Drive Aggregator Virtualizing Multiple SSDs

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current solid state drives (SSDs) are limited in storage capacity due to their single integrated circuit package and ball grid array (BGA) form factor, which restricts their ability to provide high storage capacity.

Innovation Solution

A drive aggregator is used to aggregate and virtualize multiple SSDs as a single SSD, allowing multiple BGA SSDs to be combined into a high-capacity SSD, with a drive aggregator that translates commands and responses between the host system and component SSDs, enabling access to the combined storage capacity as a single entity.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Quantity of substance

If multiple SSDs are aggregated to increase storage capacity, then storage capacity is improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestorage capacityVSAvoiddevice complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Quantity of substanceVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Multiple component SSDs are merged into a single virtualized SSD namespace, allowing the host system to access aggregated storage capacity through a unified interface. The drive aggregator combines multiple physical SSDs while presenting them as one logical device, thus increasing storage capacity without proportionally increasing the complexity perceived by the host system.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

A drive aggregator is introduced as an intermediary device between the host system and multiple component SSDs. The aggregator handles command translation, namespace management, and coordinate access across multiple drives, thereby managing the complexity of multiple drives while providing a simplified interface to the host.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Device complexity

If a single integrated circuit package is used, then device complexity is reduced, but storage capacity is limited

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedevice complexityVSAvoidstorage capacity

Core Design Contradiction:

Device complexityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of relying on a single integrated circuit package, the storage system is segmented into multiple component SSDs that can be individually manufactured and then aggregated. This segmentation allows each package to maintain simplicity while the collective system achieves high storage capacity through the combination of multiple packages.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentUS11500766B2Aggregated and virtualized solid state drives accessed via multiple logical address spaces

Publication Date: 2022.11.15 MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC

AI summary

A solid state drive having a drive aggregator and multiple component solid state drives. The drive aggregator associates the host interfaces with different logical address spaces, interprets commands received from the host interfaces in the different logical address spaces, and implements the commands using the plurality of component solid state drives. Some of the host interfaces can be configured to share a common logical address space. Some of the logical address spaces can be configured to have an overlapping region that are hosted on the same set of memory units such that the memory units can be addressed in any of the logical address spaces having the overlapping region.