US-12625837-B1 - Magnetic tape drive and assembly for a tape drive

Abstract

A magnetic tape drive and an assembly for a tape drive are disclosed herein. The disclosed magnetic tape drive comprises a SAS-compliant tape drive module; and a USB-C to SAS assembly having one or more controllers operatively coupled to a USB-C connector and a SAS connector. The SAS connector of the USB-C to SAS assembly is operatively coupled to the SAS-compliant tape drive module. The USB-C to SAS assembly is configured to enable the magnetic tape drive to interface a USB-C-compliant computing device with the SAS-compliant tape drive module, and the USB-C to SAS assembly is configured to transmit tape commands received at the USB-C connector to the SAS-compliant tape drive module via the one or more controllers and the SAS connector. The assembly includes a SAS connector, a USB-C connector, and one or more controllers operatively coupled to the SAS connector and the USB-C connector.

Inventors

• Aleksandr Mindlin

Assignees

• MagStor Inc.

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20240204

Claims (4)

1. 1 . A magnetic tape drive, said tape drive comprising: a SAS-compliant tape drive module; and a USB-C to SAS assembly having one or more controllers operatively coupled to a USB-C connector and a SAS connector, the SAS connector of the USB-C to SAS assembly operatively coupled to the SAS-compliant tape drive module, the USB-C to SAS assembly configured to enable the magnetic tape drive to interface a USB-C-compliant computing device with the SAS-compliant tape drive module, and the USB-C to SAS assembly configured to transmit tape commands received at the USB-C connector to the SAS-compliant tape drive module via the one or more controllers and the SAS connector; wherein the USB-C to SAS assembly sends and receives data using a Thunderbolt® 5 protocol.
2. 2 . The magnetic tape drive according to claim 1 , wherein the USB-C-compliant computing device comprises a USB-C-compliant laptop computer or a USB-C-compliant desktop computer.
3. 3 . A USB-C to SAS assembly for a tape drive, said assembly comprising: a SAS connector configured to be operatively coupled to a SAS-compliant tape drive module; a USB-C connector configured to be operatively coupled to a USB-C-compliant computing device; and one or more controllers operatively coupled to the SAS connector and the USB-C connector, the one or more controllers configured to transmit tape commands received from the USB-C-compliant computing device at the USB-C connector to the SAS-compliant tape drive module via the SAS connector; wherein the USB-C to SAS assembly sends and receives data using a Thunderbolt 5 protocol.
4. 4 . The USB-C to SAS assembly according to claim 3 , wherein the USB-C-compliant computing device comprises a USB-C-compliant laptop computer or a USB-C-compliant desktop computer.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/522,242, entitled “Magnetic Tape Drive And An Assembly For A Tape Drive”, filed on Nov. 9, 2021, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/283,638, entitled “Magnetic Tape Drive”, filed on Feb. 22, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,200,194, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/634,597, entitled “Magnetic Tape Drive”, filed on Feb. 23, 2018, the disclosure of each of which is hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth in their entireties herein. STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT Not Applicable. NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT Not Applicable. INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISK Not Applicable. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Technical Field The present invention generally relates to computer peripheral devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to a magnetic tape drive employing a Universal Serial Bus Type-C(USB-C) connector and an assembly for a tape drive. Background and Description of Related Art Peripheral devices for use with desktop computer systems are well known. Common peripheral devices include printers, monitors, and disk drives. In some cases, users need a way to back up and/or store a massive amount of data. Magnetic tapes have long been a preferred medium for such large data stores. Presently, peripheral magnetic tape drives employ relatively slow and low-bandwidth data transfer protocols with bulky connectors. Such tape drives are limited by the existing interfacing connection of a tape drive to a desktop computer running Microsoft Windows or Apple's MAC OS 10+ operating systems. Traditionally tape drives use a SAS (serial-attached-SCSI) connection, and in order to use such a tape drive, one would need an expansion PCI-e SAS interface card inserted into one's computer, assuming there is an available and powerful enough expansion bay. Unfortunately, laptops do not have any PCI-e expansion capabilities. Accordingly, there is a need for a magnetic tape drive and an assembly for a tape drive that can interface with a laptop computer without additional hardware. The tape drive and assembly of the present application allows a user easily to connect to a Desktop or Laptop computer with a USB-C connector rather than the uncommon SAS adapter. The tape drive of the present application is further compatible with a protocol referred to commercially as Thunderbolt® 3 or Thunderbolt® 4, or with a protocol referred to commercially as Thunderbolt® 5. SUMMARY OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an improved magnetic tape drive device and an assembly for a tape drive that substantially obviates one or more problems resulting from the limitations and deficiencies of the related art. According to a first embodiment of the present application, Applicant discloses a magnetic tape drive. The tape drive comprises a SAS-compliant tape drive module and a USB-C to SAS assembly having one or more controllers operatively coupled to a USB-C connector and a SAS connector. The SAS connector of the USB-C to SAS assembly is operatively coupled to the SAS-compliant tape drive module. The USB-C to SAS assembly is configured to enable the magnetic tape drive to interface a USB-C-compliant computing device with the SAS-compliant tape drive module, and the USB-C to SAS assembly is configured to transmit tape commands received at the USB-C connector to the SAS-compliant tape drive module via the one or more controllers and the SAS connector. According to a second embodiment of the present application, Applicant discloses a USB-C to SAS assembly for a tape drive. The assembly comprises a SAS connector configured to be operatively coupled to a SAS-compliant tape drive module; a USB-C connector configured to be operatively coupled to a USB-C-compliant computing device; and one or more controllers operatively coupled to the SAS connector and the USB-C connector. The one or more controllers are configured to transmit tape commands received from the USB-C-compliant computing device at the USB-C connector to the SAS-compliant tape drive module via the SAS connector. According to a third embodiment of the present application, Applicant discloses a peripheral magnetic tape drive. The tape drive comprises: a housing; a SAS compliant tape drive module; a power supply; and a USB-C to SAS assembly. The SAS-compliant tape drive module; the power supply; and the USB-C to SAS assembly are disposed within the housing. The power supply is operatively coupled to the tape drive module to supply +12V and +5V power. The power supply also is operatively coupled to the USB-C to SAS assembly to supply +12V power. The USB-C to SAS assembly is operatively coupled to the tape drive module using a SAS data channel. The USB-C to SAS assembly is configured to enable the per