BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below for illustration only, and thus is not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a volatile storage device and a serial mixed storage system having the same according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a volatile storage device with a plurality of expansion interfaces and a serial mixed storage system having the same.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the volatile storage device and the serial mixed storage system having the same connected to a computer device according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the volatile storage device and the power supply module of the serial mixed storage system having the same according to the present invention, and the connection between the present invention and an external power supply.
FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the volatile storage device and the serial mixed storage system having the same supplying electric power to a second storage device according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the volatile storage device connected to the computer device according to the present invention.
FIG. 7A is a schematic view of the volatile storage device and the serial mixed storage system having the same according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7B is a schematic view of the volatile storage device and the serial mixed storage system having the same according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8A is a schematic view of the volatile storage device and the serial mixed storage system having the same according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8B is a schematic view of the volatile storage device and the serial mixed storage system having the same according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9A is a schematic view of the volatile storage device and the serial mixed storage system having the same according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9B is a schematic view of the volatile storage device and the serial mixed storage system having the same according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The content of the present invention will be described in details in the following embodiments with accompanying drawings. The symbols mentioned in the specification are symbols in the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, it is a serial mixed storage system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The serial mixed storage system comprises a first storage device 100 and a second storage device 200.
The first storage device 100 has an access controller 110, a data transmission interface 120, a volatile storage module 130, a power supply module 140 and an expansion interface 150. The volatile storage module 130 is connected to the data transmission interface 120 through the access controller 110. The volatile storage module 130 can be volatile memories such as synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM) or double data rate random access memory (DDRAM).
The expansion interface 150 is connected to the access controller 110 to provide connection to the second storage device 200. The expansion interface 150 can be transmission interfaces such as integrated drive electronics (IDE), serial advanced technology attachment (SATA), universal serial bus (USB), or Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineer 1394 (IEEE 1394). As shown in FIG. 2, the second storage device 200 can comprise one or more non-volatile storage modules 210, wherein the non-volatile storage module 210 can be storage devices such as hard disks, flash disks, or memory cards. More than one expansion interface 150 can be disposed on the first storage device 100 for providing connection to more than one non-volatile storage module 210. As such, the storage space is expanded through connecting the first storage device 100 and the second storage device 200.
The data transmission interface 120 is used to provide connection to application devices. As shown in FIG. 3, when the serial mixed storage system of the present invention is applied to a computer device 300, the serial mixed storage system can be connected to the computer device 300 via the data transmission interface 120. The data transmission interface 120 can be transmission interfaces such as IDE, SATA, USB, or IEEE 1394.
The access controller 110 determines the data access of the volatile storage module 130 and non-volatile storage module 210. In other words, the access controller 110 receives a data access signal sent by the application device and accordingly determines accessing the volatile storage module 130 or the non-volatile storage module 210. When the computer device 300 intends to access data, the access controller 110 first stores the data preferably to the volatile storage module 130, such that the computer device 300 can quickly read the data during the next reading. When the stored data is too large for the volatile storage module 130 to store, the access controller 110 utilizes the non-volatile storage module 210 to continue the data storage.
For example, when the capacity of the volatile storage module 130 in the first storage device 100 is 8G and the capacity of the non-volatile storage module 210 in the second storage device 200 is 100G, the computer device 300 determines the serial mixed storage system to be a 108G storage device via the access controller 110 in the first storage device 100. Further, when installing an OS, the access controller 110 first preferably uses the 8G volatile storage module 130 to store data, and then uses the 100G non-volatile storage module 210 to store data. As the access speed of the volatile memory is higher than that of the non-volatile memory, the access speed is far beyond the computer device using a non-volatile memory when accessing data, thus providing a quicker speed in starting up and executing program. Moreover, when data is stored in both the volatile storage module 130 and the non-volatile storage module 210, with the disk reconfiguration program, the commonly used data in the second storage device 200 is displaced to the memory space in the volatile storage module 130, so as to greatly enhance the execution efficiency of the computer device 300.
As shown in FIG. 4, the first storage device 100 further comprises a power supply input interface 170 for providing connection to an external power supply 400, so as to supply electric power to the serial mixed storage system for charging and operating. The external power supply 400 can be electric power provided by a mains supply or an application device. However, in other preferred embodiments, electric power can be obtained via the data transmission interface 120 from the application device instead of the power supply input interface 170 connected to the external power supply 400.
The power supply module 140 is connected to the volatile storage module 130 and the access controller 110, for providing the stored electric power to maintain the data stored in the volatile storage module 130 and the operation of the access controller 110 when the electric power is cut off. When the second storage device 200 is connected to the first storage device 100, the power supply module 140 also supplies electric power to the second storage device when the electric power is cut off. The power supply module 140 comprises a power supply unit 142 and a power supply monitoring device 144. The power supply unit 142 is a secondary battery (rechargeable battery) for storing electric power and supplying electric power to the serial mixed storage system when electric power is cut off, so as to maintain the operation of the system. Further, the power supply monitoring device 144 monitors the state of the power supply, and supplies the electric power stored in the power supply unit 142 to the volatile storage module 130, the access controller 110, and the second storage device 200, such that the data stored in the volatile storage module 130 is transferred to the non-volatile storage module 210 of the second storage device 200, thereby avoiding possible data loss of the volatile storage module 130 caused by the unexpected cut off of the power supply. Moreover, when the power supply is supplied again, the access controller 110 restore the data transferred to the non-volatile storage module 210 to the volatile storage module 130, and the power supply unit 142 is charged by the electric power of the external power supply 400 under the condition that the power supply is supplied again. Moreover, the power supply monitoring device 144 can be further provided with a timing mechanism to activate timing when the electric power is cut off. When the timing is ended and the power supply is not supplied yet, the access controller 110 is actuated to transfer the data in the volatile storage module 130 to the non-volatile storage module 210.
The first storage device 100 can directly supply the electric power of the power supply module 140 to the second storage device 200 via the expansion interface 150. As shown in FIG. 5, the first storage device 100 can also provide electric power required by the second storage device 200 to operate via utilizing a power supply output interface 172 to electrically connect the power supply module 140 and the second storage device 200.
In view of the above, the present invention can store the commonly used data into the volatile storage module 130, thereby raising the access speed and greatly improving the overall speed of the application device. Further, when the power supply is unexpectedly cut off, the data stored in the volatile storage module 130 can be stored by activating an automatic transfer mechanism, thus avoiding the data loss.
Moreover, the first storage device 100 can also be used without being connected to the second storage device. As shown in FIG. 6, only the first storage device 100 is connected to the computer device 300, and at this time, the first storage device can be used as a hard disk. When the power supply is cut off, the data in the volatile storage module 130 can be stored via the electric power provided by the power supply module 140 and be re-used after the power supply is supplied again.
The preferred embodiments of the present invention are described as follows.
In a first embodiment as shown in FIG. 7A, the first storage device 100 is in the form of an interface card and transmits data by connecting the data transmission interface 120 to the computer device 300. The data transmission interface 120 can be transmission interfaces such as IDE or SATA. The power supply input interface 170 is connected to an expansion slot 320 of the computer device 300 and the power supply input interface 170 can be transmission interfaces such as ISA, PCI or PCI-Express. When the non-volatile storage module 210 of the second storage device 200 is a hard disk, the expansion interface 150 for providing connection to the second storage device can be transmission interfaces such as IDE or SATA. At this time, the first storage device 100 supplies the electric power of the power supply module 140 to the second storage device 200 via the power supply output interface 172. The first storage device 100 can be wired from the expansion interface 150 to a back plate (baffle) of the interface card or to the outside of the case of the computer device 300, so as to provide connection to the second storage device 200 directly from the exterior of the case.
In a second embodiment as shown in FIG. 7B, the first storage device 100 is in the form of an interface card and transmits data by connecting the data transmission interface 120 to the computer device 300, wherein the data transmission interface 120 can be transmission interfaces such as IDE or SATA. The power supply input interface 170 is connected to the expansion slot 320 of the computer device 300 and the power supply input interface 170 can be transmission interfaces such as ISA, PCI, or PCI-Express. When the non-volatile storage module 210 of the second storage device 200 is a flash disk, a card reader, or a memory card that can be directly inserted in a USB or IEEE 1394, the expansion interface 150 for providing connection to the second storage device 200 can be transmission interfaces such as USB or IEEE 1394. The first storage device 100 can be wired from the expansion interface 150 to a back plate (baffle) of the interface card or to the exterior of the case of the computer device 300, so as to provide connection to the second storage device 200 directly from the exterior of the case.
In a third embodiment as shown in FIG. 8A, the first storage device 100 can be installed in the same way of installing the hard disk drive or optical disk drive in the case in the prior art, and can transmit data by connecting the data transmission interface 120 to the computer device 300, wherein the data transmission interface 120 can be transmission interfaces such as IDE or SATA. The power supply input interface 170 is connected to a power supply 310 of the computer device 300. When the non-volatile storage module 210 of the second storage device 200 is a hard disk, the expansion interface 150 for providing connection to the second storage device 200 can be transmission interfaces such as IDE or SATA. At this time, the first storage device 100 supplies the electric power of the power supply module 140 to the second storage device 200 via the power supply output interface 172.
In a fourth embodiment as shown in FIG. 8B, the first storage device 100 can be installed in the same way of installing the hard disk drive or optical disk drive in the case in the prior art, and can transmit data by connecting the data transmission interface 120 to the computer device 300, wherein the data transmission interface 120 can be transmission interfaces such as IDE or SATA. The power supply input interface 170 is connected to the power supply 310 of the computer device 300. When the non-volatile storage module 210 of the second storage device 200 is a flash disk, a card reader, or a memory card that can be directly inserted into a USB or IEEE 1394, the expansion interface 150 for providing connection to the second storage device 200 can be transmission interfaces such as USB or IEEE 1394. The expansion interface 150 of the first storage device 100 can be directly exposed outside the computer device 300 or can be wired to the outside of the case of the computer device 300 for providing connection to the second storage device 200.
In a fifth embodiment as shown in FIG. 9A, the first storage device 100 can be installed in the same way of installing an external hard disk, and can transmit data by connecting the data transmission interface 120 to the computer device 300, wherein the data transmission interface 120 can be transmission interfaces such as IDE, SATA, USB, or IEEE 1394. The power supply module 140 is powered by a mains supply 410 via the power supply input interface 170. When the non-volatile storage module 210 of the second storage device 200 is a hard disk, the expansion interface 150 for providing connection to the second storage device 200 can be transmission interfaces such as IDE or SATA. At this time, the first storage device 100 supplies the electric power of the power supply module 140 to the second storage device 200 via the power supply output interface 172.
In a sixth embodiment as shown in FIG. 9B, the first storage device 100 is installed in the same way of installing an external hard disk, and can transmit data by connecting the data transmission interface 120 to the computer device 300, wherein the data transmission interface can be transmission interfaces such as IDE, SATA, USB, or IEEE 1394. The power supply module 140 is powered by the mains supply 410 via the power supply input interface 170 and can also be powered via the data transmission interface 120. When the non-volatile storage module 210 of the second storage device 200 is a flash disk, a card reader, or a memory card that can be directly inserted into a USB or IEEE 1394, the expansion interface 150 for providing connection to the second storage device 200 can be transmission interfaces such as USB or IEEE 1394.
Further, when the first storage device 100 has more than two expansion interfaces 150, the expansion interfaces have different specifications namely SATA and USB. The SATA is used to provide connection to the hard disk and supply electric power to the hard disk via the power supply output interface 172, while USB is used to provide connection to the flash disk or the memory card that can be directly inserted into a USB.
The present invention is to provide a volatile storage device and a serial mixed storage system having the same. Therefor, the problems of insufficient storage capacity of the volatile storage device and data loss due to the cut off of the electric power in the prior art can be solved and raise the speed of the computer.
The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.
Patent Application
20070245076
