|Publication number||US7307902 B2|
|Application number||US 11/214,697|
|Publication date||Dec 11, 2007|
|Filing date||Aug 30, 2005|
|Priority date||Aug 30, 2005|
|Also published as||US7599235, US20070050688, US20080065933|
|Publication number||11214697, 214697, US 7307902 B2, US 7307902B2, US-B2-7307902, US7307902 B2, US7307902B2|
|Inventors||Larry Jay Thayer|
|Original Assignee||Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (15), Non-Patent Citations (8), Referenced by (4), Classifications (9), Legal Events (7)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
This application incorporates by reference the following co-pending commonly owned U.S. patent applications: (i) “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING ERROR CORRECTION CODE TESTING FUNCTIONALITY,” application Ser. No. 10/435,149, filed May 9, 2003, in the name(s) of: Christopher M. Brueggen (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0225943; published Nov. 11, 2004); (ii) “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROCESSING AN ERROR CORRECTION CODE WORD FOR STORAGE IN MEMORY COMPONENTS,” application Ser. No. 10/435,150, filed May 9, 2003, in the name(s) of: Christopher M. Brueggen (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0225944; published Nov. 11, 2004); (iii) “RAID MEMORY SYSTEM,” application Ser. No. 10/674,262, filed Sep. 29, 2003, in the name(s) of: Larry Thayer, Eric McCutcheon Rentschler and Michael Kennard Tayler (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0071554; published Mar. 31, 2005); and (iv) “HIERARCHICAL MEMORY CORRECTION SYSTEM AND METHOD,” application Ser. No. 11/215,107, filed Aug. 30, 2005, in the name(s) of: Larry Thayer and Michael Kennard Tayler.
Electronic data storage utilizing commonly available memories (such as Dynamic Random Access Memory or DRAM) can be problematic. Specifically, there is a finite probability that, when data is stored in memory and subsequently retrieved, the retrieved data will suffer some corruption. For example, DRAM stores information in relatively small capacitors that may suffer a transient corruption due to a variety of mechanisms, e.g., charged particles or radiation (i.e., soft errors). Additionally, data corruption may occur as the result of hardware failures such as loose memory modules, blown chips, wiring defects, and/or the like. The errors caused by such failures are often referred to as repeatable errors, since the same physical mechanism repeatedly causes the same pattern of data corruption.
To address this problem, a variety of error detection and error correction algorithms have been developed. In general, error detection algorithms typically employ redundant data added to a string of data. The redundant data is calculated utilizing a checksum or cyclic redundancy check (CRC) operation. When the string of data and the original redundant data is retrieved, the redundant data is recalculated utilizing the retrieved data. If the recalculated redundant data does not match the original redundant data, data corruption in the retrieved data is detected.
Error correction code (ECC) algorithms operate in a manner similar to error detection algorithms. When data (or, payload) is stored, redundant data is calculated and stored in association with the data. When the data and the redundant data are subsequently retrieved, the redundant data is recalculated and compared to the retrieved redundant data. When an error is detected (e.g, the original and recalculated redundant data do not match), the original and recalculated redundant data may be used to correct certain categories of errors.
Although current ECC solutions are known to be generally effective in addressing certain types of memory errors, higher levels of reliability are constantly being pursued in the design of memory systems.
An error correction scheme operable with a memory system is set forth hereinbelow wherein a portion of a redundant data field in an ECC word is utilized for identifying a defective memory module disposed in an electronic environment, e.g., a computer system. In one embodiment, the memory system comprises a plurality of memory modules organized as a number of ECC domains, wherein each ECC domain includes a set of memory modules, each memory module comprising a plurality of memory devices. A module error correction engine is operable in association with a memory controller operably coupled to the plurality of memory modules, the module error correction engine operating to identify which one of the memory modules of a particular ECC domain is defective and thereby recover the defective memory module's data based on a redundant memory module associated with the particular ECC domain.
Representative embodiments of the present patent disclosure will now be described with reference to various examples wherein like reference numerals are used throughout the description and several views of the drawings to indicate like or corresponding parts, and further wherein the various elements are not necessarily drawn to scale. Referring to
In one exemplary implementation, the memory controller complex 104 and associated EDC module 106 may be operably coupled to the memory modules 108-1 through 108-N via any suitable interconnect topology 107 to form a memory system, wherein the interconnect topology 107 allows for the practice of the teachings set forth herein without regard to data bus widths (i.e., different data word sizes including redundant data for error correction), data bus segmentation, bandwidth capacities, clock speeds, etc., except the requirement that the interconnect topology 107 be preferably adaptable to operate with a variable number of memory modules that may be hierarchically organized into a number of logical levels. Conceptually, an embodiment of the hierarchical memory organization is envisioned to comprise at the lowest level a plurality of individual memory devices (not shown) that are grouped into a number of memory modules, e.g., memory modules 108-1 through 108-N, which in turn may be arranged as one or more ECC domains wherein each ECC domain includes a set of memory modules. Clearly, additional and/or alternative levels of hierarchical organization may be implemented in other arrangements. Regardless, the logic associated with the EDC module 106 is operable to detect memory errors at module-level (e.g., faults that may render an entire memory module inoperable), and apply a suitable error correction engine for correcting the module-level errors in order to improve memory system reliability.
where N=the number of checksum/parity bits allocated for address identification. For example, if 8 bits are allocated per memory module, then the probability would be 255/256.
A redundant memory module may be provided for each ECC domain in the exemplary memory system so that a module-level failure in any particular ECC domain may be recovered (block 204). The redundant memory module includes data based on XORing between the contents of the two memory modules of the ECC domain. When the ECC word is read from memory (e.g., as part of a cache line), and if it is detected that there is an uncorrectable failure in one of the two memory modules, the failing module is identified based on analyzing the checksum portion of the ECC word (block 206). Thereafter, the failing memory module's data may be recovered based on the contents of the redundant memory module associated with the particular ECC domain (block 208). Specifically, the failing memory module's data may be reconstructed using an XOR process between the data of the redundant memory module associated with the particular ECC domain and the data of the non-failing memory module thereof.
It should be appreciated that the error correction scheme set forth above may also be implemented in conjunction with a hierarchical memory correction method where both lower level memory errors (e.g., device-level failures) as well as higher level memory errors (e.g., module-level failures) may be corrected. For example, a conventional ECC scheme may be provided in association with a memory controller for correcting various errors that may afflict the lower hierarchical level in a memory system, e.g., single-bit errors, multi-bit errors, or errors that incapacitate an entire memory device or at least a portion thereof, using any known or heretofore unknown ECC methodologies and algorithms, such as chip-kill correct (i.e., chip spare) and chip erasure techniques, etc. Additionally, a module-level error correction engine may be provided in association with the memory controller for correcting the module-level errors in the memory system, e.g., errors that give rise to failure of an entire module, in accordance with the teachings set forth above. Further details regarding an implementation of a hierarchical memory correction system and method may be found in the co-pending commonly owned U.S. patent application entitled “HIERARCHICAL MEMORY CORRECTION SYSTEM AND METHOD,” application Ser. No. 11/215,107, filed Aug. 30, 2005, in the name(s) of: Larry Thayer and Michael Kennard Tayler, which has been incorporated by reference hereinabove.
Referring now to
For purposes of the present patent disclosure, two memory modules 308A, 308B are exemplified that are operated as a particular ECC domain 306. Those skilled in the art should recognize that although only two memory modules are shown as an ECC domain, there may be other arrangements with a plurality of ECC domains wherein more than two memory modules or portions thereof (i.e., a set of modules) are operated as a single ECC domain. Furthermore, a memory module may be generalized as a grouping of memory devices that are physically and/or logically treated as a single unit by the memory controller 302. Regardless of how an ECC domain is implemented in terms of its constituent memory modules, a redundant memory module 310 may be provided in association with the ECC domain 306 for correcting module-level failures associated therewith. Accordingly, if the total number of ECC domains are P, there may be P redundant memory modules, each corresponding to a specific ECC domain.
The memory modules 308A, 308B are operable to store ECC data and may contribute to one or more portions of a cache line depending on the memory access architecture, wherein each ECC word or sub-word includes a predetermined number of data bits as well as a predetermined number of ECC bits, i.e., redundant data, based on applicable memory system design and ECC techniques. As will be described in additional detail below, at least a portion of the redundant data may be used for identifying which one of the memory modules of the ECC domain 306 is defective, if a module-level failure associated with the domain is detected by the EDC module 304. The redundant memory module 310 corresponding to the ECC domain 306 includes data that is based on the contents of the memory modules 308A, 308B. In particular, the redundant memory module 310 contains data bases on XORing of the memory modules 308A, 308B. An XOR engine or circuit (not explicitly shown in
wherein the symbol ⊕ denotes the bit-wise Exclusive-OR operation performed with respect to the memory modules of the ECC domain 306.
Because of the module-level redundancy provided in the memory system architecture by way of XOR circuitry, similar circuitry may be used as a module-level error correction engine for recovering data from a defective memory module of the ECC domain 306. For example, if the data in the memory module 308A is determined to be faulty or corrupted for some reason, that data may be recovered by an XOR engine operable to effectuate the following processing:
which can be executed independent of any lower level ECC processing for correcting errors that may concurrently occur elsewhere in the memory system 300 of
Referring now to
It should be recognized that the internal arrangement of the individual memory modules 308A, 308B (i.e., bus topologies and how the DRAM devices are coupled to the respective buffers, if any, and the like) is irrelevant for purposes of the present disclosure, and therefore not dealt with in this patent disclosure. Likewise, details concerning particular DRAM implementations such as data output width, e.g., ×4, ×8, or ×16, etc., may also be deemed immaterial for the error correction purposes of the representative embodiments set forth herein. Additionally, although no buffers are explicitly shown with respect to the respective memory modules in
Based on the illustrative memory module configuration of
Cache line layout 500 in
Based on the foregoing Description, those skilled in the art should appreciate that the embodiments of the present disclosure are advantageous in correcting module-level errors with a high degree of reliability while minimizing the amount of redundancy storage in a memory system. Furthermore, the teachings set forth herein may be practiced in conjunction with known ECC techniques for correcting lower level errors that may concurrently exist in the memory system.
Although the invention has been described with reference to certain exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the forms of the invention shown and described are to be treated as illustrative only. Accordingly, various changes, substitutions and modifications can be realized without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the following claims.
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|U.S. Classification||365/200, 714/E11.098, 714/E11.04, 714/E11.054, 365/201|
|International Classification||G11C29/00, G11C7/00|
|Aug 30, 2005||AS||Assignment|
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