Memory Response Aggregation to Reduce Host Interrupt Overhead
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Solution Overview
Problem
Memory systems generate a large number of interrupts in hosts due to frequent responses with small chunk sizes, leading to significant interrupt overhead.
Innovation Solution
Aggregating multiple responses within a memory system and sending them at once to the host, rather than individually, to reduce the number of interrupts and mitigate overhead.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple responses are sent individually to the host, then each response is delivered promptly, but the number of interrupts increases significantly causing high interrupt overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple individual responses into a single aggregated response packet that is sent to the host. Instead of sending each response separately which triggers individual interrupts, the memory system combines multiple small responses (e.g., status updates, data fragments) into one consolidated response, thereby reducing the total number of interrupts and the associated overhead while ensuring all response data is still delivered to the host.
2Device complexity
If responses are aggregated and sent at once, then interrupt overhead is reduced, but the time to aggregate responses increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic response aggregation where responses are collected over a predetermined time interval or until a threshold number of responses is reached. This periodic mechanism balances the trade-off by aggregating responses in controlled batches rather than waiting indefinitely, thus reducing interrupt overhead while preventing excessive aggregation delays. The host receives aggregated responses at regular intervals rather than experiencing continuous individual interrupts.
3Productivity
If individual responses are sent with small chunk sizes, then data transmission is efficient, but each response requires a separate interrupt handling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple small-chunk responses into a single aggregated response packet that maintains the efficiency of small data transmissions while eliminating the need for separate interrupt handling for each chunk. The aggregation process preserves the granular data structure within the packet, allowing the host to process individual data elements efficiently while experiencing only one interrupt event for the entire batch of responses.
Data Source
AI summary
Example memory systems, methods, and media for aggregating responses from memory systems to mitigate interrupt overhead in hosts coupled to the memory systems are disclosed. One example method includes receiving multiple commands from a host. Multiple responses are sent to the host at a time instant, where each of the responses is generated in a memory system during a time period and responsive to a respective one of the commands.