Memory Controller In-Line Processing With Unified Data-Metadata Blocks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing memory storage and processing techniques face inefficiencies in data processing, bandwidth, and power consumption, particularly in the pre-processing and post-processing stages of data storage and retrieval.
Innovation Solution
A memory controller that performs in-line data processing, including cryptography and error correction code computation, while efficiently organizing data and metadata in memory, utilizing specialized cache mechanisms to optimize memory access operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If data is encrypted and ECC is computed before storage (pre-processing), then data security and integrity are improved, but processing time and power consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by computing ECC codes and performing encryption before data is written to memory. The memory controller calculates ECC for data blocks during the write operation, and cryptographic circuitry encrypts data before storage, so that when data is read back, verification and decryption can proceed faster since the heavy computational lifting was already done during writing.
2Device complexity
If separate memory operations are used for data and metadata, then data organization is simplified, but memory access operations increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges data and metadata into a single unified memory structure. Each memory block contains both the data block and its associated metadata (ECC codes, cryptographic tags, length indicators) stored together in the same memory location. This allows the memory controller to retrieve both data and metadata in a single memory access operation, eliminating the need for separate read operations and significantly improving access efficiency.
3Device complexity
If traditional separate processing of data and metadata is used, then processing logic is simpler, but bandwidth efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements continuous useful action by processing data and metadata together throughout the memory access pipeline. The memory controller simultaneously retrieves data blocks and their associated metadata in parallel, performs ECC verification and cryptographic operations on both together, and maintains continuous data flow through the system. This eliminates idle processing stages and maximizes bandwidth utilization by ensuring that every memory access operation contributes to both data and metadata processing.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments herein describe a memory controller that performs in-line data processing (e.g., cryptography and error correction) and efficiently organizes data and associated metadata in memory. The memory controller generates a data block that includes a processed (e.g., encrypted) dataset and associated metadata (e.g., cryptographic metadata and ECC), and stores the data block in a block of memory (i.e., rather than storing the metadata separately), to minimize a number of access operations. The memory controller may access memory in segments (e.g., BL16 operations) that are smaller than the data blocks. For linear accesses, the memory controller may cache a portion of a data block until a subsequent access operation.