US 12,189,944 B1
Devices and systems having a protocol-independent interface supporting a plurality of data protocols, and methods related thereto
Manuel Antonio d'Abreu, El Dorado Hills, CA (US); and Ashutosh Kumar Das, Cupertino, CA (US)
Assigned to SMART IOPS, INC., Milpitas, CA (US)
Filed by SMART IOPS, INC., Milpitas, CA (US)
Filed on Jul. 6, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/348,297.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/367,890, filed on Jul. 7, 2022.
Int. Cl. G06F 3/00 (2006.01); G06F 3/06 (2006.01)
CPC G06F 3/0607 (2013.01) [G06F 3/0661 (2013.01); G06F 3/0679 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A solid-state storage device comprising:
a controller;
non-volatile memory coupled to the controller, wherein the controller is configured to perform read and write commands on the non-volatile memory;
a device interface coupled to the controller, wherein the controller is further configured to receive data formatted according to a first protocol from an accessing device via the device interface; and
a protocol-independent interface coupled to the controller and configured to couple to any one of a plurality of network adapters and communication ports so as to enable the controller to transmit data from the any one of the plurality of network adapters and communication ports, wherein each of the plurality of network adapters and communication ports require a different target protocol for data transmission through the protocol-independent interface, and wherein each of the target protocols is also different from the first protocol;
wherein the protocol-independent interface comprises a plurality of contacts, wherein the plurality of contacts are coupled to the controller by a plurality of signal lines that enable data transmission from the controller to the protocol-independent interface; and
wherein each of the signal lines of the plurality of signal lines and each of the contacts of the plurality of contacts are configured to be enabled or disabled to form different channels through the protocol-independent interface for each of the target protocols.