WO2014111920A1 - Système et procédé de surveillance d'un dispositif électromécanique - Google Patents

Système et procédé de surveillance d'un dispositif électromécanique Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2014111920A1
WO2014111920A1 PCT/IL2014/050029 IL2014050029W WO2014111920A1 WO 2014111920 A1 WO2014111920 A1 WO 2014111920A1 IL 2014050029 W IL2014050029 W IL 2014050029W WO 2014111920 A1 WO2014111920 A1 WO 2014111920A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
sensor
computer peripheral
computer
responds
bus
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PCT/IL2014/050029
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English (en)
Inventor
Haggai YEDIDIA
Eli SASON
Yaniv BITTON
Orly Shdema
Yehuda Binder
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Sure Erasure Ltd.
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Publication of WO2014111920A1 publication Critical patent/WO2014111920A1/fr

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F11/00—Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring
    • G06F11/07—Responding to the occurrence of a fault, e.g. fault tolerance
    • G06F11/16—Error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in hardware
    • G06F11/20—Error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in hardware using active fault-masking, e.g. by switching out faulty elements or by switching in spare elements
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F11/00—Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F11/00—Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring
    • G06F11/30—Monitoring
    • G06F11/3003—Monitoring arrangements specially adapted to the computing system or computing system component being monitored
    • G06F11/3034—Monitoring arrangements specially adapted to the computing system or computing system component being monitored where the computing system component is a storage system, e.g. DASD based or network based
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F11/00—Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring
    • G06F11/30—Monitoring
    • G06F11/3058—Monitoring arrangements for monitoring environmental properties or parameters of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring of power, currents, temperature, humidity, position, vibrations
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F11/00—Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring
    • G06F11/30—Monitoring
    • G06F11/3089—Monitoring arrangements determined by the means or processing involved in sensing the monitored data, e.g. interfaces, connectors, sensors, probes, agents
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F21/00—Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity

Definitions

  • This disclosure relates generally to an apparatus and method for monitoring the operation of electro-mechanical device or a computer peripheral device such as a non-volatile storage, and in particular monitoring a Hard Disk Drive (HDD).
  • a computer peripheral device such as a non-volatile storage
  • HDD Hard Disk Drive
  • FIG. 1 shows a block diagram that illustrates a system 100 including a computer system 110 and the associated Internet 113 connection.
  • a computer system 110 may be used as a portable electronic device such as a notebook / laptop computer, a media player (e.g., MP3 based or video player), a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a cellular phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), an image processing device (e.g., a digital camera or video recorder), and / or any other handheld or fixed location computing devices, or a combination of any of these devices.
  • PDA Personal Digital Assistant
  • Computer system 110 includes a bus 120, an interconnect, or other communication mechanism for communicating information, and a processor 117, commonly in the form of an integrated circuit, coupled with bus 120 for processing information and for executing the computer executable instructions.
  • Computer system 110 also includes a main memory 122, such as a Random Access Memor (RAM) or other dynamic storage device, coupled to bus 120 for storing information and instructions to be executed by processor 117.
  • Main memory 122 also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by processor 117.
  • Computer system 110 further includes a Read Only Memory (ROM) 121 (or other non-volatile memory) or other static storage device coupled to bus 120 for storing static information and instructions for processor 117.
  • ROM Read Only Memory
  • a storage device 123 such as a magnetic disk or optical disk, a hard disk drive (HDD) for reading from and writing to a hard disk, a magnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a magnetic disk, and/or an optical disk drive (such as DVD) for reading from and writing to a removable optical disk, is coupled to bus 120 for storing information and instructions.
  • the hard disk drive, magnetic disk drive, and optical disk drive may be connected to the system bus by a hard disk drive interface, a magnetic disk drive interface, and an optical disk drive interface, respectively.
  • the drives and their associated computer-readable media provide non-volatile storage of computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules and other data for the general purpose computing devices.
  • OS Operating System
  • An operating system commonly processes system data and user input, and responds by allocating and managing tasks and internal system resources, such as controlling and allocating memory, prioritizing system requests, controlling input and output devices, facilitating networking and managing files.
  • Non-limiting examples of operating systems are Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
  • processor is meant to include any integrated circuit or other electronic device (or collection of devices) capable of performing an operation on at least one instruction including, without limitation, Reduced Instruction Set Core (RISC) processors, CISC microprocessors, Microcontroller Units (MCUs), CISC-based Central Processing Units (CPUs), and Digital Signal Processors (DSPs).
  • RISC Reduced Instruction Set Core
  • MCU Microcontroller Unit
  • CPU Central Processing Unit
  • DSPs Digital Signal Processors
  • the hardware of such devices may be integrated onto a single substrate (e.g., silicon "die"), or distributed among two or more substrates.
  • various functional aspects of the processor may be implemented solely as software or firmware associated with the processor.
  • Computer system 110 may be coupled via bus 120 to a display 114, such as a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a flat screen monitor, a touch screen monitor or similar means for displaying text and graphical data to a user.
  • the display may be connected via a video adapter for supporting the display.
  • the display allows a user to view, enter, and/or edit information that is relevant to the operation of the system.
  • An input device 115 is coupled to bus 120 for communicating information and command selections to processor 117.
  • cursor control 116 such as a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys for communicating direction information and command selections to processor 117 and for controlling cursor movement on display 114.
  • This input device typically has two degrees of freedom in two axes, a first axis (e.g., x) and a second axis (e.g., y), that allows the device to specify positions in a plane.
  • the computer system 110 may be used for implementing the methods and techniques described herein. According to one embodiment, those methods and techniques are performed by computer system 110 in response to processor 117 executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions contained in main memory 122. Such instructions may be read into main memory 122 from another computer-readable medium, such as storage device 123.
  • main memory 122 causes processor 117 to perform the process steps described herein.
  • processor 117 causes processor 117 to perform the process steps described herein.
  • hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to implement the arrangement.
  • embodiments of the invention are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.
  • computer-readable medium (or “machine-readable medium”) as used herein is an extensible term that refers to any medium or any memory, that participates in providing instructions to a processor, (such as processor 117) for execution, or any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer).
  • a machine e.g., a computer
  • Such a medium may store computer-executable instructions to be executed by a processing element and/or software, and data which is manipulated by a processing element and/or software, and may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile medium, volatile medium, and transmission medium.
  • Transmission media includes coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise bus 120.
  • Transmission media can also take the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generated during radio-wave and infrared data communications, or other form of propagating signals (e.g., carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.).
  • Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch-cards, paper-tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any other medium from which a computer can read.
  • Various forms of computer-readable media may be involved in carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions to processor 117 for execution.
  • the instructions may initially be carried on a magnetic disk of a remote computer.
  • the remote computer can load the instructions into its dynamic memory and send the instructions over a telephone line using a modem.
  • a modem local to computer system 110 can receive the data on the telephone line and use an infrared transmitter to convert the data to an infrared signal.
  • An infrared detector ca receive the data carried in the infrared signal and appropriate circuitry can place the data on bus 120
  • Bus 120 carries the data to main memory 122, from which processor 117 retrieves and executes the instructions.
  • the instructions received by main memory 122 may optionally be stored on storage device 123 either before or after execution by processor 117.
  • Computer system 110 commonly includes a communication interface 119 coupled to bus 120.
  • Communication interface 119 provides a two-way data communication coupling to a network link 118 that is connected to a local network 111.
  • communication interface 119 may be an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) card or a modem to provide a data communication connection to a corresponding type of telephone line.
  • ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network
  • communication interface 119 may be a local area network (LAN) card to provide a data communication connection to a compatible LAN.
  • LAN local area network
  • Ethernet based connection based on IEEE802.3 standard may be used such as 10/lOOBaseT, lOOOBaseT (gigabit Ethernet), 10 gigabit Ethernet (10GE or lOGbE or 10 GigE per IEEE Std 802.3ae-2002as standard), 40 Gigabit Ethernet (40GbE), or 100 Gigabit Ethernet (lOOGbE as per Ethernet standard IEEE P802.3ba), as described in Cisco Systems, Inc. Publication number 1-587005-001-3 (6/99), "Internetworking Technologies Handbook", Chapter 7: “Ethernet Technologies", pages 7-1 to 7-38, which is incorporated in its entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • the communication interface 119 typically include a LAN transceiver or a modem, such as Standard Microsystems Corporation (SMSC) LAN91C111 10/100 Ethernet transceiver described in the Standard Microsystems Corporation (SMSC) data-sheet "LAN91C111 10/100 Non-PCI Ethernet Single Chip MAC + PHY" Data-Sheet, Rev. 15 (02-20-04), which is incorporated in its entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • SMSC Standard Microsystems Corporation
  • SMSC Standard Microsystems Corporation
  • SMSC Standard Microsystems Corporation
  • the communication is based on a LAN communication, such as Ethernet, and may be partly or in full in accordance with the IEEE802.3 standard.
  • Gigabit Ethernet GbE or 1 GigE
  • GbE gigabit Ethernet
  • the IEEE 802.3z standard includes 1000BASE-SX for transmission over multi-mode fiber, 1000BASE-LX for transmission over single-mode fiber, and the nearly obsolete IOOOBASE-CX for transmission over balanced copper cabling. These standards use 8b/10b encoding, which inflates the line rate by 25%, from 1000 Mbit/s to 1250 Mbit/s, to ensure a DC balanced signal. The symbols are then sent using NRZ.
  • the IEEE 802.3ab which defines the widely used lOOOBASE-T interface type, uses a different encoding scheme in order to keep the symbol rate as low as possible, allowing transmission over twisted pair.
  • the 10 gigabit Ethernet (10GE or lOGbE or 10 GigE may be used, which is a version of Ethernet with a nominal data rate of 10 Gbit/s (billion bits per second), ten times faster than gigabit Ethernet.
  • the 10 gigabit Ethernet standard defines only full duplex point to point links which are generally connected by network switches.
  • the 10 gigabit Ethernet standard encompasses a number of different physical layers (PHY) standards.
  • a networking device may support different PHY types through pluggable PHY modules, such as those based on SFP+.
  • the Internet 113 is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standardized Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP), including Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP), to serve billions of users worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks, of local to global scope, that are linked by a broad array of electronic and optical networking technologies.
  • the Internet carries a vast range of information resources and services, such as the interlinked hypertext documents on the World Wide Web (WWW) and the infrastructure to support electronic mail.
  • WWW World Wide Web
  • the Internet backbone refers to the principal data routes between large, strategically interconnected networks and core routers in the Internet.
  • memory and “storage” are used interchangeably herein and refer to any physical component that can retain or store information (that can be later retrieved) such as digital data on a temporary or permanent basis, typically for use in a computer or other digital electronic device.
  • a memory can store computer programs or any other sequence of instructions, or data such as files, text, numbers, audio and video, as well as any other form of information represented as a string of bits or bytes.
  • the physical means of storing information may be electrostatic, ferroelectric, magnetic, acoustic, optical, chemical, electronic, electrical, or mechanical.
  • a memory may be in a form of Integrated Circuit (IC, a.k.a. chip or microchip).
  • the memory may be in the form of a packaged functional assembly of electronic components (module).
  • module may be based on a PCB (Printed Circuit Board) such as PC Card according to Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) PCMCIA 2.0 standard, or a Single In-line Memory Module (SIMM) (or DIMM) which is standardized under the JEDEC JESD-21C standard.
  • PCB Printed Circuit Board
  • SIMM Single In-line Memory Module
  • DIMM Single In-line Memory Module
  • a memory may be in the form of a separately rigidly enclosed box such as hard-disk drive.
  • Semiconductor memory may be based on Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) technology, where a layered silicon-insulator-silicon substrate is used in place of conventional silicon substrates in semiconductor manufacturing, especially microelectronics, to reduce parasitic device capacitance and thereby improving performance.
  • SOI-based devices differ from conventional silicon-built devices in that the silicon junction is above an electrical insulator, typically silicon dioxide or sapphire (these types of devices are called silicon on sapphire, or SOS, and are less common).
  • SOI- Based memories include Twin Transistor RAM (TTRAM) and Zero-capacitor RAM (Z-RAM).
  • a memory may be a volatile memory, where a continuous power is required to maintain the stored information such as RAM (Random Access Memory), including DRAM (Dynamic RAM) or SRAM (Static RAM), or alternatively be a non-volatile memory which does not require a maintained power supply, such as Flash memory, EPROM, EEPROM and ROM (Read-Only Memory). Volatile memories are commonly used where long-term storage is required, while nonvolatile memories are more suitable where fast memory access is required. Volatile memory may be dynamic, where the stored information is required to be periodically refreshed (such as re-read and then re-written) such as DRAM, or alternatively may be static, where there is no need to refresh as long as power is applied, such as RAM. In some cases, a small battery is connected to a low-power consuming volatile memory, allowing its use as a non-volatile memory.
  • RAM Random Access Memory
  • DRAM Dynamic RAM
  • SRAM Static RAM
  • Volatile memory volatile memory which does not require
  • a memory may be read/write (or mutable storage) memory where data may be overwritten more than once and typically at any time, such as RAM and Hard Disk Drive (HDD).
  • a memory may be an immutable storage where the information is retained after being written once. Once written, the information can only be read and typically cannot be modified, sometimes referred to as Write Once Read Many (WORM).
  • the data may be written at the time of manufacture of the memory, such as mask-programmable ROM (Read Only Memory) where the data is written into the memory a part of the IC fabrication, CD-ROM (CD - Compact Disc) and DVD-ROM (DVD - Digital Versatile Disk, or Digital Video Disk).
  • the data may be once written to the "write once storage" at some point after manufacture, such as Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM) or CD-R (Compact Disc-Recordable).
  • a memory may be accessed using "random access” scheme, where any location in the storage can be accessed at any moment in typically the same time, such as RAM, ROM or most semiconductor-based memories.
  • a memory may be of "sequential access” type, where the pieces of information are gathered or stored in a serial order, and therefore the ; time to access a particular piece of information or a particular address depends upon which piece of information was last accessed, such as magnetic tape based storage.
  • Common memory devices are location- addressable, where each individually accessible unit of data in storage is selected using its numerical memory address.
  • a memory may be file-addressable, where the information is divided into files of variable length, and a file is selected by using a directory or file name (typically a human readable name), or may be content-addressable, where each accessible unit of information is selected based on the basis of (or part of) the stored content.
  • File addressability and content addressability commonly involves additional software (firmware) or hardware or both.
  • CMOS complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor
  • CMOS complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor
  • flash memory NOR or NAND based single-level cells (SLC) or multi-level cells (MLC), made from floating-gate transistors.
  • Non-limiting examples of applications of flash memory include personal and laptop computers, PDAs, digital audio players (MP3 players), digital cameras, mobile phones, synthesizers, video games consoles, scientific instrumentation, industrial robotics and medical electronics.
  • the magnetic storage uses different types of magnetization on a magnetic or a ferromagnetic coated surface as a medium for storing the information. The information is accessed by read/write heads or other transducers.
  • Non-limiting examples of magnetic-based memory are Floppy-disk, magnetic tape data storage and HDD.
  • In optical storage typically an optical disc is used, that stores information in deformities on the surface of a circular disc, and the information is read by illuminating the surface with a laser diode and observing the reflection.
  • the deformities may be permanent (read only media), formed once (write once media) or reversible (recordable or read/write media).
  • read-only storage commonly used for mass distribution of digital information such as music, audio, video or computer programs, include CD-ROM, BD-ROM (BD - Blu-ray Disc) and DVD-ROM.
  • Non-limiting examples of write-once storage are a CD-R, DVD-R, DVD+R, and BD-R
  • non-limiting examples of recordable storage are a CD-RW (Compact Disc-Re Writable), DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM, and BD-RE (Blu-ray Disc Recordable Erasable).
  • 3D optical data storage is an optical data storage, in which information can be recorded and/or read, with three-dimensional resolution.
  • a storage medium may be removable, designed to be easily removed from, and easily installed or inserted into, the computer by a person, typically without the need for any tool and without the need to power off the computer or the associated drive. Such capability allows for archiving, for transporting data between computers, and for buying and selling software.
  • the medium may be read using a reader or player that reads the data from the medium, or may be written by a burner or writer, or may be used for writing and reading by a writer / reader commonly referred to as a drive.
  • the medium has the form factor of a disk, which is typically a round plate on which the data is encoded, respectively known as magnetic disc and optical disk.
  • Disk drives may be internal (integrated within the computer enclosure) or may be external (housed in a separate box that connects to the computer).
  • Floppy disks that can be read from or written on by a floppy drive, are a non-limiting example of removable magnetic storage medium, and CD-RW (Compact Disc-ReWritable) is a non-limiting example of a removable optical disk.
  • CD-RW Compact Disc-ReWritable
  • a non-volatile removable semiconductor based storage medium is commonly in use and is referred to as a memory card.
  • a memory card is a small storage device, commonly based on flash memory, and can be read by a suitable card reader.
  • a memory may be accessed via a parallel connection or bus (wherein each data word is carried in parallel on multiple electrical conductors or wires), such as PATA, PCMCIA or EISA, or via serial bus (such as bit-serial connections) such as USB or Ethernet based on IEEE802.3 standard, or a combination of both.
  • the connection may further be wired in various topologies such as multidrop (electrical parallel), point-to-point, or daisy-chain.
  • a memory may be powered via a dedicated port or connector, or may be powered via a power signal carried over the bus, such as SATA or USB.
  • a memory may be provided according to a standard, defining its form factor (such as its physical size and shape) and electrical connections (such as power and data interface).
  • a standard- based memory may be easily inserted to, or removed from, a suitable corresponding slot (a.k.a. expansion slots) of a computer or other digital device.
  • a memory card using a PC Card form factor according to PCMCIA 2.0 (or JEIDA 4.1) is used, suitable for mounting into a corresponding PCMCIA-compatible slot, supporting 16 or 32-bit width interface, and connected via 68 pin connectors.
  • CardBus according to PCMCIA 5.0 may be used.
  • the memory is in the form of SD (Secure Digital) Card, based on standard by SD Card Association (SDA), which is commonly used in many small portable devices such as digital video camcorders, digital cameras, audio players and mobile phones.
  • SD Secure Digital
  • SDA SD Card Association
  • Other types of memory cards may be equally used, such as CompactFlash (CF), MiniSD card, MicroSD Card, and xD- Picture Card.
  • a memory may be provided as a USB drive (such as USB Flash drive), which is a portable enclosed card that plugs into a computer USB port and communicates with a USB host.
  • USB drive such as USB Flash drive
  • Such flash-based memory drives are commonly referred to as “thumb drives”, “jump drives”, and “memory sticks”.
  • Such USB mass storage devices and others are described in "Chapter 1: Mass Storage basics", downloaded 10/2011 from: http://www.lvr.com/files/usb_mass_storage_chapter_l.pdf, which is incorporated in its entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • the memory is designed to fit into a drive bay in a computer enclosure.
  • drive bays are standard-sized, and used to store disk drives.
  • the drives may be usually secured with screws or using a tool-less fasteners.
  • a current popular standard is the 3.5 inches (3.5") bays, which dimensions are specified in SFF standard specifications SFF-8300 and SFF-8301, which were incorporated into the EIA (Electronic Industries Association) standard EIA-470.
  • main memory or primary memory or internal memory
  • secondary storage or external memory or auxiliary storage
  • mass storage media commonly associated with a dismount removable media, used for archiving rarely accessed information.
  • the latency of accessing a particular location is typically nanoseconds for primary storage, milliseconds for secondary storage, and seconds for tertiary storage.
  • a memory may be Direct-Attached Storage (DAS), where the memory is directly connected to a host, computer, server, or workstation, commonly without a network in between.
  • DAS Direct-Attached Storage
  • a memory can be part of a Network-attached Storage (NAS), wherein a self-contained file level storage (typically arranged as a server) is connected to a network, providing data sharing to other devices (such as heterogeneous clients), commonly via a network device such as a hub, switch or router.
  • NAS Network-attached Storage
  • NAS is specialized for its task by its hardware, software, or both, and thus provides faster data access, easier administration, and simple configuration.
  • NAS is typically associated with a LAN, and commonly provides an Ethernet interface based on IEEE802.3 standard may be used such as 10/100BaseT, 1000BaseT/TX (gigabit Ethernet), 10 gigabit Ethernet (10GE or lOGbE or 10 GigE per IEEE Std 802.3ae-2002as standard), 40 Gigabit Ethernet (40GbE), or 100 Gigabit Ethernet (lOOGbE as per Ethernet standard IEEE P802.3ba).
  • a memory may be part of a Storage Area Network (SAN), which is a high-speed (commonly dedicated) network (or sub-network) for sharing storage devices, such as disk arrays, tape libraries and optical jukeboxes.
  • the SAN typically allows multiple computers or servers to access multiple storage devices using a network such as WAN or LAN.
  • SAN often utilizes a Fibre Channel fabric topology, commonly made up of a number of Fibre Channel switches.
  • Molecular memory uses molecular species as the data storage element.
  • the molecular component can be described as a molecular switch, and may perform this function by any of several mechanisms, including charge storage, photochromism, or changes in capacitance, hi a molecular memory device, each individual molecule contains a bit of data, leading to massive data capacity.
  • Blu-ray Disc (official abbreviation BD) is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format, where blue laser is used to read the disc, allowing information to be stored at a greater density than is possible with the longer-wavelength red laser used for DVDs.
  • the disc diameter is 120 mm and the disc thickness is 1.2 mm of plastic optical disc, the same size as DVDs and CDs.
  • Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB (23.31 GiB) per layer, with dual layer discs (50 GB) being the norm for feature-length video discs. Triple layer discs (100 GB) and quadruple layers (128 GB) are available for BD-XL Blu-ray re-writer drives.
  • HDD Hard Disk Drives
  • An HDD is a non-volatile, random access digital data storage device, featuring rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure.
  • the enclosure may be internal to the computer system enclosure or external.
  • Data is magnetically read from, and written to, the platter by read/write heads that floats on a film or air above the platters.
  • the HDDs are typically interfaced using high-speed interfaces, commonly of serial type.
  • SSDs include a controller that incorporates the electronics that bridge the NAND memory components to the host computer.
  • the controller is an embedded processor that executes firmware-level code and is one of the most important factors of SSD performance. Functions performed by the controller include Error correction (ECC), Wear leveling, Bad block mapping, Read scrubbing and read disturb management, Read and write caching, and Garbage collection.
  • ECC Error correction
  • SSD Solid State Disk
  • a communication link (such as Ethernet, or any other LAN, PAN or WAN communication link) may also be regarded as bus herein.
  • a bus may be an internal bus (a.k.a. local bus), primarily designed to connect a processor or CPU to peripherals inside a computer system enclosure, such as connecting components over the motherboard or backplane.
  • a bus may be an external bus, primarily intended for connecting the processor or the motherboard to device ⁇ and peripherals external to the computer system enclosure. Some buses may be doubly used as internal or as external buses.
  • a bus may be of parallel type, where each word (address or data) is carried in parallel over multiple electrical conductors or wires; or alternatively, may be bit-serial, where bits are carried sequentially, such as one bit at a time.
  • a bus may support multiple serial links or lanes, aggregated or bonded for higher bit-rate transport.
  • Non-limiting examples of internal parallel buses include ISA (Industry Standard architecture); EISA (Extended ISA); NuBus (IEEE 1196); PATA - Parallel ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) variants such as IDE, EIDE, ATAPI, SBus (IEEE 1496), VESA Local Bus (VLB), PCI and PC/104 variants (PC/104, PC/104 Plus, and PC/104 Express).
  • Non-limiting examples of internal serial buses include PCIe (PCI Express), Serial ATA (SATA), SMBus, and Serial Peripheral Bus (SPI) bus.
  • Non-limiting examples of external parallel buses include HIPPI (High Performance Parallel Interface), IEEE-1284 ('Centronix'), IEEE-488 (a.k.a. GPIB - General Purpose Interface Bus) and PC Card / PCMCIA.
  • Non-limiting examples of external serial buses include USB (Universal Serial Bus), eSATA and IEEE 1394 (a.k.a.
  • Non- limiting examples of buses that can be internal or external are Futurebus, InfiniBand, SCSI (Small Computer System Interface), and SAS (Serial Attached SCSI).
  • the bus medium may be based on electrical conductors, commonly copper wires based cable (may be arranged as twisted-pairs) or a fiber-optic cable.
  • the bus topology may use point-to-point, multi-drop (electrical parallel) and daisy- chain, and may further be based on hubs or switches.
  • a point-to-point bus may be full-duplex, providing simultaneous, two-way transmission (and sometimes independent) in both directions, or alternatively a bus may be half-duplex, where the transmission can be in either direction, but only in one direction at a time.
  • Buses are further commonly characterized by their throughput (data bit-rate), signaling rate, medium length, connectors, and medium types, latency, scalability, quality-of- service, devices per connection or channel, and supported bus-width.
  • a configuration of a bus for a specific environment may be automatic (hardware or software based, or both), or may involve user or installer activities such as software settings or jumpers.
  • Recent buses are self-repairable, where spare connection (net) is provided which is used in the event of malfunction in a connection.
  • Some buses support hot-plugging (sometimes known as hot swapping), where a connection or a replacement can be made, without significant interruption to the system or without the need to shut- off any power.
  • a well-known example of this functionality is the Universal Serial Bus (USB) that allows users to add or remove peripheral components such as a mouse, keyboard, or printer.
  • a bus may be defined to carry a power signal, either in separate dedicated cable (using separate and dedicated connectors), or commonly over the same cable carrying the digital data (using the same connector). Typically dedicated wires in the cable are used for carrying a low-level DC power level, such as 3.3VDC, 5VDC, 12VDC and any combination thereof.
  • a bus may support master / slave configuration, where one connected node is typically a bus master (e.g., the processor or the processor-side), and other nodes (or node) are bussed slaves. A slave may not connect or transmit to the bus until given permission by the bus master.
  • a bus timing, strobing, synchronization, or clocking information may be carried as a separate signal (e.g., clock signal) over a dedicated channel, such as separate and dedicated wired in a cable, or alternatively may use embedded clocking (a.k.a. self-clocking), where the timing information is encoded with the data signal, commonly used in line codes such as Manchester code, where the clock information occurs at the transition points.
  • a separate signal e.g., clock signal
  • a dedicated channel such as separate and dedicated wired in a cable
  • embedded clocking a.k.a. self-clocking
  • Any bus or connection herein may use proprietary specifications, or preferably be similar to, based on, substantially according to, or fully compliant with, an industry standard (or any variant thereof) such as those referred to as PCI Express, SAS, SATA, SCSI, PATA, InfiniBand, USB, PCI, PCI-X, AGP, Thunderbolt, IEEE 1394, FireWire, and Fibre Channel.
  • Fibre Channel is a gigabit-speed network technology primarily used for storage networking, and has recently become the standard connection type for storage area networks (SAN) in enterprise storage.
  • Fibre Channel is standardized in the Ti l Technical Committee of the InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS), an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredited standards committee.
  • IOCITS InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards
  • ANSI American National Standards Institute
  • Fibre Channel signaling can run on both twisted pair copper wire and fiber-optic cables.
  • Fibre Channel Protocol FCP is a transport protocol (similar to TCP used in IP networks) that predominantly transports SCSI commands over Fibre Channel networks.
  • FC-P2P Point-to-Point
  • FC-AL Arbitrated loop
  • FC-SW Switched fabric
  • FC-SW Switched fabric
  • Some Fibre Channel devices support SFP transceiver, mainly with LC fiber connector, while some 1GFC devices used GBIC transceiver, mainly with SC fiber connector.
  • Fibre Channel is further described in "Fibre Channel Solutions Guide” by FCIA - Fibre Channel Industry Association (www.fibrechannel.org, September 2010), “Technology Brief - Fibre Channel Basics", by Apple Computer, Inc. (May 2006), and Weimer T. of Unylogix, "Fibre Channel Fundamentals” (available for download from the Internet 10/2011), which are all incorporated in their entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • InfiniBand is a switched fabric communications link used in high-performance computing and enterprise data centers. Its features include high throughput, low latency, quality of service and failover, and it is designed to be scalable. InfiniBand offers point-to-point bidirectional serial links intended for the connection of processors with high-speed peripherals such as disks. On top of the point-to-point capabilities, InfiniBand also offers multicast operations as well. It supports several signaling rates and links can be bonded together for additional throughput.
  • the SDR serial connection's signaling rate is 2.5 gigabit per second (Gbit/s) in each direction per connection. DDR is 5 Gbit/s and QDR is 10 Gbit/s.
  • FDR is 14.0625 Gbit s and EDR is 25.78125Gbit/s per lane.
  • Lanes can be aggregated in units of 4 or 12, called 4X or 12X.
  • a 12X QDR link therefore carries 120 Gbit/s raw, or 96 Gbit/s of useful data.
  • SDR 10 Gbit/s
  • DDR 20 Gbit/s
  • QDR 40 Gbit/s
  • InfiniBand uses a switched fabric topology, as opposed to a hierarchical switched network like traditional Ethernet architectures. Most of the network topologies are Fat-Tree (Clos), mesh or 3D-Torus.
  • Serial ATA (SATA or Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) is a computer bus interface for connecting host bus adapters to mass storage devices such as hard disk drives and optical drives.
  • Serial ATA industry compatibility specifications originate from The Serial ATA International Organization (a.k.a. SATA-IO, serialata.org), and the specification defines three distinct protocol layers: physical, link, and transport.
  • Serial ATA was designed to replace the older parallel ATA (PATA) standard (often called by the old name IDE), offering several advantages over the older interface: reduced cable size and cost (7 conductors instead of 40), native hot swapping, faster data transfer through higher signaling rates, and more efficient transfer through an (optional) I/O queuing protocol.
  • PATA parallel ATA
  • SATA host-adapters and devices communicate via a high-speed serial cable over two pairs of conductors.
  • parallel ATA used a 16- bit wide data bus with many additional support and control signals, all operating at much lower frequency.
  • SATA uses the same basic ATA and ATAPI command-set as legacy ATA devices.
  • Advanced Host Controller Interface AHCI is an open host controller interface published and used by Intel, which has become a de facto standard. It allows the use of the advanced features of SATA such as hotplugging and native command queuing (NCQ).
  • SATA controllers typically operate in "IDE emulation" mode, which does not allow features of devices to be accessed if the ATA/EDE standard does not support them.
  • the SATA standard defines a data cable with seven conductors (3 grounds and 4 active data lines in two pairs) and 8 mm wide wafer connectors on each end. SATA cables can have lengths up to 1 meter (3.3 ft), and connect one motherboard socket to one hard drive.
  • the SATA standard specifies a power connector that differs from the decades-old four-pin Molex connector found on pre-SATA devices. Like the data cable, it is wafer-based, but its wider 15-pin shape prevents accidental mis- identification and forced insertion of the wrong connector type.
  • SATA uses a point-to- point architecture.
  • the physical connection between a controller and a storage device is not shared among other controllers and storage devices.
  • SATA defines multipliers, which allows a single SATA controller to drive multiple storage devices. The multiplier performs the function of a hub; the controller and each storage device are connected to the hub.
  • SATA bus, protocol and applications are further described in "Serial ATA technology, Technology Brief, 4th edition", by Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P., TCI 108815, October 2011, in white paper “External Serial ATA”, by Silicon Image, Inc., September 2004, in Krotov I. Redpaper: "IBM System x Server Disk Drive Interface Technology", IBM Corp.
  • PCI Express Peripheral Component Interconnect Express
  • PCIe PCI Express
  • PCIe PCI Express
  • PCIe PCI Express
  • PCIe has numerous improvements over the aforementioned bus standards, including higher maximum system bus throughput, lower I/O pin count and smaller physical footprint, better performance-scaling of bus devices, a more detailed error detection and reporting mechanism, and native hot plug functionality. More recent revisions of the PCIe standard support hardware I/O Virtualization.
  • the PCIe electrical interface is also used in a variety of other standards, most notably ExpressCard, a laptop expansion card interface.
  • PCIe 3.0 is the latest standard for expansion cards that is available on mainstream personal computers.
  • the PCIe bus is like a high-speed serial replacement of the older PCI PCI-X bus an interconnect bus using shared address/data lines.
  • a key difference between a PCIe bus and the older PCI is the bus topology.
  • PCI uses a shared parallel bus architecture, where the PCI host and all devices share a common set of address/data/control lines.
  • PCIe is based on point-to-point topology, with separate serial links connecting every device to the root complex (host).
  • PCIe bus link supports full-duplex communication between any two endpoints, with no inherent limitation on concurrent access apross multiple endpoints.
  • PCIe communication is encapsulated in packets. The work of packetizing and de-packetizing data and status-message traffic is handled by the transaction layer of the PCIe port. Radical differences in electrical signaling and bus protocol require the use of a different mechanical form factor and expansion connectors (and thus, new motherboards and new adapter boards); PCI slots and PCIe slots are not interchangeable.
  • the PCIe link between 2 devices can consist of anywhere from 1 to 32 lanes.
  • the packet data is striped across lanes, and peak data-throughput scales with the overall link width.
  • the lane count is automatically negotiated during device initialization, and can be restricted by either endpoint.
  • a single-lane PCIe (xl) card can be inserted into a multi-lane slot (x4, x8, etc.), and the initialization cycle auto-negotiates the highest mutually supported lane count.
  • the link can dynamically down-configure the link to use fewer lanes, thus providing some measure of failure tolerance in the presence of bad or unreliable lanes.
  • the PCIe standard defines slots and connectors for multiple widths: xl, x4, x8, xl6, and x32.
  • a PCI-X (133 MHz 64 bit) device and PCIe device at 4-lanes (x4), Genl speed have roughly the same peak transfer rate in a single-direction: 1064 MB/sec.
  • the PCIe bus has the potential to perform better than the PCI-X bus in cases where multiple devices are transferring data communicating simultaneously, or if communication with the PCIe peripheral is bidirectional.
  • a lane is commonly composed of a transmit pair and a receive pair, each of differential lines.
  • Each lane is composed of 4 wires or signal paths, meaning conceptually, each lane is a full-duplex byte stream, transporting data packets in 8-bit 'byte' format, between the endpoints of a link, in both directions simultaneously.
  • Physical PCIe slots may contain from one to thirty-two lanes, in powers of two (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32). Lane counts are written with an x prefix (e.g., xl6 represents a sixteen-lane card or slot), with xl6 being the largest size in common use. A PCIe card fits into a slot of its physical size or larger (maximum xl6), but may not fit into a smaller PCIe slot (xl6 in an x8 slot).
  • Some slots use open-ended sockets to permit physically longer cards and negotiate the best available electrical connection.
  • the number of lanes actually connected to a slot may also be less than the number supported by the physical slot size.
  • a non-limiting example is a x8 slot that actually only runs at xl. These slots allow any xl, x2, 4 or x8 cards, though only running at xl speed.
  • This type of socket is called a x8 ( l mode) slot, meaning that it physically accepts up to x8 cards, but only runs at l speed.
  • the advantage is that it can accommodate a larger range of PCIe cards without requiring motherboard hardware to support the full transfer rate.
  • the PCIe uses double-sided edge-connector, and power is provided over the same connection.
  • PCI Express Mini Card (also known as Mini PCI Express, Mini PCIe, and Mini PCI-E) is a replacement for the Mini PCI form factor, based on PCI Express.
  • PCI Express Mini Cards are 30x50.95 mm. There is a 52 pin edge connector, consisting of two staggered rows on a 0.8 mm pitch. Each row has 8 contacts, a gap equivalent to 4 contacts, then a further 18 contacts. A half-length card is also specified 30x26.8 mm. Cards have a thickness of 1.0 mm (excluding components).
  • AdvancedTCA is a PCIe variant providing a complement to CompactPCI for larger applications; supports serial based backplane topologies.
  • AMC a complement to the AdvancedTCA specification; supports processor and I O modules on ATCA boards (xl, x2, x4, or 8 PCIe). It has the connector bracket reversed so it cannot fit in a normal PCI Express socket, but is pin compatible and may be inserted if the bracket is removed.
  • FeaturePak is a tiny expansion card format (43 x 65 mm) for embedded and small form factor applications; it implements two xl PCIe links on a high-density connector along with USB, I2C, and up to 100 points of I/O.
  • the Thunderbolt is a variant from Intel that combines DisplayPort and PCIe protocols in a form factor compatible with Mini DisplayPort.
  • PCIe is further described in the tutorial "PCI Express - An Overview of the PCI Express Standard", National Instruments, Published August 13, 2009, in the White Paper “Creating a PCI ExpressTM Interconnect”, Intel Corporation, Downloaded 10/2011, in "PHY Interface for the PCI ExpressTM Architecture", Version 2.00, Intel Corporation 2007, and in Cooper S., One Stop Systems, Presentation “Utilizing PCI Express Technology”, Downloaded 10/2011, which are all incorporated in their entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • SAS Serial Attached SCSI
  • SATA Serial Attached SCSI
  • SATA 3 Gbit/s drives may be connected to SAS backplanes, but SAS drives may not be connected to SATA backplanes.
  • the T10 technical committee of the International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS) develops and maintains the SAS protocol; the SCSI Trade Association (SCSITA) promotes the technology.
  • SASA is based on full-duplex with link aggregation (4-ports wide at 24 Gbit/s) over 10 meters external cable, and may connect to 255 device port expanders.
  • the SAS standard defines the connectors and voltage levels.
  • the physical characteristics of the SAS wiring and signaling are compatible with and have loosely tracked that of SATA up to the present 6 Gbit/s rate, although SAS defines more rigorous physical signaling specifications as well as a wider allowable differential voltage swing intended to support longer cabling.
  • SAS-l.O/SAS-1.1 adopted the physical signaling characteristics of SATA at the 1.5 Gbit/s and 3 Gbit/s rates
  • SAS-2.0 development of a 6 Gbit s physical rate led the development of an equivalent SATA speed.
  • 12 Gbil/s is slated to follow 6 Gbit/s in a future SAS-3.0 specification.
  • a typical Serial Attached SCSI system consists of an initiator, a target, a Service Delivery Subsystem and expanders:
  • An Initiator is a device that originates device-service and task- management requests for processing by a target device and receives responses for the same requests from other target devices. Initiators may be provided as an on-board component on the motherboard (as is the case with many server-oriented motherboards) or as an add-on host bus adapter.
  • a Target is a device containing logical units and target ports that receives device service and task management requests for processing and sends responses to the same requests to initiator devices. A target device could be a hard disk or a disk array system.
  • a Service Delivery Subsystem is the part of an I/O system that transmits information between an initiator and a target.
  • cables connecting an initiator and target with or without expanders and backplanes constitute a service delivery subsystem.
  • Expanders are devices that form part of a service delivery subsystem and facilitate communication between SAS devices. Expanders facilitate the connection of multiple SAS End devices to a single initiator port. An initiator may connect directly to a target via one or more PHYs.
  • Nearline SAS or NL-SAS drives are enterprise SATA drives with a SAS interface, head, media, and rotational speed of traditional enterprise-class SATA drives with the fully capable SAS interface typical for classic SAS drives.
  • SAS Expanders facilitate communication between large numbers of SAS devices.
  • Expanders contain twoTM * mnr e external expander-ports.
  • Each expander device contains at least one SAS Management Protocol target port for management and may contain SAS devices itself.
  • an expander may include a Serial SCSI Protocol target port for access to a peripheral device.
  • An expander is not necessary to interface a SAS initiator and target but allows a single initiator to communicate with more SAS/SATA targets.
  • Edge expanders can do direct table routing and subtractive routing.
  • a fanout expander can connect up to 255 sets of edge expanders, known as an edge expander device set, allowing for even more SAS devices to be addressed.
  • each edge expander will be connected to the PHYs of a fanout expander.
  • the SAS is further described in White Paper "serial Attached SCSI and Serial Compatibility", Intel Corporation Doc. 0103/OC/EW/PP/lK - 254402- 001, 2002, in the Product Manual "Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) Interface Manual", Publication number: 100293071, Rev. B, Seagate Technology LLC, May 2006, and in Technology Brief, 4 th edition, "Serial Attached SCSI technologies and architectures", Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P., TC0000772, August 2011, which are all incorporated in their entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • USB Universal Serial Bus
  • USB was designed to standardize the connection of computer peripherals, such as keyboards, pointing devices, digital cameras, printers, portable media players, disk drives, and network adapters for personal computers, both to communicate and to supply electric power. It has become commonplace on other devices, such as Smartphones, PDAs and video game consoles. USB has effectively replaced a variety of earlier interfaces, such as serial and parallel ports, as well as separate power chargers for portable devices.
  • a USB system has an asymmetric design, consisting of a host, a multitude of downstream USB ports, and multiple peripheral devices connected in a tiered-star topology.
  • USB hubs may be included in the tiers, allowing branching into a tree structure with up to five tier levels.
  • a USB host may have multiple host controllers and each host controller may provide one or more USB ports. Up to 127 devices, including the hub devices (if present), may be connected to a single host controller. USB devices are linked in series through hubs. There always exists one hub known as the root hub, which is built into the host controller.
  • a physical USB device may consist of several logical sub-devices that are referred to as device functions. A host assigns one and only one device address to a function.
  • USB device communication is based on pipes (logical channels).
  • a pipe is a connection from the host controller to a logical entity, found on a device, and named an endpoint. Because pipes correspond 1-to-l to endpoints, the terms are sometimes used interchangeably.
  • a USB device can have up to 32 endpoints: 16 into the host controller and 16 out of the host controller. The USB standard reserves one endpoint of each type, leaving a theoretical maximum of 30 for normal use. USB devices seldom have this many endpoints.
  • stream and message pipes depending on the type of data transfer: isochronous transfers, at any guaranteed data rate (often, but not necessarily, as fast as possible) but with possible data loss (e.g., real-time audio or video), interrupt transfers, relating devices that need guaranteed quick responses (bounded latency) (e.g., pointing devices and keyboards), bulk transfers, where large sporadic transfers using all remaining available bandwidth, but with no guarantees on bandwidth or latency (e.g., file transfers), and control transfers, typically used for short, simple commands to the device, and a status response, used, for example, by the bus control pipe number 0.
  • Endpoints are grouped into interfaces and each interface is associated with a single device function.
  • endpoint zero which is used for device configuration and which is not associated with any interface.
  • a single device function composed of independently controlled interfaces is called a composite device.
  • a composite device only has a single device address because the host only assigns a device address to a function.
  • USB 1.x and 2.0 specifications provide a 5 V supply on a single wire from which connected USB devices may draw power.
  • the specification provides for no more than 5.25 V and no less than 4.75 V (5 V ⁇ 5%) between the positive and negative bus power lines.
  • the voltage supplied by low-powered hub ports is 4.45-5.25 V.
  • a unit load is defined as 100 mA in USB 2.0, and 150 mA in USB 3.0.
  • a device may draw a maximum of 5 unit loads (500 mA) from a port of USB 2.0; and 6 (900 mA) in USB 3.0.
  • a low-power device draws at most 1 unit load, with minimum operating vpltage of 4.4 V in USB 2.0, and 4 V in USB 3.0.
  • a high-power device draws the maximum number of unit loads permitted by the standard. Every device function initially as low-power, but the device may request high-power and will get it if the power is available on the providing bus. Some devices, such as high-speed external disk drives, require more than 500 mA of current and therefore cannot be powered from one USB 2.0 port. Such devices usually come with a Y - shaped cable that has two USB connectors to be plugged into a computer. With such a cable a device can draw power from two USB ports simultaneously.
  • a bus-powered hub initializes itself at 1 unit load and transitions to maximum unit loads after it completes hub configuration.
  • Any device connected to the hub will draw 1 unit load regardless of the current draw of devices connected to other ports of the hub (i.e. one device connected on a four-port hub will draw only 1 unit load despite the fact that more unit loads are being supplied to the hub).
  • a self-powered hub will supply maximum supported unit loads to any device connected to it.
  • the VBUS will present 1 unit load upstream for communication if parts of the hub are powered down.
  • USB supports the following signaling rates (the terms speed and bandwidth are used interchangeably, and "high-" is alternatively written as "hi-").
  • a low-speed rate of 1.5 Mbit/s ( ⁇ 183 kB/s) is defined by USB 1.0. It is very similar to full-bandwidth operation except each bit takes 8 times as long to transmit.
  • the full-speed rate of 12 Mbit/s (—1.43 MB/s) is the basic USB data rate defined by USB 1.0. All USB hubs support full-bandwidth.
  • a high-speed (USB 2.0) rate of 480 Mbit/s ( ⁇ 57 MB/s) was introduced in 2001.
  • USB 3.0 USB 3.0
  • USB 3.0 connectors are generally backwards compatible, but include new wiring and full duplex operation.
  • USB signals are transmitted on a twisted-pair data cable with 90 ⁇ ⁇ 15% characteristic impedance, labeled D+ and D-. Prior to USB 3.0, half-duplex differential signaling was used to reduce the effects of electromagnetic noise on longer lines.
  • Transmitted signal levels are 0.0 to 0.3 volts for low and 2.8 to 3.6 volts for high in full-bandwidth and low-bandwidth modes, and -10 to 10 mV for low and 360 to 440 mV for high in hi-bandwidth mode.
  • FS mode the cable wires are not terminated, but the HS mode has termination of 45 ⁇ to ground, or 90 ⁇ differential to match the data cable impedance, reducing interference due to signal reflections.
  • USB 3.0 introduces two additional pairs of shielded twisted wire and new, mostly interoperable contacts in USB 3.0 cables, for them. They permit the higher data rate, and full duplex operation.
  • USB Universal Serial Bus 3.0 Specification
  • Revision 1.0 June 6, 2011, downloaded from www.usb.org
  • Peacock C Peacock C
  • USB in a Nutshell 3 rd Release, November 23, which are all incorporated in their entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • a hard disk drive is a secondary and non-volatile data storage device used for storing and retrieving digital information using rapidly rotating disks (platters) coated with magnetic material. Data is read in a random-access manner, meaning individual blocks of data can be stored or retrieved in any order rather than sequentially.
  • An HDD is based on one or more rigid ("hard") rapidly rotating disks (platters) with magnetic heads arranged on a moving actuator arm to read and write data to the surfaces.
  • the current two most common form factors for modern HDDs are 3.5- inch in desktop computers and 2.5-inch in laptops.
  • HDDs are connected to systems by standard interface cables such as SATA (Serial ATA), USB or SAS (Serial attached SCSI) cables.
  • An HDD records data by magnetizing a thin film of ferromagnetic material on a disk. Sequential changes in the direction of magnetization represent binary data bits. The data is read from the disk by detecting the transitions in magnetization. User data is encoded using an encoding scheme, such as run-length limited encoding, which determines how the data is represented by the magnetic transitions.
  • FIG. 2 shows a typical schematic view of a common HDD 20.
  • a typical HDD design consists of a spindle 22 that holds flat circular disks 21, also called platters, which hold the recorded data.
  • the platters are made from a non-magnetic material, usually aluminium alloy, glass, or ceramic, and are coated with a shallow layer of magnetic material typically 10-20 nm in depth, with an outer layer of carbon for protection.
  • the platters 21 in contemporary HDDs spin at speeds varying from 4,200 RPM in energy-efficient portable devices, to 15,000 RPM for high performance servers.
  • Today, the platters in most consumer HDDs spin in the range of 5,400 RPM to 7,200 RPM.
  • Information is written to and read from a platter 21 as it rotates via head 23 that operate very close (often tens of nanometers) over the magnetic surface.
  • the read-and-write head 23 is used to detect and modify the magnetization of the material immediately under it.
  • An actuator arm 24 (or access arm) moves the head 23 on an arc (roughly radially) across the platters 21 as they spin, allowing each head to access almost the entire surface of the platter 21 as it spins.
  • the arm 24 is moved using a voice coil actuator 26 (or in some older designs a stepper motor) around an actuator axis 25.
  • a typical HDD has two electric motors; a spindle motor that spins the disks 21 and an actuator (motor) that positions the read/write head 23 assembly across the spinning disks 21.
  • the disk motor has an external rotor attached to the disks; the stator windings are fixed in place.
  • the actuator at the end of the head support arm 24 is the read- write head 23; thin printed- circuit cables connect the read-write heads 23 to amplifier electronics mounted at the pivot of the actuator.
  • HDD The presentation of an HDD to its host is determined by its controller. This may differ substantially from the drive's native interface particularly in mainframes or servers.
  • Modern HDDs such as SAS and SATA drives, appear at their interfaces as a contiguous set of logical blocks; typically 512 bytes long but the industry is in the process of changing to 4,096-byte logical blocks.
  • the process of initializing these logical blocks on the physical disk platters is called low level formatting which is usually performed at the factory and is not normally changed in the field.
  • High level formatting writes the file system structures into selected logical blocks to make the remaining logical blocks available to the host OS and its applications.
  • the opeiating system file system uses some of the disk space to organize files on the disk, recording their file names and the sequence of disk areas that represent the file. Examples of data structures stored on disk to retrieve files include the file allocation table (FAT) in the MS-DOS file system and inodes in many UNIX file systems, as well as other operating system data structures. As a consequence not all the space on an HDD is available for user files.
  • FAT file allocation table
  • FIG. 3 A schematic block diagram 30 of the control electronics of an HDD (such as HDD 20) is shown in FIG. 3.
  • the HDD 30 is powered via the power connector 39, receiving power from the computer power supply or any other power source.
  • a DC power is provided to the HDD 30, feeding a DC/DC converter 31 that may be a linear or switching type, which converts the incoming voltage to the required low-level stabilized DC voltage or voltages, commonly suitable for power the digital circuits, such as 3.3VDC, 5VDC or 12VDC, and various voltages required by the internal electronics circuitry of the HDD 30.
  • the power source may be the mains AC power, and then the DC/DC converter 31 is substituted with an AC/DC converter, which is power fed from the common AC power supply via the AC plug connector and a power cord, using the mains AC power (commonly 115VAC/60Hz in North America or 220VAC/50Hz in Europe) as the power source.
  • the power supply commonly includes an AC/DC converter, for converting the AC voltage power supplies commonly include voltage stabilizers for ensuring that the output remains within certain limits under various load conditions, and typically employs a transformer, silicon diode bridge rectifier, reservoir capacitor and voltage regulator IC.
  • the DC/DC converter 31 or the AC/DC converter may include a boost converter, such as a buck boost converter, charge pump, inverter and regulators as known in the art, as required for conversion of one form of electrical power to another desired form and voltage.
  • a SATA connector 41a is used for connecting to a SATA cable, for receiving data to be stored, transmitting data stored in the HDD 30, and various control and management information.
  • a SATA interface 32a is used for interfacing the SATA bus, in order to decode SATA protocol information received from the SATA bus, and for encoding of SATA protocol information to be transmitted to the host processor.
  • the HDD 30 is controlled by the processor 33, connected to control and / or exchange data with the various components of the HDD 30.
  • the processor 33 executes instruction and uses data stored as firmware in the memory 34, which commonly includes a non-volatile memory.
  • the firmware may also be stored, in whole or in part, on a sector referred to as 'system area' as part of the disk itself (on the platters).
  • the processor control and communicates with the read/write head 38 (corresponding to the head 23), for writing data to, and reading data from, the platters 21.
  • the processor 33 further controls the location of the actuator arm 24 by controlling the actuator motor 36, and further control the spindle motor 35 used to rotate the spindle 22, typically via a servo amplifier and rotation control mechanism.
  • the HDD processor 33 serves as the HDD controller and controls the movement of the actuator 24 and the rotation of the disk 21, and performs reads and writes on demand. Feedback of the drive electronics is accomplished by means of special segments of the disk dedicated to servo feedback. These are either complete concentric circles (in the case of dedicated servo technology), or segments interspersed with real data (in the case of embedded servo technology).
  • the servo feedback optimizes the signal to noise ratio of the GMR sensors by adjusting the voice-coil of the actuated arm 24.
  • the spinning of the disk 21 typically uses a servo motor 35.
  • Common disk firmware is capable of scheduling reads and writes efficiently on the platter 21 surfaces and remapping sectors of the media which have failed.
  • An arrangement 40 in FIG. 4 shows a typical environment of a computer, such as a desktop or laptop computer, where the HDD 30 is connected as a peripheral to the host computer 45, commonly implemented over a computer motherboard.
  • the host computer 45 (which may correspond to the computer system 100 or 110 shown in FIG. 1) includes a processor 33 executing instructions and manipulating data stored in memory 42 (which may correspond to the main memory 122, ROM 121, or a combination of both, as shown in FIG. 1).
  • the processor 33 communicates over a SATA bus cable 43 using a SATA connector 41b via a SATA Interface 32b, which mates with the corresponding SATA interface 32a in the HDD 30.
  • Data to be stored on the HDD 30 is sent by the processor 33 over the SATA bus (comprising the SATA bus cable 43 connected between mating SATA connectors 41a and 41b) using the mating SATA bus interfaces 32a and 32b, and similarly data to be read from the HDD 30 is fetched by the processor 33 over the SATA bus.
  • Malware short for 'malicious software', is a general term used to refer to a variety of forms of hostile or intrusive software.
  • a malware is software or program that is inserted into a system, usually covertly, with the intent of compromising the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of the victim's data, applications, or operating system or of otherwise annoying or disrupting the victim.
  • Malware is commonly used or programmed by attackers to disrupt computer operation, gather sensitive information, or gain access to private computer systems. It can appear in the form of code, scripts, active content, firmware, and other software. Malware may be used to steal sensitive information of personal, financial, or business importance by black hat hackers with harmful intentions.
  • Malware is sometimes used broadly against governments or corporations to gather guarded information, or to disrupt their operation in general. However, malware is often used against individuals to gain personal information such as social security numbers, bank or credit card numbers, and so on. Left unguarded, personal and networked computers can be at considerable risk against these threats. Malware includes computer viruses, ransomware, worms, trojan horses, rootkits, backdoors, keyloggers, dialers, spyware, adware, malicious BHOs, rogue security software and other malicious programs. Some malware is disguised as genuine software, and may come from an official company website or otherwise in the form of a useful or attractive program which has the harmful malware embedded in it along with additional tracking software. Further, as used herein, a malware will include any non-authentic software or firmware, such as software / firmware (or changes in such software) in a device that was not originally installed by the device manufacturer.
  • a computer virus is a form of malware that is designed to self-replicate, make copies of itself, and distribute the copies to other files, programs, or computers, without the user's consent.
  • the virus replicates by inserting copies of itself (possibly modified) into other computer programs, data files, or the boot sector of the hard drive; when this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be "infected”.
  • Viruses often perform some type of harmful activity on infected hosts, such as stealing hard disk space or CPU time, accessing private information, corrupting data, displaying political or humorous messages on the user's screen, spamming their contacts, or logging their keystrokes.
  • Virus writers commonly use social engineering and exploit detailed knowledge of security vulnerabilities to gain access to their hosts' computing resources. Motives for creating viruses can include seeking profit, desire to send a political message, personal amusement, to demonstrate that a vulnerability exists in the software, for sabotage and denial of service, or simply because they wish to explore artificial life and evolutionary algorithms.
  • Ransomware (which when carried out correctly is called cryptoviral extortion, but is sometimes also called scareware) comprises a class of malware which restricts access to the computer system that it infects, and demands a ransom paid to the creator of the malware in order for the restriction to be removed. Some forms of ransomware encrypt files on the system's hard drive, while some may simply lock the system and display messages intended to coax the user into paying. Ransomware typically propagates like a conventional computer worm, entering a system through, for example, a downloaded file or a vulnerability in a network service. The program will then run a payload: such as one that will begin to encrypt personal files on the hard drive.
  • Ransomware payloads especially ones which do not encrypt files, utilize elements of scareware to coax the user into paying for its removal.
  • the payload may, for example, display notices purportedly issued by companies or law enforcement agencies which falsely claim that the user's system had been used for illegal activities, or contains illegal content such as pornography and unlawfully obtained software.
  • the ransomware will attempt to extort money from the system's user by forcing them to purchase either a program to decrypt the files it had encrypted, or an unlock code which will remove the locks it had applied.
  • a computer worm is a standalone malware computer program that that is completely self- contained and self-propagating, and replicates itself in order to spread to other computers. Often, it uses a computer network to spread itself, relying on security failures on the target computer to access it. Unlike a computer virus, it does not need to attach itself to an existing program. Worms almost always cause at least some harm to the network, even if only by consuming bandwidth, whereas viruses almost always corrupt or modify files on a targeted computer. Many worms that have been created are designed only to spread, and do not attempt to change the systems they pass through. However, even these "payload free" worms can cause major disruption by increasing network traffic and other unintended effects.
  • a "payload” is code in the worm designed to do more than spread the worm-it might delete files on a host system (e.g., the ExploreZip worm), encrypt files in a cryptoviral extortion attack, or send documents via e-mail.
  • a very common payload for worms is to install a backdoor on the infected computer to allow the creation of a "zombie" computer under control of the worm author. Networks of such machines are often referred to as botnets and are very commonly used by spam senders for sending junk email or to cloak their website's address. Backdoors can be exploited by other malware, including worms.
  • a 'Trojan horse', or 'Trojan' is a non-self- replicating type of malware program that appears to be benign but actually has a hidden malicious purpose, which commonly gains privileged access to the operating system while appearing to perform a desirable function but instead drops a malicious payload, often including a backdoor allowing unauthorized access to the target's computer. These backdoors tend to be invisible to average users, but may cause the computer to run slow. Trojans do not attempt to inject themselves into other files like a computer virus, but may steal information, or harm their host computer systems. Trojans may use drive-by downloads or install via online games or internet-driven applications in order to reach target computers.
  • a rootkit is a collection of files that is installed on a system to alter the standard functionality of the system in a malicious and stealthy way. Often malicious, the rootkit is designed to hide the existence of certain processes or programs from the normal methods of detection and enable continued privileged access to a computer. Rootkit installation can be automated, or an attacker can install it once they've obtained root or Administrator access. Obtaining this access is a result of direct attack on a system, such as by exploiting a known vulnerability or password (either by cracking, privilege escalation, or social engineering). Once installed, it becomes possible to hide the intrusion as well as to maintain privileged access. Full control over a system means that existing software can be modified, including software that might otherwise be used to detect or circumvent it.
  • Rootkit detection is difficult because a rootkit may be able to subvert the software that is intended to find it. Detection methods include using an alternative and trusted operating system, behavioral-based methods, signature scanning, difference scanning, and memory dump analysis. Removal can be complicated or practically impossible, especially in cases where the rootkit resides in the kernel; reinstallation of the operating system may be the only available solution to the problem. When dealing with firmware rootkits, removal may require hardware replacement; or specialized equipment.
  • Keystroke logging often referred to as 'keylogging' or 'Keyboard Capturing', is the action of recording (or logging) or monitoring the keys struck on a keyboard, typically in a covert manner so that the person using the keyboard is unaware that their actions are being monitored. It also has very legitimate uses in studies of human-computer interaction. There are numerous keylogging methods, ranging from hardware and software-based approaches to acoustic analysis.
  • Spyware is a malware that is intended to violate a user's privacy, typically by gathering information about a person or organization without their knowledge and that may send such information to another entit without the user's consent, or that asserts control over a computer without the consumer's knowledge. These programs may be designed to monitor users' web browsing, display unsolicited advertisements, or redirect affiliate marketing revenues to the spyware creator. "Spyware" is mostly classified into four types: system monitors, trojahs, adware, and tracking cookies. Spyware is mostly used for the purposes such as tracking and storing internet users' movements on the web, and serving up pop-up ads to internet users. Whenever spyware is used for malicious purposes, its presence is typically hidden from the user and can be difficult to detect.
  • Some spyware such as keyloggers, may be installed by the owner of a shared, corporate, or public computer intentionally in order to monitor users.
  • the functions of spyware can extend beyond simple monitoring.
  • Spyware can collect almost any type of data, including personal information like Internet surfing habits, user logins, and bank or credit account information.
  • Spyware can also interfere with user control of a computer by installing additional software or redirecting Web browsers.
  • Some spyware can change computer settings, which can result in slow Internet connection speeds, un-authorized changes in browser settings, or changes to software settings. Sometimes, spyware is included along with genuine software, and may come from a malicious website.
  • Spyware does not necessarily spread in the same way as a virus or worm because infected systems generally do not attempt to transmit or copy the software to other computers. Instead, spyware installs itself on a system by deceiving the user or by exploiting software vulnerabilities. Most spyware is installed without users' knowledge, or by using deceptive tactics. Spyware may try to deceive users by bundling itself with a desirable software. Other common tactics are using a Trojan horse. Some spyware authors infect a system through security holes in the Web browser or in other software, so that when the user navigates to a Web page controlled by the spyware author, the page contains code which attacks the browser and forces the download and installation of spyware.
  • a backdoor is a method of bypassing normal authentication procedures, securing illegal remote access to a computer, obtaining access to plaintext, and so on, while attempting to remain undetected.
  • a backdoor is a malicious program that listens for commands on a certain Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) or User Datagram Protocol (UDP) port.
  • TCP Transmission Control Protocol
  • UDP User Datagram Protocol
  • a backdoor in a login system might take the form of a hard coded user and password combination which gives access to the system.
  • the backdoor may take the form of an installed program (e.g., Back Orifice) or may subvert the system through a rootkit.
  • the operation of the system 40 or the HDD 30 may be negatively affected by a malware executed by the HDD 30 processor 33, which may be stored as part of the firmware or software in the memory 34 or on the platters 21 as part of the user addressable area or as part of the system area.
  • the malware executed by the host computer 45 processor 43 which may be stored as part of the firmware or software in the memory 42.
  • the malware may be used to damage the HDD 30, for example by commanding the various HDD components into a damaging state. Further, the malware may be used to erase, alter, or otherwise manipulate the information stored in the HDD 30, either on the platters 21 or in the HDD internal memory 34.
  • the malware may be used to allow unauthorized access for reading information from the HDD 30, or writing and storing unauthorized information on the HDD 30.
  • the malware affecting the HDD 30 may be installed by the HDD 30 manufacturer, or by any entity handling the HDD 30 as part of the supply chain, installation, maintenance, or usage of the HDD 30 or the host computer 45.
  • Handling the SATA protocol may be performed by the processor of the device (such as processor 33 of the HDD 30 or the processor 43 of the host computer 45), or by the SATA interface such as interface 32a or 32b, or by both, where each component is involved with different protocol related functionality or different protocol layer.
  • the SATA interface components such as SATA interface 32a or 32b may handle the SATA protocol physical layer (PHY), and thus may include a transceiver (transmitter + receiver), a serializer / de-serializer, a symbol aligner, a SERDES, data buffers, presence detection, and line-code encoding / decoding, and clocking mechanism.
  • PHY physical layer
  • the SATA interface components or the device processor may handle the I link layer of the SATA protocol, such as handling out-of-band signaling, frame negotiation and arbitration, CRC calculation, flow control, frame acknowledgement and status, and data scrambling / descrambling. Further, the SATA interface components or the device processor (or both) may handle the transport layer of the SATA protocol such as receiving a FIS and decoding its type, as well as constructing and transmitting FIS, initialization, and error detection.
  • SATA interface components such as SATA interface 32a or 32b may use or may be based on TMS320C674x/OMAP-Llx Processor available from Texas Instruments Incorporated, described in the User's Guide named "TMS320C674x/OMAP-Llx Processor Serial ATA (SATA) Controller", Literature Number SPRUGGJBC dated March 2011, which is incorporated in its entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • SATA Serial ATA
  • a computer enclosure 59 houses a computer system or sub-system 110 described above, that includes a processor 117 and communication interface 119, commonly mounted over a single motherboard or PCB.
  • the computer enclosure 59 further houses multiple internal peripherals, such as the shown internal peripheral 47, typically connected to the processor 117 via internal bus.
  • Such internal bus may include cables 51a and 51b, connected via the mating connectors 56a and 56b.
  • the internal peripheral 47a may be an HDD such as HDD 20 described above, connected via internal SATA bus, where the cables 51a and 51b are SATA cables, and connectors 56a and 56b are SATA-compliant connectors.
  • connection to external peripheral 47b makes use of an external bus, implemented by a cable 58b inside the enclosure connected to connector 57b typically located on the surface of the enclosure 59, for connecting to cable 58a via connector 57a, which mates with connector 57b.
  • external peripheral 47b may be connected via USB serving as the external bus, where cables 58a and 58b are USB standard compliant cables, and connectors 57a and 57b are mating USB connectors.
  • a connection to another computer system (or host) may also use internal or external buses.
  • typically the communication with another computer such as with the computer system 110a having a processor 117a shown in FIG. 4a, is over a network 52 as shown in FIG. 4a, using the communication interface 119 via connection 118 (which may be wired or wireless connection).
  • Sanitization generally refers to a process that renders access to target data on the media infeasible for at least given level of effort, and typically refers to countering the data remanence problem, relating to the residual information remaining on storage media after deleting files.
  • disk drives such as HDDs are the primary mass storage for computer systems
  • data sanitization as part of the HDD life cycle, such as part of discarding during end-of-life processes.
  • Guidelines for HDD sanitization and methods for disk sanitization are described in the article entitled 'Disposal of Disk and Tape Data by Secure Sanitization' by Gordon F. Hughes and Daniel M.
  • a receiving unit receives the data media and comprises a current supply, and has insert elements, which are provided for receiving the data media in fiber channel, Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) and Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) formats, and comprises the controllers for simultaneous controlling of different data medium types.
  • SCSI Small Computer System Interface
  • SATA Serial Advanced Technology Attachment
  • a 'memory' herein may be a random-accessed or a sequential-accessed memory, and may be location-based, randomly-accessed, and can be written multiple times.
  • the memory may be volatile and based on semiconductor storage medium, such as: RAM, SRAM, DRAM, TTRAM and Z- RAM.
  • the memory may be non-volatile and based on semiconductor storage medium, such as ROM, PROM, EPROM or EEROM, and may be a Flash-based, such as SSD drive or USB 'Thumb' drive.
  • the memory may be based on non-volatile magnetic storage medium, such as HDD.
  • the memory may be based on an optical storage medium that is recordable and removable, and may include an optical disk drive.
  • the storage medium may be: CD-RW, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD- RAM BD-RE, CD-ROM, BD-ROM or DVD-ROM.
  • the memory form factor may be an IC, a PCB on which one or more ICs are mounted, or a box-shaped enclosure.
  • a system for use with a host computer and a computer peripheral communicating over a computer bus carrying messages in a digital data may be used where the computer peripheral may be operable to be in multiple operation states.
  • the system may comprise a connector for connecting to the computer bus cable; a receiver coupled to the connector for receiving the digital data; a sensor that output sensor data responds in response to a phenomenon associated with the computer peripheral operation; a software and a processor for executing the software, the processor is coupled to the receiver for analyzing the messages and to sensor for receiving the sensor; data; and a port coupled to processor for outputting a signal; wherein the system is operative to output the signal in response to comparing the computer peripheral state to the sensor data.
  • the connector, the receiver, the processor, the sensor, and the port may be housed in a single enclosure.
  • the computer peripheral may be an electro-mechanical device, an input device or an output device.
  • the computer peripheral may be a non-volatile memory such as a hard disk drive, RAM, SRAM, DRAM, TTRAM, Z-RAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEROM, Flash-based memory, CD-RW, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM BD-RE, CD-ROM, BD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.
  • the computer bus may be according to, or based on, an industry standard computer bus, and the connector and the receiver may be according to, or based on, the industry standard.
  • the industry standard may be designed for communication with a mass storage device and is based on a point-to-point serial communication, such as SATA, PCI Express, SAS, SCSI, PATA, InfiniBand, USB, PCI, PCI-X, AGP, Thunderbolt, IEEE 1394, FireWire, and Fibre Channel.
  • the sensor may be external or internal to the computer peripheral, and may be attached to the computer peripheral enclosure.
  • the system may comprise a memory coupled to the processor that may be operative to store in the memory one or more of the messages.
  • the system may be integrated in part or entirely with the host computer or the computer peripheral. The integration may involve sharing a component, housing in the same enclosure, sharing the same connector such as power connector, sharing the same connector for being powered from the same power source, sharing the same power supply or the same processor, or mounting onto the same surface.
  • the system may further comprise a power supply for powering the computer peripheral, and a controllable switch connected between the power supply and the computer peripheral and controlled by the signal.
  • the system may further comprise a software or hardware-based timer for measuring time intervals. The timer may be coupled to the processor and used to measure the time interval of an operational state or the time to shift between two states. The interval measurement may use messages over the computer bus or sensors output for commencing or ending the interval measurement.
  • the system may be used with an enclosure capable of inserting the computer peripheral into, and capable of removing the computer peripheral therefrom, and the enclosure may .comprise a door, a tray, side panels, and a connector for connecting to the computer peripheral when fully inserted into the enclosure.
  • the system may be integrated with the enclosure, or may comprise the entire, or part, of the enclosure. Alternatively or in addition, the enclosure may comprise the entire, or part, of the system.
  • the system may include, be part of, or be integrated with, a testing equipment, such as for evaluating a parameter or characteristic of the computer peripheral.
  • the system may further be operative for detecting the existence or absence of a part of, or the entire, computer peripheral, and the sensor may be tactile, proximity, or light sensor.
  • the sensor may be a camera mounted to capture an external surface of the computer peripheral, and the system may further comprise an image processor for extracting information from the captured image.
  • the information may be used for detecting the existence or absence of a part of, or the entire, computer peripheral, or for detecting changes of part of, or the entire of, the computer peripheral, or for extracting text from the captured image.
  • the text may be based on alphanumeric representation or a bar-code representation, and may include an identification of the computer peripheral, such as serial number, vendor/manufacturer identification, MAC address, hardware version number, software version number, or production date.
  • the method may comprise the steps of coupling to the computer bus; receiving the message from the computer bus; determining the computer peripheral operation state based on the messages; estimating a phenomenon based on the determined peripheral state; sensing an actual phenomenon associated with the computer peripheral operation; comparing the estimated phenomenon to the actual phenomenon; and producing a signal in response to the comparison.
  • the operational states may include a power-up state that initiates upon powering part of, or the entire, computer peripheral, and ends upon the computer peripheral being operative to receive and respond to messages carried over the computer bus, an idle state whereby the computer peripheral neither receives nor transmits messages over the computer bus, a normal operation state, whereby messages are received from, or transmitted to, the computer bus, or a self-checking state, whereby at least part of the computer peripheral is checked under control of a processor internal to the computer peripheral.
  • the computer peripheral may be a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) where the operation states include at least one out of Start-up, Idle, Sleep, Standby, Write / Read, SMART, and Read- Modified- Write states.
  • HDD Hard Disk Drive
  • the method may comprise the step of storing the actual phenomenon result in a memory.
  • the method may be repeated periodically, and each time the measured result will be stored.
  • a group of consecutively stored phenomenon measurement results may be formed, and analyzed to find a pattern of the results, for example by using machine learning algorithm.
  • the method may be used with an enclosure capable of housing of, and connecting to, the computer peripheral. In such a case, the method may include the steps of inserting the computer peripheral into the enclosure, connecting to the computer peripheral, removing the computer peripheral from the enclosure, or disconnecting from the computer peripheral.
  • the computer peripheral may be a non-volatile storage device such as HDD, and the method may further be preceded by, followed by, or integrated with the step of sanitizing, or deleting files / data in, the non-volatile storage device.
  • the system may comprise multiple sensors arranged as a directional sensor array, and the system may be operative to estimate the number, magnitude, frequency, Direction-Of-Arrival (DOA), distance, or speed of the signal impinging the sensor array.
  • DOA Direction-Of-Arrival
  • the software may include processing of the sensor array outputs.
  • the sensor may be a piezoelectric sensor that uses the transverse, longitudinal, or shear effect mode of the piezoelectric effect.
  • the sensor may be based on ultrasonic- waves propagation, sensing eddy-currents, based on proximity sensor.
  • the sensor may be a bulk or surface acoustic sensor, or may be an atmospheric or an environmental sensor.
  • the sensor may provide a digital output, and the sensor output may include an electrical switch, and the electrical switch state may be responsive to the phenomenon magnitude measured versus a threshold.
  • the sensor may provide an analog output, and the system may comprise an analog to digital converter coupled to the analog output, for converting the sensor output to a digital data.
  • the system may comprise a signal conditioning circuit coupled to the sensor output, and the signal conditioning circuit may comprise an amplifier, a voltage or current limiter, an attenuator, a delay line or circuit, a level translator, a galvanic isolator, an impedance transformer, a linearization circuit, a calibrator, a passive filter, an active filter, an adaptive filter, an integrator, a deviator, an equalizer, a spectrum analyzer, a compressor or a de-compressor, a coder, a decoder, a modulator, a demodulator, a pattern recognizer, a smoother, a noise remover, an average circuit, or an RMS circuit.
  • the signal conditioning circuit may comprise an amplifier, a voltage or current limiter, an attenuator, a delay line or circuit, a level translator, a galvanic isolator, an impedance transformer, a linearization circuit, a calibrator, a passive filter, an active filter, an adaptive filter, an integrator,
  • the sensor may be operative to sense time-dependent characteristic of the sensed phenomenon, and may be operative to respond to a time-integrated, an average, an RMS (Root Mean Square) value, a frequency, a period, a duty-cycle, a time-integrated, or a time-derivative, of the sensed phenomenon.
  • the system may be operative to calculate or provide a time-dependent characteristic such as time-integrated, an average, an RMS (Root Mean Square) value, a frequency, a period, a duty-cycle, a time-integrated, or a time-derivative, of the sensed phenomenon.
  • the sensor may be operative to sense space-dependent characteristic of the sensed phenomenon, such as a pattern, a linear density, a surface density, a volume density, a flux density, a current, a direction, a rate of change in a direction, or a flow, of the sensed phenomenon.
  • the system may be operative to calculate or provide a space-dependent characteristic of the sensed phenomenon, such as a pattern, a linear density, a surface density, a volume density, a flux density, a current, a direction, a rate of change in a direction, or a flow, of the sensed phenomenon.
  • the system may include a sensor unit that includes one or more sensors, ekch providing an electrical output signal (such as voltage or current), or changing a characteristic (such as resistance or impedance) in response to a measured or detected phenomenon.
  • the sensors may be identical, similar or different from each other, and may measure or detect the same or different phenomena. Two or more sensors may be connected in series or in parallel.
  • the unit may include an excitation or measuring circuits (such as a bridge) to generate the sensor electrical signal.
  • the sensor output signal may be conditioned by a signal conditioning circuit.
  • the signal conditioner may involve time, frequency, or magnitude related manipulations.
  • the signal conditioner may be linear or non-linear, and may include an operation or an instrument amplifier, a multiplexer, a frequency converter, a frequency-to-voltage converter, a voltage-to-frequency converter, a current-to-voltage converter, a current loop converter, a charge converter, an attenuator, a sample-and-hold circuity a peak-detector, a voltage or current limiter, a delay line or circuit, a level translator, a galvanic isolator, an impedance transformer, a linearization circuit, a calibrator, a passive or active (or adaptive) filter, an integrator, a deviator, an equalizer, a spectrum analyzer, a compressor or a de-compressor, a coder (or decoder), a modulator (or demodulator), a pattern recognizer, a smoother, a noise remover, an average or RMS circuit, or any combination thereof.
  • an analog to digital (A/D) converter may be used to convert the conditioned sensor output signal to a digital sensor data.
  • the unit may include a computer for controlling and managing the unit operation, processing the digital sensor data and handling the unit communication.
  • the unit may include a modem or transceiver coupled to a network port (such as a connector or antenna), for interfacing and communicating over a network.
  • the sensor may be a CCD or CMOS based image sensor, for capturing still or video images.
  • the image capturing hardware integrated with the unit may contain a photographic lens (through a lens opening) focusing the required image onto an image sensor.
  • the image may be converted into a digital format by an image sensor AFE (Analog Front End) and an image processor.
  • An image or video compressor for compression of the image information may be used for reducing the memory size and reducing the data rate required for the transmission over the communication medium.
  • the sensor may be a voice sensor such as a microphone, and may similarly include a voice processor or a voice compressor (or both).
  • the image or voice compression may be standard or proprietary, may be based on intraframe or interframe compression, and may be lossy or non-lossy compression.
  • the sensor may be an image sensor for providing digital camera functionality, allowing an image (either as still images or as a video) to be captured, stored, manipulated and displayed.
  • the image capturing hardware integrated with the sensor unit may contain a photographic lens (through a lens opening) focusing the required image onto a photosensitive image sensor array disposed approximately at an image focal point plane of the optical lens, for capturing the image and producing electronic image information representing the image.
  • the image sensor may be based on Charge-Coupled Devices (CCD) or Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS).
  • CCD Charge-Coupled Devices
  • CMOS Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor
  • the image may be converted into a digital format by an image sensor AFE (Analog Front End) and an image processor, commonly including an analog to digital (A/D) converter coupled to the image sensor for generating a digital data representation of the image.
  • the system may contain a video compressor, coupled between the analog to digital (A/D) converter and the transmitter for compressing the digital video data before transmission to the communication medium.
  • the compressor may be used for lossy or non-lossy compression of the image information, for reducing the memory size and reducing the data rate required for the transmission over the communication medium.
  • the compression may be based on a standard compression algorithm such as JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) and MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group), ITU-T H.261, ITU-T H.263, ITU-T H.264, or ITU-T CCIR 601.
  • JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group
  • MPEG Motion Picture Experts Group
  • the digital data video signal carrying a digital data video according to a digital video format, and a transmitter coupled between the port and the image processor for transmitting the digital data video signal to the communication medium.
  • the digital video format may be based on one out of: TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), RAW format, AVI (Audio Video Interleaved), DV, MOV, WMV, MP4, DCF (Design Rule for Camera Format), ITU-T H.261, ITU-T H.263, ITU-T H.264, ITU-T CCIR 601, ASF, Exif (Exchangeable Image File Format), and DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) standards.
  • the sensor may be an electrical sensor used to measure electrical quantities or electrical properties, such as electrical power provided to the computer peripheral.
  • the electrical sensor may be conductively connected to the measured element. Alternatively or in addition, the electrical sensor may use non-conductive or non-contact coupling to the measured element, such as measuring a phenomenon associated with the measured quantity or property.
  • the electric sensor may be a current sensor or an ampmeter (a.k.a. ampermeter) for measuring DC or AC (or any other waveform) electric current passing through a conductor or wire.
  • the current sensor may be connected such that part or entire of the measured electric current may be passing through the ampermeter, such as a galvanometer or a hot-wire ampermeter.
  • An ampermeter may be a current clamp or current probe, and may use the 'Hall effect' or a current transformer concept for non- contact or non-conductive current measurement.
  • the electrical sensor may be a voltmeter for measuring the DC or AC (or any other waveform) voltage, or any potential difference between two points.
  • the voltmeter may be based on the current passing a resistor using the Ohm's law, may be based on a potentiometer, or may be based on a bridge circuit.
  • the sensor may be a wattmeter measuring the magnitude of the active AC or DC power (or the supply rate of electrical energy).
  • the wattmeter may be a bolometer, used for measuring the power of incident electromagnetic radiation via the heating of a material with a temperature- dependent electrical resistance.
  • a sensor may be an electricity AC (single or multi-phase) or DC type meter (or electrical energy meter), that measures the amount of electrical energy consumed by a load.
  • the electricity meter may be based on a wattmeter which accumulate or average the readings, may be based on induction, or may be based on multiplying measured voltage and current.
  • An electrical sensor may be an ohmmeter for measuring the electrical resistance (or conductance), and may be a megohmmeter or a microohmeter. The ohmmeter may use the Ohm's law to derive the resistance from voltage and current measurements, or may use a bridge such as a Wheatstone bridge.
  • a sensor may be a capacitance meter for measuring capacitance.
  • a sensor may be an inductance meter for measuring inductance.
  • a sensor may be an impedance meter for measuring an impedance of a device or a circuit.
  • a sensor may be an LCR meter, used to measure inductance (L), capacitance (C), and resistance (R).
  • a meter may use a bridge circuit (such as Wheatstone bridge), where variable calibrated elements are adjusted to detect a null. The measurement may be using DC, using a single frequency or over a range of frequencies.
  • the sensor may be a Time-Domain Reflectometer (TDR) used to characterize and locate faults in transmission-lines such as conductive or metallic lines, based on checking the reflection of a transmitted short rise time pulse.
  • TDR Time-Domain Reflectometer
  • an optical TDR may be used to test optical fiber cables.
  • the sensor may be a scalar or a vector magnetometer for measuring an H or B magnetic fields.
  • the magnetometer may be based on a Hall effect sensor, magneto-diode, magneto-transistor, AMR magnetometer, GMR magnetometer, magnetic tunnel junction magnetometer, magneto- optical sensor, Lorentz force based MEMS sensor, Electron Tunneling based MEMS sensor, MEMS compass, Nuclear precession magnetic field sensor (a.k.a. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance - NMR), optically pumped magnetic field sensor, fluxgate magnetometer, search coil magnetic field sensor, or Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) magnetometer.
  • the sensor may be a strain gauge, used to measure the strain, or any other deformation, of an object.
  • the sensor may be based on deforming a metallic foil, semiconductor strain gauge (such as piezoresistors), measuring the strain along an optical fiber, capacitive strain gauge, and vibrating or resonating of a tensioned wire.
  • a sensor may be a tactile sensor, being sensitive to force or pressure, or being sensitive to a touch by an object, typically a human touch.
  • a tactile sensor inay be based on a conductive rubber, a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) material, a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) material, a metallic capacitive element, or any combination thereof.
  • a tactile sensor may be a tactile switch, which may be based on the human body conductance, using measurement of conductance or capacitance.
  • the sensor may be a piezoelectric sensor, where the piezoelectric effect is used to measure pressure, acceleration, strain or force, and may use transverse, longitudinal, or shear effect mode.
  • a thin membrane may be used to transfer and measure pressure, while mass may be used for acceleration measurement.
  • a piezoelectric sensor element material may be a piezoelectric ceramics (such as PZT ceramic) or a single crystal material.
  • a single crystal material may be gallium phosphate, quartz, tourmaline, or Lead Magnesium Niobate-Lead Titanate (PMN-PT).
  • the sensor may be a motion sensor, and may include one or more accelerometers, which measures the absolute acceleration or the acceleration relative to freefall.
  • the accelerometer may be piezoelectric, piezoresistive, capacitive, MEMS or electromechanical switch accelerometer, measuring the magnitude and the direction the device acceleration in a single-axis 2-axis or 3-axis (omnidirectional).
  • the motion sensor may be based on electrical tilt and vibration switch or any other electromechanical switch.
  • the sensor may be a force sensor, a load cell, or a force gauge (a.k.a. force gage), used to measure a force magnitude and / or direction, and may be based on a spring extension, a strain gauge deformation, a piezoelectric effect, or a vibrating wire.
  • a sensor may be a driving or passive dynamometer, used to measure torque or any moment of force.
  • the sensor may be a pressure sensor (a.k.a. pressure transducer or pressure transmitter / sender) for measuring a pressure of gases or liquids, and for indirectly measuring other parameters such as fluid/gas flow, speed, water-level, and altitude.
  • a pressure sensor may be a pressure switch.
  • a pressure sensor may be an absolute pressure sensor, a gauge pressure sensor, a Vacuum pressure sensor, a differential pressure sensor, or a sealed pressure sensor.
  • the changes in pressure relative to altitude may be used for an altimeter, and the Venturi effect may be used to measure flow by a pressure sensor.
  • the depth of a submerged body or the fluid level on contents in a tank may be measured by a pressure sensor.
  • the pressure sensor may be of a force collector type, where a force collector (such as a diaphragm, piston, Bourdon tube, or bellows) is used to measure strain (or deflection) due to applied force (pressure) over an area.
  • a force collector such as a diaphragm, piston, Bourdon tube, or bellows
  • Such sensor may be a based on the piezoelectric effect (a piezoresistive strain gauge), may be of a capacitive or of an electromagnetic type.
  • a pressure sensor may be based on a potentiometer, or may be based on using the changes in resonant frequency or the thermal conductivity of a gas, or may use the changes in the flow of charged gas particles (ions).
  • the sensor may be a position sensor for measuring linear or angular position (or motion).
  • a position sensor may be an absolute position sensor, or may be a displacement (relative or incremental) sensor, measuring a relative position, and may be an electromechanical sensor.
  • a position sensor may be mechanically attached to the measured object, or alternatively may use a non-contact measurement.
  • the position sensor may be an angular position sensor, for measuring involving an angular position (or the rotation or motion) of a shaft, an axle, or a disk.
  • Absolute angular position sensor output indicates the current position (angle) of the shaft, while incremental or displacement sensor provides information about the change, the angular speed or the motion of the shaft.
  • An angular position sensor may be of optical type, using reflective or interruption schemes, or may be of magnetic type, such as based on a Variable-Reluctance (VR), Eddy-current killed oscillator (ECKO), Wiegand sensing, or Hall-effect sensing, or may be based on a rotary potentiometer.
  • VR Variable-Reluctance
  • ECKO Eddy-current killed oscillator
  • Wiegand sensing Wiegand sensing
  • Hall-effect sensing or may be based on a rotary potentiometer.
  • An angular position sensor may be a transformer based such as an RVDT, a resolver or a synchro.
  • An angular position sensor may be based on an absolute or incremental rotary encoder, and may be a mechanical or an optical rotary encoder, using binary or gray encoding schemes.
  • the sensor may be an angular rate sensor, used to measure the angular rate, or the rotation speed, of a shaft, an axle or a disc, and may be electromechanical (such as centrifugal switch), MEMS based, Laser based (such as Ring Laser Gyroscope - RLG), or a gyroscope (such as fiberoptic gyro) based. Some gyroscopes use the measurement of the Coriolis acceleration to determine the angular rate.
  • An angular rate sensor may be a tachometer, which may be based on measuring the centrifugal force, or based on optical, electric, or magnetic sensing a slotted disk.
  • the position sensor may be a linear position sensor, for measuring a linear displacement or position typically in a straight line, and may use a transformer principle such as such as LVDT, or may be based on a resistive element such as linear potentiometer.
  • a linear position sensor may be an incremental or absolute linear encoder, and may employ optical, magnetic, capacitive, inductive, or eddy-current principles.
  • the sensor may be a mechanical or electrical motion detector (or an occupancy sensor), for discrete (on/off) or magnitude-based motion detection.
  • a motion detector may be based on sound (acoustic sensors), opacity (optical and infrared sensors and video image processors), geomagnetism (magnetic sensors, magnetometers), reflection of transmitted energy (infrared laser radar, ultrasonic sensors, and microwave radar sensors), electromagnetic induction (inductive-loop detectors), or vibration (triboelectric, seismic, and inertia-switch sensors).
  • Acoustic sensors may use electric effect, inductive coupling, capacitive coupling, triboelectric effect, piezoelectric effect, fiber optic transmission, or radar intrusion sensing.
  • An occupancy sensor is typically a motion detector that may be integrated with hardware or software-based timing device.
  • the motion sensor may be a mechanically-actuated switch or trigger, or may use passive or active electronic sensors, such as passive infrared sensors, ultrasonic sensors, microwave sensor or tomographic detector.
  • passive or active electronic sensors such as passive infrared sensors, ultrasonic sensors, microwave sensor or tomographic detector.
  • motion can be electronicall identified using infrared (PIR) or laser optical detection or acoustical detection, or may use a combination of the technologies disclosed herein.
  • PIR infrared
  • laser optical detection or acoustical detection
  • the sensor may be a humidity sensor, such as a hygrometer or a humidistat, and may respond to an absolute, relative, or specific humidity.
  • the measurement may be based on optically detecting condensation, or may be based on changing the capacitance, resistance, or thermal conductivity of materials subjected to the measured humidity.
  • the sensor may be a clinometer for measuring angle (such as pitch or roll) of an object, typically with respect to a plane such as the earth ground plane.
  • a clinometer may be based on an accelerometer, a pendulum, or on a gas bubble in liquid, or may be a tilt switch, such as a mercury tilt switch, for detecting inclination or declination with respect to a determined tilt angle.
  • the sensor may be a gas or liquid flow sensor, for measuring the volumetric or mass flow rate via a defined area or a surface.
  • a liquid flow sensor typically involves measuring the flow in a pipe or in an open conduit.
  • a flow measurement may be based on a mechanical flow meter, such as a turbine flow meter, a Woltmann meter, a single jet meter, or a paddle wheel meter.
  • Pressure-based meters may be based on measuring a pressure or a pressure differential based on Bernoulli's principle, such as a Venturi meter.
  • the sensor may be an optical flow meter or be based on the Doppler-effect.
  • the flow sensor may be an air flow sensor, for measuring the air or gas flow, such as through a surface (e.g., through a tube) or a volume, by actually measuring the air volume passing, or by measuring the actual speed or air flow.
  • a pressure typically differential pressure
  • An anemometer is an air flow sensor primarily for measuring wind speed, and may be cup anemometer, a windmill anemometer, hot-wire anemometer such as CCA (Constant-Current Anemometer), CVA (Constant- Voltage Anemometer) and CTA (Constant-Temperature Anemometer).
  • Sonic anemometers use ultrasonic sound waves to measure wind velocity. Air flow may be measured by a pressure anemometer that may be a plate or tube class.
  • the sensor may be a gyroscope, for measuring orientation in space, such as the conventional mechanical type, a MEMS gyroscope, a piezoelectric gyroscope, a FOG, or a VSG type.
  • a sensor may be a nanosensor, a solid-state, or an ultrasonic based sensor.
  • a sensor may be an eddy-current sensor, where the measurement may be based on producing and / or measuring eddy-currents.
  • the sensor may be a proximity sensor, such as a metal detector.
  • a sensor may be a bulk or surface acoustic sensor, or may be an atmospheric sensor.
  • multiple sensors may be used arranged as a sensor array (such as linear sensor array), for improving the sensitivity, accuracy, resolution, and other parameters of the sensed phenomenon.
  • the sensor array may be directional, and better measure the parameters of the impinging signal to the array, such as the number, magnitudes, frequencies, Direction-Of-Arrival (DOA), distances, and speeds of the signals.
  • DOA Direction-Of-Arrival
  • the processing of the entire sensor array outputs, such as to obtain a single measurement or a single parameter may be performed by a ded icated processor, which may be part of the sensor array assembly, may be performed in the processor 54, or may be performed by the processor 33.
  • a sensor operation may be based on an external or integral mechanism for generating a stimulus or an excitation to generate influence or create a phenomenon.
  • the image processing may include video enhancement such as video denoising, image stabilization, unsharp masking, and super-resolution.
  • the image processing may include a Video Content Analysis (VCA), such as Video Motion Detection (VMD), video tracking, and egomotion estimation, as well as identification, behavior analysis and other forms of situation awareness, dynamic masking, motion detection, object detection, face recognition, automatic number plate recognition, tamper detection, video tracking, and pattern recognition.
  • VCA Video Content Analysis
  • VMD Video Motion Detection
  • video tracking video tracking
  • egomotion estimation as well as identification, behavior analysis and other forms of situation awareness, dynamic masking, motion detection, object detection, face recognition, automatic number plate recognition, tamper detection, video tracking, and pattern recognition.
  • the image processing may be used for non-verbal human control of the system, such as by hand posture or gesture recognition.
  • the recognized hand posture or gesture may be used as input by the software in the controller, and thus enables humans to interface with the machine in ways sometimes described as Man-Machine Interfaces (MMI) or Human-Machine Interfaces (HMI) and interact naturally without any mechanical devices, and thus to impact the system operation.
  • MMI Man-Machine Interfaces
  • HMI Human-Machine Interfaces
  • An image-based recognition may use a single camera or 3-D camera.
  • a gesture recognition may be based on 3-D information of key elements of the body parts or may be 2-D appearance-based.
  • a 3-D model approach can use volumetric or skeletal models, or a combination of the two.
  • the sensor may be a thermoelectric sensor that senses or responds to a temperature or a temperature gradient of an object using conduction, convection, or radiation, and may consist of, or comprise, a Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC) thermistor, a Negative Temperature Coefficient (NTC) thermistor, a thermocouple, a quartz crystal, or a Resistance Temperature Detector (RTD).
  • PTC Positive Temperature Coefficient
  • NTC Negative Temperature Coefficient
  • a radiation-based sensor may respond to radioactivity, nuclear radiation, alpha particles, beta particles, or gamma rays, and may be based on gas ionization.
  • the sensor may be a photoelectric sensor that responds to a visible or an invisible light or both, such as infrared, ultraviolet, X-rays, or gamma rays.
  • the photoelectric sensor may be based on the photoelectric or photovoltaic effect, and consists of, or comprises, a semiconductor component such as a photodiode, a phototransistor, or a solar cell.
  • the photoelectric sensor may be based on Charge- Coupled Device (CCD) or a Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) element.
  • CCD Charge- Coupled Device
  • CMOS Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor
  • the sensor may be a photosensitive image sensor array comprising multiple photoelectric sensors, and may be operative for capturing an image and producing an electronic image information representing the image, and may comprise one or more optical lens for focusing the received light and mechanically oriented to guide the image, and the image sensor may be disposed approximately at an image focal point plane of the one or more optical lens for properly capturing the image.
  • An image processor may be coupled to the image sensor for providing a digital data video signal according to a digital video format, the digital video signal carrying digital data video based on the captured images, and the digital video format may be according to, or based on, one out of: TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), RAW format, AVI, DV, MOV, WMV, MP4, DCF (Design Rule for Camera Format), ITU-T H.261, ITU-T H.263, ITU-T H.264, ITU-T CCIR 601, ASF, Exif (Exchangeable Image File Format) and DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) standards.
  • a video compressor may be coupled to the image sensor for lossy or non-lossy compressing of the digital data video, and may be based on a standard compression algorithm such as JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) and MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group), ITU-T H.261, ITU-T H.263, ITU-T H.264, or ITU-T CCIR 601.
  • JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group
  • MPEG Motion Picture Experts Group
  • the sensor may be an electrochemical sensor and may respond to an object chemical structure, properties, composition, or reactions.
  • the electrochemical sensor may be a pH meter, or may be a gas sensor responding to the presence of radon, hydrogen, oxygen, or Carbon-Monoxide (CO).
  • the electrochemical sensor may be a smoke, a flame, or a fire detector, and may be based on optical detection or on ionization for responding to combustible, flammable, or toxic gas.
  • the sensor may be an electroacoustic sensor and may respond to a sound, such as inaudible or audible audio.
  • the electroacoustic sensor may be a an omnidirectional, unidirectional, or bidirectional microphone, may be based on the sensing the incident sound based motion of a diaphragm or a ribbon, and may consist of, or comprise, a condenser, an electret, a dynamic, a ribbon, a carbon, or a piezoelectric microphone.
  • the sensor may be an electric sensor and may respond to or measure an electrical characteristics or electrical phenomenon quantity, and may be conductively or non-conductively (or non-contact) couplable to the sensed element.
  • the electrical sensor may be responsive to Alternating Current (AC) or Direct Current (DC), and may be an ampermeter and respond to an electrical current passing through a conductor or wire.
  • the ampermeter may consist of, or comprises, a galvanometer, a hot-wire ampermeter, a current clamp, or a current probe.
  • the electrical sensor may be a voltmeter and may respond to or measure an electrical voltage.
  • the voltmeter may consist of, or comprise, an electrometer, a resistor, a potentiometer, or a bridge circuit.
  • the electrical sensor may be a wattmeter such as an electricity meter that responds to electrical energy, and may measure or respond to active electrical power. The wattmeter may be based on induction, or may be based on multiplying measured voltage and current.
  • the electrical sensor may be an impedance meter and may respond to the impedance of the sensed element such as bridge circuit or an ohmmeter, and may be based on supplying a current or a voltage and respectively measuring a voltage or a current.
  • the impedance meter may be a capacitance or an inductance meter (or both) and may respond to the capacitance or the inductance of the sensed element, being measuring in a single frequency or in multiple frequencies.
  • the electrical sensor may be a Time-Domain Reflectometer (TDR) and may respond to the impedance changes along a conductive transmission line, such as an optical TDR that may respond to the changes along an optical transmission line.
  • TDR Time-Domain Reflectometer
  • the sensor may be a magnetic sensor and may respond to an H or B magnetic field, and may consists of, or may be based on, a Hall effect sensor, a MEMS, a magneto-diode, a magneto- transistor, an AMR magnetometer, a GMR magnetometer, a magnetic tunnel junction magnetometer, a Nuclear precession magnetic field sensor, an optically pumped magnetic field sensor, a fluxgate magnetometer, a search coil magnetic field sensor, or a Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) magnetometer.
  • the magnetic sensor may be MEMS based, and may be a Lorentz force based MEMS sensor or may be an Electron Tunneling based MEMS.
  • the sensor may be a tactile sensor and may respond to a human body touch, and may be based on a conductive rubber, a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) material, a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) material, a metallic capacitive element, or any combination thereof.
  • PZT lead zirconate titanate
  • PVDF polyvinylidene fluoride
  • the sensor may be a single-axis, 2-axis, or 3-axis motion sensor and may respond to the magnitude, direction, or both, of the sensor motion.
  • the motion sensor may be a piezoelectric, a piezoresistive, a capacitive, or a MEMS accelerometer and may respond to the absolute acceleration or the acceleration relative to freefall.
  • the motion sensor may be an electromechanical switch and may consist of, or comprises, an electrical tilt or a vibration switch.
  • the sensor may be a force sensor and may respond to the magnitude, direction, or both, of a force, and may be based on a spring extension, a strain gauge deformation, a piezoelectric effect, or a vibrating wire.
  • the force sensor may be a dynamometer that responds to a torque or to a moment of the force.
  • the sensor may be a pressure sensor and may respond to a pressure of a gas or a liquid, and may consist of, or comprise, an absolute pressure sensor, a gauge pressure sensor, a vacuum pressure sensor, a differential pressure sensor, or a sealed pressure sensor.
  • the pressure sensor may be based on a force collector, the piezoelectric effect, a capacitive sensor, an electromagnetic sensor, or a frequency resonator sensor.
  • the sensor may be an absolute, a relative displacement, or an incremental position sensor, and may respond to a linear or angular position, or motion, of a sensed element.
  • the position sensor may be an optical type or a magnetic type angular position sensor, and may respond to an angular position or the rotation of a shaft, an axle, or a disk.
  • the angular position sensor may be based on a variable-reluctance (VR), an Eddy-current killed oscillator (ECKO), a Wiegand sensing, or a Hall- effect sensing, and may be transformer based such as an RVDT, a resolver or a synchro.
  • the angular position sensor may be an electromechanical type such as an absolute or an incremental, mechanical or optical, rotary encoder.
  • the angular position sensor may be an angular rate sensor and may respond to the angular rate, or the rotation speed, of a shaft, an axle, or a disc, and may consist of, or comprise, a gyroscope, a tachometer, a centrifugal switch, a Ring Laser Gyroscope (RLG), or a fiber-optic gyro.
  • the position sensor may be a linear position sensor and may respond to a linear displacement or position along a line, and may consist of, or comprise, a transformer, an LVDT, a linear potentiometer, or an incremental or absolute linear encoder.
  • the sensor may be a motion detector and may respond to a motion of an element, and may based on sound, geomagnetism, reflection of a transmitted energy, electromagnetic induction, or vibration.
  • the motion detector may consist of, or comprise, a mechanically-actuated switch.
  • the sensor may be a strain gauge and may respond to the deformation of an object, and may be based on a metallic foil, a semiconductor, an optical fiber, vibrating or resonating of a tensioned wire, or a capacitance meter.
  • the sensor may be a hygrometer and may respond to an absolute, relative, or specific humidity, and may be based on optically detecting condensation, or based on changing the capacitance, resistance, or thermal conductivity of materials subjected to the measured humidity.
  • the sensor may be a clinometer and may respond to inclination or declination, and may be based on an accelerometer, a pendulum, a gas bubble in liquid, or a tilt switch.
  • the sensor may be a flow sensor and may measure the volumetric or mass flow rate via a defined area, volume or surface.
  • the flow sensor may be a liquid flow sensor and may be measuring the liquid flow in a pipe or in an open conduit.
  • the liquid flow sensor may be a mechanical flow meter and may consist of, or comprise, a turbine flow meter, a Woltmann meter, a single jet meter, or a paddle wheel meter.
  • the liquid flow sensor may be a pressure flow meter based on measuring an absolute pressure or a pressure differential.
  • the flow sensor may be a gas or an air flow sensor such as an anemometer for measuring wind or air speed, and may measure the flow through a surface, a tube, or a volume, and may be based on measuring the air volume passing in a time period.
  • the anemometer may consist of, or comprise, cup anemometer, a windmill anemometer, a pressure anemometer, a hot-wire anemometer, or a sonic anemometer.
  • the sensor may be a gyroscope for measuring orientation in space, and may consist of, or comprise, a MEMS, a piezoelectric, a FOG, or a VSG gyroscope, and may be based on a conventional mechanical type, a nanosensor, a crystal, or a semiconductor.
  • the sensor may be an image sensor for capturing an image or video
  • the system may include an image processor for recognition of a pattern
  • the software may be operative to respond to the recognized pattern such as appearance-based analysis of hand posture or gesture recognition.
  • the system may comprise an additional image sensor, and the software may be operative to respond to the additional image sensor such as to cooperatively capture a 3-D image and for identifying the gesture recognition from the 3-D image, based on volumetric or skeletal models, or a combination thereof.
  • the sensor may be an image sensor for capturing still or video image, and the sensor or the system may comprise an image processor having an output for processing the captured image (still or video).
  • the image processor (hardware or software based, or a hardware/software combination) may be encased entirely or in part in the system, and the software may respond to the image processor output.
  • the image sensor may be a digital video sensor for capturing digital video content
  • the image processor may be operative for enhancing the video content such as by image stabilization, unsharp masking, or super-resolution, or for Video Content Analysis (VCA) such as Video Motion Detection (VMD), video tracking, egomotion estimation, identification, behavior analysis, situation awareness, dynamic masking, motion detection, object detection, face recognition, automatic number plate recognition, tamper detection, video tracking, or pattern recognition.
  • VCA Video Content Analysis
  • VMA Video Motion Detection
  • the image processor may be operative for detecting a location of an element, and may be operative for detecting and counting the number of elements in the captured image, such as a human body parts (such as a human face or a human hand) in the captured image.
  • the sensor may be a photosensitive image sensor array comprising multiple photoelectric sensors, for capturing an image and producing electronic image information representing the image
  • the system may comprise an image processor coupled to the image sensor for providing a digital video data signal that may carry digital video data based on the captured images, and may use a digital video format that may be based on one out of: TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), RAW format, AVI, DV, MOV, WMV, MP4, DCF (Design Rule for Camera Format), ITU-T H.261, ITU- T H.263, ITU-T H.264, ITU-T CCIR 601, ASF, Exif (Exchangeable Image File Format), and DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) standards.
  • the system may comprise an intraframe or interframe compression based video compressor coupled to the image sensor for lossy or non-lossy compressing the digital video data, and the compression may be based on a standard compression algorithm which may be JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) and MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group), ITU-T H.261, ITU-T H.263, ITU-T H.264, or ITU-T CCIR 601.
  • the system may calculate or provide a space-dependent characteristic of the sensed condition, such as a pattern, a linear density, a surface density, a volume density, a flux density, a current, a direction, a rate of change in a direction, or a flow, of the condition.
  • the system may implement redundancy, and the system may include one or more additional identical, similar, or different sensors that respond to or measure the phenomenon.
  • the redundancy may be based on Dual Modula redundancy (DMR), Triple Modular Redundancy (TMR), Quadruple Modular Redundancy (QMR), 1 :N Redundancy, 'Cold Standby', or 'Hot Standby'.
  • DMR Dual Modula redundancy
  • TMR Triple Modular Redundancy
  • QMR Quadruple Modular Redundancy
  • 1 :N Redundancy 1 :N Redundancy
  • 'Cold Standby' or 'Hot Standby'.
  • the system may include an additional sensor that responds to the phenomenon, and the processor may be operative to receive the additional sensor data.
  • a communication link such as Ethernet, or any other LAN, PAN or WAN communication links may also be regarded as buses herein.
  • a bus may be an internal bus, an external bus or both.
  • a bus may be a parallel or a bit-serial bus.
  • a bus may be based on a single or on multiple serial links or lanes.
  • the bus medium may electrical conductors based such as wires or cables, or may be based on a fiber-optic cable.
  • the bus topology may use point-to-point, multi-drop (electrical parallel) and daisy-chain, and may be based on hubs or switches.
  • a point-to-point bus may be full-duplex, or half-duplex. Further, a bus may use proprietary specifications, or may be based on, similar to, substantially or fully compliant to an industry standard (or any variant thereof), and may be hot-pluggable.
  • a bus may be defined to carry only digital data signals, or may also defined to carry a power signal (commonly DC voltages), either in separated and dedicated cables and connectors, or may carry the power and digital data together over the same cable.
  • a bus may support master / slave configuration.
  • a bus may carry a separated and dedicated timing signal or may use self-clocking line-code.
  • the communication between the host computer and the computer peripheral may be based on a PAN, a LAN or a WAN communication link, may use private or public networks, and may be packet-based or circuit-switched.
  • the bus may be based on Ethernet and may be substantially compliant with IEEE 802.3 standard, and be based on one out of: 100BaseT/TX, 1000BaseT/TX, 10 gigabit Ethernet substantially (or in full) according to IEEE Std 802.3ae-2002as standard, 40 Gigabit Ethernet, and 100 Gigabit Ethernet substantially according to IEEE P802.3ba standard.
  • the bus may be based on a multi-drop, a daisy-chain topology, or a point-to-point connection, use half-duplex or full-duplex, and may employ a master / slave scheme.
  • the bus may be a wired-based, point-to-point, and bit-serial bus, where a timing, clocking, or strobing signal, is carried over dedicated wires, or using a self-clocking scheme.
  • Each of the buses (or both) may use a fiber-optic cable as the bus medium, and the system may comprise a fiber-optic connector for connecting to the fiber-optic cable.
  • the networks or the data paths described herein may be similar, identical or different geographical scale or coverage types and data rates, such as NFCs, PANs, LANs, MANs, or WANs, or any combination thereof.
  • the networks or the data paths may be similar, identical or different types of modulation, such as Amplitude Modulation (AM), a Frequency Modulation (FM), or a Phase Modulation (PM), or any combination thereof.
  • the networks or the data paths may be similar, identical or different types of duplexing such half- or full-duplex, or any combination thereof.
  • the networks or the data paths may be based on similar, identical or different types of switching such as circuit-switched or packet-switched, or any combination thereof.
  • the networks or the data paths may have similar, identical or different ownership or operation, such as private or public networks, or any combination thereof.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic electrical diagram of an Internet-connected computer system
  • FIG. 2 depicts schematically a hard disk drive structure
  • FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic electrical diagram of a hard disk drive
  • FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic electrical diagram of a host computer connected to an HDD
  • FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic electrical diagram of a monitoring system for an HDD
  • FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic flow-chart diagram of the device operation
  • FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic table of external parameters relating to various states of an
  • FIG. 8 depicts schematically a drawer capable of housing an HDD having a closed door
  • FIG. 9 depicts schematically a drawer capable of housing an HDD having an onen door
  • FIG. 10 depicts schematically a drawer capable of housing an HDD and an HDD while being inserted to the drawer;
  • FIG. 11 depicts schematically a drawer while housing an HDD
  • FIG. 12 depicts schematically a sub-rack including 16 HDD-housing drawers
  • FIG. 13 depicts schematically a rack mounting 4 sub-racks
  • FIG. 14 depicts schematically views of a drawer with a touch-based occupancy sensor
  • FIG. 15 depicts schematically views of a drawer with a light-based occupancy sensor
  • FIG. 16 depicts schematically a view of a drawer with a proximity-based occupancy sensor
  • FIG. 17 depicts schematically a view of a drawer and a top-located camera capturing inserted HDD surface
  • FIG. 18 depicts schematically a view of a drawer and a side-located camera capturing inserted HDD surface
  • FIG. 19 depicts schematically a view of a drawer and a side-located camera capturing inserted HDD surface using a mirror
  • FIG. 20 depicts schematically views of two drawer types and a side-located camera capturing inserted HDD surface using a mirror
  • FIG. 21 depicts schematically a view of a computer system housing an HDD in a bay, and a camera capturing inserted HDD surface.
  • FIG. 5 shows an arrangement 50 of an HDD 30 connected to host computer 45 (or processor) over a SATA bus cable 43.
  • An analyzer 55 monitors the HDD 30 operation.
  • the HDD 30 is powered from a power supply 52 via an ON/OFF switch 51.
  • a SATA interface 32b which may consist of only a SATA receiver, is connected via SATA cable 43a or in a similar way in parallel to the SATA bus cable 43a, and monitor the SATA messages transferred over the SATA bus cable 43 between the host 45 and the HDD 30.
  • the content and messages transferred over the SATA bus either from the host 45 to the HDD 30 or in the opposite direction, are extracted and transferred to a processor 54.
  • the processor 54 may be aware of the data traffic over the SATA bus, allowing the processor 54 to estimate the HDD 30 status and state.
  • the processor 54 may determine the HDD 30 operative status or state by receiving information from the host 45 (e.g., via a dedicated or shared communication channel) regarding the messages or commands sent to, or received from, the HDD 30 over the SATA bus cable 43.
  • the processor 54 may determine the HDD 30 operative status or state by receiving information from the HDD 30 itself (e.g., via a dedicated or shared communication channel) regarding its status, or regarding the data carried over the SATA bus cable 43.
  • Sensor #1 53a, sensor #253b, and sensor #3 53c Physical phenomena affected by the HDD 30 operation are sensed by sensors, such as sensor #1 53a, sensor #253b, and sensor #3 53c. While three sensors are described, any numbers of sensors may be equally used, such as one, two, four, or more sensors.
  • Sensor #1 53a and sensor #2 53b are respectively coupled to sense various parameters or physical phenomena relating to the HDD 30 operation, as illustrated by the respective dashed lines 57a and 57b.
  • Sensor #3 53c is coupled to measure the parameters associated with the power supplied to the HDD 30 from the power supply 52, as illustrated by the dashed line 57c. Each sensor is typically coupled to an associated conditioning circuit.
  • sensor #1 53a may be associated with a conditioning circuit (conditioner) #1 58a
  • sensor #2 53b may be connected to a conditioner #2 58b
  • sensor #3 53c may be connected to a conditioner #3 58c.
  • the conditioners are connected to the processor 54, thus the processor 54 monitors the various parameters sensed by the various sensors.
  • the software or firmware required for the analyzer 55 operation may be stored in memory 56.
  • the analyzer 55 may be a dedicated and distinct device. Alternatively or in addition, part or whole of the hardware, software, or the functionalities of the analyzer 55 may be integrated in the host computer 45, in the HDD 30, or in any other device. Each or the sensors, or all of them, may be external to the HDD 30 to sense the surrounding environment, or may be internal to the HDD 30. Further, each of the sensors, or all of them, may be attached to HDD 30 enclosure, either internally or externally.
  • the switch 51 is an electrical switch (or multiple switches) connected between the power supply 52 and the HDD 30.
  • the electric switch may be used to activate the HDD 30, for example by completing an electrical circuit allowing current to flow to the HDD 30.
  • a separate power source may be used to power the HDD 30 or analyzer 55.
  • the switch 51 may be integrated with the analyzer 55, with the HDD 30, or any combination thereof.
  • the processor 54 can affect the HDD 30 activation by activating the switch 51 via connection 49 for powering, or to deactivate the HDD 30 (or part thereof) operation by breaking the current flow thereto, for example as part of 'Perform Action' step 67 flow-chart 60, Any component that is designed to open (breaking, interrupting), close (making), or change one of more electrical circuits may serve as a switch, preferably under some type of external control.
  • the switch is an electromechanical device with one or more sets of electrical contacts having two or more states.
  • the switch may be a 'normally open' type, requiring actuation for closing the contacts, may be 'normally closed' type where actuation affects breaking the circuit, or may be a changeover switch having both types of contacts arrangements.
  • a changeover switch may be either a 'make-before- break' or 'break-before-make' types.
  • the switch contacts may have one or more poles and one or more throws. Common switches contacts arrangements include Single-Pole-Single-Throw (SPST), Single-Pole-Double-Throw (SPDT), Double-Pole-Double-Throw (DPDT), Double-Pole-Single- Throw (DPST), and Single-Pole-Changeover (SPCO).
  • SPST Single-Pole-Single-Throw
  • SPDT Single-Pole-Double-Throw
  • DPDT Double-Pole-Double-Throw
  • DPST Double-Pole-Single- Throw
  • SPCO Single-Pole-
  • a switch may be electrically or mechanically actuated.
  • a relay is a non-limiting example of an electrically operated switch.
  • a relay may be a latching relay, that has two relaxed states (bistable), and when the current is switched off, the relay remains in its last state. This is achieved with a solenoid operating a ratchet and cam mechanism, or by having two opposing coils with an over-center spring or permanent magnet to hold the armature and contacts in position while the coil is relaxed, or with a permanent core.
  • a relay may be an electromagnetic relay, that typically consists of a coil of wire wrapped around a soft iron core, an iron yoke which provides a low reluctance path for magnetic flux, a movable iron armature, and one or more sets of contacts.
  • a reed relay is a reed switch enclosed in a solenoid, and the switch has a set of contacts inside an evacuated or inert gas-filled glass tube, which protects the contacts against atmospheric corrosion.
  • a relay may be a Solid State Relay (SSR), where a solid-state based component functioning as a relay, without having any moving parts.
  • SSR Solid State Relay
  • a switch may be implemented using an electrical circuit.
  • an open collector (or open drain) based circuit may be used.
  • an opto-isolator a.k.a. optocoupler, photocoupler, or optical isolator
  • a thyristor such as a Triode for Alternating Current (TRIAC) may be used for triggering power to an actuator.
  • TRIAC Triode for Alternating Current
  • Each of the sensors 53a, 53b, and 53c provides an electrical output signal in response to a physical, chemical, biological or any other phenomenon, serving as a stimulus to the sensor.
  • the sensor may serve as, or be, a detector, for detecting the presence of the phenomenon.
  • a sensor may measure (or respond to) a parameter of a phenomenon or a magnitude of the physical quantity thereof.
  • the sensor 53 may be a thermistor or a platinum resistance temperature detector, a light sensor, a pH probe, a microphone for audio receiving, or a piezoelectric bridge.
  • the sensor 53 may be used to measure pressure, flow, force or other mechanical quantities.
  • the sensor output may be conditioned by a respective conditioner 58a, 58b, or 58c, such as being amplified by an amplifier connected to the sensor output.
  • Other signal conditioning may also be applied in order to improve the handling of the sensor output or adapting it to the next stage or manipulating, such as attenuation, delay, current or voltage limiting, level translation, galvanic isolation, impedance transformation, linearization, calibration, filtering, amplifying, digitizing, integration, derivation, and any other signal manipulation.
  • Some sensors conditioning involves connecting them in a bridge circuit.
  • the conditioning circuit may added to manipulate the sensor output, such as filter or equalizer for frequency related manipulation such as filtering, spectrum analysis or noise removal, smoothing or de-blurring in case of image enhancement, a compressor (or de-compressor) or coder (or decoder) in the case of a compression or a coding/decoding schemes, modulator or demodulator in case of modulation, and extractor for extracting or detecting a feature or parameter such as pattern recognition or correlation analysis.
  • filtering passive, active or adaptive (such as Wiener or Kalman) filters may be used.
  • the conditioning circuits may apply linear or non-linear manipulations. Further, the manipulation may be time-related such as analog or digital delay-lines, integrators, or rate-based manipulation.
  • a sensor 53 may have analog output, requiring an A/D to be connected thereto, or may have digital output. Further, the conditioning may be b ⁇ sed on the book entitled: "Practical Design Techniques for Sensor Signal Conditioning", by Analog Devices, Inc., 1999 (ISBN-0-916550-20-6), which is incorporated in its entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • the analyzer device 55 may be is powered from the host computer 45 power supply, the HDD 30 power supply, or any other power source.
  • the analyzer may further be power fed from the power carried by the SATA bus cable.
  • a DC power is provided to the analyzer 55, feeding a DC/DC converter that may be a linear or switching type, which converts the incoming voltage to the required low-level stabilized DC voltage or voltages, commonly suitable for power the digital circuits, such as 3.3VDC, 5VDC or 12VDC, and various voltages required by the internal electronics circuitry of the analyzer 55.
  • the power source may be the mains AC power, and then the DC/DC converter is substituted with an AC/DC converter, which is power fed from the common AC power supply via the AC plug connector and a power cord, using the mains AC power (commonly 115VAC/60Hz in North America or 220VAC/50Hz in Europe) as the power source.
  • the power supply commonly includes an AC/DC converter, for converting the AC voltage power supplies commonly include voltage stabilizers for ensuring that the output remains within certain limits under various load conditions, and typically employs a transformer, silicon diode bridge rectifier, reservoir capacitor and voltage regulator IC.
  • the DC/DC converter or the AC/DC converter may include a boost converter, such as a buck boost converter, charge pump, inverter and regulators as known in the art, as required for conversion of one form of electrical power to another desired form and voltage.
  • the analyzer device 55 may be powered by a battery.
  • the battery may be a primary battery or cell, in which an irreversible chemical reaction generates the electricity, and thus the cell is disposable and cannot be recharged, and need to be replaced after the battery is drained. Such battery replacement may be expensive and cumbersome.
  • a rechargeable (secondary) battery may be used, such as a nickel-cadmium based battery. In such a case, a battery charger is employed for charging the battery while it is in use or not in use.
  • the battery charger may be integrated with the analyzer 55 or be external to it.
  • the battery may be a primary or a rechargeable (secondary) type, may include a single or few batteries, and may use various chemicals for the electro-chemical cells, such as lithium, alkaline and nickel-cadmium.
  • Common batteries are manufactured in pre-defined standard output voltages (1.5, 3, 4.5, 9 Volts, for example), as well as defined standard mechanical enclosures (usually defined by letters such as "A”, “AA”, “B”, “C” sizes), and 'coin' type.
  • the battery (or batteries) is held in a battery holder or compartment, and thus can be easily replaced.
  • Figure 7 shows a table 70 which may be stored as data base in memory 56 and may be accessed by the processor 54.
  • the table associates various HDD 30 states with various measurements.
  • the first column 'STATE #' 71 is a number identifying a state of the various states relating to the proper operation of the HDD 30.
  • the second column identified as 'STATE NAME' 72 provides the name of the state, the third 73a and fourth 73b columns relate to the expected measured temperature (in degrees °C) at each state, between a minimum value identified as 'MIN.' 73a and maximum value 'MAX.' 73b, for example at an ambient temperature of 25°C.
  • the fifth 74a and sixth 74b columns relate to the expected measured emitted noise level (in dBA) at each state, between a minimum value identified as 'MIN.' 74a and maximum value 'MAX.' 74b.
  • the seventh 75a and eighth 75b columns relate to the expected measured electrical current consumed by the HDD 30 (in mA - milliampers) at each state, between a minimum value identified as 'MIN.' 75a and maximum value 'MAX.' 75b. While showing three measurements (temperature, noise level and consumed current), it is apparent that any number of measurements, and consisting of any type, may be equally used.
  • the first row 76 identifies the fields in the table.
  • the first state numbered as #1 and named as 'Start Up'
  • the second state numbered as #2 and named as 'Block Erase'
  • the third row numbered as #3 and named as 'Block Erase'
  • the fourth row numbered as #4 and named as "Normal Operation'
  • the fifth row 77d is shown. While only four states (#1 ⁇ #4) are exampled in the table, it is apparent that any number of states, and consisting of any type, may be equally used.
  • the operation of the analyzer device 55 is generally described in a flow chart 60 shown in FIG. 6.
  • the flow-chart 60 may, in part or in whole, be executed by the processor 54 of the analyzer device 55. Similarly, part or whole of the flow-chart 60 may be executed by the processor 43 of the host computer 45, or by the processor 33 of the HDD 30.
  • the flow-chart may be stored as part of the software or firmware stored in memory 56 of the analyzer device 55, as part of the memory 34 or the system area on the platters of the HDD 30, as part of the memory 42 or the system area on the platters of the host computer 45.
  • the flow chart 60 starts at a 'Monitor SATA Traffic' step 61, where SATA messages or data are received, while monitoring the SATA connection 43a by the SATA interface 32b.
  • the data may be received from the host computer 45 to the HDD 30, or from the HDD 30 to the host computer 45, via the SATA bus 43.
  • the content of the data is decoded by decapsulation of the SATA protocol, by the SATA interface 32b.
  • Part or whole of the data received may be stored in memory 56 for future analysis, such as for recognizing patterns; and as part of a learning system.
  • the received content is analyzed in 'Determine HDD Status' step 62, and used to determine the status of the HDD 30, typically from a list of potential HDD 30 states, such as the states identified in table 70 shown in FIG. 7.
  • Various criteria may be used in order to classify, process, or otherwise analyze the received data, and associating it with the HDD 30 state.
  • the analyzer 55 may store the content received and the HDD 30 determined state, along with time- stamping of entering or leaving a state, in memory 56, as part of 'Store Data' step 63.
  • 'Receive Sensors Data' step 64 the sensors data is compared to the expected values associated with the determined HDD 30 state. For example, in the case the HDD 30 is determined to be in state #3 77c named 'Idle' as shown in table 70, a temperature sensor is expected, in proper operation, to measure a temperature in the 28°C to 38°C. If indeed the temperature is in the specified range, the decision will be that the status is 'Legitimate'. In the case of exceeding the limits, the decision may be that the status is 'Suspected'.
  • While measuring a value outside a specified range is exampled as 'Suspected', a maximum value or a minimum value may equally be used. Similarly, other criteria may be equally used. Further the decision may be based on two or more sensors. For example, a 'Suspected' decision may arise only if two or more sensors measurements are beyond the specified limits. In the case a 'Legitimate' status is determined in the 'Compare' step 65, the HDD 30 is assumed to work properly, and no action may be taken. The analyzer device 55 then reverts to the first step of 'Monitor SATA Traffic' 61, either immediately for continuous monitoring, or after a pre-defined time period for periodical operation.
  • the 'Report/ Act' step 66 serves to decide which operation to execute, based on various criteria and pre-configured logic, and the action is performed as part of a 'Perform Action' step 67.
  • the analyzer device 55 then may halt its operation or reverts to the first step of 'Monitor SATA Traffic' 61, either immediately for continuous monitoring, or after a pre-defined time period for periodical operation.
  • 'message' is used herein to include any type of information or one or more datagram, handled as a single, as a set or as a group of datagrams.
  • the datagram may be a packet or a frame, or any other type of group of data bytes (or bits) which represent an information unit.
  • a message may include one or more SATA standard defined Frame Information Structure (FIS).
  • FIS Frame Information Structure
  • a communication link (such as Ethernet, or any other LAN, PAN or WAN communication link) may also be regarded as bus herein.
  • a bus may be an internal bus (a.k.a. local bus), primarily designed to connect a processor or CPU to peripherals inside a computer system enclosure, such as connecting components over the motherboard or backplane.
  • a bus may be an external bus, primarily intended for connecting the processor or the motherboard to devices and peripherals external to the computer system enclosure. Some buses may be doubly used as internal or as external buses.
  • a bus may be of parallel type, where each word (address or data) is carried in parallel over multiple electrical conductors or wires; or alternatively, may be bit-serial, where bits are carried sequentially, such as one bit at a time.
  • a bus may support multiple serial links or lanes, aggregated or bonded for higher bit-rate transport.
  • Non-limiting examples of internal parallel buses include ISA (Industry Standard architecture); EISA (Extended ISA); NuBus (IEEE 1196); PATA - Parallel ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) variants such as IDE, EIDE, ATAPI, SBus (IEEE 1496), VESA Local Bus (VLB), PCI and PC/104 variants (PC/104, PC/104 Plus, PC/104 Express).
  • Non-limiting examples of internal serial buses include PCIe (PCI Express), Serial ATA (SATA), SMBus, and Serial Peripheral Bus (SPI) bus.
  • Non-limiting examples of external parallel buses include HIPPI (High Performance Parallel Interface), IEEE-1284 ('Centronix'), IEEE-488 (a.k.a. GP1B - General Purpose Interface Bus) and PC Card / PCMCIA.
  • Non-limiting examples of external serial buses include USB (Universal Serial Bus), eSATA and IEEE 1394 (a.k.a. Fire Wire).
  • buses that can be internal or external are Futurebus, InfiniBand, SCSI (Small Computer System Interface), and SAS (Serial Attached SCSI).
  • the bus medium may be based on electrical conductors, commonly copper wires based cable (may be arranged as twisted-pairs) or a fiber-optic cable.
  • the bus topology may use point-to-point, multi-drop (electrical parallel) and daisy-chain, and may further be based on hubs or switches.
  • a point-to-point bus may be full-duplex, providing simultaneous, two-way transmission (and sometimes independent) in both directions, or alternatively a bus may be half-duplex, where the transmission can be in either direction, but only in one direction at a time.
  • Buses are further commonly characterized by their throughput (data bit-rate), signaling rate, medium length, connectors, and media types, latency, scalability, quality-of-service, devices per connection or channel, and supported bus-width.
  • a configuration of a bus for a specific environment may be automatic (hardware or software based, or both), or may involve user or installer activities such as software settings or jumpers.
  • Recent buses are self-repairable, where spare connection (net) is provided which is used in the event of malfunction in a connection.
  • Some buses support hot-plugging (sometimes known as hot swapping), where a connection or a replacement can be made, without significant interruption to the system or without the need to shut-off any power.
  • USB Universal Serial Bus
  • the memory may be a random-accessed or a sequential-accessed memory, and may be location-based, randomly-accessed, and can be written multiple times.
  • the memory may be volatile and based on semiconductor storage medium, such as: RAM, SRAM, DRAM, TTRAM arid Z-RAM.
  • the memory may be non-volatile and based on semiconductor storage medium, such as ROM, PROM, EPROM or EEROM, and may be Flash-based, such as SSD drive or USB 'Thumb' drive.
  • the memory may be based on non-volatile magnetic storage medium.
  • the memory may be based on an optical storage medium that is recordable and removable, and may include an optical disk drive.
  • the storage medium may be: CD-RW, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM BD-RE, CD-ROM, BD- ROM or DVD-ROM.
  • the memory form factor may be an IC, a PCB on which one or more ICs are mounted, or a box-shaped enclosure.
  • the peripheral may be input device that is used to interact with, or send data to the host computer, such as a pointing device (e.g., computer mouse), a keyboard, a graphic tablet, a touchscreen, a barcode reader, an image scanner, a microphone, or a digital camera (e.g., webcam).
  • the peripheral may an output device, which provides output from the host computer to a user or to another device, such as a display device, an image projector, a graphical output device, a loudspeaker, or a printer.
  • the peripheral may be used to connect the host computer to an external network, such as a modem or a Network Interface Card (NIC). Further, the peripheral may be in part or fully integrated with the host computer. While exampled above regarding a general computer system, any device embedding firmware or software may equally be used, and in particular any communication related devices such as a router or firewall.
  • NIC Network Interface Card
  • Each of the sensors 53a, 53b, and 53c may be an analog sensor having an analog signal output, such as analog voltage, analog current or continuously changing impedance.
  • an analog to digital (A/D) that may be integrated with the respective conditioner, is disposed to the sensor element 53 output, which converts continuous signals to discrete digital numbers, for converting the analog output to a digital signal.
  • the sensors may be identical, similar or different from each other. For non-limiting example, some sensors may be analog while others are digital sensors. In another example, different sensors may relate to different physical phenomena.
  • the sensors may directly or indirectly measure the rate of change of the physical quantity (gradient) versus the direction around a particular location, or between different locations.
  • a temperature gradient may describe the differences in the temperature between different locations.
  • a sensor may measure time-dependent or time-manipulated values of the phenomenon, such as time-integrated, average or Root Mean Square (RMS or rms), relating to the square root of the mean of the squares of a series of discrete values (or the equivalent square root of the integral in a continuously varying value).
  • RMS Root Mean Square
  • a parameter relating to the time dependency of a repeating phenomenon may be measured, such as the duty-cycle, the frequency (commonly measured in Hertz - Hz) or the period.
  • a sensor may be based on the Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems - MEMS (a.k.a. Micro-mechanical electrical systems) technology.
  • a sensor may respond to environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, noise, vibration, fumes, odors, toxic conditions, dust, and ventilation.
  • a sensor may be an active sensor, requiring an external source of excitation.
  • resistor-based sensors such as thermistors and strain gages, are active sensors, requiring a current to pass through them in order to determine the resistance value, corresponding to the measured phenomenon.
  • a bridge circuit based sensors are active sensors depending or external electrical circuit for their operation.
  • a sensor may be a passive sensor, generating an electrical output without requiring any external circuit or any external voltage or current. Thermocouples and photodiodes are examples or passive sensors.
  • a sensor may measure the amount of a property or of a physical quantity or the magnitude relating to a physical phenomenon, body or substance. Alternatively or in addition, a sensor may be used to measure the time derivative thereof, such as the rate of change of the amount, the quantity or the magnitude. In the case of space related quantity or magnitude, a sensor may measure the linear density, relating to the amount of property per length, a sensor may measure the surface density, relating to the amount of property per area, or a sensor may measure the volume density, relating to the amount of property per volume. Alternatively or in addition, a sensor may measure the amount of property per unit mass or per mole of substance.
  • a sensor may further measure the quantity gradient, relating to the rate of change of property with respect to position.
  • a sensor may measure the flux (or flow) of a property; through a cross- section or surface boundary.
  • a sensor may measure the flux density, relating to the flow of property through a cross-section per unit of the cross-section, or through a surface boundary per unit of the surface area.
  • a sensor may measure the current, relating to the rate of flow of property through a cross-section or a surface boundary, or the current density, relating to the rate of flow of property per unit through a cross-section or a surface boundary.
  • a sensor may include or consists of a transducer, defined herein as a device for converting energy from one form to another for the purpose of measurement of a physical quantity or for information transfer. Further, a single sensor may be used to measure two or more phenomena. For example, two characteristics of the same element may be measured, each characteristic corresponding to a different phenomenon.
  • a sensor output may have multiple states, where the sensor state is depending upon the measured parameter of the sensed phenomenon.
  • a sensor may be based on a two state output (such as '0' or ⁇ ', or 'true' and 'false'), such as an electric switch having two contacts, where the contacts can be in one of two states: either "closed” meaning the contacts are touching and electricity can flow between them, or "open", meaning the contacts are separated and the switch is non-conducting.
  • the sensor may be a threshold switch, where the switch changes its state upon sensing that the magnitude of the measured parameter of a phenomenon exceeds a certain threshold.
  • a sensor may be a thermostat is a temperature-operated switch used to control a heating process.
  • a voice operated switch (a.k.a. VOX), which is a switch that operates when sound over a certain threshold is detected. It is usually used to turn on a transmitter or recorder when someone speaks and turn it off when they stop speaking.
  • a mercury switch also known as a mercury tilt switch
  • the threshold of a threshold based switch may be fixed or settable.
  • a sensor operation is based on generating a stimulus or an excitation to generate influence or create a phenomenon.
  • the entire or part of the generating or stimulating mechanism may be in this case an integral part of the sensor, or may be regarded as independent actuators, and thus may be controlled by the controller.
  • a sensor and an actuator, independent or integrated may be cooperatively operating as a set, for improving the sensing or the actuating functionality.
  • a light source, treated as an independent actuator may be used to illuminate a location, in order to allow an image sensor to faithfully and properly capture an image of that location.
  • the excitation voltage of the bridge may be supplied from a power supply treated and acting as an actuator.
  • a sensor may respond to chemical process or may be involved in fluid handling, such as measuring flow or velocity.
  • a sensor may be responsive to the location or motion such as navigational instrument, or be used to detect or measure position, angle, displacement, distance, speed or acceleration.
  • a sensor may be responsive to mechanical phenomenon such as pressure, force, density or level.
  • the environmental related sensor may respond to humidity, air pressure, and air temperature.
  • any sensor used to detect or measure a measurable attribute and converts it into an electrical signal may be used.
  • a sensor may be a metal detector, which detects metallic objects by detecting their conductivity.
  • the senor is used to measure, sense or detect the temperature of an object, that may be solid, liquid or gas (such as the air temperature), in a location.
  • a thermistor which is a type of resistor whose resistance varies significantly with temperature, and is commonly made of ceramic or polymer material.
  • a thermistor may be a PTC (Positive Temperature Coefficient) type, where the resistance increases with increasing temperatures, or may be an NTC (Negative Temperature Coefficient) type, where the resistance decreases with increasing temperatures.
  • a thermoelectric sensor may be based on a thermocouple, consisting of two different conductors (usually metal alloys), that produce a voltage proportional to a temperature difference.
  • an RTD Resistance Temperature Detector
  • the RTD is made of a pure material whose resistance at various temperatures is known (R vs. T).
  • a common material used may be platinum, copper, or nickel.
  • a quartz thermometer may be used as well for high-precision and high-accuracy temperature measurement, based on the frequency of a quartz crystal oscillator.
  • the temperature may be measured using conduction, convection, thermal radiation, or by the transfer of energy by phase changes.
  • the temperature may be measured in degrees Celsius (°C) (a.k.a. Centigrade), Fahrenheit (°F), or Kelvin (°K).
  • the temperature sensor (or its output) is used to measure a temperature gradient, providing in which direction and at what rate the temperature changes the most rapidly around a particular location.
  • the temperature gradient is a dimensional quantity expressed in units of degrees (on a particular temperature scale) per unit length, such as the SI (International System of Units) unit Kelvin per meter (K/m).
  • a radioactivity may be measured using a sensor based on a Geiger counter, measuring ionizing radiation.
  • the emission of alpha particles, beta particles or gamma rays are detected and counted by the ionization produced in a low-pressure gas ion a Geiger-Muller tube.
  • the SI unit of radioactive activity is the Becquerel (Bq).
  • a photoelectric sensor is used to measure, sense or detect light or the luminous intensity, such as a photosensor or a photodetector.
  • the light sensed may be a visible light, or invisible light such as infrared, ultraviolet, X-ray or gamma rays.
  • Such sensors may be based on the quantum mechanical effects of light on electronic materials, typically semiconductors such as silicon, germanium, and Indium gallium arsenide.
  • a photoelectric sensor may be based on the photoelectric or photovoltaic effect, such as a photodiode, phototransistor and a photomultiplier tube.
  • the photodiode typically uses a reverse biased p-n junction or PIN structure diode, and a phototransistor is in essence a bipolar transistor enclosed in a transparent case so that light can reach the base-collector junction, and the electrons that are generated by photons in the base-collector junction are injected into the base, and this photodiode current is amplified by the transistor's current gain ⁇ (or hfe).
  • a reverse-biased LED Light Emitting Diode may also act as a photodiode.
  • a photosensor may be based on photoconductivity, where the radiation or light absorption changes the conductivity of a photoconductive material, such as selenium, lead sulfide, cadmium sulfide, or polyvinylcarbazole.
  • the sensor may be based on photoresistor or LDR (Light Dependent Resistor), which is a resistor whose resistance decreases with increasing incident light intensity.
  • LDR Light Dependent Resistor
  • CCD Charge-Coupled Devices
  • CMOS Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor
  • the sensor may be based an Active Pixel Sensor (APS), for example as an element in an image sensor, and may be according to, or based on, the sensor described in U.S. Patent No. 6,549,234 to Lee, entitled: “Pixel Structure of Active Pixel Sensor (APS) with Electronic Shutter Function", in U.S. Patent No. 6,844,897 to Andersson, entitled: “Active Pixel Sensor (APS) Readout Structure with Amplification", in U.S. Patent No. 7,342,212 to Mentzer et al, entitled: “Analog Vertical Sub- Sampling in an Active Pixel Sensor (APS) Image Sensor", or in U.S. Patent No. 6,476,372 to Merrill et al, entitled: “CMOS Active Pixel Sensor Using Native Transistors", which are all incorporated in their entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • APS Active Pixel Sensor
  • an electrochemical sensor is used to measure, sense or detect a matter structure, properties, composition, and reactions.
  • the sensor is a pH meter for measuring the pH (acidity or alkalinity) of a liquid. Commonly such pH meter comprises a pH probe which measures pH as the activity of the hydrogen cations at the tip of a thin-walled glass bulb.
  • the electrochemical sensor is a gas detector, which detects the presence or various gases within an area, usually as part of a safety system, such as for detecting gas leak.
  • an electrochemical sensor may be an electrochemical gas sensor, used to measure the concentration of a target gas, typically by oxidation or reducing the target gas at an electrode, and measuring the resulting current.
  • the gas sensor may be a hydrogen sensor for measuring or detecting the presence of hydrogen, commonly based on palladium based electrodes, or a Carbon-Monoxide detector (CO Detector) used to detect the presence of carbon- monoxide, commonly in order to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.
  • CO Detector Carbon-Monoxide detector
  • a Carbon-Monoxide detector may be according to, or based on, the sensor described in U.S. Patent No. 8,016,205 to Drew, entitled: “Thermostat with Replaceable Carbon Monoxide Sensor Module", in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0201531 to Pakravan et al, entitled: “Carbon Monoxide Detector", in U.S. Patent No. 6,474,138 to Chang et al, entitled: "Adsorption Based Carbon Monoxide sensor and Method", or in U.S. Patent No. 5,948,965 to Upchurch, entitled: “Solid State Carbon Monoxide Sensor", which are all incorporated in their entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • the gas sensor may be an oxygen sensor (a.k.a.
  • one or more of the sensors is a smoke detector, for detecting smoke which is typically an indication of fire.
  • the smoke detectors work either by optical detection (photoelectric) or by physical process (ionization), while some use both detection methods to increase sensitivity to smoke.
  • An optical based smoke detector is based on a light sensor, and includes a light source (incandescent bulb or infrared LED), a lens to collimate the light into a beam, and a photodiode or other photoelectric sensor at an angle to the beam as a light detector. In the absence of smoke, the light passes in front of the detector in a straight line.
  • An ionization type smoke detector can detect particles of smoke that are too small to be visible, and use a radioactive element such as americium-241 (241 Am).
  • the radiation passes through an ionization chamber, an air-filled space between two electrodes, and permits a small, constant current between the electrodes. Any smoke that enters the chamber absorbs the alpha particles, which reduces the ionization and interrupts this current, setting off the alarm.
  • Some smoke alarms use a carbon-dioxide sensor or carbon-monoxide sensor to detect extremely dangerous products of combustion.
  • the sensor may be an electroacoustic sensor that responds to sound waves (which are essentially vibrations transmitted through an elastic solid or a liquid or gas), such as a microphone, which converts sound into electrical energy, usually by means of a ribbon or diaphragm set into motion by the sound waves.
  • the sound may be audio or audible, having frequencies in the approximate range of 20 to 20,000 hertz, capable of being detected by human organs of hearing.
  • the microphone may be used to sense inaudible frequencies, such as ultrasonic (a.k.a. ultrasound) acoustic frequencies that are above the range audible to the human ear, or above approximately 20,000 Hz.
  • a microphone may be a condenser microphone (a.k.a.
  • An electret microphone is a capacitor microphone based on a permanent charge of an electret or a polarized ferroelectric material.
  • a dynamic microphone is based on electromagnetic induction, using a diaphragm attached to a small movable induction coil that is positioned in a magnetic field of a permanent magnet. The incident sound waves cause the diaphragm to vibrate, and the coil to move in the magnetic field, producing a current.
  • a ribbon microphone uses a thin, usually corrugated metal ribbon suspended in a magnetic field, and its vibration within the magnetic field generates the electrical signal.
  • a loudspeaker is commonly constructed similar to a dynamic microphone, and thus may be used as a microphone as well.
  • the diaphragm vibrations apply varying pressure to a carbon, thus changing its electrical resistance.
  • a piezoelectric microphone (a.k.a. crystal or piezo microphone) is based on the phenomenon of piezoelectricity in piezoelectric crystals such as potassium sodium tartrate.
  • a microphone may be omnidirectional, unidirectional, bidirectional, or provide other directionality or polar patterns.
  • a sensor may be used to measure electrical quantities.
  • the sensor #3 53c may be connected for measuring electrical quantities relating to the power input or electrical related characteristics of the HDD 30 power or current consumption.
  • An electrical sensor may be conductively connected to measure the electrical parameter, or may be non-conductively coupled to measure an electric-related phenomenon, such as magnetic field or heat. Further, the average or RMS value may be measured.
  • An ampermeter (a.k.a. ammeter) is a current sensor that measures the magnitude of the electric current in a circuit or in a conductor such as a wire. Electric current is commonly measured in Amperes, milliampers, microamperes, or kiloampers.
  • the sensor may be an integrating ammeter (a.k.a.
  • the measured electric current may be an Alternating Current (AC) such as a sinewave, a Direct Current (DC), or an arbitrary waveform.
  • AC Alternating Current
  • DC Direct Current
  • a galvanometer is a type of ampermeter used for detecting or measuring low current, typically by producing a rotary deflection of a coil in a magnetic field. Some ampermeters use a resistor (shunt), whose voltage is directly proportional to the current flowing through, requiring the current to pass through the meter.
  • a hot-wire ampermeter involves passing the current through a wire which expands as it heats, and the expansion is measured.
  • a non-conductive or a non-contact current sensor may be based on 'Hall effect' magnetic field sensor, measuring the magnetic field generated by the current to be measured.
  • Other non-conductive current sensors involve a current clamp or current probe, which has two jaws which open to allow clamping around an electrical conductor, allowing for measuring of the electric current properties (commonly AC), without making a physical contact or disconnecting the circuit.
  • Such current clamp commonly comprises a wire coil wounded around a split ferrite ring, acting as the secondary winding of a current transformer, with the current-carrying conductor acting as the primary winding.
  • a sensor may be a voltmeter, commonly used for measuring the magnitude of the electric potential difference between two points. Electric voltage is commonly measured in volts, millivolts, microvolts, or kilovolts. The measured electric voltage may be an Alternating Current (AC) such as a sinewave, a Direct Current (DC), or an arbitrary waveform. Similarly, an electrometer may be used for measuring electric charge (commonly in Coulomb units - C) or electrical potential difference, with very low leakage current.
  • AC Alternating Current
  • DC Direct Current
  • an electrometer may be used for measuring electric charge (commonly in Coulomb units - C) or electrical potential difference, with very low leakage current.
  • the voltmeter commonly works by measuring the current through a fixed resistor, which, according to Ohm's Law, is proportional to the voltage across the resistor.
  • a potentiometer-based voltmeter works by balancing the unknown voltage against a known voltage in a bridge circuit.
  • a multimeter a.k.a. VOM - Volt-Ohm-Milliameter
  • DMM Digital MultiMeter
  • a sensor may be a wattmeter measuring the magnitude of the active power (or the supply rate of electrical energy), commonly using watts (W), milliwatts, kilowatts, or megawatts units.
  • W watts
  • the wattmeter may be a bolometer, used for measuring the power of incident electromagnetic radiation via the heating of a material with a temperature-dependent electrical resistance.
  • a sensor may be an electricity meter (or electrical energy meter) that measures the amount of electrical energy consumed by a load.
  • an electricity meter is used to measure the energy consumed by a single load, an appliance, a residence, a business, or any electrically powered device, and may provide or be the basis for the electricity cost or billing.
  • the electricity meter may be an AC (single or multi-phase) or DC type, and the common unit of measurement is kilowatt-hour, however any energy related unit may be used such as Joules.
  • Some electricity meters are based on wattmeters which accumulate or average the readings, or may be based on induction.
  • a sensor may be an ohmmeter measuring the electrical resistance, commonly measured in ohms ( ⁇ ), milliohms, kiloohms or megohms, or conductance measured in Siemens (S) units.
  • Low- resistance measurements commonly use micro-ohmmeter, while megohmmeter (a.k.a. Megger) measures large value of resistance.
  • a Wheatstone bridge may also be used as a resistance sensor, by balancing two legs of a bridge circuit, where one leg includes the unknown resistance (or conductance) component. Variations of Wheatstone bridge may be used to measure capacitance, inductance, impedance and other electrical or non-electrical quantities.
  • a sensor may be a capacitance meter for measuring capacitance, commonly using units of picofarads, nanofarads, microfarads, and Farads (F).
  • a sensor may be an inductance meter for measuring inductance, commonly using SI units of Henry (H), such as microHenry, milliHenry, and Henry.
  • a sensor may be an impedance meter for measuring an impedance of a device or a circuit.
  • a sensor may be an LCR meter, used to measure inductance (L), capacitance (C), and resistance (R).
  • a meter may use sourcing an AC voltage, and use the ratio of the measured voltage and current (and their phase difference) through the tested device according to Ohm's law to calculate the impedance.
  • a meter may use a bridge circuit (Similar to Wheatstone bridge concept), where variable calibrated elements are adjusted to detect a null. The measurement may be in a single frequency or over a range of frequencies.
  • the sensor may be a Time-Domain Reflectometer (TDR) used to characterize and locate faults in transmission-lines, typically conductive or metallic lines, such as twisted wire pairs and coaxial cables.
  • TDR Time-Domain Reflectometer
  • Optical TDR is used to test optical fiber cables.
  • a TDR transmits a short rise time pulse along the checked medium. If the medium is a uniformly impedance medium and properly terminated, the entire transmitted pulse will be absorbed in the far-end terminal and no signal will be reflected toward the TDR. Any impedance discontinuities will cause some of the incident signal to be sent back towards the source. Increases in the impedance create a reflection that reinforces the original pulse whilst decreases in the impedance create a reflection that opposes the original pulse.
  • the resulting reflected pulse that is measured at the output/input to the TDR is measured as a function of time and, because the speed of signal propagation is almost constant for a given transmission medium, can be read as a function of cable length.
  • a TDR may be used to verify cable impedance characteristics, splice and connector locations and associated losses, and estimate cable lengths.
  • the TDR may be according to, or based on, the TDR described in U.S. Patent No. 6,437,578 to Gumm, entitled: “Cable Loss Correction of Distance to Fault and Time Domain Reflectometer Measurements", in U.S. Patent No. 6,714,021 to Williams, entitled: “Integrated Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) Tester", or in U.S. Patent No. 6,820,225 to Johnson et al, entitled: “Network Test Instrument”, which are all incorporated in their entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • a sensor may be a magnetometer for measuring a local H or B magnetic fields.
  • the B-field (a.k.a. magnetic flux density or magnetic induction) is measured in Tesla (T) in SI units and Gauss in cgs units, and magnetic flux is measured in Weber (Wb) units.
  • the H-field (a.k.a. magnetic field intensity or magnetic field strength) is measured in ampere-turn per meter (A/m) in SI units, and in Oersteds (Oe) in cgs units.
  • Many Smartphones contain magnetometers serving as compasses.
  • a magnetometer may be a scalar magnetometer, measuring the total strength, or may be a vector magnetometer, providing both magnitude and direction (relative to the spatial orientation) of the magnetic field.
  • Common magnetometers include Hall effect sensor, magneto-diode, magneto- transistor, AMR magnetometer, GMR magnetometer, magnetic tunnel junction magnetometer, magneto-optical sensor, Lorentz force based MEMS sensor (a.k.a. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance - NMR), Electron Tunneling based MEMS sensor, MEMS compasses, Nuclear precession magnetic field sensor, optically pumped magnetic field sensor, fluxgate magnetometer, search coil magnetic field sensor, and Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) magnetometer.
  • Hall probe which contains an indium compound semiconductor crystal such as indium antimonide, mounted on an aluminum backing plate, and provides a voltage a voltage in response to the measured B-field.
  • a fluxgate magnetometer makes use of the non-linear magnetic characteristics of a probe or sensing element that has a ferromagnetic core.
  • NMR and Proton Precession Magnetometers PPM measure the resonance frequency of protons in the magnetic field to be measured.
  • SQUID meters are very sensitive vector magnetometers, based on superconducting loops containing Josephson junctions.
  • the magnetometer may be Lorentz-force- based MEMS sensor, relying on the mechanical motion of the MEMS structure due to the Lorentz force acting on the current-carrying conductor in the magnetic field.
  • a sensor may be a strain gauge, used to measure the strain, or any other deformation, of an object.
  • a strain gauge commonly comprises a metallic foil pattern supported by an insulating flexible backing. As the object is deformed, the foil is deformed (due to the object tension or the compression), causing its electrical resistance to change.
  • Some strain gauges are based on semiconductor strain gauge (such as piezoresistors), while others are using fiber optic sensors measuring the strain along an optical fiber.
  • Capacitive strain gauges use a variable capacitor to indicate the level of mechanical deformation. Vibrating wire strains are based on vibrating tensioned wire, where the strain is calculated by measuring the resonant frequency of the wire.
  • a sensor may be a strain gauge rosette, comprising multiple strain gauges, and can detect or sense force or torque in a particular direction, or to determine the pattern of forces or torques.
  • a sensor may be a tactile sensor, being sensitive to force or pressure, or being sensitive to a touch by an object, typically a human touch.
  • a tactile sensor is commonly based On piezoresistive, piezoelectric, capacitive, or elastoresistive sensor.
  • a tactile sensor may be based on a conductive rubber, a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) material, a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) material, or a metallic capacitive element.
  • PZT lead zirconate titanate
  • PVDF polyvinylidene fluoride
  • a sensor may include an array of tactile sensor elements, and may provide an 'image' of a contact surface, distribution of pressures, or pattern of forces.
  • a tactile sensor may be a tactile switch where the touch sensing is used to trigger a switch, which may be a capacitance touch switch, where the human body capacitance increases a sensed capacitance, or may be a resistance touch switch, where the human body part such as a finger (or any other conductive object) conductivity is sensed between two conductors (e.g., two pieces of metal).
  • a switch which may be a capacitance touch switch, where the human body capacitance increases a sensed capacitance, or may be a resistance touch switch, where the human body part such as a finger (or any other conductive object) conductivity is sensed between two conductors (e.g., two pieces of metal).
  • a sensor may be a piezoelectric sensor, where the piezoelectric effect is used to measure pressure, acceleration, strain or force.
  • the piezoelectric effect is used to measure pressure, acceleration, strain or force.
  • transverse effect mode a force applied along an axis generates charges in a direction perpendicular to the line of force
  • the longitudinal effect mode the amount of charge produced is proportional to the applied force and is independent of size and shape of the piezoelectric element.
  • pressure sensor commonly a thin membrane is used to transfer the force to the piezoelectric element, while in accelerometer use, a mass is attached to the element, and the load of the mass is measured.
  • a piezoelectric sensor element material may be a piezoelectric ceramics (such as PZT ceramic) or a single crystal material.
  • a single crystal material may be gallium phosphate, quartz, tourmaline, or Lead Magnesium Niobate-Lead Titanate (PMN-PT).
  • the senor is a motion sensor, and may include one or more accelerometers, which measures the absolute acceleration or the acceleration relative to freefall.
  • one single-axis accelerometer per axis may be used, requiring three such accelerometers for three-axis sensing.
  • the motion sensor may be a single or multi-axis sensor, detecting the magnitude and direction of the acceleration as a vector quantity, and thus can be used to sense orientation, acceleration, vibration, shock and falling.
  • the motion sensor output may be analog or digital signals, representing the measured values.
  • the motion sensor may be based on a piezoelectric accelerometer that utilizes the piezoelectric effect of certain materials to measure dynamic changes in mechanical variables (e.g., acceleration, vibration, and mechanical shock).
  • Piezoelectric accelerometers commonly rely on piezoceramics (e.g., lead zirconate titanate) or single crystals (e.g., Quartz, tourmaline).
  • a piezoelectric quartz accelerometer is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 7,716,985 to Zhang et al. entitled: “Piezoelectric Quartz Accelerometer", U.S. Patent No. 5,578,755 to Offenberg entitled: “Accelerometer Sensor of Crystalline Material and Method for Manufacturing the Same” and U.S. Patent No. 5,962,786 to Le Traon et al. entitled: “Monolithic Accelerometric Transducer", which are all incorporated in their entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • the motion sensor may be based on the Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS, a.k.a. Micro-mechanical electrical system) technology.
  • MEMS Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems
  • a MEMS based motion sensor is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 7,617,729 to Axelrod et al. entitled: “Accelerometer”, U.S. Patent No. 6,670,212 to McNie et al. entitled: “Micro-Machining" and in U.S. Patent No. 7,892,876 to Mehregany entitled: “Three-axis Accelerometers and Fabrication Methods", which are all incorporated in their entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • MEMS motion sensor is LIS302DL manufactured by STMicroelectronics NV and described in Data-sheet LIS302DL STMicroelectronics NV, 'MEMS motion sensor 3-axis - ⁇ 2g ⁇ 8g smart digital output "piccolo” accelerometer', Rev. 4, October 2008, which is incorporated in its entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • the motion sensor may be based on electrical tilt and vibration switch or any other electromechanical switch, such as the sensor described in U.S. Patent No. 7,326,866 to Whitmore et al. entitled: "Omnidirectional Tilt and vibration sensor", which is incorporated in its entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • An example of an electromechanical switch is SQ-SEN-200 available from SignalQuest, Inc. of Riverside, NH, USA, described in the data-sheet 'DATASHEET SQ-SEN-200 Omnidirectional Tilt and Vibration Sensor' Updated 2009-08-03, which is incorporated in its entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • a sensor may be a force sensor, a load cell, or a force gauge (a.k.a. force gage), used to measure a force magnitude commonly using Newton (N) units, and typically during a push or pull action.
  • a force sensor may be based on a measured spring displacement or an extension according to Hooke's law.
  • a load cell may be based on the deformation of a strain gauge, or may be a hydraulic or hydrostatic, a piezoelectric, or a vibrating wire load cell.
  • a sensor may be a dynamometer for measuring torque or moment or force.
  • a dynamometer may be a motoring type or a driving type, measuring the torque or power required to operate a device, or may be an absorption or passive dynamometer, designed to be driven.
  • the SI unit for torque is the Newton-meter (N-m).
  • the force sensor may be according to, or based on, the sensor described in U.S. Patent No. 4,594,898 to Kirman et al, entitled: "Force Sensors", in U.S. Patent No. 7,047,826 to Peshkin ⁇ entitled: "Force Sensors", in U.S. Patent No. 6,865,953 to Tsukada et al, entitled: “Force Sensors", or in U.S. Patent No. 5,844,146 to Murray et al, entitled: "Fingerpad Force Sensing System", which are all incorporated in their entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • a sensor may be a pressure sensor (a.k.a. pressure transducer or pressure transmitter / sender) for measuring a pressure of gases or liquids, commonly using units of Pascal (Pa), Bar (b) (such as millibar), Atmosphere (atm), Millimeter of Mercury (mmHg), or Torr, or in terms of force per unit area such as Barye - dyne per square centimeter (Ba).
  • Pressure sensor may indirectly measure other variable such as fluid/gas flow, speed, water-level, and altitude.
  • a pressure sensor may be a pressure switch, acting to complete or break an electric circuit in response to measured pressure magnitude.
  • a pressure sensor may be an absolute pressure sensor, where the pressure is measured relative to a perfect vacuum, may be a gauge pressure sensor where the pressure is measured relative to an atmospheric pressure, may be a vacuum pressure sensor where a pressure below atmospheric pressure is measured, may be a differential pressure sensor where the difference between two pressures is measured, or may be a sealed pressure sensor where the pressure is measured relative to some fixed pressure.
  • the changes in pressure relative to altitude may serve to use a pressure sensor for altitude sensing, and the Venturi effect may be used to measure flow by a pressure sensor.
  • the depth of a submerged body or the fluid level on contents in a tank may be measured by a pressure sensor.
  • a pressure sensor may be of a force collector type, where a force collector (such as a diaphragm, piston, Bourdon tube, or bellows) is used to measure strain (or deflection) due to applied force (pressure) over an area.
  • a force collector such as a diaphragm, piston, Bourdon tube, or bellows
  • Such sensor may be a based on the piezoelectric effect (a piezoresistive strain gauge), and may use Silicon (Monocrystalline), Polysilicon Thin Film, Bonded Metal Foil, Thick Film, or Sputtered Thin Film.
  • such force collector type sensor may be of a capacitive type, which uses a metal, a ceramic, or a silicon diaphragm in a pressure cavity to create a variable capacitor to detect strain due to applied pressure.
  • such force collector type sensor may be of an electromagnetic type, where the displacement of a diaphragm by means of changes in inductance is measured.
  • optical type the physical change of an optical fiber, such as strain, due to applied pressure is sensed.
  • a potentiometric type may be used, where the motion of a wiper along a resistive mechanism is used to measure the strain caused by the applied pressure.
  • a pressure sensor may measure the stress or the changes in gas density, caused by the applied pressure, by using the changes in resonant frequency in a sensing mechanism, by using the changes in thermal conductivity of a gas, or by using the changes in the flow of charged gas particles (ions).
  • An air pressure sensor may be a barometer, typically used to measure the atmospheric pressure, commonly used for weather forecast applications.
  • a pressure sensor may be according to, or based on, the sensor described in U.S. Patent No. 5,817,943 to Welles, II et al, entitled: "Pressure Sensors", in U.S. Patent No. 6,606,911 to Akiyama et al, entitled: “Pressure Sensors", in U.S. Patent No. 4,434,451 to Delatorre, entitled: “Pressure Sensors", or in U.S. Patent No. 5,134,887 to Bell, entitled: “Pressure Sensors”, which are all incorporated in their entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • a sensor may be a position sensor for measuring linear or angular position (or motion).
  • a position sensor may be an absolute position sensor, or may be a displacement (relative or incremental) sensor, measuring a relative position, and may further be an electromechanical sensor.
  • a position sensor may be mechanically attached to the measured object, or alternatively may use a non-contact measurement.
  • a position sensor may be an angular position sensor, for measuring involving an angular position (or the rotation or motion) of a shaft, an axle, or a disk. Angles are commonly expressed in radians (rad), or in degrees (°), minutes ('), and seconds ("), and angular velocity commonly uses units of radian per second (rad/s). Absolute angular position sensor output indicates the current position (angle) of the shaft, while incremental or displacement sensor provides information about the change, the angular speed or the motion of the shaft.
  • An angular position sensor may be of optical type, using reflective or interruption schemes.
  • a reflective sensor is based on a light-detector that senses a reflected beam from a light emitter, while an interruptive sensor is based on interrupting the light path between the emitter and the detector.
  • An angular position sensor may be of magnetic type, relying on detection based on the changes in the magnetic field.
  • a magnetic-based angular position sensor may be based on a variable-reluctance (VR), Eddy-Current Killed Oscillator (ECKO), Wiegand sensing, or Hall-effect sensing, used to detect a pattern in the rotating disc.
  • a rotary potentiometer may serve as an angular position sensor.
  • An angular position sensor may be based on a Rotary Variable Differential Transformer (RVDT), used for measuring the angular displacement by using a type of an electrical transformer.
  • RVDT Rotary Variable Differential Transformer
  • An RVDT is commonly composed of a salient two-pole rotor and a stator consisting of a primary excitation coil and a pair of secondary output coils, electromagnetically coupled to the excitation coil. The coupling is proportional to the angle of the measured shaft; hence the AC output voltage is proportional to the angular shaft displacement.
  • a resolver and a synchro are similar transformer based angular position sensors.
  • An angular position sensor may be based on a rotary encoder (a.k.a. shaft encoder), used for measuring angular position commonly by using a disc, which is rigidly fixed to the measured shaft, and contain conductive, optical, or magnetic tracks.
  • a rotary encoder may be an absolute encoder, or may be an incremental rotary encoder, where output is provided only when the encoder is rotating.
  • a mechanical rotary encoder use an insulating disc and sliding contacts, which close electrical circuits upon rotation of the disc.
  • An optical rotary encoder uses a disc having transparent and opaque areas, and a light source and a photo detector to sense the optical pattern on the disc. Both mechanical and optical rotary encoders, and may use binary or gray encoding schemes.
  • a sensor may be an angular rate sensor, used to measure the angular rate, or the rotation speed, of a shaft, an axle or a disk.
  • An angular rate sensor may be electromechanical, MEMS based, Laser based (such as Ring Laser Gyroscope - RLG), or a gyroscope (such as a fiber-optic gyro) based. Some gyroscopes use the measurement of the Coriolis acceleration to determine the angular rate.
  • An angular rate sensor may be a tachometer (a.k.a. RPM gauge and revolution-counter), used to measure the rotation speed of a shaft, an axle or a disk, commonly by units of RPM (Revolutions per Minute) annotating the number of full rotations completed in one minute around the axis.
  • a tachometer may be based on any angular position sensor, for example sensors that are described herein, using further conditioning or processing to obtain the rotation speed.
  • a tachometer may be based on measuring the centrifugal force, or based on sensing a slotted disk, using optical means where an optical beam is interrupted, electrical means where electrical contacts sense the disk, or by using magnetic sensors, such as based on Hall-effect.
  • an angular rate sensor may be a centrifugal switch, which is an electric switch that operates using the centrifugal force created from a rotating shaft, most commonly that of an electric motor or a gasoline engine.
  • the switch is designed to activate or de-activate as a function of the rotational speed of the shaft.
  • a position sensor may be a linear position sensor, for measuring a linear displacement or position typically in a straight line.
  • the SI unit for length is the meter (m), and prefixes may be used such as nanometer (nm), micrometer, centimeter (cm), millimeter (mm), and kilometer (Km).
  • a linear position sensor may be based on a resistance changing element such as linear potentiometer.
  • a linear position sensor may be a Linear Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT) used for measuring linear displacement based on the transformer concept.
  • An LVDT has three coils placed in a tube, where the center coil serves as the primary winding coil, and the two outer coils serve as the transformer secondary windings. The position of a sliding cylindrical ferromagnetic core is measured by changing the mutual magnetic coupling between the windings.
  • a linear position sensor may be a linear encoder, which may be similar to the rotary encoder counterpart, and may be based on the same principles.
  • a linear encoder may be either incremental or absolute, and may be of optical, magnetic, capacitive, inductive, or eddy-current type.
  • Optical linear encoder typically uses a light source such as an LED or laser diode, and may employ shuttering, diffraction, or holographic principles.
  • a magnetic linear encoder may employ an active (magnetized) or passive (variable reluctance) scheme, and the position may be sensed using a sense coil, 'Hall effect' or magneto-resistive read-head.
  • a capacitive or inductive linear encoder respectively measures the changes of capacitance or the inductance.
  • Eddy-current linear encoder may be based on U.S. Patent No. 3,820,110 to Henrich et al. entitled: "Eddy Current Type Digital Encoder and Position Reference".
  • one or more of the sensor elements 53 is a motion detector or an occupancy sensor.
  • a motion detector is a device for motion detection, that contains a physical mechanism or electronic sensor that quantifies motion commonly in order alert the user of the presence of a moving object within the field of view, or in general confirming a change in the position of an object relative to its surroundings or the change in the surroundings relative to an object. This detection can be achieved by both mechanical and electronic methods. In addition to discrete, on or off motion detection, it can also consist of magnitude detection that can measure and quantify the strength or speed of this motion or the object that created it.
  • Motion can be typically detected by sound (acoustic sensors), opacity (optical and infrared sensors and video image processors), geomagnetism (magnetic sensors, magnetometers), reflection of the transmitted energy (infrared laser radar, ultrasonic sensors, and microwave radar sensors), electromagnetic induction (inductive-loop detectors), and vibration (triboelectric, seismic, and inertia-switch sensors).
  • Acoustic sensors are based on: Electret effect, inductive coupling, capacitive coupling, triboelectric effect, piezoelectric effect, and fiber optic transmission. Radar intrusion sensors usually have the lowest rate of false alarms.
  • an electronic motion detector contains a motion sensor that transforms the detection of motion into an electrical signal.
  • An occupancy sensor is typically a motion detector that is integrated with hardware or software-based timing device. For example, it can be used for preventing illumination of unoccupied spaces, by sensing when motion has stopped for a specified time period, in order to trigger a light extinguishing signal.
  • One basic form of mechanical motion detection is in the form of a mechanically-actuated switch or trigger.
  • passive or active sensors may be used, where four types of sensors commonly used in motion detectors spectrum: Passive infrared sensors (passive) which looks for body heat, while no energy is emitted from the sensor, ultrasonic (active) sensors that send out pulses of ultrasonic waves and measures the reflection off a moving object, microwave (active) sensor that sends out microwave pulses and measures the reflection off a moving object, and tomographic detector (active) which senses disturbances to radio waves as they travel through an area surrounded by mesh network nodes.
  • motion can be electronically identified using optical detection or acoustical detection. Infrared light or laser technology may be used for optical detection.
  • Motion detection devices such as PIR (Passive Infrared Sensor) motion detectors, have a sensor that detects a disturbance in the infrared spectrum, such as a person or an animal.
  • motion detectors use a combination of different technologies. These dual-technology detectors benefit with each type of sensor, and false alarms are reduced. Placement of the sensors can be strategically mounted so as to lessen the chance of pets activating alarms. Often, PIR technology will be paired with another model to maximize accuracy and reduce energy usage. PIR draws less energy than microwave detection, and so many sensors are calibrated so that when the PIR sensor is tripped, it activates a microwave sensor. If the latter also picks up an intruder, then the alarm is sounded. As interior motion detectors do not 'see' through windows or walls, motion- sensitive outdoor lighting is often recommended to enhance comprehensive efforts to protect a property. Some application for motion detection are (a) detection of unauthorized entry, (b) detection of cessation of occupancy of an area to extinguish lights and (c) detection of a moving object which triggers a camera to record subsequent events.
  • a sensor may be a humidity sensor, such as a hygrometer, used for measuring the humidity in the environmental air or other gas, relating to the water vapors or the moisture content, or any water content in a gas-vapor mixture.
  • the hygrometer may be a humidistat, which is a switch that responds to a relative humidity level, and commonly used to control humidifying or dehumidifying equipment.
  • the measured humidity may be an absolute humidity, corresponding to the amount of water vapor, commonly expressed in water mass per unit of volume.
  • the humidity may be relative humidity, defined as the ratio of the partial pressure of water vapor in an air-water mixture to the saturated vapor pressure of water at those conditions, commonly expressed in percents (%), or may be a specific humidity (a.k.a. humidity ratio), which is the ratio of water vapor to dry air in a particular mass.
  • the humidity may be measured with a dew-point hygrometer, where condensation is detected by optical means.
  • capacitive humidity sensors the effect of humidity on the dielectric constant of a polymer or metal oxide material is measured.
  • resistive humidity sensors the resistance of salts or conductive polymers is measured.
  • thermal conductivity humidity sensors the change in thermal conductivity of air due to the humidity is checked, providing indication of absolute humidity.
  • the humidity sensor may be a humidistat, which is a switch that responds to a relative humidity level, and commonly used to control humidifying or dehumidifying equipment.
  • the humidity sensor may be according to, or based on, the sensor described in U.S. Patent No. 5,001,453 to Ikejiri et al, entitled: “Humidity Sensor", in U.S. Patent No. 6,840,103 to Lee at al, entitled: “Absolute Humidity Sensor", in U.S. Patent No. 6,806,722 to Shon et al, entitled: “Polymer-Type Humidity Sensor", or in U.S. Patent No. 6,895,803 to Seakins et al, entitled: “Humidity Sensor", which are all incorporated in their entirely for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • a sensor may be an atmospheric sensor, and may be according to, or based on, the sensor described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0182167 to Orth et al, entitled: "Gage Pressure Output From an Absolute Pressure Measurement Device", in U.S. Patent No. 4,873,481 to Nelson et al, entitled: “Microwave Radiometer and Methods for Sensing Atmospheric Moisture and Temperature", in U.S. Patent No. 3,213,010 to Saunders et al, entitled: “Vertical Drop Atmospheric Sensor", or in U.S. Patent No.
  • a sensor may be a bulk or surface acoustic wave sensor, and may be according to, or based on, the sensor described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0162815 to Lee, entitled: “Manufacturing Method for Acoustic Wave Sensor Realizing Dual Mode in Single Chip and Biosensor Using the Same", in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0272193 to Okaguchi et al, entitled: "Surface Acoustic Wave Sensor", in U.S. Patent No. 7,219,536 to Liu et al, entitled: “System and Method to Determine Oil Quality Utilizing a Single Multi-Function Surface Acoustic Wave Sensor", or in U.S. Patent No. 7,482,732 to Kalantar-Zadeh, entitled: “Layered Surface Acoustic Wave Sensor", which are all incorporated in their entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • a sensor may be a clinometer (a.k.a. inclinometer, tilt sensor, slope gauge, and pitch/roll indicator) for measuring angle (or slope or tilt), elevation or depression of an object, or pitch or roll (commonly with respect to gravity), with respect to the earth ground plane, or with respect to the horizon, commonly expressed in degrees.
  • the clinometers may measure inclination (positive slope), declination (negative slope), or both.
  • a clinometer may be based on an accelerometer, a pendulum, or on a gas bubble in liquid.
  • the inclinometer may be a tilt switch, such as a mercury tilt switch, commonly based on a sealed glass envelope which contains a bead or mercury. When tilted in the appropriate direction, the bead touches a set (or multiple sets) of contacts, thus completing an electrical circuit.
  • the sensor may be an angular rate sensor, and may be according to, or based on, the sensor described in U.S. Patent No. 4,759,220 to Burdess et al, entitled: "Angular Rate Sensors", in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0041604 to Kano et al, entitled: “Angular Rate Sensor", in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0061460 to Seeger et al, entitled: “Extension-Mode Angular Velocity Sensor", or in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0219873 to OHTA et al, entitled: “Angular Rate Sensor ", which are all incorporated in their entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • a sensor may be a proximity sensor for detecting the presence of nearby objects without any physical contact.
  • a proximity sensor may be of ultrasonic, capacitive, inductive, magnetic, eddy- current or infrared (IR) type.
  • IR infrared
  • a typical proximity sensor emits a field or a signal, and senses the changes in the field due to the object.
  • An inductive type emits magnetic field, and may be used with a metal or conductive object.
  • An optical type emits a beam (commonly infrared), and measures the reflected optical signal.
  • a proximity sensor may be a capacitive displacement sensor, based on the capacitance change due to the proximity of conductive and non-conductive materials.
  • a metal detector is one type of a proximity sensor using inductive sensing, responding to conductive material such as metal. Commonly a coil produces an alternating magnetic field, and measuring eddy- currents or the changes in the magnetic fields.
  • a sensor may be a flow sensor, for measuring the volumetric or mass flow rate (or flow velocity) of gas or liquid such as via a defined area or a surface, commonly expressed in liters per second, kilogram per second, gallons per minute, or cubic-meter per second.
  • a liquid flow sensor typically involves measuring the flow in a pipe or in an open conduit.
  • a flow measurement may be based on a mechanical flow meter, where the flow affects a motion to be sensed.
  • Such meter may be a turbine flow meter, based on measuring the rotation of a turbine, such as axial turbine, in the liquid (or gas) flow around an axis.
  • a mechanical flow meter may be based on a rotor with helical blades inserted axially in the flow (Woltmann meter), or a single jet meter based on a simple impeller with radial vanes, impinged upon by a single jet (such as a paddle wheel meter).
  • Pressure-based meters may be based on measuring a pressure or a pressure differential, caused by the flow, commonly based on Bernoulli's principle.
  • a Venturi meter is based on constricting the flow (e.g., by an orifice), and measuring the pressure differential before and within the constriction. Commonly a concentric, eccentric, or segmental orifice plate may be used, including a plate with a hole.
  • An optical flow meter use light to determine the flow-rate, commonly by measuring the actual speed of particles in the gas (or liquid) flow, by using a light emitter (e.g., laser) and a photo-detector.
  • the Doppler-effect may be used with sound, such as an ultrasonic sound, or with light, such as a laser Doppler.
  • the sensor may be based on an acoustic velocity sensor, and may be according to, or based on, the sensor described in U.S. Patent No. 5,930,201 to Cray, entitled: "Acoustic Vector Sensing Sonar System", in U.S. Patent No.
  • a flow sensor may be an air flow sensor, for measuring the air flow, such as through a surface (e.g., through a tube) or a volume.
  • the sensor may actually measure the air volume passing (such as in vane / flap air flow meter), or may measure the actual speed or air flow.
  • a pressure typically differential pressure, is measured as an indicator for the air flow measurements.
  • An anemometer is an air flow sensor primarily for measuring wind speed.
  • Air or wind flow may use cup anemometer, which typically consists of hemispherical cups mounted on the ends of horizontal arms. The air flow past the cups in any horizontal direction turns the cups proportional to the wind speed.
  • a windmill anemometer combines a propeller and a tail on the same axis, to obtain wind speed and direction measurements.
  • Hot-wire anemometer commonly uses a fine (several micrometers) tungsten (or other metal) wire, heated to some temperature above the ambient, and uses the cooling effect of the air flowing past the wire.
  • Hot-wire devices can be further classified as CCA (Constant-Current Anemometer), CVA (Constant- Voltage Anemometer) and CTA (Constant- Temperature Anemometer).
  • the voltage output from these anemometers is thus the result of some sort of circuit within the device trying to maintain the specific variable (current, voltage or temperature) constant.
  • Laser Doppler anemometers use a beam of light from a laser that is divided into two beams, with one propagated out of the anemometer. Particulates (or deliberately introduced seed material) flowing along with air molecules near where the beam exits reflect, or backscatter, the light back into a detector, where it is measured relative to the original laser beam.
  • Sonic anemometers use ultrasonic sound waves to measure wind velocity. They measure wind speed based on the time of flight of sonic pulses between pairs of transducers. Measurements from pairs of transducers can be combined to yield a measurement of velocity in 1-, 2-, or 3-dimensional flow. The spatial resolution is given by the path length between transducers, which is typically 10 to 20 cm. Sonic anemometers can take measurements with very fine temporal resolution, 20 Hz or better, which makes them well suited for turbulence measurements.
  • Air flow may be further measured by pressure anemometers, which may be a plate or a tube type.
  • Plate anemometer uses a flat plate suspended from the top so that the wind deflects the plate, or by balancing a spring compressed by the pressure of the wind on its face.
  • Tube anemometer comprises a glass U tube containing a liquid manometer serving as a pressure gauge, with one end bent in a horizontal direction to face the wind and the other vertical end remains parallel to the wind flow.
  • An inductive sensor may be eddy-current (a.k.a. Foucault currents) based sensor, used for high-resolution non-contact measurement or a position, or a change in the position ⁇ of a conductive object (such as a metal).
  • Eddy-Current sensors operate with magnetic fields, where a driver creates an alternating current in a coil at the end of the probe. This creates an alternating magnetic field with induces small currents (eddy currents) in the target material. The eddy currents create an opposing magnetic field which resists the field being generated by the probe coil and the interaction of the magnetic fields is dependent on the distance between the probe and the target, providing a displacement measurement.
  • Such sensors may be used to sense the vibration and position measurements, such as measurements of a rotating shaft, and to detect flaws in conductive materials, as well as in a proximity and metal detectors.
  • a sensor may be an ultrasound (or ultrasonic) sensor, based on transmitting and receiving ultrasound energy, and may be according to, or based on, the sensor described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0265572 to Hoenes, entitled: “Ultrasound Transducer, Ultrasound Sensor and Method for Operating an Ultrasound Sensor", in U.S. Patent No. 7,614,305 to Yoshioka et al, entitled: "Ultrasonic Sensor", in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0257050 to Watanabe, entitled: “Ultrasonic Sensor", or in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0242611 to Terazawa, entitled: “Ultrasonic Sensor", which are all incorporated in their entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • a sensor may be a solid state sensor, which is typically a semiconductor device and which have no mobile parts, and commonly enclosed as a chip.
  • the sensor may be according to, or based on, the sensor described in U.S. Patent No. 5,511,547 to Markle, entitled: “Solid State Sensors", in U.S. Patent No. 6,747,258 to Benz et al, entitled: "Intensified Hybrid Solid-State Sensor with an Insulating Layer", in U.S. Patent No. 5,105,087 to Jagielinski, entitled: “Large Solid State Sensor Assembly Formed from Smaller Sensors", or in U.S. Patent No. 4,243,631 to Ryerson, entitled: “Solid State Sensor", which are all incorporated in their entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • a sensor may be a nanosensor, which is a biological, chemical or physical sensor constructed using nanoscale components, usually microscopic or submicroscOpic in size.
  • a nanosensor may be according to, or based on, the sensor described in U.S. Patent No. 7,256,466 to Lieber et al, entitled: “Nanosensors", in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0264623 to Wang et al, entitled: “Nanosensors", in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0045523 to Strano et al, entitled: "Optical Nenosensors Comprising Photo luminescent Nanostructures", or in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0275544 to Zhou et al, entitled: “Microfluidic Integration with Nanosensor Platform", which are all incorporated in their entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • a sensor may consist of, or be based on, a gyroscope, for measuring orientation is space.
  • a conventional gyroscope is a mechanical type, consisting of a wheel or disk mounted so that it can spin rapidly about an axis tha3 ⁇ 4 is itself free to alter in direction. The orientation of the axis is not affected by tilting of the mounting; so gyroscopes are commonly used to provide stability or maintain a reference direction in navigation systems, in automatic pilots, and in stabilizers.
  • a MEMS gyroscope may be based on vibrating element based on the Foucault pendulum concept.
  • a Fiber Optic Gyroscope (FOG) uses the interference or light to detect mechanical rotation.
  • a Vibrating structure Gyroscope (VSG, a.k.a. Coriolis Vibratory Gyroscope - CVG), is based on a metal alloy resonator, and may be a piezoelectric gyroscope type where a piezoelectric material is vibrating and the lateral motion due to centrifugal force is measured.
  • multiple sensors are used arranged as a sensor array, where a set of several sensors, typically identical or similar, is used to gather information that cannot be gathered from a single sensor, or improve the measurement or sensing relating to a single sensor.
  • a sensor array commonly improves the sensitivity, accuracy, resolution, and other parameters of the sensed phenomenon, and may be arranged as a linear sensor array.
  • the sensor array may be directional, and better measure the parameters of the impinging signal to the array.
  • Parameters that may be identified include the number, magnitudes, frequencies, Direction-Of-Arrival (DOA), distances and speeds of the signals.
  • DOA Direction-Of-Arrival
  • Estimation of the DOA may be improved in far-field signal applications, and may be based on Spectral-based (Non-parametric) that is based on maximizing the power of the beamforming output for a given input signal (such as Barlett beamformer, Capon beamformer and MUSIC beamformer), or may be based on Parametric approaches that is based on minimizing quadratic penalty functions.
  • sensor array may be used to sense a phenomenon pattern in a surface or in space, as well as the phenomenon motion or distribution in a location.
  • a sensor, a sensor technology, a sensor conditioning or handling circuits, or a sensor application may be according to the book entitled: “Sensors and Control Systems in manufacturing", Second Edition 2010, by Sabrie Soloman, The McGraw-Hill Companies, ISBN: 978-0-07-160573-1, or according to the book entitled: “Fundamentals of Industrial Instrumentation and Process Control", by William C. Dunn, 2005, The McGraw-Hill Companies, ISBN: 0-07-145735-6, or according to the book entitled: “Sensor technology Handbook", Edited by Jon Wilson, by Newnes-Elsevier 2005, ISBN:0-7506-7729-5, which are all incorporated in their entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • a sensor 53 may be used for measuring magnetic or electrical quantities such as voltage (e.g., voltmeter), current (e.g., ampermeter), resistance (e.g., ohmmeter), conductance, reactance, magnetic flux, electrical charge, magnetic field (e.g., Hall sensor), electric field, electric power (e.g., electricity meter), S-matrix (e.g., network analyzer), power spectrum (e.g., spectrum analyzer), inductance, capacitance, impedance, phase, noise (amplitude or phase), transconductance, transimpedance, and frequency.
  • a sensor redundancy may be used in order to improve availability and reliability.
  • two or more sensor elements 53 are used in parallel, allowing for improved robustness and allowing for overcoming a single point of failure (SPOF).
  • Two or more sensor elements 53 may be used, all sensing or measuring the same physical phenomenon. While the two sensors such as sensor #1 53a and sensor #2 53b may be having the same structure, other arrangement may be equally used, and the two (or more) sensor units may be different, similar, substantially or fully the same.
  • the operation of the redundant sensors such as sensor #1 53a and sensor #2 may be based on standby redundancy, (a.k.a. Backup Redundancy), where one of the sensors is considered as a primary unit, and the other sensor is considered as the secondary unit, serving as back up to the primary unit.
  • the secondary unit typically does not monitor the system, but is there just as a spare.
  • the standby unit is not usually kept in sync with the primary unit, so it must reconcile its input and output signals on the takeover of the communication. This approach does lend itself to give a "bump" on transfer, meaning the secondary operation may not be in sync with the last system state of the primary unit.
  • Such mechanism may require a watchdog, which monitors the system to decide when a switchover condition is met, and command the system to switch control to the standby unit.
  • Standby redundancy configurations commonly employ two basic types, namely 'Cold Standby' and • Hot Standby'.
  • the secondary unit In cold standby state, the secondary unit is either powered off or otherwise non-active in the system operation, thus preserving the reliability of the unit.
  • the drawback of this design is that the downtime is greater than in hot standby, because the standby unit needs to be powered up or activated, and brought online into a known state.
  • the secondary unit On hot standby state, the secondary unit is powered up or otherwise kept operational, and can optionally monitor the system.
  • the secondary unit may serve as the watchdog and/or voter to decide when to switch over, thus eliminating the need for an additional hardware for this job.
  • This design does not preserve the reliability of the standby unit as well as the cold standby design. However, it shortens the downtime, which in turn increases the availability of the system.
  • Some flavors of Hot Standby are similar to Dual Modular Redundancy (DMR) or Parallel Redundancy. The main difference between Hot Standby and DMR is how tightly the primary and the secondary are synchronized. DMR completely synchronizes the primary and secondary units.
  • ⁇ ' Modular Redundancy (a.k.a. Parallel Redundancy) refers to the approach of having multiply units or data paths running in parallel. All units are highly synchronized and receive the same input information at the same time. Their output values are then compared and a voter decides which output values should be used.
  • This model easily provides 'bumpless' switchovers. This model typically has faster switchover times than Hot Standby models, thus the system availability is very high, but because all the units are powered up and actively engaged with the system operation, the system is at more risk of encountering a common mode failure across all the units.
  • N Modular Redundancy there are three main typologies: Dual Modular Redundancy, Triple Modular Redundancy, and Quadruple Redundancy.
  • Quadruple Modular Redundancy is fundamentally similar to TMR but using four units instead of three to increase the reliability.
  • the obvious drawback is the 4X increase in system cost.
  • Dual Modular Redundancy uses two functional equivalent units* thus either can control or support the system operation.
  • the most challenging aspect of DMR is determining when to switch over to the secondary unit. Because both units are monitoring the application, a mechanism is needed to decide what to do if they disagree. Either a tiebreaker vote or simply the secondary unit may be designated as the default winner, assuming it is more trustworthy than the primary unit.
  • Triple Modular Redundancy uses three functional equivalent units to provide a redundant backup. This approach is very common in aerospace applications where the cost of failure is extremely high. TMR is more reliable than DMR due to two main aspects. The most obvious reason is that two "standby" units are used instead of just one. The other reason is that in a technique called diversity platforms or diversity programming may be applied.
  • redundancy topology is 1 :N Redundancy, where a single backup is used for multiple systems, and this backup is able to function in the place of any single one of the active systems.
  • This technique offers redundancy at a much lower cost than the other models by using one standby unit for several primary units. This approach only works well when the primary units all have very similar functions, thus allowing the standby to back up any of the primary units if one of them fails.
  • redundant data paths have been exampled with regard to the added reliability and availability, redundant data paths may as well be used in order to provide higher aggregated data rate, allowing for faster response and faster transfer of data over the multiple data paths.
  • a sensor may be an image sensor, for converting an optical image into an electrical signal.
  • a sensor unit 53 may consist, may include, or may be integrated with, a digital still camera or a video camera. Such sensor unit may include lens (one or few lenses) for focusing the received light onto a small semiconductor sensor, serving as the image sensor.
  • the image sensor commonly includes a panel with a matrix of tiny light-sensitive diodes (photocells), converting the image light to electric charges and then to electric signals, thus creating a video picture or a still image by recording the light intensity.
  • Charge-Coupled Devices (CCD) and CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) are commonly used as the light-sensitive diodes.
  • Linear or area arrays of light-sensitive elements may be used, and the light sensitive sensors may support monochrome (black & white), color or both.
  • the CCD sensor KAI-2093 Image Sensor 1920 (H) X 1080 (V) Interline CCD Image Sensor or KAF-50100 Image Sensor 8176 (H) X 6132 (V) Full-Frame CCD Image Sensor can be used, available from Image Sensor Solutions, Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, New York.
  • the analyzer may further include an image processor block comprising an AFE, connected to receive the analog signal from the image sensor.
  • the Analog Front End (AFE) in the image processor block filters, amplifies and digitizes the signal, using an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter.
  • the AFE further provides correlated double sampling (CDS), and provides a gain control to accommodate varying illumination conditions.
  • CCD AFE Analog Front End
  • Such an AFE may be based on VSP2560 'CCD Analog Front End for Digital Cameras' from Texas Instruments Incorporated of Dallas Texas, U.S.A.
  • the image processor block may further contain a digital image processor, which receives the digital data from the AFE, and processes this digital representation of the image to handle various industry-standards, and to execute various computations and algorithms.
  • a digital image processor receives the digital data from the AFE, and processes this digital representation of the image to handle various industry-standards, and to execute various computations and algorithms.
  • additional image enhancements may be performed by the block such as generating greater pixel density or adjusting color balance, contrast and luminance.
  • the block may perform other data management functions and processing on the raw digital image data. Commonly, the timing relationship of the vertical / horizontal reference signals and the pixel clock are also handled in this block.
  • Digital Media System-on-Chip device TMS320DM357 from Texas Instruments Incorporated of Dallas Texas, U.S. A.
  • the image processor may be a separate and dedicated processor
  • the image processor functionality in the block may be integrated, in whole or in part, in the processor 54 functions or its software/firmware, such that a single processor executes both the image processing relating functionalities and other required functionalities (e.g., communication control) associated with the sensor unit 53 operations.
  • image processing functions may include adjusting color balance, gamma and luminance, filtering pattern noise, filtering noise using Wiener filter, changing zoom factors, recropping, applying enhancement filters, applying smoothing filters, applying subject-dependent filters, and applying coordinate transformations.
  • Other enhancements in the image data may include applying mathematical algorithms to generate greater pixel density or adjusting color balance, contrast and / or luminance.
  • the block may convert the raw data received from the photosensor array serving as the image sensor into a color-corrected image in a standard image file format.
  • formats that can be used to represent the original or compressed captured image are TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), RAW format, AVI (Audio Video Interleaved), DV (such as based on IEC 61834), MOV, WMV (Windows Media Video), MP4 (Such as ISO/IEC 14496-14:2003), DCF (Design Rule for Camera Format), ITU-T H.261, ITU-T H.263, ITU-T H.264, ITU-T CCIR 601, ASF, Exif (Exchangeable Image File Format), and DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) standards.
  • video data is compressed before transmission, in order to allow its transmission over a reduced bandwidth transmission system.
  • a video compressor (or video encoder) is coupled between the image processor and the processor 54, allowing for compression of the digital video signal before its transmission over a communication medium.
  • compression will not be required, hence obviating the need for such a compressor.
  • Such compression can be lossy or lossless types.
  • Common compression algorithms are JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) and MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group).
  • the compression can be based on ADV212 JPEG 2000 Video Codec, available from Analog Devices, Inc., from Norwood, MA, U.S.A.
  • the above and other image or video compression techniques can make use of intraframe compression commonly based on registering the differences between part of single frame or a single image.
  • An interframe compression can further be used for video streams, based on registering differences between frames.
  • Other examples of image processing include run length encoding and delta modulation.
  • the image can be dynamically dithered to allow the displayed image to appear to have higher resolution and quality.
  • the video compressor may be a separate and dedicated processor
  • the compression functionality may be integrated, in whole or in part, in the processor 54 functions or its software/firmware, such that a single processor executes both the image processing relating functionalities and other required functionalities (e.g., communication control) associated with the sensor unit 53 operations.
  • the compression functionality may be integrated, in whole or in part, with the image processor or analyzer 55 functions or its software/firmware, such that a single processor executes both the image processing and image compressing relating functionalities.
  • the analyzer 55 may be powered, in whole or in part, from an AC or DC power source, which may be integrated with the unit enclosure, may be external to the unit enclosure, or any combination thereof.
  • a power supply such as power supply 52
  • the power source is connected to the power source to be power fed therefrom, and provides a single (or multiple) voltage as required by the field unit.
  • one or more regulated DC voltage is supplied by the power supply, which may be a linear or a switching type.
  • the power supply outputs are commonly regulated to provide stable voltages (and/or currents, if applicable), under varying power source and load conditions.
  • the power supply outputs are commonly protected against overload, for example by a fuse or a current limiter, and are commonly protected against overvoltage, over-current, or other instabilities and abnormal condition of the power source. Further, a power supply may also serve to provide electrical isolation, and further commonly filters an electrical noise between its inputs and outputs.
  • a sensor may be power fed from the same power source or power supply powering the analyzer 55 circuits, or may use a dedicated power source or power supply, which may be internal or external to the sensor.
  • Multiple distinct or independent communication routes provide higher reliability such as avoiding single point of failure (SPOF), where in the case of any failure in one of the communication routes, the other routes may still provide the required connection and the system functionality is preserved, thus a therein renders the system fully functional, using a backup or failsafe scheme.
  • the operation of the redundant communication routes may be based on standby redundancy, (a.k.a. Backup Redundancy), where one of the data paths or the associated hardware is considered as a primary unit, and the other data path (or the associated hardware) is considered as the secondary unit, serving as back up to the primary unit.
  • the secondary unit typically does not monitor the system, but is there just as a spare.
  • the standby unit is not usually kept in sync with the primary unit, so it must reconcile its input and output signals on the takeover of the communication.
  • This approach does lend itself to give a "bump" on transfer, meaning the secondary operation may not be in sync with the last system state of the primary unit.
  • Such mechanism may require a watchdog, which monitors the system to decide when a switchover condition is met, and command the system to switch control to the standby unit.
  • Standby redundancy configurations commonly employ two basic types, namely 'Cold Standby' and 'Hot Standby'.
  • the secondary unit In cold standby, the secondary unit is either powered off or otherwise non-active in the system operation, thus preserving the reliability of the unit.
  • the drawback of this design is that the downtime is greater than in hot standby, because the standby unit needs to be powered up or activated, and brought online into a known state.
  • the secondary unit On hot standby, the secondary unit is powered up or otherwise kept operational, and can optionally monitor the system.
  • the secondary unit may serve as the watchdog and/or voter to decide when to switch over, thus eliminating the need for an additional hardware for this job.
  • This design does not preserve the reliability of the standby unit as well as the cold standby design. However, it shortens the downtime, which in turn increases the availability of the system.
  • Some flavors of Hot Standby are similar to Dual Modular Redundancy (DMR) or Parallel Redundancy. The main difference between Hot Standby and DMR is how tightly the primary and the secondary are synchronized. DMR completely synchronizes the primary and secondary units.
  • Quadruple Modular Redundancy is fundamentally similar to TMR but using four units instead of three to increase the reliability. The obvious drawback is the 4X increase in system cost.
  • Dual Modular Redundancy uses two functional equivalent units; thus either can control or support the system operation.
  • the most challenging aspect of DMR is determining when to switch over to the secondary unit. Because both units are monitoring the application, a mechanism is needed to decide what to do if they disagree. Either a tiebreaker vote or simply the secondary unit may be designated as the default winner, assuming it is more trustworthy than the primary unit.
  • Triple Modular Redundancy uses three functional equivalent units to provide a redundant backup. This approach is very common in aerospace applications where the cost of failure is extremely high. TMR is more reliable than DMR due to two main aspects. The most obvious reason is that two "standby" units are used instead of just one. The other reason is that in a technique called diversity platforms or diversity programming may be applied.
  • redundancy topology is 1 :N Redundancy, where a single backup is used for multiple systems, and this backup is able to function in the place of any single one of the active systems.
  • This technique offers redundancy at a much lower cost than the other models by using one standby unit for several primary units. This approach only works well when all the primary units involve very similar functions, thus allowing the standby to back up any of the primary units if one of them fails.
  • the HDD 30 may be in one of the following states:
  • a. Start up This state starts upon supplying power to the HDD 30, and ends when the HDD 30 is fully operational and ready for writing to it or reading from it. In this state an electrical power is supplied to all HDD 30 components, including driving the motor that rotates the platter 21 is spin-up until reaching stable final speed.
  • the HDD processor 33 executes a BootLoader code that uploads the firmware to the memory 34, after which the HDD 30 is ready to receive messages over the SATA bus via the SATA interface 32a.
  • the HDD 30 is idling and is not involved in any writing or reading from the platter 21, and is typically waiting for a 'Reset' command over the SATA bus to exit this state. When in idle state, the HDD 30 can still read or write from the internal cache, but there is no access to the platter 21.
  • c. Sleep In this state the platter 21 motor is powered down, so that the rotation of the platter 21 is stopped.
  • the HDD 30 processor 33 is also idled, and only waits a command to start-up or reset.
  • Standby In order to save energy and elongating the HDD 30 operational life, upon a command from the SATA bus or after pre-set time in the idle state, the HDD 30 platter 21 motor spin down to a lower speed. Any command from the SATA bus will cause the HDD 30 to revert to full and operational speed.
  • Read-Modified-Write Another normal operation state where data is read, process, and then written to the platter 21.
  • SMART A self-checking operation of the HDD 30, where the testing results are stored internally and can be accessed over the SATA bus.
  • the system may be used to detect malware in a device.
  • a malware in the HDD 30 firmware (for example, may be residing in the HDD 30 memory 34), may cause when executed by the processor 33 to access the platter 21 more frequently than associated with a specific operation state.
  • Such scenario may cause the physical phenomenon that may be detected by one of the sensors 53, such as temperature rising of the HDD 30 case due to the additional power dissipation by the motor and electrical circuits, noise caused by the head 38 frequent moves, or higher power consumption.
  • the electrical power consumption should be minimal, and no mechanical motion should be observed. Detection of an excessive power consumption or detection of a mechanical movement (by sound or vibration), may be used to detect the existence of the malware.
  • the system may be used to test the HDD 30, in order to verify that one or more qualitative or quantitative characteristics of the HDD 30 are complying with their specifications.
  • the testing may be performed by dedicated test equipment (tester), or as part of normal operation such as in a computer system. Further, the testing may be a 'stress testing' involving testing beyond normal operational capacity, often to a breaking point, in order to observe the results. Such stress testing may be used in order to determine breaking points or safe usage limits, to confirm intended specifications are being met, to determine modes of failure (how exactly a system fails), or to test stable operation of a part or system outside standard usage.
  • the testing may be initiated by the host computer 45 which may initiate the stress mode via the SATA bus 43.
  • a pattern of measurements by a sensor may further be used to estimate and check the deterioration and wear of the HDD 30, such as by machine learning techniques. For example, a case of rising temperature in time under the same condition (e.g., same operational state) may indicate a deterioration of the electronic components or circuits. Similarly, a rising level of noise from a mechanical device such as an electric motor in the HDD 30 may indicate an excessive wear and that the motor is close to a fatal failure or end-of-life condition. Similarly, a trend of longer response of the HDD 30 may indicate more errors in the HDD 30 operation or other general deterioration.
  • the system may further include a timer for measuring time intervals.
  • the timer may be hardware based, which is typically a digital counter that either increment or decrement at a fixed frequency, which is often configurable, and which interrupt the processor when reaching zero, or alternatively a counter with a sufficiently large word size that it will not reach its counter limit before the end of life of the system.
  • a software based timer may be used, for example implemented by the processor 54.
  • the timer may be used to measure the time interval of a state of the HDD 30. For example, upon receiving a command for writing into the memory, the timer may measure the time interval of the HDD 30 being in the write/read state. The time may initiate the time metering upon detecting a message over the SATA bus commanding an action or state to the HDD 30. Alternatively or in addition, the metering commences upon an event of sensing a phenomenon, such as supplying power to the HDD 30 or sensing a motor stopping by sensing the absence of a vibration or sound. The time interval may be measured until stopped, such as by detecting a message over the SATA bus wherein the HDD 30 notifying the event of the end of the state.
  • the metering stops upon an event sensing a phenomenon, such as a motor at nominal speed sensed by the level of the associated vibration or sound.
  • the timer may measure the time interval required to shift from a state to state, such as between a command to the HDD 30 to enter a state to the message from the HDD 30 notifying the entrance to the required operational state.
  • a report of the results may be sent to the host computer 45 over the communication link 48, to the HDD 30, or both, in addition any other actions, such as notification to a user device.
  • the notification to the user device may be text based, such as an electronic mail (e-mail), website content, fax, or a Short Message Service (SMS).
  • SMS Short Message Service
  • the notification or alert to the user device may be voice based, such as a voicemail, a voice message to a telephone device.
  • the notification or the alert to the user device may activate a vibrator, causing vibrations that are felt by human body touching, or may be based on a Multimedia Message Service (MMS) or Instant Messaging (IM).
  • MMS Multimedia Message Service
  • IM Instant Messaging
  • the messaging, alerting, and notifications may be based on, include part of, or may be according to U.S. Patent Application No. 2009/0024759 to McKibben et al. entitled: "System and Method for Providing Alerting Services", U.S. Patent No. 7,653,573 to Hayes, Jr. et al. entitled: "Customer Messaging Service", U.S. Patent No. 6,694,316 to Langseth. et al.
  • the system may be used with a specific HDD 30 device. Alternatively or in addition, the system may provide easy and quick replacement of an HDD, allowing fast replacement of HDDs.
  • the system may be part of, may include, or may be integrated with, test equipment for testing HDDs.
  • Such a system may use a drawer 80 shown in FIG. 8, allowing for easy insertion of, removal of, and connection to, an HDD.
  • the drawer 80 may be part of, integrated with, or comprising, the analyzer 55 (entirely or in part), the HDD 30, or the host computer 45.
  • the drawer 80 includes a bottom tray 83, and side panels defining a cavity 84 suitable to house an HDD enclosure.
  • the drawer 80 further includes side rails 81a and 81b (not shown in the figure), suitable for inserting the drawer into a cabinet, shelf, or rack.
  • An opening 94 is used for insertion and removal of the HDD, and may be closed using door 82, as shown in FIG. 8 ⁇
  • FIG. 9 shows schematically the drawer 80 in further detail in a state where the door 82 is open and enabling the insertion of the HDD via the opening 94, and is further showing a lever 92 which may be used to fasten the HDD into its place, and electronic components mounted on and connected using a PCB 91.
  • the PCB 91 and the electrical components mounted onto may be part of, integrated with, or comprising, the analyzer 55 (entirely or in part), the HDD 30, or the host computer 45.
  • FIG. 10 shows a sub-rack (or shelf) 120, enclosing 16 drawers, each may be the same as, or similar to, the drawer 80, such as drawer 80a housing HDD 20a, drawer 80b housing HDD 20b, and drawer 80c housing HDD 20c. While 16 drawers were exampled in FIG. 12, any number of drawers may be equally used.
  • FIG. 12 shows a sub-rack (or shelf) 120, enclosing 16 drawers, each may be the same as, or similar to, the drawer 80, such as drawer 80a housing HDD 20a, drawer 80b housing HDD 20b, and drawer 80c housing HDD 20c. While 16 drawers were exampled in FIG. 12, any number of drawers may be equally used.
  • FIG. 12 shows a sub-rack (or shelf) 120, enclosing 16 drawers, each may be the same as, or similar to, the drawer 80, such as drawer 80a housing HDD 20a, drawer 80b housing HDD 20b, and drawer 80c housing HDD 20c. While
  • FIG. 13 shows schematically a 19-inch standard rack 130 having a frame 131 used for mounting of 5 sub- racks 120a, 120b, 120c, 120d, and 120e. While 5 sub-racks were exampled in FIG. 13, any number of sub-racks may be equally used. Examples of HDD failures and failure trends are described in the article entitled: 'Failure Trends in a Large Disk Drive Population' by Eduardo Pinheiro, Wolf- Dietrich, and Luiz Andre Barroso of Google Inc., that appeared in the Proceeding of the 5 th USENIX Conference on File and Storage Technologies (FAST ⁇ 7), February 2007, which is incorporated in its entirety for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
  • the system includes, is part of, or is integrated with, an HDD data sanitization mechanism, such as for a start-of-life or an end-of-life handling procedures.
  • the system may be used to check proper operation of the HDD 20 before starting the file deletion or the data sanitization process, in order to ensure that such process may properly be executed;
  • the HDD 20 may be tested after the sanitization process in order to verify that the sanitization was properly processed.
  • the system may be operative during the sanitization, for example to verify proper deletion and sanitization process.
  • one or more of the sensors may be used for detecting the existence or absence of a component of, part of, or the entire, HDD.
  • FIG, 14 illustrates few views of a drawer 80 integrated with a sensor used for sensing an existence of a component or more of the HDD 20.
  • the sensors may be used to sense the proper insertion or the location of the HDD 20.
  • a view 140a shows the use of one or more tactile sensors.
  • a tactile sensor 141a is shown mounted on the rear panel of drawer 80a, tactile sensors 141b and 141c are respectively mounted on the right and left (looking from the HDD insertion opening side) panels, and sensor 141 is located on the tray of drawer 80a.
  • a tactile sensor may be located or mounted at any location that is in touch with the inserted HDD 20.
  • a view 140b shown with inserted HDD 20 and open door 82, illustrates the use of a switch or microswitch 142 that is activated upon feeling a mechanical movement or a push by the HDD 20.
  • proximity sensors such as sensors 143a located on the rear surface and sensor 143b located on the front panel of the drawer 80c may be used, as shown in view 140c.
  • the existence of the HDD 20 (or part thereof) or sensing a proper insertion of the HDD 20 to a drawer 80 may use a light emitter and a light detector or sensor.
  • a line of sight carrying light beam exists between the light emitter and the light detector, such that when not interrupted, the light sensor detects the emitted light.
  • the light sensor Upon interfering with, or stopping, the light beam, the light sensor indicates that no minimum light is received, thus sensing the interference.
  • view 150a in FIG. 15 A light source 151b is mounted on the left side surface of the drawer 80d, oriented to emit a light beam received by the light sensor 151a mounted on the right surface across the light emitter.
  • both the light source 151b and the light sensor 151a may be mounted on the same side, such as on the left panel of the drawer 80f shown in view 150c, and a light reflective surface (e.g., mirror) may be located across on the right panel, such that upon no barrier or stop, the light emitted from the light source 151b is received by the light sensor 151a after being reflected.
  • a proximity sensor may be used, such as the proximity sensor 160 installed in drawer 80g shown in FIG. 16.
  • One or more of the sensors may be a still or video digital camera, used to capture the HDD image, and extracting information from the captured image using image processing as described herein.
  • the information may be the existence or omission of a part,; a component, or a sub-system of the HDD 20.
  • the image may be analyzed for extracting written information, such as HDD 20 identification.
  • the identification may take the form of a Serial number (S N), MAC (Media Access Control) address, vendor / manufacturer name or other identification, version number (of the hardware, software, or both), or production date.
  • S N Serial number
  • MAC Media Access Control
  • FIG. 17 shows a view 170 illustrating a digital camera located to capture the upper surface of the HDD 20 when inserted into the drawer 80.
  • FIG. 18 shows a view 180 of a drawer 181a (which may be similar, based on, or identical, to drawer 80 described above) and a camera 171 mechanically mounted using a rod 172, for viewing the upper surface of the HDD 20 installed in the drawer 181a.
  • the HDD 20 is diagonally mounted in the drawer 181b, and a mirror 191a is used, mechanically attached to the drawer 181b, so as to allow the external camera 171 to view from the side the top surface of the HDD 20.
  • views 200a and 200b in FIG. 20 shows respectively mirrors 191b and 191c, respectively used with drawers 80 and 181c.
  • View 210 in FIG. 21 shows the internal structure of a computer system 211, having the HDD 20 installed in one of the expansion bays 212, having a camera 171 mounted therein for capturing the top surface of the HDD 20.
  • Such imaging system may be used to check for tampering or changes in the HDD 20. Further, comparing the identification of the HDD 20 with similar information extracted from the SATA bus, may suggest tampering with the unit or malware operation.
  • the PCB or enclosure may be designed to be easily removable, for example by an end user.
  • plug-in module is commonly designed to be installed and removed typically by respectively connecting or disconnecting the module connectors (pins, plugs, jacks, sockets, receptacles or any other types) to or from the mating connectors, commonly using human hand force and without any tool.
  • the connection mechanical support may be based only on the connectors, or supplemented by guides, rails, or any other mechanical support.
  • Such a plug-in module may be pluggable into a computer system, motherboard, an intermediary device, or a memory.
  • Discussions herein utilizing terms such as, for example, "processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,” “establishing”, “analyzing”, “checking”, or the like, may refer to operation(s) and/or process(es) of a computer, a computing platform, a computing system, or other electronic computing device, that manipulate and/or transform data represented as physical (e.g., electronic) quantities within the computer's registers and/or memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer's registers and/or memories or other information storage medium that may store instructions to perform operations and/or processes.
  • processing may refer to operation(s) and/or process(es) of a computer, a computing platform, a computing system, or other electronic computing device, that manipulate and/or transform data represented as physical (e.g., electronic) quantities within the computer's registers and/or memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer's registers and/or memories or other information storage medium that may store instructions to perform operations and/or processes.
  • Couple refers to an electrical connection (such as a copper wire or soldered connection), a logical connection (such as through logical devices of a semiconductor device), a virtual connection (such as through randomly assigned memory locations of a memory device) or any other suitable direct or indirect connections (including combination or series of connections), for example for allowing for the transfer of power, signal, or data, as well as connections formed through intervening devices or elements.
  • electrical connection such as a copper wire or soldered connection
  • logical connection such as through logical devices of a semiconductor device
  • virtual connection such as through randomly assigned memory locations of a memory device
  • any other suitable direct or indirect connections including combination or series of connections
  • integration or “software integration” or any other reference to the integration of two programs or processes herein refers to software components (e.g., programs, modules, functions, processes etc.) that are (directly or via another component) combined, working or functioning together or form a whole, commonly for sharing a common purpose or set of objectives.
  • software integration can take the form of sharing the same program code, exchanging data, being managed by the same manager program, executed by the same processor, stored on the same medium, sharing the same GUI or other user interface, sharing peripheral hardware (such as a monitor, printer, keyboard and memory), sharing data or a database, or being part of a single package.
  • integration refers to hardware components that are (directly or via another component) combined, working or functioning together or form a whole, commonly for sharing a common purpose or set of objectives.
  • Such hardware integration can take the form of sharing the same power source (or power supply) or sharing other resources, exchanging data or control (e.g., by communicating), being managed by the same manager, physically connected or attached, sharing peripheral hardware connection (such as a monitor, printer, keyboard and memory), being part of a single package or mounted in a single enclosure (or any other physical collocating), sharing a communication port, or used or controlled with the same software or hardware.
  • integration herein refers (as applicable) to a software integration, a hardware integration, or any combination thereof.
  • the term "port” refers to a place of access to a device, electrical circuit or network, where energy or signal may be supplied or withdrawn.
  • interface of a networked device refers to a physical interface, a logical interface (e.g., a portion of a physical interface or sometimes referred to in the industry as a sub-interface - for example, such as, but not limited to a particular VLAN associated with a network interface), and/or a virtual interface (e.g., traffic grouped together based on some characteristic - for example, such as, but not limited to, a tunnel interface).
  • independent relating to two (or more) elements, processes, or functionalities, refers to a scenario where one does not affect nor preclude the other.
  • independent communication such as over a pair of independent data routes means that communication over one data route does not affect nor preclude the communication over the other data routes.
  • Integrated Circuit shall include any type of integrated device of any function where the electronic circuit is manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material (e.g., Silicon), whether single or multiple die, or small or large scale of integration, and irrespective of process or base materials (including, without limitation Si, SiGe, CMOS and GAs) including without limitation applications specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), digital processors (e.g., DSPs, CISC microprocessors, or RISC processors), so-called “system-on-a-chip” (SoC) devices, memory (e.g., DRAM, SRAM, flash memory, ROM), mixed-signal devices, and analog ICs.
  • semiconductor material e.g., Silicon
  • ASICs application specific integrated circuits
  • FPGAs field programmable gate arrays
  • DSPs digital processors
  • CISC microprocessors CISC microprocessors
  • RISC processors so-
  • the circuits in an IC are typically contained in a silicon piece or in a semiconductor wafer, and commonly packaged as a unit.
  • the solid-state circuits commonly include interconnected active and passive devices, diffused into a single silicon chip.
  • Integrated circuits can be classified into analog, digital and mixed signal (both analog and digital on the same chip).
  • Digital integrated circuits commonly contain many of logic gates, flip-flops, multiplexers, and other circuits in a few square millimeters. The small size of these circuits allows high speed, low power dissipation, and reduced manufacturing cost compared with board-level integration.
  • MCM multi-chip module
  • MCM multi-chip module
  • ⁇ is used generically herein to describe any number of computers, including, but not limited to personal computers, embedded processing elements and systems, software, ASICs, chips, workstations, mainframes, etc.
  • Any computer herein may consist of, or be part of, a handheld computer, including any portable computer which is small enough to be held and operated while holding in one hand or fit into a pocket.
  • a device also referred to as a mobile device, typically has a display screen with touch input and / or miniature keyboard.
  • Non-limiting examples of such devices include Digital Still Camera (DSC), Digital video Camera (DVC or digital camcorder), Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), and mobile phones and Smartphones.
  • the mobile devices may combine video, audio and advanced communication capabilities, such as PAN and WLAN.
  • a mobile phone also known as a cellular phone, cell phone and a hand phone
  • the Smartphones may combine the functions of a personal digital assistant (PDA), and may serve as portable media players and camera phones with high-resolution touch- screens, web browsers that can access, and properly display, standard web pages rather than just mobile-optimized sites, GPS navigation, Wi-Fi and mobile broadband access.
  • PDA personal digital assistant
  • the Smartphones may support a wide variety of other services such as text messaging, MMS, email, Internet access, short-range wireless communications (infrared, Bluetooth), business applications, gaming and photography.
  • Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with various devices and systems, for example, a Personal Computer (PC), a desktop computer, a mobile computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a server computer, a handheld computer, a handheld device, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) device, a cellular handset, a handheld PDA device, an on-board device, an off-board device, a hybrid device, a vehicular device, a non-vehicular device, a mobile or portable device, a non-mobile or non-portable device, a wireless communication station, a wireless communication device, a wireless Access Point (AP), a wired or wireless router, a wired or wireless modem, a wired or wireless network, a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wireless LAN (WLAN), a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), a Wireless MAN (WMAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Wireless WAN (WWAN), a Personal Area Network (PAN), a Wireless PAN (WPAN
  • program As used herein, the terms “program”, “programmable”, and “computer program” are meant to include any sequence or human or machine cognizable steps which perform a function. Such programs are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus, and may be rendered in virtually any programming language or environment including, for example, C/C++, Fortran, COBOL, PASCAL, assembly language, markup languages (e.g., HTML,, SGML, XML, VoXML), and the likes, as well as object-oriented environments such as the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), JavaTM (including J2ME, Java Beans, etc.) and the like, as well as in firmware or other implementations.
  • program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., that performs particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types.
  • task and “process” are used generically herein to describe any type of running programs, including, but not limited to a computer process, task, thread, executing application, operating system, user process, device driver, native code, machine or other language, etc., and can be interactive and/or non-interactive, executing locally and/or remotely, executing in foreground and/or background, executing in the user and/or operating system address spaces, a routine of a library and/or standalone application, and is not limited to any particular memory partitioning technique.
  • Network As used herein, the terms “network”, “communication link” and “communications mechanism” are used generically to describe one or more networks, communications media or communications systems, including, but not limited to, the Internet, private or public telephone, cellular, wireless, satellite, cable, data networks.
  • Data networks include, but not limited to, Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs), Wide Area Networks (WANs), Local Area Networks (LANs), Personal Area networks (PANs), WLANs (Wireless LANs), Internet, internets, NGN, intranets, Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC) networks, satellite networks, and Telco networks.
  • Communication media include, but not limited to, a cable, an electrical connection, a bus, and internal communications mechanisms such as message passing, interprocess communications, and shared memory.
  • Such networks or portions thereof may utilize any one or more different topologies (e.g., ring, bus, star, loop, etc.), transmission media (e.g., wired/RF cable, RF wireless, millimeter wave, optical, etc.) and/or communications or networking protocols (e.g., SONET, DOCSIS, IEEE Std. 802.3, ATM, X.25, Frame Relay, 3GPP, 3GPP2, WAP, SIP, UDP, FTP, RTP/RTCP, H.323, etc.).
  • topologies e.g., ring, bus, star, loop, etc.
  • transmission media e.g., wired/RF cable, RF wireless, millimeter wave, optical, etc.
  • communications or networking protocols e.g., SONET, DOCSIS, IEEE Std. 802.3, ATM, X.25, Frame Relay, 3GPP, 3GPP2, WAP, SIP, UDP, FTP, RTP/RTCP, H.323, etc.
  • the described method can equally be used to protect the data flow between a pair of gateways or any other networking-associated devices (network-to-network), or between a network device (e.g., security gateway) and a host (network-to-host).

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Abstract

La présente invention concerne un procédé et un appareil destinés à être utilisés avec un ordinateur hôte communiquant des messages avec un périphérique informatique sur un bus informatique, le périphérique informatique pouvant se trouver dans de multiples états. Le périphérique peut être un dispositif d'entrée ou de sortie ou un dispositif de mémoire auxiliaire tel qu'un lecteur de disque dur. Le dispositif communique avec l'ordinateur hôte et le périphérique informatique au moyen d'un protocole ou d'un bus propriétaire ou répondant aux normes de l'industrie, qui peut être basé sur une communication en série de point à point telle que SATA. L'état du périphérique est déterminé sur la base de la surveillance des messages transportés sur le bus, et comparés au capteur associé au fonctionnement du périphérique. Le capteur peut être un microphone ou une caméra et le système peut comprendre un traitement vocal ou d'image. La comparaison peut suggérer un dysfonctionnement ou un fonctionnement suspect en fonction d'un schéma prédéfini, et un signal est produit en conséquence.
PCT/IL2014/050029 2013-01-17 2014-01-13 Système et procédé de surveillance d'un dispositif électromécanique WO2014111920A1 (fr)

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