Abstract: A new serial bus interface module that enables constrained sensor systems to better match flash-based storage devices' (SD card) read and write performance. The serial bus interface module augments existing flash-based storage with non-volatile random-access memory to form a hybrid storage system using the most popularly used master-slave bus architecture. Together with PSC-like features, the serial bus interface module not only enables slave-to-slave transfer (therefore eliminating the double-transaction problem) but also reads caching (one source to multi-sink) and buffering while flushing. These transaction types enable multi-sector write for significantly faster speed and lower energy overhead, while the use of non-volatile memory for metadata caching means low risk of file-system corruption in the event of power failure. The serial bus interface also enables the direct data transfer from sensors to storage or communication modules without requiring the microprocessor's intervention.

Abstract: A new serial bus interface module that enables constrained sensor systems to better match flash-based storage devices' (SD card) read and write performance. The serial bus interface module augments existing flash-based storage with non-volatile random-access memory to form a hybrid storage system using the most popularly used master-slave bus architecture. Together with PSC-like features, the serial bus interface module not only enables slave-to-slave transfer (therefore eliminating the double-transaction problem) but also reads caching (one source to multi-sink) and buffering while flushing. These transaction types enable multi-sector write for significantly faster speed and lower energy overhead, while the use of non-volatile memory for metadata caching means low risk of file-system corruption in the event of power failure. The serial bus interface also enables the direct data transfer from sensors to storage or communication modules without requiring the microprocessor's intervention.