International Business Machines Corporation

Michael Joseph Carnevale

Daniel Frank Moertl

Donald J Ziebarth

Adrian Cuenin Gerhard

Brian Eric Bakke

Gowrisankar Radhakrishnan

Rick A Weckwerth

Brian L Bowles

Murali N Iyer

Mark J Moran

Robert E Galbraith, Ii

Timothy J Schimke

Charles Scott Graham

Robert Edward Galbraith

Steven Bradford Herndon

Charles Ray Johns

Kevin Charles Gower

David Wayne Hill

Gary A Van Huben

Gary Scott Delp

Ronald Nick Kalla

Michael Raymond Trombley

Lee Anton Sendelbach

Andrew Henry Wottreng

Scott Douglas Clark

Edward John Silha

Brent William Jacobs

Jeffrey Joseph Ruedinger

Larry Wayne Loen

Gary Paul McClannahan

Martin Edward Hopkins

Dorothy Marie Thelen

Elianne A Bravo

Daniel F Moerti

Thomas K Pokrandt

A method and controller for implementing storage adapter performance optimization with parity update footprint mirroring between dual adapters minimizing firmware operations, and a design structure on which the subject controller circuit resides are provided. Each of a first controller and a second controller includes a plurality of hardware engines, a control store configured to store parity update footprint (PUFP) data; a data store; and a nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM). One controller operates in a first initiator mode for transferring PUFP data to the other controller operating in a target mode. Respective initiator hardware engines transfers PUFP data from the initiator control store, selectively updating PUFP data, and writing PUFP data to the initiator data store and to the initiator NVRAM, and simultaneously transmitting PUFP data to the other controller. Respective target hardware engines write PUFP data to the target data store and the target NVRAM, eliminating firmware operations.

Implementing storage adapter performance optimization with parity update footprint mirroring

A method and controller for implementing storage adapter performance optimization with cache data and cache directory mirroring between dual adapters minimizing firmware operations, and a design structure on which the subject controller circuit resides are provided. One of the first controller or the second controller operates in a first initiator mode includes firmware to set up an initiator write operation building a data frame for transferring data and a respective cache line (CL) for each page index to the other controller operating in a second target mode. Respective initiator hardware engines transfers data, reading CLs from an initiator control store, and writing updated CLs to an initiator data store, and simultaneously sends data and updated CLs to the other controller. Respective target hardware engines write data and updated CLs to the target data store, eliminating firmware operations of the controller operating in the second target mode.

Implementing storage adapter performance optimization with cache data/directory mirroring

A method and controller for implementing storage adapter performance optimization with enhanced resource pool allocation, and a design structure on which the subject controller circuit resides are provided. The controller includes a plurality of hardware engines; a processor, and a plurality of resource pools. A plurality of work queues is associated with the resource pools. The processor initializes a list of types, and the associated amount of pages for each allocate type. The hardware engines maintain a count of allocate types, specifying a type on each allocation and deallocation, and performing allocation from the resource pools for deadlock avoidance.

Implementing storage adapter performance optimization with enhanced resource pool allocation

A method and controller for implementing storage adapter performance optimization with a predefined chain of hardware operations configured to minimize hardware and firmware interactions and a bridge code configured to select a firmware sequence for error recovery to complete the operations responsive to an identified error in the predefined chain, and a design structure on which the subject controller circuit resides are provided. A selected predefined chain is configured to implement a particular performance path to maximize performance. Responsive to an identified predefined error during hardware operations in the predefined hardware chain, a bridge code is configured to select a non-performance path firmware sequence for error recovery completion of remaining operations.

Implementing storage adapter performance optimization with chained hardware operations and error recovery firmware path

A method and controller for implementing storage adapter performance optimization with chained hardware operations minimizing hardware and firmware interactions, and a design structure on which the subject controller circuit resides are provided. The controller includes a plurality of hardware engines; and one or more processors. An event queue is coupled to at least one processor notifying the processor of a plurality of predefined events. A control block is designed to control an operation in one of the plurality of hardware engines including the hardware engine writing an event queue entry. A plurality of the control blocks are selectively arranged in a predefined chain to minimize the hardware engine writing event queue entries to the processor.

Implementing storage adapter performance optimization with chained hardware operations minimizing hardware/firmware interactions

A method and controller for implementing storage adapter performance optimization with chained hardware operations and an enhanced hardware (HW) and firmware (FW) interface minimizing hardware and firmware interactions, and a design structure on which the subject controller circuit resides are provided. The controller includes a plurality of hardware engines; and a processor. A data store is configured to store a plurality of control blocks. A global work queue includes a plurality of the control blocks selectively arranged in a predefined chain to define sequences of hardware operations. The global work queue includes a queue input coupled to the processor and the hardware engines and an output coupled to the hardware engines. The control blocks are arranged in respective engine work queues designed to control hardware operations of the respective hardware engines and respective control blocks are arranged in an event queue to provide completion results to the processor.

Implementing storage adapter performance optimization with enhanced hardware and software interface

A method and controller for implementing storage adapter performance optimization with automatic chained hardware operations eliminating firmware operations, and a design structure on which the subject controller circuit resides are provided. The controller includes a plurality of hardware engines and a control store configured to store a plurality of control blocks. Each control block is designed to control a hardware operation in one of the plurality of hardware engines. A plurality of the control blocks is selectively arranged in a respective predefined chain to define sequences of hardware operations. An automatic hardware structure is configured to build the respective predefined chain controlling the hardware operations for a predefined hardware function. The predefined hardware function includes buffer allocation and automatic DMA data from a host system to the controller for write operations, eliminating firmware operations.

Implementing storage adapter performance optimization with hardware accelerators offloading firmware for buffer allocation and automatically DMA

A method and controller for implementing storage adapter performance optimization with a predefined chain of hardware operations configured to implement a particular performance path minimizing hardware and firmware interactions, and a design structure on which the subject controller circuit resides are provided. The controller includes a plurality of hardware engines; and a data store configured to store a plurality of control blocks selectively arranged in one of a plurality of predefined chains. Each predefined chain defines a sequence of operations. Each control block is designed to control a hardware operation in one of the plurality of hardware engines. A resource handle structure is configured to select a predefined chain based upon a particular characteristic of the system. Each predefined chain is configured to implement a particular performance path to maximize performance.

Implementing storage adapter performance optimization with hardware chains to select performance path

A memory hub device with test logic is configured to communicate with memory devices via multiple hub device ports, and is also configured to communicate on one or more busses in an upstream and downstream direction. The test logic includes a built-in self test apparatus providing logic to simultaneously and independently test the memory devices interfaced to one or more of the hub device ports using read and write data patterns. The test logic also includes configuration registers to hold fault and diagnostic information, and to initiate one or more tests. The memory hub device can further include command collision detection logic, a trace array, buffer transmit mode logic, trigger logic, clock adjustment logic, transparent mode logic, and a configured command sequencer, as well as additional features.

Test and bring-up of an enhanced cascade interconnect memory system

A mechanism provides for sending an envelope and replying to an envelope. A transmitter is configured to send an envelope. A receiver is coupled to the transmitter, wherein the receiver is configured to receive the envelope and generate a reply envelope. A send buffer is coupled to the transmitter. A receive buffer is coupled to the receiver. A retry timer is coupled to the transmitter, wherein the retry timer is configured to reset upon the receipt of a reply envelope correlated to the transmit envelope. The transmitter is configured to retransmit an envelope if the transmitter does not receive a corresponding reply envelope within a selected time period as determined by the retry timer. This leads to a decrease in the total number of envelopes, transmitted from both the transmitter and the receiver.

Envelope packet architecture for broadband engine

A method and apparatus are provided for implementing enhanced vertical ECC storage in a dynamic random access memory. A dynamic random access memory (DRAM) is split into a plurality of groups. Each group resides inside a DRAM row address strobe (RAS) page so that multiple locations inside a group can be accessed without incurring an additional RAS access penalty. Each group is logically split into a plurality of segments for storing data with at least one segment for storing ECC for the data segments. For a write operation, data are written in a data segment and then ECC for the data are written in an ECC segment. For a read operation, ECC are read from an ECC segment, then data are read from the data segment.

Apparatus for implementing enhanced vertical ECC storage in a dynamic random access memory

A method and calibration apparatus implement calibration of sampling of a data strobe signal (DQS) during synchronous dynamic random access memory (DRAM) reads. A calibration control is provided to enable calibration testing. A selected one of a received DQS signal and an internal Enable signal is driven onto a data mask (DQM) IO during a DRAM read for calibration testing. The received DQS signal and the internal Enable signal are used to adjust the Enable delay to generally center the preamble time at the DQS receiver.

Implementing calibration of DQS sampling during synchronous DRAM reads

A method, apparatus, system, and signal-bearing medium that in an embodiment determine whether a current number of buffers allocated to a queue pair is less than a maximum number of buffers for the queue pair, decide whether a current number of buffers allocated to an operation type is less than a maximum number of buffers for the operation, and allocate a buffer to the queue pair if the queue pair requests the buffer for an operation having the operation type and the determining and the deciding are true. In this way, too much buffer space is prevented from being assigned to particular operation and to a particular queue pair.

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Rochester, MN, United States of America

Michael Joseph Carnevale