IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,693,804

Granted Patent B2

US 12,693,804 · App. 18/750,672 · Granted Jul 28, 2026

Bridge device data transfer for data storage device arrays

Inventors: Arunakumar Narayan Bhat (Bangalore, IN); Sathiyamoorthy Subramaniam (Bangalore, IN); Swarup Kulkarni (Bangalore, IN)

Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.

G06F3/0659 G06F3/0604 G06F3/0656 G06F3/0679

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Quick Facts

Patent No.: US 12,693,804
App. No.: 18/750,672
Granted: Jul 28, 2026
Kind: B2

External Links

USPTO Patent Center↗ Full Patent PDF↗

Abstract

Systems, methods, and a bridge device for a data storage device array that enables data transfer between data storage devices without transferring data to the host system are described. The bridge device receives a data transfer command from the host system, such as a fused read and write command, and converts it to separate read and write commands for the source and destination storage devices. The bridge device may operate in a non-volatile memory express over fabric (NVMe-oF) environment and manage the command queues, connection verifications, and command conversions to enable data transfer among storage devices connected to a shared peripheral component interface express (PCIe) root complex without using host network bandwidth or memory.

Claims (132)

1 . A system, comprising:

a storage interface configured to communicate with a plurality of data storage devices;

a host interface configured to communicate with at least one host system; and

a bridge device comprising at least one controller configured to, alone or in combination:

provide, through the host interface, a target device for a network storage protocol configured to receive encapsulated storage commands from the at least one host system;

establish, through the storage interface, communication with the plurality of data storage devices using a bus storage protocol, wherein the bridge device is configured as an initiator device for the plurality of data storage devices as target devices;

receive, from the at least one host system, a data transfer command identifying a target data unit, a source data storage device, and a destination data storage device, wherein:

the plurality of data storage devices includes the source data storage device and the destination data storage device; and

the data transfer command comprises a fused command that includes a first set of parameters for a modified read command for the source data storage device and a second set of parameters for a modified write command for the destination data storage device; and

convert the data transfer command into:

a read command to the source data storage device for the target data unit, wherein the source data storage device is configured to, responsive to the read command:

read the target data unit from a non-volatile storage medium of the source data storage device; and

return the target data unit to a buffer location for the target data unit; and

a write command to the destination data storage device for the target data unit, wherein:

converting the data transfer command comprises determining:

additional parameters added to the first set of parameters for the read command to the source data storage device; and

additional parameters added to the second set of parameters for the write command to the destination data storage device;

the source data storage device is configured to, responsive to the read command:

read the target data unit from a non-volatile storage medium of the source data storage device; and

return the target data unit to a buffer location for the target data unit; and

the destination data storage device is configured to, responsive to the write command:

read the target data unit for the write command from the buffer location; and

write the target data unit to a non-volatile storage medium of the destination data storage device.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one controller is further configured to, alone or in combination:

manage storage interface connections with the plurality of data storage devices using a shared interface root complex;

verify, responsive to receiving the data transfer command:

a first connection to the source data storage device; and

a second connection to the destination data storage device; and

send, responsive to verification being unsuccessful, an error message to the at least one host system.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein:

the data transfer command is received from the at least one host system using the network storage protocol to encapsulate the data transfer command;

converting the data transfer command further comprises removing encapsulation of the data transfer command prior to generating the read command and the write command; and

the at least one controller is further configured to, alone or in combination and using the bus storage protocol:

send the read command to the source data storage device; and

send the write command to the destination data storage device.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein:

converting the data transfer command further comprises:

generating the read command for the target data unit indicating the buffer location for read data; and

generating the write command for the target data unit indicating the buffer location for the read data;

the buffer location is selected from:

a bridge device memory; or

a controller memory buffer of the destination data storage device;

the buffer location is not in the at least one host system;

the buffer location is not indicated in the data transfer command; and

the at least one controller is further configured to, alone or in combination:

determine the buffer location for the data transfer command;

send the read command to the source data storage device; and

send the write command to the destination data storage device.

5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein determining the buffer location comprises at least one of:

determining at least one scatter gather list for the buffer location; and

determining at least one physical region page for the buffer location.

6 . The system of claim 4 , wherein:

receiving the data transfer command uses a first set of command queues in the bridge device configured for host commands; and

sending the read command and the write command uses a second set of command queues in the bridge device configured for data storage device commands.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the destination data storage device:

comprises a controller memory buffer configured to include the buffer location; and

provides, for the source data storage device, direct memory access to the controller memory buffer through a shared interface root complex.

8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the target data unit is not stored in a bridge device memory between reading the target data unit from the source data storage device and writing the target data unit to the non-volatile storage medium of the destination data storage device.

9 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a switch configured to provide a bus connection between the bridge device and the plurality of data storage devices; and

the plurality of data storage devices, wherein each data storage device of the plurality of data storage devices comprises:

a non-volatile storage medium configured to store host data units;

a device storage interface configured for communication with the bridge device; and

a device controller configured to receive storage commands using the bus storage protocol.

10 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:

providing, by a bridge device and through a host interface, a target device for a network storage protocol configured to receive encapsulated storage commands from at least one host system;

establishing, by the bridge device and through a storage interface, communication with a plurality of data storage devices using a bus storage protocol, wherein the bridge device is configured as an initiator device for the plurality of data storage devices as target devices;

receiving, by the bridge device and from the at least one host system, a data transfer command identifying a target data unit, a source data storage device, and a destination data storage device, wherein:

the plurality of data storage devices includes the source data storage device and the destination data storage device; and

converting, by the bridge device, the data transfer command into:

a read command to the source data storage device for the target data unit; and

a write command to the destination data storage device for the target data unit, wherein converting the data transfer command comprises determining:

additional parameters added to the first set of parameters for the read command to the source data storage device; and

additional parameters added to the second set of parameters for the write command to the destination data storage device;

reading, by the source data storage device and responsive to the read command, the target data unit from a non-volatile storage medium of the source data storage device;

writing, by the source data storage device and responsive to reading the target data unit, the target data unit to a buffer location;

reading, by the destination data storage device and responsive to the write command, the target data unit from the buffer location; and

writing, by the destination data storage device and responsive to reading the target data unit, the target data unit to a non-volatile storage medium of the destination data storage device.

11 . The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , further comprising:

managing, by the bridge device, storage interface connections with the plurality of data storage devices using a shared interface root complex;

verifying, by the bridge device and responsive to receiving the data transfer command:

a first connection to the source data storage device; and

a second connection to the destination data storage device; and

sending, by the bridge device and responsive to verification being unsuccessful, an error message to the at least one host system.

12 . The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , further comprising:

sending, by the bridge device, the write command to the destination data storage device using the bus storage protocol, wherein:

the data transfer command is received from the at least one host system using the network storage protocol to encapsulate the data transfer command; and

converting the data transfer command further comprises removing encapsulation of the data transfer command prior to generating the write command.

13 . The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , further comprising:

determining, by the bridge device, the buffer location for the data transfer command, wherein:

the buffer location is selected from:

a bridge device memory; or

a controller memory buffer of the destination data storage device;

the buffer location is not in the at least one host system;

the buffer location is not indicated in the data transfer command; and

converting the data transfer command further comprises:

generating the read command for the target data unit indicating the buffer location for read data; and

generating the write command for the target data unit indicating the buffer location for the read data;

sending, by the bridge device, the read command to the source data storage device; and

sending, by the bridge device, the write command to the destination data storage device.

14 . The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , wherein determining the buffer location comprises at least one of:

determining at least one scatter gather list for the buffer location; and

determining at least one physical region page for the buffer location.

15 . The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , wherein:

receiving the data transfer command uses a first set of command queues in the bridge device configured for host commands; and

sending the read command and the write command uses a second set of command queues in the bridge device configured for data storage device commands.

16 . The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , further comprising:

providing, for the source data storage device, direct memory access to the buffer location in a controller memory buffer in the destination data storage device through a shared interface root complex.

17 . The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein the target data unit is not stored in a bridge device memory between reading the target data unit from the source data storage device and writing the target data unit to the non-volatile storage medium of the destination data storage device.

18 . A bridge device comprising:

a storage interface configured to communicate with a plurality of data storage devices;

a host interface configured to communicate with at least one host system;

means for providing, through the host interface, a target device for a network storage protocol configured to receive encapsulated storage commands from the at least one host system;

means for establishing, through the storage interface, communication with the plurality of data storage devices using a bus storage protocol, wherein the bridge device is configured as an initiator device for the plurality of data storage devices as target devices;

means for receiving, from the at least one host system, a data transfer command identifying a target data unit, a source data storage device, and a destination data storage device, wherein:

the plurality of data storage devices includes the source data storage device and the destination data storage device; and

means for converting the data transfer command into: