# US 2020/0401351 A1 · Data storage control device and data storage control system

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- Number: US 2020/0401351 A1
- Document ID: US20200401351A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 16/903,179
- Filed: 2020-06-16
- Published: 2020-12-24
- Earliest claimed: 2019-06-18
- Assignees: Denso Corporation
- Applicants: Denso Corporation
- Inventors: Akiyo TAGUCHI; Masao KIMURA
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20200401351A1

## CPC

- G06F 3/0659: {Command handling arrangements, e.g. command buffers, queues, command scheduling}
- G11C 16/30: Power supply circuits
- B60L 50/61: by batteries charged by engine-driven generators, e.g. series hybrid electric vehicles
- B60R 11/04: Mounting of cameras operative during drive; Arrangement of controls thereof relative to the vehicle
- B60R 16/0231: {Circuits relating to the driving or the functioning of the vehicle (monitoring tyres B60C23/00; indicating overspeed B60K31/00; for dash boards B60K37/00, B60Q3/10; for indicating emergencies B60Q1/52; brake control systems B60T; registering or indicating the working of vehicles G07C5/00; measuring distance G01C, e.g. combinations of speed and distance G01C23/00; engine indicators G01L; measuring speed or acceleration G01P)}
- G06F 3/0604: {Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. storage management}
- G06F 3/064: {Management of blocks}
- G06F 3/0652: {Erasing, e.g. deleting, data cleaning, moving of data to a wastebasket}
- G06F 3/0679: {Non-volatile semiconductor memory device, e.g. flash memory, one time programmable memory [OTP]}
- G11C 5/141: {Battery and back-up supplies}
- G11C 16/10: Programming or data input circuits
- H02J 7/14: for charging batteries from dynamo-electric generators driven at varying speed, e.g. on vehicle
- B60L 2240/443: Torque
- B60L 2250/12: by confirmation, e.g. of the input
- G01S 13/865: {Combination of radar systems with lidar systems}
- G01S 13/867: {Combination of radar systems with cameras}
- G01S 13/931: of land vehicles
- H02J 7/80: including monitoring or indicating arrangements
- Y02T 10/62: Hybrid vehicles
- Y02T 10/70: Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- G11C: STATIC STORES (semiconductor memory devices H10B)
- B60L: PROPULSION OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (arrangements or mounting of electrical propulsion units or of plural diverse prime-movers for mutual or common propulsion in vehicles B60K1/00, B60K6/20; arrangements or mounting of electrical gearing in vehicles B60K17/12, B60K17/14; preventing wheel slip by reducing power in rail vehicles B61C15/08; dynamo-electric machines H02K; control or regulation of electric motors H02P); SUPPLYING ELECTRIC POWER FOR AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES (electric coupling devices combined with mechanical couplings of vehicles B60D1/64; electric heating for vehicles B60H1/00); ELECTRODYNAMIC BRAKE SYSTEMS FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL (control or regulation of electric motors H02P); MAGNETIC SUSPENSION OR LEVITATION FOR VEHICLES; MONITORING OPERATING VARIABLES OF ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES; ELECTRIC SAFETY DEVICES FOR ELECTRICALLY-PROPELLED VEHICLES
- B60R: VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H02J: ELECTRIC POWER NETWORKS; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
- G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
- Y02T: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION

## Abstract

In a data storage control device for writing data into a first memory that is non-volatile memory, an information receipt unit receives voltage-related information from a power source control device. A condition determination unit determines whether a voltage condition is satisfied. When the condition determination unit determines that the voltage condition is satisfied during execution of a writing process, a memory controller determines whether a predetermined storage condition is satisfied. When the storage condition is not satisfied, the memory controller executes a first response process of withdrawing writing residual data into the first memory but setting a validity flag as invalid. When the storage condition is satisfied, the memory controller executes a second response process of writing the residual data into the first memory.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A data storage control device for writing data into a first memory that is a non-volatile memory, the data storage control device comprising:
a second memory that is different from the first memory;
a memory controller configured to execute a writing process of writing the data from the second memory into the first memory on a block-by-block basis with a predetermined data size;
an information receipt unit configured to receive voltage-related information that relates to an output voltage of a power supply device from a power source control device that supplies an operating voltage to the data storage control device by use of the output voltage of the power supply device; and
a condition determination unit configured to, using the received voltage-related information, determine whether a predetermined voltage condition is satisfied, the voltage condition being that the output voltage is estimated to become lower than a lower limit-corresponding voltage corresponding to a lower limit voltage in a predetermined voltage range that is predetermined as a normal voltage range of the operating voltage,
wherein the data block stored in the first memory includes data stored in the second memory and a validity flag that indicates validity of the data, and
the memory controller is configured to:
in response to the condition determination unit determining that the voltage condition is satisfied during execution of the writing process, determine whether a predetermined storage condition is satisfied, the storage condition being that residual data yet to be written in a currently written block that is currently being written is estimated to be writable into the first memory by the time when the output voltage becomes lower than the lower limit-corresponding voltage;
in response to determining that the storage condition is not satisfied, execute a first response process of withdrawing writing the residual data into the first memory but setting the validity flag corresponding to the currently written block as invalid; and
in response to determining that the storage condition is satisfied, execute a second response process of writing the residual data yet to be written from the currently written block into the first memory.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The data storage control device according to claim 1, wherein
the memory controller is configured to, in response to the condition determination unit determining that the voltage condition is satisfied during the execution of the writing process, specify an amount of residual data, and
the storage condition includes a condition that the amount of residual data is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold data amount.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The data storage control device according to claim 1, wherein the voltage condition includes a condition that the output voltage specified based on the voltage-related information becomes lower than a first threshold voltage that is a predetermined threshold voltage within the voltage range and higher than the lower limit-corresponding voltage.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The data storage control device according to claim 3, further comprising a first predetermined process control unit configured to control execution of a first predetermined process different from the writing process, the first response process, and the second response process, the first predetermined process control unit being configured to, in response to the output voltage specified based on the voltage-related information becoming equal to or lower than a second threshold voltage that is a predetermined threshold voltage within the voltage range and higher than the lower limit-corresponding voltage, stop the first predetermined process under execution.

### Claim 5 (depends on 3)

The data storage control device according to claim 3, wherein
the power supply device includes a battery,
the data storage control device is mounted to a vehicle equipped with the power supply device, an engine, a power generator that generates electric power by being driven by the engine and charges the power into the battery, and an auto start-stop control device that executes auto start-stop control, and
the first threshold voltage is set to a higher voltage value under execution of the auto start-stop control than not under execution of the auto start-stop control.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The data storage control device according to claim 1, wherein
the power supply device includes a battery,
the data storage control device is mounted to a vehicle equipped with the power supply device, an engine, a power generator that generates electric power by being driven by the engine and charges the power into the battery, and an auto start-stop control device that executes auto start-stop control, and
the storage condition includes a condition that the auto start-stop control is not being executed.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The data storage control device according to claim 1, wherein the storage condition includes a condition that the writing process has completed before the output voltage specified based on the voltage-related information becomes equal to or lower than a third threshold voltage that is a predetermined threshold voltage within the voltage range and higher than the lower limit-corresponding voltage.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The data storage control device according to claim 1, wherein
the memory controller is configured to specify a residual time that is an amount of time which will elapse until the output voltage becomes lower than the lower limit voltage based on the voltage-related information received at least two times, and use the residual time and the amount of residual data to determine whether the writing of the residual data can be completed within the residual time, and
the storage condition includes a condition that the writing of the residual data can be completed within the residual time.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The data storage control device according to claim 1, wherein
the memory controller is configured to, in response to the condition determination unit determining that the voltage condition is satisfied during erasure of data from the first memory, interrupt the erasure and set the validity flag as invalid for an currently erased data block that is currently being erased.

### Claim 10

A data storage control system comprising a plurality of data storage control devices that are mutually communicable and each configured to write data into a first memory that is a non-volatile memory, each of the plurality of data storage control devices comprising:
a second memory that is different from the first memory;
a memory controller configured to execute a writing process of writing the data from the second memory into the first memory on a block-by-block basis with a predetermined data size;
an information receipt unit configured to receive voltage-related information that relates to an output voltage of a power supply device from a power source control device that supplies an operating voltage to the data storage control device by use of the output voltage of the power supply device; and
a condition determination unit configured to, using the received voltage-related information, determine whether a predetermined voltage condition is satisfied, the voltage condition being that the output voltage specified based on the voltage-related information becomes lower than a first threshold voltage that is a predetermined threshold voltage within a predetermined voltage range that is predetermined as a normal voltage range of the operating voltage, the predetermined threshold voltage being higher than a lower limit-corresponding voltage corresponding to a lower limit voltage in the predetermined voltage range,
wherein the data block stored in the first memory includes data stored in the second memory and a validity flag that indicates validity of the data, and
the memory controller is configured to:
in response to the condition determination unit determining that the voltage condition is satisfied during execution of the writing process, determine whether a predetermined storage condition is satisfied, the storage condition being that residual data yet to be written in a currently written block that is currently being written is estimated to be writable into the first memory by the time when the output voltage becomes lower than the lower limit-corresponding voltage;
in response to determining that the storage condition is not satisfied, execute a first response process of withdrawing writing the residual data into the first memory but setting the validity flag corresponding to the currently written block as invalid; and
in response to determining that the storage condition is satisfied, execute a second response process of writing the residual data yet to be written from the currently written block into the first memory,
wherein the plurality of data storage control devices include a first device configured to execute a second predetermined process of transmitting a predetermined type of base data and a second device configured to use the base data received from the first device to execute a first predetermined process different from the writing process, the first response process, and the second response process, and
the first threshold voltage in the second device is lower than the first threshold voltage in the first device.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The data storage control system according to claim 10, wherein, in each of the plurality of data storage control devices,
the memory controller is configured to, in response to the condition determination unit determining that the voltage condition is satisfied during the execution of the writing process, specify an amount of residual data, and
the storage condition includes a condition that the amount of residual data is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold data amount.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The data storage control system according to claim 10, the second device further comprises a first predetermined process control unit configured to control execution of the first predetermined process, the first predetermined process control unit being configured to, in response to the output voltage specified based on the voltage-related information becoming equal to or lower than a second threshold voltage that is a predetermined threshold voltage within the voltage range and higher than the lower limit-corresponding voltage, stop the first predetermined process under execution.

### Claim 13 (depends on 10)

The data storage control system according to claim 10, wherein
the power supply device includes a battery,
the plurality of data storage control devices are mounted to a vehicle equipped with the power supply device, an engine, a power generator that generates electric power by being driven by the engine and charges the power into the battery, and an auto start-stop control device that executes auto start-stop control, and
in each of the plurality of data storage control devices, the first threshold voltage is set to a higher voltage value under execution of the auto start-stop control than not under execution of the auto start-stop control.
