Memory Error Recovery Sequencing for Diagnostic Logging and Reset
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing memory devices face issues with silent data corruption, cascading errors, and host device panics or crashes due to inadequate internal error handling, particularly during firmware panic sequences, which can lead to inefficient diagnostic data logging and resource-intensive recovery processes.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a two-stage notification procedure and utilizing byte-addressable nonvolatile storage for diagnostic data saving, along with selective reset levels based on error type, to minimize silent data corruption and reduce resource consumption during internal error handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional error handling procedures are implemented in memory devices, then error detection capability is improved, but silent data corruption and cascading errors occur due to inadequate notification mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The notification process is segmented into two distinct stages: a first-stage notification sent immediately upon error detection, and a second-stage notification sent after diagnostic data collection. This segmentation ensures that the host device is alerted early to prevent silent data corruption, while still allowing diagnostic data to be collected for comprehensive error analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
The first-stage notification is sent as a preliminary action before the memory device attempts to collect diagnostic data or perform recovery operations. This preliminary notification warns the host device to flush buffers and prevent further writes, thereby preventing silent data corruption before it can occur during the error handling process.
2Measurement precision
If comprehensive diagnostic data collection is performed during error handling, then error analysis capability is improved, but resource consumption increases due to firmware panic sequences
Solution Approach 1:
The first-stage notification is sent before diagnostic data collection begins, allowing the host device to prepare for potential data loss and initiate its own protective measures. This preliminary action reduces the burden on the memory device firmware, enabling more efficient diagnostic data collection with reduced resource consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The notification function is extracted from the diagnostic data collection process and implemented as a separate preliminary action. This extraction allows the diagnostic data collection to proceed more efficiently without the overhead of complex notification logic, reducing firmware resource consumption while maintaining comprehensive error analysis capability.
3Device complexity
If single-stage notification is used in error handling, then device complexity is reduced, but cascading errors and host device panics occur
Solution Approach 1:
The notification procedure is divided into two stages with distinct purposes: the first stage prevents cascading errors by alerting the host device immediately, and the second stage provides updated information after diagnostic data collection. This segmentation maintains host device stability without significantly increasing overall device complexity, as each stage uses simple notification mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The two-stage notification procedure acts as an intermediary between the error detection event and the host device response. By introducing this intermediate notification layer, the system prevents direct cascading errors while maintaining a relatively simple implementation using existing notification interfaces.
4Speed
If immediate recovery operations are performed upon error detection, then error response time is improved, but data corruption occurs during recovery processes
Solution Approach 1:
The first-stage notification serves as a preliminary action that warns the host device to stop writing data to the affected memory regions before recovery operations begin. This preliminary warning prevents data corruption during recovery while allowing the memory device to proceed with immediate error handling and diagnostic data collection, maintaining fast error response time.
Data Source
AI summary
In some implementations, a memory device may determine that the memory device has encountered an internal error that requires an internal reset of at least one component of the memory device. The memory device may transmit, to a host device, a first-stage notification indicating that the memory device has encountered the internal error. The memory device may save diagnostic data associated with the internal error to a nonvolatile storage component of the memory device. The memory device may perform a first-stage reset of a first set of internal memory device subsystems based on saving the diagnostic data to the nonvolatile storage component. The memory device may transmit, to the host device after the first-stage notification and based on performing the first-stage reset, a second-stage notification indicating that the host device is to perform a memory device reset procedure.