Cache Memory Data Protection During Power Failure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional systems rely on chemical battery cells to maintain cache memory during power failures, which have limited shelf life, require frequent monitoring, and incur maintenance and disposal costs, making them inconvenient and costly.
Innovation Solution
A secondary data path powered by a non-chemical power supply that transfers incomplete transactional data from volatile cache memory to non-volatile storage during power failures, eliminating the need for chemical cells and ensuring data security without system downtime.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If chemical battery cells are used to maintain cache memory during power failures, then data protection is improved, but maintenance complexity and operational downtime increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the data protection function from the chemical battery cell and implements it through a pure software-based solution. The system uses file system journaling and metadata logging to protect data integrity without requiring any chemical battery hardware, thereby eliminating maintenance complexity while preserving data protection capabilities
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/chemical battery cell system with an electronic/software-based power management system. The system uses capacitive power storage combined with intelligent software control to achieve data protection during power failures, substituting the chemical energy storage mechanism with an electronic alternative that requires no maintenance
2Reliability
If chemical battery cells are used to maintain cache memory during power failures, then data protection is improved, but disposal costs and environmental overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs inexpensive capacitive power storage elements with sufficient lifespan for the intended application rather than expensive chemical batteries. These capacitive components have no disposal costs and can be easily replaced if needed, eliminating the environmental overhead and disposal expenses associated with chemical battery cells while maintaining adequate data protection
3Reliability
If cache memory is placed in self-refresh mode during power failures, then data loss is prevented, but system downtime increases due to chemical cell replacement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary data flushing operations before power failure occurs by implementing file system journaling that continuously logs metadata changes. When power fails, the system can quickly recover by replaying the journal entries rather than requiring lengthy data reconstruction, thereby preventing data loss while minimizing system downtime without needing chemical battery replacement
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system for preventing loss of data in a computer interface board during power failure includes providing a secondary data path to a non-volatile storage element from a cache memory of the computer interface board. Components in the secondary data path, such as the cache memory and non-volatile storage element, are powered by a secondary power supply. The cache memory of the computer interface board is a volatile memory. The secondary data path with the non-volatile storage element enables reliable memory operation during both normal and power fail modes. A power failure at the computer interface board is detected. The power failure may result in incomplete transactional data within the cache memory. Upon detection of power failure, the incomplete transactional data at the cache memory is transmitted to the non-volatile storage element through the secondary data path using the power from the secondary power supply. The non-volatile storage element preserves the transactional data of the cache memory during power failure.