Skyera/Western Digital Assigned Four Patents

Integrated storage and switching for memory systems
Skyera, LLC, San Jose, CA, acquired by Western Digital Corp. and included in HGST, Inc., has been assigned a patent (9,363,315) developed by Danilak, Radoslav, Cupertino, CA, for a “integrated storage and switching for memory systems.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”An integrated networked storage and switching apparatus comprises one or more flash memory controllers, a system controller, and a network switch integrated within a common chassis. The integration of storage and switching enables the components to share a common power supply and temperature regulation system, achieving efficient use of available space and power, and eliminating added complexity of external cables between the switch a storage devices. Additionally, the architecture enables substantial flexibility and optimization of network traffic policies for both network and storage-related traffic.“

The patent application was filed on August 28, 2012 (13/596,979).

Accessing non-volatile memory blade using multiple
controllers in non-volatile memory based storage device
Skyera, LLC, San Jose, CA, acquired by Western Digital Corp. and included in HGST, Inc., has been assigned a patent (9,336,134) developed by Danilak, Radoslav, Cupertino, CA, and Radke, William, Los Gatos, CA , for a “apparatus and method for accessing a non-volatile memory blade using multiple controllers in a non-volatile memory based storage device .”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Various systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable media for accessing a storage device are described. In certain example embodiments, an active/active fault tolerant storage device comprising two or more controllers may be implemented. In one embodiment, each controller may be coupled to the non-volatile memory, (NVM) blades comprising the non-volatile memory, (NVM) storage medium. In one example implementation, a standardized protocol, such as Peripheral Component Interconnect Express protocol may be used for communicating amongst the various components of the controller and also the NVM storage medium.“

The patent application was filed on November 12, 2013 (14/078,308).

Thermal regulation for solid state memory
Skyera, LLC, San Jose, CA, acquired by Western Digital Corp. and included in HGST, Inc., has been assigned a patent t (9,317,083) developed by Vyshetsky, Dmitry, Cupertino, CA, for a “thermal regulation for solid state memory.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A chassis for a storage system contains a digital chamber that houses conventional electronic components and a thermal chamber that houses non-volatile solid state memory such as flash memory. A temperature regulating system monitors temperature within the digital chamber to keep the components therein below their maximum junction temperature. The temperature regulating system tightly regulates the temperature of solid state memory chips to within a nominal operating temperature range selected to extend the lifetime and/or improve the endurance and reliability of the solid state memory. The temperature regulating system may regulate different memory chips to different nominal temperatures based on the operations being performed and lifetime factors for the memory chips including current health and prior use.“

The patent application was filed on February 22, 2013 (13/774,926).

Packaging high density SSDs
Skyera, LLC, San Jose, CA, acquired by Western Digital Corp. and included in HGST, Inc., has been assigned a patent (9,304,557) developed by Herman, Pinchas, Sunnyvale, CA, Radke, William, Los Gatos, CA, and Danilak, Radoslav, Cupertino, CA, for a “systems and methods for packaging high density SSDs ”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”In various embodiments, a high-density solid-state storage unit includes a base section and a cassette section having plurality of flash cards. The cassette section can be removably attached to the base section to provide security of data stored on the plurality of flash cards. The cassette section provides for physical security of the flash cards in part through packaging of the enclosure and energy transfer to the base station. The cassette section further provides for security of the data stored on the flash cards in part through a trusted platform module, (TPM) embodied as a removable module connected to a universal serial bus, (USB) style connector.“

The patent application was filed on November 21, 2013 (14/086,032).