Selective Memory CRC Checking for Bandwidth and Power Overhead
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current information handling systems incur overhead in terms of memory channel bandwidth and power consumption due to the use of cyclic redundancy check (CRC) error detection techniques for data transmission, which is not satisfactory for all applications.
Innovation Solution
A method is introduced to selectively enable error checking in information handling systems by using CRC tables to differentiate between critical and non-critical data, enabling CRC only for critical data transmissions and disabling it for non-critical data, thereby optimizing error checking based on memory access requests.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If CRC error checking is applied to all data transmissions, then data transmission reliability is improved, but memory channel bandwidth and power consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies CRC error checking selectively based on the criticality of data being transmitted. Critical data (indicated by specific bits in memory locations) receives full CRC protection while non-critical data does not, thereby optimizing the balance between reliability and power consumption by avoiding unnecessary error checking on data that does not require it
2Reliability
If CRC error checking is applied to all data transmissions, then data transmission reliability is improved, but memory channel bandwidth is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system differentiates between critical and non-critical data using indicator bits stored in memory, applying CRC checking only to critical data transmissions. This selective approach maintains reliability for important data while preserving memory channel bandwidth by avoiding the overhead of CRC on non-critical data
3Reliability
If CRC error checking is applied to all data transmissions, then data transmission reliability is improved, but transmission latency increases
Solution Approach 1:
By using data criticality indicators stored in memory to selectively enable CRC checking only for critical data, the system reduces the time overhead associated with error checking. Non-critical data bypasses the CRC process entirely, thereby reducing overall transmission latency while maintaining reliability for data that requires it
Data Source
AI summary
A method of selectively enabling error checking in an information handling system, including receiving information indicating that data associated with a first memory portion in a system memory should be subject to error checking during transmission between the memory controller and the system memory and indicating that data associated with a second memory portion in the system memory should be free of error checking during transmission between the memory controller and the system memory, receiving a memory access request directed to one of the first and second memory portions, transmitting data between the memory controller and the system memory in response to the memory access request, and selectively performing an error checking technique on the transmitted data based on the information.