Memory Controller Dirty-List Tracking for Redundant Request Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing memory systems face inefficiencies due to unnecessary requests and differing bandwidths between internal and external memories, leading to degraded performance and inefficient utilization.
Innovation Solution
A memory controller with a dirty group detector and dirty list manager that tracks cache groups using hash functions and dirty bits to determine dirty states, allowing for optimized data transmission based on cache cleanliness and bandwidth utilization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If data is written to or read from internal and external memories, then memory operations are performed, but unnecessary requests are transmitted degrading performance
Solution Approach 1:
The memory controller performs preliminary actions by maintaining a dirty list that tracks which cache lines are modified before requests are sent. When a write request arrives, the controller checks the dirty list to determine if the cache line is already dirty, and only sends the request if necessary, avoiding redundant write operations to internal and external memories.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms through the dirty list that provides information about the current state of cache lines. The memory controller uses this feedback to make intelligent decisions about whether to forward requests to internal or external memory, thereby reducing unnecessary transmissions and improving overall memory operation efficiency.
2Quantity of substance
If internal and external memories are used with different bandwidths, then storage capacity is increased, but efficient utilization is difficult to achieve
Solution Approach 1:
The memory system dynamically adapts its behavior based on the dirty state of cache lines. When cache lines are clean, the system can efficiently utilize the high-speed internal memory for read operations. When cache lines become dirty, the system transitions to a different operational mode that utilizes external memory, thereby dynamically optimizing bandwidth utilization across the heterogeneous memory hierarchy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes operational parameters based on the dirty list state. By tracking which cache lines are modified and using this information to control request routing, the system adjusts its memory access patterns to optimize bandwidth utilization. This parameter change approach allows efficient use of both high-speed internal memory and capacity external memory according to actual usage conditions.
Data Source
AI summary
A memory controller includes a dirty group detector configured to, in response to receiving a request for writing data to a memory, modify addresses of a cache group related to a physical address of the memory, increase counters corresponding to the modified addresses of the cache group, and detect whether the cache group is in a dirty state based on the counters; and a dirty list manager configured to manage the cache group in the dirty state and a dirty list including dirty bits according to a result of the detecting; wherein the dirty bits indicate whether a cache set included in the cache group is in the dirty state.