Paper Title: Test Fundamental Data Structures of NVMe SSD

Paper Abstract: NVMe specifications defined command sets based on some fundamental data structures, e.g. IOSQ/IOCQ/SQE/CQE/PRP/SGL and doorbells. These fundamental data structures were most probably implemented by SSD controller ASIC, and SSD firmware implements remaining high level features and commands. Most existed NVMe software can only test SSD through issuing NVMe admin commands and IO commands, such as identify and write/read. However, These high level testing cannot fully cover the test cases of fundamental data structures, which was a big risk for ASIC and firmware design. PyNVMe3 provides a Meta Mode to expose NVMe data structures via Python API. Users can design their test scripts based these Python API to fully examine their design of IOSQ/IOCQ/SQE/CQE/PRP/SGL and doorbells.

Paper Author: Crane Chu, Director, Geng Yun Technology

Author Bio: Crane was a software engineer of storage system for decades. Recent years, he is trying to introduce concepts and practices of continuous integration, Agile development, and software-defined storage to SSD firmware developing and testing. The pynvme, an test-dedicated open-source NVMe SSD driver, is one of his efforts to improve SSD test efficiency and quality.