FIELD

One or more aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure relate to providing power to any connector-based storage devices, and more particularly, to distributing power efficiently based on a type of connector used by the storage devices.

BACKGROUND

Non-volatile memory (NVM) express (NVMe) can refer to a standard that defines a register-level interface for a host software to communicate with a non-volatile memory subsystem over a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) bus. An example of a non-volatile memory subsystem is a NVMe solid state drive (SSD).

NVMe Over Fabrics (NVME-oF) can refer to a standard that is used to transfer data between the host software and the non-volatile memory over a network such as Ethernet, Fibre Channel, or InfiniBand. A particular network-attached SSD, such as, for example, an Ethernet attached SSD (eSSD) may use the particular network (e.g. Ethernet) for the transfer of data.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to a method for power distribution. A processor detects a storage device having a scalable interface, where the scalable interface is for transferring data between a host device and the storage device. The processor determines power requirement of the storage device based on a signal from the scalable interface. At least one power supply unit coupled to the processor provides power to the storage device based on the determined power requirement.

According to one embodiment, the scalable interface is a small-form-factor-technology-affiliate-100X (SSF-TA-100X) connector, wherein X is an integer value selected from 2, 6, 7, or 8.

According to one embodiment, the storage device is at least one of a solid state drive (SDD) or a network-attached SSD.

According to one embodiment, the determining of the power requirement includes determining a type of signal from the scalable interface; and invoking a data structure for determining the power requirement based on the type of signal.

According to one embodiment, the data structure is a lookup table associating one or more signal types to corresponding power requirements.

According to one embodiment, the type of signal comprises at least one of a first presence signal, second presence signal, or third presence signal.

According to one embodiment, a first type of scalable interface associated with a first type of power requirement is configured to transmit the first presence signal, a second type of scalable interface associated with a second type of power requirement is configured to transmit the second presence signal, and a third type of scalable interface associated with a third type of power requirement is configured to transmit the third presence signal.

According to one embodiment, the first type of scalable interface includes four communication lanes and has a power requirement of about 25 W, the second type of scalable interface includes eight communication lanes and has a power requirement of about 35 W, and the third type of scalable interface includes sixteen communication lanes and has a power requirement of about 70 W.

According to one embodiment, the determining the type of signal includes determining a status of one or more pins of the scalable interface.

According to one embodiment, the at least one power supply unit includes first and second power supply units, and the providing of the power further includes: determining, by the processor, that power from the first power supply unit is less than the determined power requirement for the storage device; and activating, by the processor, in response to the determining, the second power supply unit for delivering power to the storage device.

Embodiments of the present disclosure are also directed to a power distribution system that includes a storage device having a scalable interface, the scalable interface for transferring data between a host device and the storage device; at least one power supply unit; and a processor coupled to the storage device and the at least one power supply unit. The processor is configured to: detect the storage device having a scalable interface; determine power requirement of the storage device based on a signal from the scalable interface; and signal the at least one power supply unit for delivering power to the storage device based on the determined power requirement.

As a person of skill in the art should recognize, embodiments of the present disclosure allow power to be distributed to a storage device based on a power requirement of the device. This provides an improvement over traditional power distribution mechanisms that over-provision power for maximum possible need. In addition, embodiments of the present disclosure allow a power supply unit to work efficiently by allowing the power distribution responsibility to be shared with one or more other power supply units based on need of the system. This is also an improvement to traditional power distribution mechanisms that rely on a single power supply unit to provision power for an entire system.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be more fully understood when considered with respect to the following detailed description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings. Of course, the actual scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims.

