IBM Assigned Thirteen Patents

Coordinating write sequences in storage system
IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,849,939) developed by John P. Wilkinson, Salisbury, UK, for “coordinating write sequences in a storage system.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a system and technique for coordinating write sequences in a data storage system includes a processor configured to receive from a primary device, responsive to the primary device receiving a request to write to primary storage, a request for a sequence number. The system also includes a sequence generator configured to: generate a current sequence number for the write; generate a first identifier indicating an identity of secondary devices writing to secondary storage based on the current sequence number; generate a second identifier indicating an identity of secondary devices writing to secondary storage based on the current sequence number and a previous sequence number; transmit the current sequence number and the second identifier to the primary device; and transmit the current sequence number and the first identifier to the secondary devices writing to secondary storage based on the previous sequence number.”

The patent application was filed on Dec. 2, 2011 (13/309,587).

Enabling throttling on average write throughput for SSDs
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,850,153) developed by Gary A. Tressler, Sandy Hook, CT, and Andrew D. Walls, San Jose, CA, for “enabling throttling on average write throughput for solid state storage devices.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A mechanism is provided for enabling throttling on average write throughput instead of peak write throughput for solid-state storage devices. The mechanism assures an average write throughput within a range but allows excursions of high throughput with periods of low throughput offsetting against those of heavy usage. The mechanism periodically determines average throughput and determines whether average throughput exceeds a high throughput threshold for a certain amount of time without being offset by periods of low throughput.”

The patent application was filed on Sept. 30, 2011 (13/250,416).

MRAM with synthetic antiferromagnetic storage layers and non-pinned reference layers
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,852,762) developed by four co-inventors for a “magnetic random access memory with synthetic antiferromagnetic storage layers and non-pinned reference layers.”

The co-inventors are David W. Abraham, Croton, NY, Michael C. Gaidis, Wappingers Falls, NY, Janusz J. Nowak, Highland Mills, NY, and Daniel C. Worledge, Cortlandt Manor, NY.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A synthetic antiferromagnetic device includes a reference layer having a first and second ruthenium layer, a magnesium oxide spacer layer disposed on the reference layer, a cobalt iron boron layer disposed on the magnesium oxide spacer layer and a third ruthenium layer disposed on the cobalt iron boron layer, the third ruthenium layer having a thickness of approximately 0 angstroms to 18 angstroms.”

The patent application was filed on July 31, 2012 (13/562,868).

Management of metadata in storage subsystem
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,856,467) developed by Aaron S. Mahar, Angelique R. Budaya, and James A. Springer, Tucson, AZ, for the “management of metadata in a storage subsystem.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Methods, systems, computer program products and methods for deploying computing infrastructure for managing metadata in a storage subsystem are provided. A call is received from a client to update a portion of a metadata track. Data is also received from the client identifying at least one field of the metadata track to be updated, associated update values for the at least one field to be updated and an update type for the at least one field. A data structure field of a client interface is then populated with the identity of the at least one field and the associated update values and an opcode field of the client interface is populated with the update type. A task control block (TCB) is then allocated to the client call and, at the direction of the TCB, various operations are performed without further activity by the client. The metadata track may also be validated before being updated to ensure that the client has access only to valid updates.”

The patent application was filed on Nov. 18, 2004 (10/993,022)

Data integrity protection in storage volumes
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,856,470) developed by five co-inventors for “data integrity protection in storage volumes.”

The co-inventors are Theresa M. Brown, Nedlaya Y. Francisco, Matthew J. Kalos, Suguang Li, and Beth A. Peterson, Tucson, AZ.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A plurality of logical volumes are stored at a plurality of sites. A command to execute an operation on a logical volume is received. A determination is made as to whether a rule associated with the logical volume permits execution of the operation on the logical volume. In response to determining that the rule associated with the logical volume permits execution of the operation on the logical volume, the operation is executed on the logical volume.”

The patent application was filed on Jan. 25, 2011 (13/013,541).

Processing spreadsheet for storage in database
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,856,284) developed by Ricardo N. Olivieri, and Mark B. Whelan, Austin, TX, for “processing a spreadsheet for storage in a database.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Generally, systems, methods and media for processing a spreadsheet for storage in a database are disclosed. Embodiments may include a method for processing records of a spreadsheet by receiving a request to process a spreadsheet having a plurality of records for storage in a database. Embodiments may also include accessing a configuration file associated with the spreadsheet and, for each record of the spreadsheet, creating a new business object and populating the new business object based on the record and the configuration file associated with the spreadsheet. Embodiments may also include passing each new business object to a back-end business component for processing. The configuration file may include a name of a business object associated with a record of the spreadsheet, metadata for one or more columns of the spreadsheet, and/or a name of a back-end business component associated with the spreadsheet.”

The patent application was filed on April 23, 2012 (13/453,319).

Optimizing data placement in multi-tiered storage systems
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,856,476) developed by six co-inventors for “systems, methods, and physical computer storage media to optimize data placement in multi-tiered storage systems.“

The co-inventors are Lawrence Y. Chiu, Saratoga, CA, Yong Guo, Shanghai, Chao G. Li, Shanghai, Yang Liu, Shanghai, Paul Muench, San Jose, CA, and Sangeetha Seshadri, Vancouver, WA.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “For optimizing data placement in a multi-tiered storage system, system configuration data and system performance data is collected. A plurality of data movement plans are generated, based in part on the system configuration data and the system performance data. A conflict between the plurality of data movement plans are arbitrated to form an execution plan. The data movement plans are performed according to the execution plan.”

The patent application was filed on June 25, 2012 (13/531,845).

Implementing storage adapter performance optimization
with hardware operations completion coalescence
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,856,479) developed by Adrian C. Gerhard, Lyle E. Grosbach, and Daniel F. Moertl, Rochester, MN, for “implementing storage adapter performance optimization with hardware operations completion coalescence.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A method and controller for implementing storage adapter performance optimization with chained hardware operations completion coalescence, and a design structure on which the subject controller circuit resides are provided. The controller includes a plurality of hardware engines, and a processor. A plurality of the command blocks are selectively arranged by firmware in a predefined chain including a plurality of simultaneous command blocks. All of the simultaneous command blocks are completed in any order by respective hardware engines, then the next command block in the predefined chain is started under hardware control without any hardware-firmware (HW-FW) interlocking with the simultaneous command block completion coalescence. “

The patent application was filed on April 20, 2012 (13/451,738).

Content storage mapping
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,862,599) developed by five co-inventors for “content storage mapping.“

The co-inventors are William A. Brown, Raleigh, NC, Daniel D. Carr, Beaverton, OR, Richard W. Muirhead, Tyler, TX, Francis X. Reddington, Sarasota, FL, and Martin A. Wolfe, Mooresville, NC.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A data storage method and system. The method includes defining, by a computing system, a meta-object, a schema based structured definition for the meta-object, and a taxonomy with configuration data. The computing system creates content associated with the taxonomy and associates topics of the content with a logical storage room representations. Reference coordinates associated with the logical storage room representations are associated with the taxonomy. The computing system generates updated configuration data that includes the reference coordinates and a uniform resource identifier associated with the content is generated. The computing system generates an account associated with the meta-object for a user. Metering charges for usage of the account and a report associated with the account and usage are generated.“

The patent application was filed on Aug. 12, 2013 (13/964,207).

Local flash memory and remote server hybrid CDP
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,862,689) developed by Nikolai Joukov, Hawthorne, NY, for a “local flash memory and remote server hybrid CDP.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “The present invention provides a way to use flash memory to keep backup copies of the recently modified data. The recently modified data is stored on a local hard drive and replicated (usually with versions) on a local flash drive when the network connectivity does not exist or not sufficient. As soon as the network connectivity is established the accumulated data is sent to the remote CDP server and the whole space of the flash drive can be reused again. As a result, the data is always replicated: one data copy is stored on the hard drive and the other copy is stored (usually with versions) either on a remote server or a local flash drive. Therefore, the combination of the data on the CDP server and the flash drive can be used to reconstruct the data stored on the hard drive.”

The patent application was filed on Oct. 24, 2007 (11/877,931).

Storage using bitmaps
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,862,848) developed by Carlos Francisco Fuente, Portsmouth, UK, William James Scales, Portchester, UK, and Barry Douglas Whyte, Hampshire, UK, for “storage using bitmaps.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A data storage system comprises a controller, a first lower performance storage medium and a second higher performance storage medium. The controller is connected to the storage mediums and is arranged to control I/O access to the storage mediums. The controller is further arranged to store an image on the first storage medium, initiate a copy function from the first storage medium to the second storage medium, direct all I/O access for the image to the second storage medium, periodically age data from the second storage medium to the first storage medium, create a new empty bitmap for each period, and in response to an I/O access for data in the image, update the latest bitmap to indicate that the data has been accessed and update the previous bitmaps to indicate that the data has not been accessed.”

The patent application was filed on Aug. 25, 2010 (13/497,791).

Reading files stored on storage system
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,862,815) developed by eight co-inventors for “reading files stored on a storage system.“

The co-inventors are Evangelos S. Eleftheriou, Robert Haas, Rueschilikon, Switzerland, Nils Haustein, Mainz, Germany, Jens Jelitto, Ioannis Koltsidas, Slavisa Sarafijanovic, Rueschlikon, Switzerland, Alexander Saupp, and Harald Seipp, Mainz, Germany.

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A system and method for reading files stored on a storage system is disclosed. The method includes communicatively coupling one or more remote systems for reading files stored in storage with a first set of files according to a predetermined data format and in a cache memory with a second set of files, the second set of files being a subset of the first set of files. Next one or more remote systems are received at least one read request for reading a sequence of files. A determination is made, among the files of the sequence of files, whether one or more cached files are already stored in the cache memory and whether one or more remaining files are not already stored in the cache memory. Creating, within the one or more remaining files, an order according to which the remaining files should be read on the storage system.”

The patent application was filed on Nov. 16, 2012 (13/679,588).

Selection of storage containers for thin-partitioned storage based on criteria
IBM, Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (8,862,833) developed by Dietmar Noll, and Christoph Reichert, Mainz, Germany, for the “selection of storage containers for thin-partitioned storage based on criteria.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Various embodiments storing volumes of data in a data storage system, including one or more data storage containers, the data storage containers being thin-provisioned to provide virtual data storage capacity which is greater than a real data storage capacity of the data storage hardware are provided. In one embodiment, by way of example only, a real data storage capacity of the data storage system for accommodating new volumes is determined. Over-allocation information relating to one or more data storage containers is determined. Extrapolated future anticipated use of one or more containers of the data storage system from historical data storage use information is determined. One or more candidate data storage containers on the basis of information from the determining the real data storage capacity, over-allocation information, and the extrapolated future anticipated use is selected. Additional system and computer program product embodiments are disclosed and provide related advantages.”

The patent application was filed on March 8, 2012 (13/415,601).