Memory Abstraction Unit for Virtualized Physical Addresses
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional memory systems face inefficiencies in resource allocation and reconfiguration, particularly in disaggregated datacenters where network protocols incur high latency and bandwidth restrictions, leading to significant performance losses and coarse-grain computer configurations.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of abstracted memory protocols that decouple timing and naming between client requests and physical memory access, enabling the creation of virtual physical addresses through protection zones within reconfigurable memory systems, allowing for fine-grain resource allocation and hardware-level virtualization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If disaggregated memory systems are used with network protocols, then resource allocation flexibility is improved, but latency and bandwidth performance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a memory abstraction layer as an intermediary between clients and physical memory devices. This abstraction layer includes mapping logic that translates client address requests into physical memory addresses, enabling flexible resource allocation while maintaining high-speed direct memory access without network protocol overhead. The abstraction layer acts as a mediator that decouples the flexibility needs from the performance-critical path.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the memory system into multiple protection zones within physical memory devices, where each zone can be independently allocated to different clients. This segmentation enables fine-grain resource allocation at the hardware level, allowing memory resources to be divided into smaller allocable units without requiring coarse-grain board-level reconfiguration or slow network-based allocation.
2Manufacturing precision
If hardware-level reconfiguration is performed, then resource allocation precision is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The memory abstraction layer is designed to be universal and multi-functional, serving multiple purposes: address translation, protection zone management, client allocation, and memory device control. By consolidating these functions into a single abstraction layer, the patent achieves fine-grain hardware-level reconfiguration without proportionally increasing system complexity, as the same infrastructure supports multiple operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The mapping logic within the memory abstraction layer performs automatic address translation and protection zone validation without requiring external intervention. The system self-manages the complexity of hardware-level reconfiguration through automated mapping and allocation mechanisms, reducing the operational burden despite the increased structural complexity.
3Reliability
If protection zones are implemented in memory abstraction, then memory access security is improved, but address translation overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-configuring protection zones and their associated access permissions before memory access operations begin. The mapping logic is pre-loaded with translation mappings for each protection zone, allowing the system to perform security-checked address translation without requiring complex runtime validation. This preliminary setup reduces the overhead during actual memory access operations.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods define a memory system using an abstracted memory protocol that enables virtual to physical mapping of memory address requests at an abstracted memory module. A memory abstraction unit abstracts timing and naming of memory requests from one or more clients to timing and naming at one or more memory devices. The memory abstraction unit includes abstracted memory protocol logic for interpreting the memory requests from the one or more clients. The memory abstraction unit also includes mapping logic for translating the naming defined by a memory access request by a requesting client to a virtual physical address at a selected protection zone in at least one of the one or more memory devices and memory control logic for accessing the one or more memory devices at the virtual physical address.