Fail-safe power management to prevent short circuits from water damage in solid-state drives using conductivity detectors

Abstract

This invention provides a method and apparatus for detecting the presence of conductive liquid in a data storage device such as an M.2 solid-state device (SSD) and triggering a fail-safe mode. [Solution] The SSD includes a non-volatile memory (NVM) array and a data storage controller, wherein a linear resistance strip or other resistivity sensor is mounted adjacent to the NVM array and the data storage controller, and the conductivity detector uses the linear resistance strip to detect the presence of a conductive liquid, and a power management unit (PMU) activates a fail-safe processing mode in response to the detection of the conductive liquid. In fail-safe mode, power to the NVM array and the data storage controller is disabled to prevent corrosion and short circuits, and a signal is sent to the laptop or other host on which the SSD is installed, requesting the laptop to shut down.

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