Huawei Technologies Assigned Seventeen Patents

Increasing speed of accessing storage
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China, has been assigned a patent (10,783,086) developed by Zhou, Jie, Hangzhou, China, Liu, Guanghui, Shenzhen, China, and Zhang, Weiye, Hangzhou, China, for “method and apparatus for increasing a speed of accessing a storage device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method for accessing data is provide, the method includes: receiving a first address and identification information used to identify an address type, and when the identification information indicates a logical address type, converting the first address into a first physical address, and accessing at least one corresponding flash memory chip in the storage device, or when the identification information indicates a physical address type, directly accessing at least one corresponding flash memory chip in the storage device. When the storage device is accessed, a type of an accessed address is determined according to the identification information. If the address is a logical address, the storage controller maps the logical address to a physical address and accesses the physical address, or if the address is a physical address, the storage controller directly accesses the physical address sent by the host.”

The patent application was filed on May 18, 2018 (15/983,592).

Data write
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China, has been assigned a patent (10,776,285) developed by Chen, Lei, Beijing, China, and Huang, Keji, Chengdu, China, for “data write method, apparatus, and system.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”In an active-active system, if write lock permission is granted to a second storage array, a first storage array sends to-be-written data and a lock revocation request together to a lock server; the lock server sends a lock revocation request carrying the to-be-written data to the second storage array; after storing the to-be-written data, the second storage array sends a lock revocation success message to the lock server; the lock server gives the write lock permission to the first storage array; and the first storage array obtains the write lock permission and stores the to-be-written data.”

The patent application was filed on May 11, 2018 (15/977,379).

Storage system having controller that selects die of SSD to store data
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China, has been assigned a patent (10,768,857) developed by Zhou, Meng, Tang, Kun, Chengdu, China, Yang, Jui-Yao, and Hyun, Jea Woong, Santa Clara, CA, for a “storage system having a controller that selects a die of a solid state disk to store data.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A storage system, includes a controller and a solid state disk. The controller creates multiple segments in advance, selects a first die from the multiple dies, selects a first segment from the multiple segments, determines an available offset of the first segment, generates a write request, where the write request includes a write address, target data, and a data length of the target data, and the write address includes an identifier of a channel coupled to the first die, an identifier of the first die, an identifier of the first segment, and the available offset, and sends the write request to the solid state disk. The solid state disk receives the write request, and stores the target data according to the write address and the data length.”

The patent application was filed on April 16, 2018 (15/954,029).

Link handover method for service in storage
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China, has been assigned a patent (10,764,119) developed by Leng, Chao, Chengdu, China, for a “link handover method for service in storage system, and storage device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A storage system including a first controller and a second controller, where the first controller and the second controller each coupled to at least one interface card, and each interface card includes at least one port. A bound port group is preconfigured in the storage system, and the bound port group includes ports from the first controller and the second controller. A link handover method includes when the first controller detects that a link of a first port in the bound port group is faulty, marking a status of the first port as unavailable in the bound port group, selecting a second port in an available state from the bound port group, and handing over a service carried on the link of the first port to a link of the second port.”

The patent application was filed on November 13, 2018 (16/189,508).

Array controller, SSD, and method for controlling SSD to write data
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China, has been assigned a patent (10,761,731) developed by Jiang, Peijun, Xue, Qiang, and Huang, Keji, Chengdu, China, for a “array controller, solid state disk, and method for controlling solid state disk to write data.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Application relates to storage technologies, and in particular, to writing data in a storage system having solid state disks. Embodiments of the application provide an array controller, including a communication interface and a processor. The processor receives information about a logical block from a solid state disk. The information about the logical block includes a size of the logical block and indication information of the logical block, and the logical block includes one or more physical blocks. The processor sends multiple write data requests to the solid state disk. Each write data request includes data, and each write data request instructs the solid state disk to write the data into the logical block indicated by the indication information of the logical block. A total size of data included in the multiple write data requests is equivalent to the size of the logical block.”

The patent application was filed on February 6, 2018 (15/889,209).

Data migration
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China, has been assigned a patent (10,740,018) developed by Luo, Qingchao, Shenzhen, China, for “data migration method and apparatus applied to computer system, and computer system.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A data migration method is disclosed, including: determining a first address of target data that is to be migrated from an internal storage device to an external storage device, the first address is a logical address of the internal storage device, calculating a physical address of the target data in the internal storage device based on the first address, constructing a scatter gather list, where the scatter gather list includes the physical address of the target data in the internal storage device, sending a migration instruction to a direct memory access engine.”

The patent application was filed on May 15, 2018 (15/980,630).

Triggering RAID reconstruction
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China, has been assigned a patent (10,732,870) developed by Liao, Defu, Shenzhen, China, Zhang, Guannan, Hangzhou, China, and Peng, Lin, Shenzhen, China, for “method and apparatus for triggering RAID reconstruction.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method and an apparatus for triggering RAID reconstruction are disclosed, to achieve high universality and usability in triggering RAID reconstruction. The method includes: obtaining valid data information of a target storage medium after a change in storage mediums in a RAID is detected (S101) and reconstructing the RAID if the valid data information satisfies a preset reconstruction condition (S102).”

The patent application was filed on December 28, 2018 (16/234,618).

Data processing, storage, and switching device
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China, has been assigned a patent (10,728,335) developed by Xu, Huifeng, Shenzhen, China, Guo, Haitao, Hangzhou, China, and Yan, Chunbao, Shenzhen, China, for “data processing method, storage system, and switching device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A storage system includes a computing node and a switching device coupled to each other. The computing node sends a first network packet to the switching device, the first network packet carries a resource identifier, a first offset, and an input/output (I/O) command. The switching device determines an object storage device (OSD) corresponding to an I/O operation. The switching device generates a second offset according to the first offset and a size of the OSD, obtains a first network address of a first storage node accommodating a first OSD on which the I/O operation is to be performed and an identifier of the first OSD, generates a second network packet, and sends the second network packet to the first storage node. In the foregoing manner, a computation amount of the computing node can be decreased, and running efficiency of the computing node is improved.”

The patent application was filed on March 21, 2019 (16/360,906).

Compressing data by device
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China, has been assigned a patent (10,727,864) developed by Li, Fulu, Cai, Enting, Shenzhen, China, and Lin, Chungong, Chengdu, China, for “server and method for compressing data by device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A device and a method for compressing data by a device are provided, which relate to the storage field and are used to resolve a prior-art problem that a compression ratio at which data in a data block is compressed by a device is relatively low. The method includes: parsing, by a device, an information block in a data block, to obtain a file type of data in the data block and a data sub-block that is included in the data block, determining a characteristic of data in the data sub-block according to the file type, selecting, according to the characteristic, a target compression algorithm that is used to compress the data in the data sub-block, and compressing the data in the data sub-block by using the target compression algorithm. Embodiments of the present disclosure are used to compress data.”

The patent application was filed on March 1, 2018 (15/909,704).

Database management using append-only storage devices
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China, has been assigned a patent (10,725,983) developed by Larson, Per-Ake, Etobicoke, CA, and Depoutovitch, Alexandre, Toronto, CA, for “systems and methods for database management using append-only storage devices.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”An apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus may be implemented in a database node or a storage node and includes one or more processors and memory storing instructions for causing the processor to perform a number of operations. Responsive to a page write request, the apparatus determines an identifier corresponding to the requested page, sends component blocks corresponding to the page to a storage node for appending to an append-only storage log of the storage node, receives the physical location of the stored component blocks, and associates the physical storage location of the stored component blocks with the logical identifier corresponding to the page.”

The patent application was filed on December 29, 2017 (15/858,960).

Data storage
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China, has been assigned a patent (10,725,692) developed by Zhong, Yanhui, Chengdu, China, for “data storage method and apparatus.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A data storage method and an apparatus are provided in a distributed storage system including a computing node and a plurality of storage nodes. The computing node writes the N data slices and the M check slices into the R storage nodes in each storage node group to improve reliability and stability of data in a data center.”

The patent application was filed on December 26, 2018 (16/232,815).

Flash device access
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China, has been assigned a patent (10,725,673) developed by Zhou, Guanfeng, Hangzhou, China, for “flash device access method, apparatus, and system.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A flash device access method, apparatus, and system, where a flash device includes a controller and a storage array. The method includes dividing the storage array into a specific storage unit and a user storage unit, such that a storage feature of the specific storage unit is the same as that of the user storage unit, writing, by the controller, specific data into the specific storage unit, reading, by the controller, the specific data stored in the specific storage unit, determining, by the controller, a decision voltage (Vread) based on the read specific data, and reading, by the controller using the determined Vread, the user data stored in the user storage unit. Hence, incorrect determining of the data stored in the flash device may be reduced using the access method, apparatus, and system.”

The patent application was filed on January 8, 2019 (16/242,566).

Data updating technology
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China, has been assigned a patent (10,725,662) developed by Yu, Qun, Beijing, China, Xu, Jun, Nanjing, China, and Wang, Yuangang, Shenzhen, China, for a “data updating technology.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A storage system includes a management node and a plurality of storage nodes forming a redundant array of independent disks (RAID). When the management node determines that not all data in an entire stripe is updated based on a received write request, the management node sends update data chunk obtained from to-be-written data to corresponding storage node. The storage node do not directly update, based on the received update data chunks, data block stored in storage device of the storage node, but store the update data chunk into non-volatile memories (NVM) cache of the storage node and send the update data chunk to another storage node to backup. According to the data updating method, write amplification problems caused in a stripe update process can be reduced, thereby improving update performance of the storage system.”

The patent application was filed on August 20, 2018 (16/105,315).

Accessing shingled magnetic recording SMR disk, and server
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China, has been assigned a patent (10,714,141) developed by Luo, Qingchao, Shenzhen, China, and Zhang, Lei, Chengdu, China, for a “method for accessing shingled magnetic recording SMR disk, and server.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method for accessing a shingled magnetic recording (SMR) disk is provided. The method includes: receiving, by the server, a data operation request, where the data operation request includes address information of target data, determining, according to the address information, a target storage zone in the SMR disk that corresponds to the target data, determining that there is write pointer information of the target storage zone in a cache, and obtaining the write pointer information from the cache, where the write pointer information is address information of latest stored data in the target storage zone, generating a data operation instruction according to the write pointer information and the address information of the target data, where the data operation instruction is used to perform an operation on the target data, and sending the data operation instruction to the SMR disk. Embodiments of the present disclosure are applied for a server to access an SMR disk.”

The patent application was filed on August 28, 2018 (16/114,412).

Distributed storage and replication
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China, has been assigned a patent (10,713,134) developed by Wang, Daohui, Zhang, Feng, and Liu, Xuyou, Shenzhen, China, for “distributed storage and replication system and method.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A distributed storage and replication system includes a MDC module, multiple IO routing modules, and multiple OSD nodes. The MDC module is adapted to configure at least two partition, the IO routing module is adapted to route an IO request to an OSD node, and the OSD node is adapted to execute storage of data corresponding to the IO request. The MDC is configured to determine a faulty OSD node, update a partition view of a partition group that includes a partition on the faulty OSD node, and send an updating notification to a primary OSD node in the updated partition view. The primary OSD node is adapted to process replication of the data corresponding to the IO request. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, processing performance, fault tolerance, and availability of consistency replication are improved.”

The patent application was filed on May 8, 2017 (15/589,856).

Accessing storage device
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China, has been assigned a patent (10,713,074) developed by Li, Langbo, Chengdu, China, for “method, apparatus, and system for accessing storage device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method, an apparatus, and a system for accessing a storage device. The method includes: acquiring, by an I/O adapter, an access request from a virtual machine, where the access request carries virtual address information of a to-be-accessed storage area, generating an access instruction according to the access request, where the access instruction carries the virtual address information and an identifier of a virtual channel of the virtual machine, where the virtual channel corresponds to the virtual machine on a one-to-one basis and is used to connect the corresponding virtual machine to a storage device target, and the storage device target is configured to manage access to the storage device, and sending the access instruction to the storage device target.”

The patent application was filed on August 1, 2017 (15/666,306).

Virtual disk processing
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China, has been assigned a patent (10,712,974) developed by Liu, Jianqing, Dong, Xingshui, Shenzhen, China, and Zhang, Lin, Panama, Panama, for “virtual disk processing method and apparatus.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A virtual disk processing method and apparatus belong to the field of storage technologies, where the method includes receiving delete information from a client system of a first virtual machine, determining, according to the delete information, at least one data cluster in a first virtual disk corresponding to a designated file, where the first virtual disk is a virtual disk corresponding to the first virtual machine, setting the at least one data cluster to be available, determining, according to a storage mapping table, a target physical disk block corresponding to the at least one data cluster, where a correspondence between a data cluster in the first virtual disk and a physical disk block is recorded in the storage mapping table, and setting the target physical disk block to be available.”

The patent application was filed on November 14, 2017 (15/812,627).