determining the production hardware on which the valid list of the production applications run, and removing the production hardware on which the valid list of the production applications does not run. The valid list of the production hardware is mapped to the disaster recovery hardware of the disaster recovery site.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 14, 2010
    Publication date: December 15, 2011
    Applicant: AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I, L.P.
    Inventor: Stuart H. Greenberg
  • Patent number: 8078904
    Abstract: Provided is a method of managing a computer system including a plurality of storage systems and a plurality of management appliances for managing the plurality of storage systems. A first management appliance and a second management appliance hold an identifier of a first storage system and management data obtained from the first storage system. The method includes the steps of: selecting a third management appliance from the plurality of management appliances when a failure occurs in the first management appliance; transmitting the identifier held in the second management appliance from the second management appliance to the selected third management appliance; and holding the identifier transmitted from the second management appliance in the selected third management appliance. Thus, it is possible to prevent, after failing-over due to an abnormality of a maintenance/management appliance, a single point of failure from occurring to reduce reliability of the maintenance/management appliance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2011
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Takahiro Fujita, Hirokazu Ikeda, Nobuyuki Osaki
  • Patent number: 8078913
    Abstract: Methods for automatically identifying and classifying a crisis state occurring in a system having a plurality of computer resources. Signals are received from a device that collects the signals from each computer resource in the system. For each epoch, an epoch fingerprint is generated. Upon detecting a performance crisis within the system, a crisis fingerprint is generated consisting of at least one epoch fingerprint. The technology is able to identify that a performance crisis has previously occurred within the datacenter if a generated crisis fingerprint favorably matches any of the model crisis fingerprints stored in a database. The technology may also predict that a crisis is about to occur.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2011
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Moises Goldszmidt, Peter Bodik
  • Patent number: 8074101
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method for handling path failures to active-passive storage arrays may include identifying a host system with multiple I/O paths to an active-passive storage array. The computer-implemented method may also include identifying a backup system operating for the host system, the backup system having multiple I/O paths to the active-passive storage array. The computer-implemented method may also include disabling at least one secondary path from the backup system to the active-passive storage array. The computer-implemented method may further include detecting a path failure. The computer-implemented method may additionally include reconfiguring the backup system to access the active-passive storage array through the host system. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2011
    Assignee: Symantec Corporation
    Inventors: Taher Vohra, Abhay Singh
  • Patent number: 8074100
    Abstract: A restore management apparatus comprising a restore performing unit which performs restoration of a data and stores the data in a restore disk which is distinct from a backed up disk, a management unit that manages progress of the restoration performed by the restore performing unit, and an access controlling unit that references the progress of the restoration managed by the management unit, makes the restore performing unit preferentially perform the restoration of data that includes a region where the restoration is not completed in response to a data access request to the region, and accesses the region of the restore disk after the restoration is completed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2011
    Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
    Inventors: Hideki Sakurai, Yasuo Noguchi
  • Patent number: 8074112
    Abstract: Systems, apparatuses, and methods for memory backup in a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) system are described. The methods include detecting a failure in a main power supply that supplies power to a volatile memory that is coupled to a RAID controller, switching to a temporary power supply to supply power to the volatile memory in response to detecting the main power supply failure, and transferring data from the volatile memory to a non-volatile memory coupled to the RAID controller subsequent to switching to the temporary power supply.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2011
    Assignee: Marvell International Ltd.
    Inventors: Lihan Chang, Chee Hoe Chu, Chi-Chih Lin, Wei Zhou
  • Patent number: 8074006
    Abstract: An abnormal status detecting method of interrupt pins is provided. In the invention, an advanced configuration and power interface (ACPI) table is looked up for obtaining an interrupt status bit of each interrupt pin in a computer system. Afterwards, the interrupt status bit is continuously checked whether it is maintained at a specific value during a fixed time. When the interrupt status bit of one of the interrupt pins is maintained at the specific value during the fixed time, the interrupt pin is determined to be abnormal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2011
    Assignee: Inventec Corporation
    Inventors: Ying-Chih Lu, Szu-Hsien Lee
  • Publication number: 20110289347
    Abstract: A copy export application implemented in a computational device receives a request to perform a copy export operation of data and metadata to a selected tape in a tape library coupled to the computational device. The copy export application copies the data from the computational device to the selected tape. The copy export application determines a medium error on the selected tape while copying the metadata from the computational device to the selected tape, subsequent to completion of the copying of the data from the computational device to the selected tape. The copy export application sends a request to a tape control application to replace the selected tape by a new tape and copy the data from the selected tape to the new tape. The copy export application copies the metadata to the new tape.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 18, 2010
    Publication date: November 24, 2011
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Norie Iwasaki, David Michael Morton, Yun Mou, Laura Jean Ostasiewski, Takeshi Sohda
  • Patent number: 8060695
    Abstract: A system and method proxies data access commands across a cluster interconnect between storage appliances in a cluster. Each storage appliance activates two ports for data access, a local port for data access requests directed to clients of the storage appliance and a proxy port for data access requests directed to the partner storage appliance. Clients utilizing multi-pathing software may send data access requests to either the local port of the storage appliance or the proxy port of the storage appliance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2011
    Assignee: NetApp, Inc.
    Inventors: Herman Lee, Vijayan Rajan
  • Patent number: 8055936
    Abstract: Systems and methods for providing memory access circuitry in application specific integrated circuits, and in certain configurations for recovering data from non-volatile memory registers in a partially disabled application specific integrated circuit as provided. In one configuration, a virtual partial dual-port non-volatile memory is provided having a secondary partial read only port. In another configuration, a physical partial dual-port non-volatile memory is provided having a secondary partial read only port.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2011
    Assignee: Pitney Bowes Inc.
    Inventors: Sungwon Moh, Peter A. Pagliaro
  • Patent number: 8055934
    Abstract: In one aspect of the present description, in response to detection of a failure of a root server of a storage controller, a switch for input/output adapters may be reconfigured to report errors to a successor root server without reinitializing the input/output adapters. Other features and aspects may be realized, depending upon the particular application.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2011
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Stephen LaRoux Blinick, Scott Alan Brewer, Trung Ngoc Nguyen
  • Publication number: 20110258485
    Abstract: A central hub is coupled to a plurality of computational devices. The central hub stores a data structure that grants locks for accessing common data stored at the central hub, wherein the common data is shared by the plurality of computational devices. Each computational device maintains locally those locks that are held by the computational device in the data structure stored at the central hub. In response to a failure of the data structure stored at the central hub, a selected computational device of the plurality of computational devices is determined to be a manager system. Other computational devices besides the manager system communicate to the manager system all locks held by the other computational devices in the data structure stored at the central hub. The data structure and the common data are generated and stored at the manager system. Transactions are performed with respect to the data structure stored at the manager system, until the data structure stored at the central hub is operational.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 29, 2011
    Publication date: October 20, 2011
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Douglas Lee Lehr, Franklin Emmert McCune, David Charles Reed, Max Douglas Smith
  • Patent number: 8037344
    Abstract: A storage system is configured to create and manage virtual ports on physical ports. The storage system can transfer associations between virtual ports and physical ports when a failure occurs in a physical port or a link connected to the physical port so that a host can access volumes under the virtual ports through another physical port. The storage system can also change associations between virtual ports and physical ports by taking into account the relative loads on the physical ports. When a virtual machine is migrated from one host computer to another, the loads on the physical ports in the storage system can be used to determine whether load balancing should take place. Additionally, the storage system can transfer virtual ports to a remote storage system that will take over the virtual ports, so that a virtual machine can be migrated to remote location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2011
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Junichi Hara, Yoshiki Kano
  • Publication number: 20110246813
    Abstract: A reconfiguration manager is operable to reconfigure a repurposable recovery environment between a recovery environment for a production environment and a second environment different from the recovery environment. A storage system in the repurposable recovery environment periodically saves production information from the production environment while the repurposable recovery environment is operating as the second environment. The production information in the storage system is used to reconfigure the repurposable recovery environment from the second environment to the recovery environment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 1, 2010
    Publication date: October 6, 2011
    Applicant: ACCENTURE GLOBAL SERVICES GmbH
    Inventors: Ryan COLLIER, Sandro LORENZOTTI, Gaurang PATEL, Jay CORN
  • Publication number: 20110239040
    Abstract: A method for controlling a system includes receiving an indication that an operation has failed in a secondary storage device, suspending data operations sent to the secondary data storage device from a primary storage device, determining a failure policy set by a user, and initiating a first policy responsive to determining that the first policy is active, the first policy including sending a status query to the secondary storage device, determining whether a response has been received from the secondary storage device, determining whether the response indicates a failure of the secondary storage device responsive to determining that the response has been received from the secondary storage device, and continuing processing tasks on the server and data operations on the primary storage device responsive to determining that the response indicates a failure of the secondary storage device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 23, 2010
    Publication date: September 29, 2011
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: David B. Petersen, Gail A. Spear
  • Patent number: 8020035
    Abstract: A system includes a solid state persistent storage device, and a plurality of storage controllers to manage access of the solid state persistent storage device. An expander circuit is connected to the solid state persistent storage device and has a plurality of computer-based bus interfaces connected to the corresponding plurality of storage controllers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2011
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Douglas L. Voigt, David William Thiel, David Alan Daigle
  • Patent number: 8020049
    Abstract: An Electrical Fast Transient/Burst (EFT/B) detection and recovery system for a Universal Serial Bus (USB) device. The system includes a USB core and a burst controller. The USB core provides serial communications with a host device through a USB data channel. The burst controller is coupled to the USB core. The burst controller detects an EFT/B event and automatically reconnects the USB core to the host device in response to recognition of a suspend state of the USB core by the host device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2011
    Assignee: Avago Technologies ECBU IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.
    Inventors: John Julius Asuncion, Wai Keat Tai, Shan Chong Tan, Lian Chun Xu
  • Patent number: 8015441
    Abstract: A backup method for a computer system network avoids generating hashes from data that may be inaccurate due to network errors affords verification of source data written to backup media includes reading at a network client a portion of the source data from a source storage volume and generating a hash of the source data at the client. The source data and hash are transmitted to a backup server and written to the backup media. The hash is written to the backup media is associated with the backup data corresponding to the source data from which the hash was generated. Verification of the backup data is performed by reading the backup data from the backup media, generating a hash from the backup data read, and comparing that hash with the hash originally stored on the backup media.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2011
    Assignee: EMC Corporation
    Inventors: Asit A. Desai, Antony E. Boggis
  • Patent number: 8015433
    Abstract: A disk drive that includes nonvolatile memory monitors the drive's reliability-related parameters to detect real or potential failure events, and records failure-related data in nonvolatile memory, rather than in reserved areas of the disks. The monitoring may be by running a diagnostic routine or by regular or periodic monitoring of disk drive sensors, like temperature and shock sensors. The failure events to be monitored and recorded may include defective data sectors. When a new defective sector is detected after the disk drive has been put into operation, that defective sector is taken out of service and its logical block address (LBA) is mapped to a memory space in the nonvolatile memory rather to a reserved spare sector on the disk.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2011
    Assignee: Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Frank R. Chu, George A. Dunn, Richard M. H. New, Spencer W. Ng
  • Patent number: 8001419
    Abstract: An industrial automation controller module includes a main module and an energy storage module (ESM) releasably connected to the main module. The ESM includes a back-up electrical power source such as a battery or a capacitor that is electrically connected to processor circuitry of the main module when the ESM is physically connected to the main module. In case of interruption of operating power to the processor circuitry of the main module, the back-up power source of the ESM supplies back-up power to the main module to allow for completion of an emergency save operation to save data to non-volatile memory in the main module. If the ESM includes a capacitor back-up power source, it is charged by the main module and the capacitor charge is dissipated if the ESM is separated from the main module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2011
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Daniel E. Killian, Douglas R. Bodmann, Dale R. Terdan, Ronald E. Schultz, James J. Kay
  • Patent number: 8001417
    Abstract: In one embodiment, the invention provides a method for repairing a defective storage device in a physical storage-device array having a plurality of storage devices. The method comprises the steps of identifying a disk error associated with the defective storage device; effecting an error recovery pause based on the disk error; processing one or more outstanding data storage or retrieval requests; and generating a new data storage request instructing the physical disk device array having the defective storage device to store valid data associated with the data storage or retrieval request corresponding to the disk device error, whereby the defective storage device is repaired.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2011
    Assignee: Agere Systems Inc.
    Inventors: Richard J. Byrne, Thomas Klucsarits, Nevin C. Heintze, Ambalavanar Arulambalam, Michael J. Hunter, Xing Zhao, Zhi Ping He, Yun Peng, Qian Gao Xu, Eu Gene Goh, Silvester Tjandra
  • Publication number: 20110191627
    Abstract: A system comprising a memory storing a set of instructions executable by a processor. The instructions being operable to monitor progress of an application executing in a first operating system (OS) instance, the progress occurring on data stored within a shared memory area, detect a failover event in the application and copy, upon the detection of the failover event, the data from the shared memory area to a fail memory area of a second instance of the OS, the fail memory area being an area of memory mapped for receiving data from another instance of the OS only if the application executing on the another instance experiences a failover event.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 29, 2010
    Publication date: August 4, 2011
    Inventors: Maarten Koning, Felix Burton, Matt Sherer
  • Patent number: 7979736
    Abstract: A memory block having a plurality of parameter data including parameter data to be updated is read to a working area from a nonvolatile memory and, whether the plurality of parameter data is correct or not is checked on a basis of error detection data. When an error is detected, temporary updating data are generated in a working area by updating the parameter data to be updated to a specified parameter data and by updating data except the parameter data to be updated to an unspecified data that have no meaning, and then the temporary updating data are written into the nonvolatile memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2011
    Assignee: Nidec Sankyo Corporation
    Inventor: Tsutomu Baba
  • Publication number: 20110154101
    Abstract: A controller is used to provide a sharable, programmable and composable infrastructure. The controller includes a user manager to take input of user application programming interface calls that correspond to actions accepted from users. A physical manager fulfills requests from the user manager by manipulating distributed physical resources and logical devices in a network controlled by the controller. A configuration effector implements configuration changes to the physical resources and logical devices. A device monitor determines a status of the physical resources and logical devices, propagates the status to the physical manager for detecting a failure of the physical resources and logical devices in real-time, and mitigates the failure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 22, 2009
    Publication date: June 23, 2011
    Applicant: AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I, L.P.
    Inventors: Jacobus Van Der MERWE, Xu CHEN
  • Publication number: 20110138220
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus to initiate a basic input/output system (BIOS) recovery are disclosed herein. An example BIOS recovery module includes a memory storing one or more signatures to be detected by a detector of a BIOS implemented on a computing platform; and a connector to couple the module to a data display channel of the computing platform, wherein a BIOS recovery mechanism of the BIOS is to initiate in response to the detector detecting the one or more signatures of the module via the data display channel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 7, 2009
    Publication date: June 9, 2011
    Inventor: Robert E. Gough
  • Patent number: 7958405
    Abstract: An automatic testing system and method for judging whether a universal serial bus device is configured to a computer are provided. The automatic testing system includes a computer and a testing device for testing the universal serial bus device. By judging whether the universal serial bus device is configured to the computer, the automatic testing system could determine the timing of performing an automatic testing procedure on the universal serial bus device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2011
    Assignee: Primax Electronics Ltd.
    Inventor: Pei-Ming Chang
  • Patent number: 7958301
    Abstract: A memory controller includes a page configure module that communicates with a memory array comprising B memory blocks each including P pages. The page configure module selectively configures memory cells in the P pages of each of the B memory blocks to store from 1 to T bits per cell. The page configure module also generates a memory map based on the configuration. B, P, and T are integers greater than 1. At least one of a write module selectively writes data to the memory array based on the memory map or a read module selectively reads data from the memory array based on the memory map.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2011
    Assignee: Marvell World Trade Ltd.
    Inventor: Pantas Sutardja
  • Publication number: 20110099415
    Abstract: The present invention provides a CEC communications device which eliminates a troublesome process to solve the CEC-related communication malfunction when the CEC communications device detects a CEC-related communication malfunction caused by a software malfunction and improves serviceability of the CEC communications by automatically resetting the CEC to execute a CEC communication recovery. In the CEC communications device, when a CEC communications line monitoring unit detects a CEC-related communication malfunction caused by a software malfunction, a CEC control unit determines a reset order of a CEC appliance found on a CEC network, and notifies the CEC resetting unit of a CEC resetting request. The CEC resetting unit resets the CEC of a CEC appliance found on the CEC network via an HDMI line (DDC in FIG. 1) other than the CEC to recover the CEC communications.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 29, 2010
    Publication date: April 28, 2011
    Applicant: PANASONIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yasuharu TERAUCHI, Hideki IWATA, Futoshi USHIO, Yuji HAYASHI
  • Publication number: 20110099416
    Abstract: A system and method for interfacing redundant devices to a distributed control system, includes a first and second redundant field bus modules communicably coupled to the distributed control system and to one another via switches. A pair of redundant field devices are coupled to the switches, one FD having an address. The FBMs adopt respective roles as master FBM and tracker FBM, so that the master FBM is configured to capture data from the one FD using the address, and to pass any data changes periodically to the tracker FBM, through the switches. The master FBM is configured to point to the other field device in the event the other field device has assumed the address. The FBMs are configured to switch roles in the event communication is disrupted between the master FBM and the FD having the address.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 4, 2011
    Publication date: April 28, 2011
    Inventor: Krishna R. Mendu
  • Publication number: 20110078491
    Abstract: A particularly simple and simultaneously fail-safe control system has a control computer for interchanging data with at least one peripheral, and at least one further control computer connected to the first-mentioned control computer via a communication channel. The further control computer is configured to assume at least part of the functionality of the control computer. The control computer is designed, in the event of partial failure thereof, to forward data received by the further control computer via the communication channel to the peripheral and/or to forward data received by the peripheral to the further control computer via the communication channel. There is also provided such a control computer and a method for operating a control system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 26, 2009
    Publication date: March 31, 2011
    Applicant: SIEMENS AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
    Inventor: Axel Paulsburg
  • Publication number: 20110022887
    Abstract: When a failure occurs in an LPAR on a physical computer under an SAN environment, a destination LPAR is set in another physical computer to enable migrating of the LPAR and setting change of a security function on the RAID apparatus side is not necessary. When a failure occurs in an LPAR generated on a physical computer under an SAN environment, configuration information including a unique ID (WWN) of the LPAR where the failure occurs is read, a destination LPAR is generated on another physical computer, and the read configuration information of the LPAR is set to the destination LPAR, thereby enabling migrating of the LPAR when the failure occurs, under the control of a management server.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2010
    Publication date: January 27, 2011
    Applicant: HITACHI, LTD.
    Inventors: Yukari Hatta, Hitoshi Ueno