Smart Storage/SanDisk Assigned Four Patents

Electronic system with storage drive life estimation mechanism
Smart Storage Systems, Inc., (acquired by SanDisk Corporation), Milpitas, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,361,222) developed by Fitzpatrick, James, Sudbury, MA, Dancho, Mark, Chandler, AZ, Higgins, James M., Chandler, AZ, and Kresse, James M., Gilbert, AZ, for a “electronic system with storage drive life estimation mechanism and method of operation thereof.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Systems, methods and/or devices are used to enable storage drive life estimation. In one aspect, the method includes, (1) determining two or more age criteria of a storage drive, and, (2) determining a drive age of the storage drive in accordance with the two or more age criteria of the storage drive.“

The patent application was filed on July 17, 2014 (14/334,324).

Storage control system with power down mechanism
Smart Storage Systems, Inc., (acquired by SanDisk Corporation), Milpitas, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,298,252) developed by Ellis, Robert W., Phoenix, AZ, Virgin, Theron Wayne, and Creasman, Scott, Gilbert, AZ, for a “storage control system with power down mechanism and method of operation thereof.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A storage control system and method of operation thereof includes: a control unit for initiating a hardening process beginning at a power-down signal, a counter module, coupled to the control unit for tracking a recorded time beginning at the power-down signal, a completion module, coupled to the counter module, for generating a work-complete entry in memory devices at a conclusion of the hardening process, and a calculation module, coupled to the completion module, for calculating a power down margin by determining the recorded time between the work-complete entry and a complete power loss of a hold-up power.“

The patent application was filed on April 2, 2013 (13/855,567).

Storage system with data transfer rate adjustment for power throttling
Smart Storage Systems, Inc., (acquired by SanDisk Corporation), Milpitas, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,244,519) developed by Ellis, Robert W., Phoenix, AZ, DelPapa, Kenneth B., Madison, WI, and Lucas, Gregg S., Tucson, AZ, for a “storage system with data transfer rate adjustment for power throttling.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A storage control system, and a method of operation thereof, including: a host interface unit for receiving a host command from a host system, a power measurement hardware, coupled to the host interface unit, for reading a current value of electrical power supplied by the host system in response to the host command, and a power monitor controller, coupled to the power measurement hardware, for adjusting a bus speed for controlling data transfer through a channel shared by a number of non-volatile memory devices, the bus speed is adjusted based on the current value of the electrical power.“

The patent application was filed on June 25, 2013 (13/926,900).

Storage control system with erase block mechanism
Smart Storage Systems, Inc., (acquired by SanDisk Corporation), Milpitas, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,239,781) developed by Jones, Ryan, Mesa, AZ, and Ellis, Robert W., Phoenix, AZ, for a “storage control system with erase block mechanism and method of operation thereof.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method of operation of a storage control system includes: partitioning memory channels with memory devices, selecting a super device with one of the memory devices from one of the memory channels, the super device having a super chip select connected to chip selects of the memory devices, and selecting a super block associated with the super device.“

The patent application was filed on October 10, 2012 (13/648,869)