Storage Controller Doorbell Transaction Grouping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Out-of-order operations in data storage devices lead to inefficiencies, such as increased batch fills, power wastage, and complexity for both host and storage devices, due to commands being executed before cancellation by the host.
Innovation Solution
A controller in data storage devices groups submission doorbell transactions into orderings, allowing for efficient grouping and completion notifications, enabling in-order or out-of-order execution of commands based on operational requirements, and scanning for abort commands to manage resource usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If commands are executed out-of-order in data storage devices, then operational efficiency is improved, but device complexity and power consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments commands into distinct doorbell transactions, where each transaction represents a discrete unit of work that can be independently tracked and managed. This segmentation allows the system to handle out-of-order execution by maintaining clear boundaries between command groups, reducing the complexity of tracking individual commands while preserving parallel execution benefits.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary grouping of commands into doorbell transactions before execution. By organizing commands into predetermined groups that can be submitted atomically, the system prepares the command structure in advance, allowing the host to submit multiple transactions out-of-order while the storage device maintains logical ordering within each transaction boundary.
2Productivity
If commands are executed out-of-order, then throughput is improved, but power wastage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the storage device sends completion notifications back to the host for each doorbell transaction. This feedback allows the host to track which transactions have been completed and which are pending, enabling intelligent power management by allowing the host to enter low-power states when awaiting completion while maintaining high throughput through parallel transaction processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple individual command operations into consolidated doorbell transactions. By combining related commands into single atomic transactions, the system reduces the overhead of individual command processing and enables more efficient power management, as the host can manage power states at the transaction level rather than for each individual command.
3Productivity
If batch fills are increased to handle out-of-order operations, then command processing capacity is improved, but host device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal doorbell transaction interface that can handle multiple types of commands (read, write, delete, etc.) within a single standardized transaction structure. This multi-functionality allows the host to submit diverse command types through a unified mechanism, increasing processing capacity while keeping the host interface simple and consistent regardless of command type.
4Speed
If commands are executed before host cancellation, then response time is improved, but resource wastage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary submission of doorbell transactions with embedded cancellation tokens or identifiers. By preparing and submitting transactions in advance with built-in cancellation mechanisms, the system can quickly cancel pending operations by simply indicating cancellation at the transaction level, maintaining fast response times while preventing resource wastage through efficient cancellation before execution completes.
Data Source
AI summary
Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to data storage devices, systems, and related methods that group commands of doorbell transactions from host devices into a plurality of groupings. A controller of a data storage device is configured to receive a plurality of submission doorbell transactions comprising a plurality of commands from a host device. The controller is configured to group the plurality of commands of the plurality of submission doorbell transactions into a plurality of groupings having a grouping order. Each grouping of the plurality of groupings corresponds to a single doorbell transaction of the plurality of submission doorbell transactions. The controller is configured to send one or more completion doorbell transactions to the host device. Each completion doorbell transaction of the one or more completion doorbell transactions identifies a completed grouping of the plurality of groupings.