Data Processing System Block Content Representation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current data processing systems, particularly graphics processing systems, face challenges in reducing power consumption and memory bandwidth usage when writing output frames to external memory buffers, as existing techniques do not efficiently manage data writes.
Innovation Solution
The method involves generating content-representative information for blocks of data and storing it alongside the data in a single data structure, allowing for comparisons to determine if the data needs to be written to memory, thereby reducing unnecessary writes and optimizing power and bandwidth usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If all data blocks are written to external memory buffer, then complete frame data is stored, but power consumption and memory bandwidth usage increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses content-representative information (a simplified representation or signature of the data block) instead of copying the entire data block to memory when content has not changed. This allows the system to verify data changes without transferring full data, significantly reducing memory bandwidth usage and power consumption while maintaining data integrity.
2Device complexity
If content-representative information is stored separately from data blocks, then data structure organization is simplified, but memory bandwidth and power consumption increase due to additional write operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the content-representative information storage with the data block storage by storing the representative information within the same memory location or structure as the actual data. This eliminates separate write operations for content information, reducing memory bandwidth usage and power consumption while maintaining organized data structure.
3Loss of energy
If content-representative information is stored in the same data structure as data blocks, then redundant writes are eliminated, but data structure complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the data structure into distinct regions: one for storing actual data blocks and another for storing content-representative information. This segmentation allows the system to manage complexity systematically while enabling efficient comparison operations to detect changes, reducing redundant writes without overwhelming structural complexity.
4Loss of energy
If block data is compared before writing to determine necessity, then unnecessary writes are reduced, but processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a simplified copy or representation of the data block content (content-representative information) that can be compared quickly without examining the entire data block. This representative information serves as a lightweight proxy for change detection, reducing computational overhead and processing time while still effectively identifying unnecessary writes.
Data Source
AI summary
A data processing system includes a memory and a processor in communication with the memory. The processor is configured to, when storing an array of data in the memory, produce information representative of the content of a block of data representing a particular region of the array of data, write the block of data to a data structure in the memory, and write the information representative of the content of the block of data to the data structure.