The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 29, 2000
Filed:
Jun. 30, 1998
William F Renner, Jr, Baltimore, MD (US);
Digi-Data Corporation, Jessup, MD (US);
Abstract
This invention provides a software-based method for determining the identity of a failed (hanging) channel in an array of multiple, buffered, synchronized data channels. A hanging channel may stem from a failed storage unit in the channel, a faulty connection within the channel, or a fault in the interface circuitry which connects the channel with the synchronization hardware. It is necessary and useful to identify a hanging channel in order to isolate it (as in a RAID 2-5 system) or for repair. The hanging channel is detected by examination of the byte content of the buffers. If the system is in a read mode, the buffer serving the hanging channel will contain substantially more bytes than the other buffers. If the system is in the write mode, the buffer serving the hanging channel will contain substantially fewer bytes than the other buffers.