Mass storage system with improved usage of buffer capacity
AssigneeThomson Licensing
InventorsStefan Abeling, Johann Maas, Wolfgang Klausberger, Thomas Brune
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention relates to a mass storage system with improved usage of buffer capacity, and more specifically to a mass storage system for real-time data storage with an embedded controller. According to the invention, the mass storage system has a first data path between a real-time data interface and a mass storage array, the first data path including a data buffer without access latency, and a second data path between an embedded processor and the mass storage array, wherein the data buffer without access latency is also used as a data buffer for non real-time data transfers between the embedded processor and the mass storage array.
Claims8
A mass storage system comprising:
- a real-time data interface;
- a mass storage array;
- an SRAM or a DRAM data buffer for real-time data transfers between the real-time data interface and the mass storage array;
- and
- an embedded processor with a main memory, wherein for a non real-time data transfer from the embedded processor to the mass storage array, the mass storage system being configured to initiate a direct memory access transfer between the main memory of the embedded processor and the SRAM or DRAM data buffer and to execute a data transfer from the SRAM or DRAM data buffer to the mass storage array.
A method for data transfer in a mass storage system having a real-time data interface, a mass storage array, an SRAM or a DRAM data buffer for real-time data transfers between the real-time data interface and the mass storage array, and an embedded processor with a main memory;
- the method comprising the steps of:
- initiating a direct memory access transfer between the main memory of the embedded processor and the SRAM or DRAM data buffer;
- and
- executing a data transfer from the SRAM or DRAM data buffer to the mass storage array.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.