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EP-4736014-A1 - UART COMMUNICATION OF TELEMETRY AND DEBUGGING DATA USING OPTICAL SIGNALS

EP4736014A1EP 4736014 A1EP4736014 A1EP 4736014A1EP-4736014-A1

Abstract

This application is directed to communicating telemetry and debugging data of a memory system using optical signals. An enclosed memory device has an optical indicator and receives a data request. In response to the data request, the enclosed memory device obtains internal activity data stored in the memory device, encodes the internal activity data into an electrical signal, and drives the optical indicator with the electrical signal to generate a visible light signal carrying the internal activity data. In some embodiments, the enclosed memory device includes a solid-state drive. In some embodiments, the internal activity data includes telemetry data stored by the enclosed memory device while the memory device is processing a sequence of memory access requests including at least one of a read request and a write request.

Inventors

  • HAM, Hoeun

Assignees

  • SK hynix NAND Product Solutions Corp. (dba SOLIDIGM)

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240625

Claims (19)

  1. 1. A method for data communication, comprising: receiving a data request by an enclosed memory device including an optical indicator; in response to the data request: obtaining internal activity data stored in the enclosed memory device; encoding the internal activity data into an electrical signal; and driving the optical indicator with the electrical signal to generate a visible light signal carrying the internal activity data of the enclosed memory device.
  2. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the internal activity data includes telemetry data stored by the memory device while the memory device is processing a sequence of memory access requests including at least one of a read request and a write request.
  3. 3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the data request is received with a debugging command, further comprising: generating the internal activity data in response to the debugging command.
  4. 4. The method of any of claims 1-3, wherein the data request is communicated from a host device to the memory device and via an electrical data link distinct from the optical indicator.
  5. 5. The method of any of claims 1-4, wherein the enclosed memory device further includes an optical sensor, receiving the data request further comprising: detecting an incoming optical signal encoded with the data request by the optical sensor; converting the incoming optical signal to an incoming electrical signal; and extracting the data request from the incoming electrical signal.
  6. 6. The method of any of claims 1-5, wherein the enclosed memory device includes an enclosure, and the enclosure has an aperture from which the optical indicator is exposed to provide the visible light signal.
  7. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the enclosed memory device further includes an optical sensor, and the optical sensor is exposed from the aperture to receive an incoming light encoded with the data request.
  8. 8. The method of claim 6 or 7, wherein the enclosure of the enclosed memory device further includes a sliding door configured to cover the aperture and disrupt an optical path of the visible light signal.
  9. 9. The method of any of claims 1-8, wherein the enclosed memory device includes an enclosure, and a form factor of the enclosure of the enclosed memory device is one of an Enterprise and Datacenter Standard Form Factor and an Add-In Card (AIC).
  10. 10. The method of any of claims 1-9, wherein the data request includes a command selected from a group consisting of: list menu items, run DRAM pseudo random bit patterns, turn on/off GPIOs, read/write I2C register, SPI read/write, test NAND, and get log.
  11. 11. The method of any of claims 1-10, wherein the internal activity data of the memory device is selected from a group consisting of: menu/test options, drive statistics, DRAM configuration information, device register information, and event logs.
  12. 12. The method of any of claims 1-11, further comprising: detecting the visible light signal and generating an electrical data signal by an external optical sensor; and extracting the internal activity data from the electrical data signal.
  13. 13. The method of any of claims 1-12, wherein the visible light signal is generated in synchronization with the data request.
  14. 14. The method of any of claims 1-13, wherein the visible light signal includes a header portion having a fixed light pattern that is configured to indicate that the internal activity data immediately follows the fixed light pattern.
  15. 15. The method of any of claims 1-14, wherein the visible light signal has a predefined color, and the optical indicator is controlled by the electrical signal to blink at a predefined data rate that is higher than a data rate threshold.
  16. 16. The method of any of claims 1-15, wherein: the visible light signal includes a train of light pulses coded according to a signal frequency; and each character is coded according to an ASCII format, and corresponds to at least 8 successive signal cycles.
  17. 17. The method of any of claims 1-16, wherein the internal activity data includes one or more of: drive temperature, drive health data, and error information.
  18. 18. A memory storage system, comprising: an enclosure; a plurality of memory cells; a memory controller; an optical driver; an optical indicator; and one or more programs configured for execution by the memory controller, the one or more programs comprising instructions for performing a method of any of claims 1-17.
  19. 19. An electronic system, comprising: a memory system having an enclosure, a plurality of memory cells, a memory controller, an optical driver, an optical indicator, and one or more programs configured for execution by the memory controller, the one or more programs comprising instructions for performing a method of any of claims 1-17.

Description

UART Communication of Telemetry and Debugging Data Using Optical Signals RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application is a continuation of, and claims priority to, U.S. Patent Application No. 18/217,347, filed June 30, 2023, entitled “UART Communication of Telemetry and Debugging Data Using Optical Signals,” and U.S. Patent Application No. 18/649,849, filed April 29, 2024, entitled “Data Communication Using Optical UART Links,” each of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD [0002] This application relates generally to semiconductor packaging technology including, but not limited to, methods, systems, and devices for communicating telemetry and debugging data of a memory system using optical signals. BACKGROUND [0003] Memory is applied in a computer system to store instructions and data, and the data are processed by one or more processors according to the instructions stored in the memory. The one or more processors are further coupled to secondary memory (e.g., hard disk drives (HDDs) or solid-state drives (SSDs)), which is non-volatile memory that keeps data stored thereon when the computing decoupled from a power source. The secondary memory is often individually packaged in a memory enclosure and integrated in the computer system. Such a secondary memory normally exchanges data with a host device of the computer system or debugging equipment via wired connections. The wired connections require one or more cutouts on the memory enclosure. Any of these cutouts can expose internal electronics of the secondary memory to strong electromagnetic interference (EMI) created locally around the cutout. Particularly, EMI generated by electrostatic discharge (ESD) events are strong and problematic to electronic components in SSDs. Small cutouts are generally preferred because they limit EMI to a range of frequencies, and however, part of the frequency range still includes SSD’s operating frequencies. Additionally, each wired connection uses physical features to provide sufficient mechanical robustness, and these physical features take up valuable space along an edge of the memory enclosure and causes EMI in an undesirable manner. It would be beneficial to develop a data communication mechanism for the secondary memory (e.g., HDDs, SSDs) to communicate data into or out of a memory enclosure conveniently, efficiently, and reliably. SUMMARY [0004] Various embodiments of this application are directed to methods, systems, and devices for communicating data (e.g., telemetry and debugging data) of a memory device 200 using optical signals. For example, light emitting diodes (LEDs) are applied in SSDs to communicate encoded universal asynchronous receiver / transmitter (UART) information for telemetry or debugging messages from an SSD. An optical transceiver device is coupled to a computing device, and configured to communicate with an SSD via visible light that is emitted by the LEDs of the SSD or by one or more LED(s) of the optical transceiver device. The data is encoded in an optical signal generated by an LED and having a fast data rate (e.g., > 500 Hz, tens of kHz). Independently of capabilities of human eyes, the optical signal is detected by an optical detector, allowing the LEDs to transmit debugging data (e.g., logs and device status). Additionally, light-based data communication relies on a functionality of the LEDs and does not require a wired UART connector. The LEDs do not create large cutouts on an enclosure of the memory device 200 compared with the wired UART connector, and protects the memory device from EMI. Compared with other wireless data communications (e.g., NFC, Zigbee, Bluetooth, or WiFi), a complexity level of the LEDs and associated optical driver is manageable without incurring additional power requirements or EMI considerations. LED light is directional along a line of sight, providing a level of data security. As such, various embodiments of this application provides a light based data communication mechanism for a memory system (e.g., HDDs, SSDs) to communicate data into or out of a memory enclosure conveniently, efficiently, and reliably. [0005] In one aspect, a method is implemented to communicate data of a memory system. The method includes receiving a data request by an enclosed memory device including an optical indicator. The methods further includes in response to the data request, obtaining internal activity data stored in the memory device, encoding the internal activity data into an electrical signal, and driving the optical indicator with the electrical signal to generate a visible light signal carrying the internal activity data. In some embodiments, the enclosed memory device includes a solid-state drive. In some embodiments, the internal activity data includes telemetry data stored by the enclosed memory device while the memory device is processing a sequence of memory access requests including at least one of a read request and a write request. [