Memory Bus Status Sharing With Timed Node Response Windows
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing data processing systems, particularly memory systems, face significant communications overhead when retrieving status information from multiple nodes due to sequential command transmission, which reduces data throughput.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system where a group read status command is transmitted on a data bus, and bus node devices respond with status data in non-overlapping timing windows, using local device addresses to determine transmission windows and avoiding bus conflicts through transition states.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If sequential status read commands are transmitted to each memory device, then status information can be retrieved from each device, but bus overhead increases and data throughput decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple individual status read commands into a single group status read command that can retrieve status information from multiple memory devices simultaneously. The memory controller transmits one command that triggers multiple memory devices to respond with their status data in sequence during the same command period, thereby reducing bus overhead and improving data throughput while maintaining reliable status retrieval from all devices.
2Quantity of substance
If the number of nodes on the communication network increases, then system capacity increases, but communication overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines status read operations for multiple memory devices into a single group command that is transmitted once to the bus. Multiple memory devices respond in sequence during this single command period, reducing the timing overhead that would otherwise accumulate with each individual command. This approach allows the system to scale to more devices without proportionally increasing the time overhead for status retrieval.
3Productivity
If simultaneous status data transmission from multiple nodes is implemented, then communication efficiency improves, but bus conflicts occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the simultaneous status data transmission from multiple memory devices into sequential transmissions within designated time slots or windows. Each memory device is assigned a specific time window during which it can transmit its status data on the bus. This segmentation prevents bus conflicts by ensuring that only one device transmits at any given moment, while still allowing multiple devices to communicate during a single group command period, thereby maintaining both efficiency and reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A system having a data bus, a source node device on the data bus and a group of bus node devices on the data bus. The source node device is configured to transmit a group read status command on the data bus. The bus node devices in the group are configured to respond to the group read status command in sequence, by transmitting status data on the data bus in respective, non-overlapping timing windows. The system can be a memory system.