Granted Patent B1

US 9,417,810 · App. 14/038,733 · Granted Aug 16, 2016

Abstract

Claims (33)

1. A data storage system comprising:

a plurality of storage devices, each of the storage devices in the plurality of storage devices comprising a plurality of logical block addresses (“LBAs”) and configured to be in a first operating mode or a second operating mode, wherein the first operating mode comprises an active mode where the storage device is ready to send or receive data and the second operating mode comprises a reduced power mode relative to the first operating mode; and

a bridge configured to be connected to the plurality of storage devices and a host configured to transmit host commands to the bridge, wherein the bridge is further configured to:

receive a first host command for the data storage system to enter the first operating mode;

prevent the first host command from reaching the plurality of storage devices so that the plurality of storage devices remains in the second operating mode;

receive a second host command to access an LBA;

determine a storage device in the plurality of storage devices where the LBA is located; and

indicate only to the storage device where the LBA is located, that the storage device where the LBA is located should transition from the second operating mode to the first operating mode.

2. The data storage system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of storage devices comprise at least one hard disk drive, and at least one solid state drive.

3. The data storage system of claim 1 wherein the bridge is further configured to store a lookup table, and determine the storage device in the plurality of storage devices where the LBA is located using the lookup table.

4. The data storage system of claim 1 wherein the second operating mode comprises a slumber mode.

5. The data storage system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of storage devices comprise a cache memory located in a hard disk drive.

6. The data storage system of claim 1 wherein the bridge comprises a serial advanced technology attachment (“SATA”) to dual SATA bridge.

7. The data storage system of claim 1 wherein the bridge is further configured to maintain the plurality of storage devices, aside from the storage device where the LBA is located, in the second operating mode.

8. The data storage system of claim 1 wherein the data storage system and the host form a computer system.

9. A method for accessing a logical block address, the method comprising:

receiving at a bridge in a data storage system, a first host command from a host for the data storage system to enter a first operating mode;

preventing the first host command from reaching a plurality of storage devices in the data storage system so that the plurality of storage devices remains in a second operating mode, wherein each of the storage devices in the plurality of storage devices is configured to be in the first operating mode or the second operating mode, and wherein the first operating mode comprises an active mode where the storage device is ready to send or receive data and the second operating mode comprises a reduced power mode relative to the first operating mode;

receiving at the bridge in the data storage system, a second host command from the host, to access the logical block address (“LBA”);

determining, using the bridge, a storage device in the plurality of storage devices in the data storage system where the LBA is located, wherein each of the storage devices in the plurality of storage devices comprise a plurality of LBAs; and

indicating, using the bridge, to only the storage device where the LBA is located, that the storage device where the LBA is located should transition from the second operating mode to the first operating mode.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the plurality of storage devices comprise at least one hard disk drive and at least one solid state drive.

11. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

using a lookup table stored in the bridge to determine the storage device in the plurality of storage devices where the LBA is located.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein the second operating mode comprises a slumber mode.

13. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

maintaining the plurality of storage devices, aside from the storage device where the LBA is located, in the second operating mode.

14. The data storage system of claim 1 wherein the bridge is further configured to indicate to the host that the plurality of storage devices are in the first operating mode when one or more of the plurality of storage devices are in the second operating mode.

15. The data storage system of claim 14 wherein the host is configured to transmit host data to the plurality of storage devices when the bridge indicates to the host that the plurality of storage devices are in the first operating mode.

16. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

indicating to the host, using the bridge, that the plurality of storage devices are in the first operating mode when one or more of the plurality of storage devices are in the second operating mode.

17. The data storage system of claim 1 wherein the first host command is a Host Initiated Power Management (HIPM) command.

18. The method of claim 9 wherein the first host command is a Host Initiated Power Management (HIPM) command.

Assignments (8)