Granted Patent B2

US 11,321,250 · App. 16/941,370 · Granted May 3, 2022

Inventors: Shyam Iyer (Cedar Park, TX); Srinivas Giri Raju Gowda (Santa Clara, CA); Anh Dinh Luong (Austin, TX)

Assignee: Dell Products L.P.

G06F13/1668

Abstract

Claims (51)

1. An Input/Output (I/O) device selection system, comprising:

at least one memory device that is configured to store data;

a plurality of Input/Output (I/O) devices that are separate from and coupled to the at least one memory device; and

an I/O scheduler that is coupled to the plurality of I/O devices that the I/O scheduler previously registered for I/O device selection in an I/O scheduler database included in the I/O scheduler, wherein the I/O scheduler is configured to:

receive an I/O request that involves the at least one memory device;

determine at least one I/O operation that is configured to satisfy the I/O request;

identify, using the I/O scheduler database, the plurality of I/O devices that are configured to perform the at least one I/O operation;

determine an operating level of each of the plurality of I/O devices such that a relative performance of at least two of the plurality of I/O devices that are the same type of I/O device is identified;

select, based on the operating level of the plurality the I/O devices, a subset of the plurality of I/O devices for performing the at least one I/O operation; and

transmit at least one I/O operation instruction that is configured to cause the subset of the plurality of I/O devices to perform the at least one I/O operation in order to satisfy the I/O request.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the I/O scheduler is configured to register the plurality of I/O devices in the I/O scheduler database by:

receiving, from each of the plurality of I/O devices, I/O operation scheduling registration information; and

storing the I/O operation scheduling registration information in the I/O scheduler database, wherein the plurality of I/O devices that are configured to perform the at least one I/O operation are identified using the I/O operation scheduling information received from each of the plurality of I/O devices and stored in the I/O scheduler database.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the I/O scheduler is configured to identify the operating level of the plurality of I/O devices that are configured to perform the at least one I/O operation by accessing the operating level of the plurality of I/O devices via at least one I/O hub device coupled to the plurality of I/O devices.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of I/O devices include at least one of a memory controller, an I/O hub device, or a data mover device.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one I/O operation includes at least one of a write operation, a read operation, or a memory-to-memory transfer operation.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the selecting the subset of the plurality of I/O devices for performing the at least one I/O operation based on the operating level of the plurality the I/O devices includes selecting a first I/O device included in the subset of the plurality of I/O devices to perform the at least one I/O operation over a second I/O device that is not included in the subset of the plurality of I/O devices, is the same type of I/O device as the first I/O device, and that has a higher operating level than the first I/O device.

7. An Information Handling System (IHS), comprising:

a processing system; and

a memory system that is coupled to the processing system and that includes instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the processing system to provide a Input/Output (I/O) scheduler engine that is configured to:

receive an I/O request that involves at least one memory device that is configured to store data;

determine at least one I/O operation that is configured to satisfy the I/O request;

identify, using an I/O scheduler database in which a plurality of I/O devices were previously registered for I/O device selection, the plurality of I/O devices that are separate from and coupled to the at least one memory device and that are configured to perform the at least one I/O operation;

determine an operating level of each of the plurality of I/O devices such that a relative performance of at least two of the plurality of I/O devices that are the same type of I/O device is identified;

select, based on the operating level of the plurality the I/O devices, a subset of the plurality of I/O devices for performing the at least one I/O operation; and

transmit at least one I/O operation instruction that is configured to cause the subset of the plurality of I/O devices to perform the at least one I/O operation in order to satisfy the I/O request.

8. The IHS of claim 7 , wherein the I/O scheduler is configured to register the plurality of I/O devices in the I/O scheduler database by:

receiving, from each of the plurality of I/O devices, I/O operation scheduling registration information; and

storing the I/O operation scheduling registration information in the I/O scheduler database, wherein the plurality of I/O devices that are configured to perform the at least one I/O operation are identified using the I/O operation scheduling information received from each of the plurality of I/O devices and stored in the I/O scheduler database.

9. The IHS of claim 7 , wherein the I/O scheduler is configured to:

access the operating level of the plurality of I/O devices via at least one I/O hub device coupled to the plurality of I/O devices in order to identify the operating level of the plurality of I/O devices that are configured to perform the at least one I/O operation.

10. The IHS of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of I/O devices include at least one of a memory controller, an I/O hub device, or a data mover device.

11. The IHS of claim 7 , wherein the at least one I/O operation includes at least one of a write operation, a read operation, or a memory-to-memory transfer operation.

12. The IHS of claim 7 , wherein the selecting the subset of the plurality of I/O devices for performing the at least one I/O operation based on the operating level of the plurality the I/O devices includes selecting a first I/O device included in the subset of the plurality of I/O devices to perform the at least one I/O operation over a second I/O device that is not included in the subset of the plurality of I/O devices, is the same type of I/O device as the first I/O device, and that has a higher operating level than the first I/O device.

13. The IHS of claim 7 , wherein the at least one memory device includes at least one first memory device that is provided as part of a first node and at least one second memory device that is provided as part of a second node, and wherein the plurality of I/O devices includes a plurality of first I/O devices that are provided as part of the first node and a plurality of second I/O devices that are provided as part of the second node.

14. A method for selecting (Input/Output) I/O devices for satisfying an I/O request, comprising:

receiving, by an Input/Output (I/O) scheduler, an I/O request that involves at least one memory device that is configured to store data;

determining, by the I/O scheduler, at least one I/O operation that is configured to satisfy the I/O request;

identifying, by the I/O scheduler using an I/O scheduler database in which a plurality of I/O devices were previously registered for I/O device selection, the plurality of I/O devices that are separate from and coupled to the at least one memory device and that are configured to perform the at least one I/O operation;

determining, by the I/O scheduler, an operating level of each of the plurality of I/O devices such that a relative performance of at least two of the plurality of I/O devices that are the same type of I/O device is identified;

selecting, by the I/O scheduler based on the operating level of the plurality the I/O devices, a subset of the plurality of I/O devices for performing the at least one I/O operation; and

transmitting, by the I/O scheduler, at least one I/O operation instruction that is configured to cause the subset of the plurality of I/O devices to perform the at least one I/O operation in order to satisfy the I/O request.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

receiving, by the I/O scheduler from each of the plurality of I/O devices, I/O operation scheduling registration information; and

storing, by the I/O scheduler, the I/O operation scheduling registration information in the I/O scheduler database, wherein the plurality of I/O devices that are configured to perform the at least one I/O operation are identified using the I/O operation scheduling information received from each of the plurality of I/O devices and stored in the I/O scheduler database.

16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

accessing, by the I/O scheduler, the operating level of the plurality of I/O devices via at least one I/O hub device coupled to the plurality of I/O devices in order to identify the operating level of the plurality of I/O devices that are configured to perform the at least one I/O operation.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of I/O devices include at least one of a memory controller, an I/O hub device, or a data mover device.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the at least one I/O operation includes at least one of a write operation, a read operation, or a memory-to-memory transfer operation.

19. The method of claim 14 , wherein the selecting the subset of the plurality of I/O devices for performing the at least one I/O operation based on the operating level of the plurality the I/O devices includes selecting a first I/O device included in the subset of the plurality of I/O devices to perform the at least one I/O operation over a second I/O device that is not included in the subset of the plurality of I/O devices, is the same type of I/O device as the first I/O device, and that has a higher operating level than the first I/O device.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein the at least one memory device includes at least one first memory device that is provided as part of a first node and at least one second memory device that is provided as part of a second node, and wherein the plurality of I/O devices includes a plurality of first I/O devices that are provided as part of the first node and a plurality of second I/O devices that are provided as part of the second node.

Assignments (9)

Continuity (1)