Hybrid DIMM Cache Manager for Non-Volatile Memory Latency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional memory systems face inefficiencies due to high latency in non-volatile memory devices, particularly in hybrid dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs), where the cache manager resides in the host system, limiting data traffic and cache hit rates between volatile and non-volatile memory types.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a cache manager within the hybrid DIMM package allows a volatile memory device, such as DRAM, to act as a cache for non-volatile memory devices like 3D cross-point memory, optimizing data retrieval and storage by partitioning the cache into page and sector caches with different granularities to enhance hit rates and reduce bandwidth utilization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the cache manager resides in the host system for hybrid DIMM, then system control and management are simplified, but data traffic between volatile and non-volatile memory is limited and cache hit rates decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The patent moves the cache manager from the host system to the DIMM module itself, changing the spatial dimension of cache management. This allows the cache manager to be physically closer to the memory devices it manages, enabling direct control over volatile and non-volatile memory resources without host system intervention, thereby improving cache hit rates while maintaining simplified host control.
Solution Approach 2:
The hybrid DIMM module acts as an intermediary between the host system and the memory devices. By embedding the cache manager within the DIMM, the system creates a local intelligence layer that mediates between host requests and memory operations, improving data traffic efficiency and cache performance without requiring the host to directly manage cache operations.
2Quantity of substance
If non-volatile memory devices are used in hybrid DIMM, then larger capacity and persistence are achieved, but access latency increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the memory system into volatile memory (for fast access) and non-volatile memory (for large capacity and persistence), with the cache manager intelligently managing data placement between the two. This segmentation allows the system to achieve both large capacity from non-volatile memory and low latency for frequently accessed data stored in volatile memory.
Solution Approach 2:
The cache manager performs preliminary actions by predicting which data will be needed and pre-loading it into volatile memory from non-volatile memory before it is actually requested. This anticipatory caching reduces access latency for future operations while maintaining the large capacity benefits of non-volatile memory.
3Device complexity
If external bus is used for data traffic between host and memory, then system architecture is simplified, but bandwidth utilization increases and performance decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the cache management functionality from the host system and places it directly in the DIMM module. This extraction allows data traffic between volatile and non-volatile memory to occur locally within the DIMM, bypassing the external bus for cache operations and reducing bandwidth utilization on the host-memory interface while improving transfer efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are disclosed including a first memory device, a second memory device coupled to the first memory device, where the second memory device has a lower access latency than the first memory device and acts as a cache for the first memory device. A processing device operatively coupled to the first and second memory devices can track access statistics of segments of data stored at the second memory device, the segments having a first granularity, and determine to update, based on the access statistics, a segment of data stored at the second memory device from the first granularity to a second granularity. The processing device can further retrieve additional data associated with the segment of data from the first memory device and store the additional data at the second memory device to form a new segment having the second granularity.