Dynamic thermal budget allocation for memory array

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9348380-B2
Application number	US-201414292768-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 30, 2014
Priority date	Dec 28, 2013
Publication date	May 24, 2016
Grant date	May 24, 2016

Abstract

Embodiments of the present inventive concept relate to systems and methods for dynamically allocating and/or redistributing thermal budget to each memory group in a memory array from a total memory thermal budget based on the workload of each memory group. In this manner, the memory groups having a higher workload can receive a higher thermal budget. The allocation can be dynamically adjusted over time. Thus, the individual and overall memory group performance increases while efficiently allocating the total thermal budget. By dynamically sharing the total thermal budget of the system, the performance of the system as a whole is increased, thereby lowering, for example, the total cost of ownership (TCO) of datacenters.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for dynamically allocating a thermal budget for a memory array, the method comprising:
assigning an equal number of credits to each of a plurality of memory groups in the memory array;
detecting at least one of an amount of current or power being consumed by each of the plurality of memory groups;
determining, by the dynamic thermal budget logic, whether the amount of current or power being consumed by a particular memory group from among the plurality of memory groups is less than the assigned number of credits for the particular memory group;
when it is determined that the amount of current or power being consumed by the particular memory group is less than the assigned number of credits for the particular memory group, assigning a decreased number of credits to the particular memory group and increasing throttling of the particular memory group;
determining, by dynamic thermal budget logic, whether the amount of current or power being consumed by a particular memory group from among the plurality of memory groups is approaching, is at, or exceeds the assigned number of credits for the particular memory group; and
when it is determined that the amount of current or power being consumed by the particular memory group is approaching, is at, or exceeds the assigned number of credits for the particular memory group, assigning an increased number of credits to the particular memory group and reducing throttling of the particular memory group.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
after a predetermined period of time:
detecting at least one of a second amount of current or power being consumed by each of the plurality of memory groups;
determining, by the dynamic thermal budget logic, whether the second amount of current or power being consumed by a particular memory group from among the plurality of memory groups is less than the assigned number of credits for the particular memory group;
when it is determined that the second amount of current or power being consumed by the particular memory group is less than the assigned number of credits for the particular memory group, assigning a decreased number of credits to the particular memory group and increasing throttling of the particular memory group;
determining, by the dynamic thermal budget logic, whether the second amount of current or power being consumed by a particular memory group from among the plurality of memory groups is approaching, is at, or exceeds the assigned number of credits for the particular memory group; and
when it is determined that the second amount of current or power being consumed by the particular memory group is approaching, is at, or exceeds the assigned number of credits for the particular memory group, assigning an increased number of credits to the particular memory group and reducing throttling of the particular memory group.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
predictively distributing the credits;
distributing heat across various physical locations of the memory array according to the predictively distributed credits; and
for a plurality of fixed periods of time, periodically repeating the detecting of at least one of the amount of current or power being consumed by each of the plurality of memory groups, the determining by the dynamic thermal budget logic whether the amount of current or power being consumed is approaching, is at, or exceeds the assigned number of credits, and the determining by the dynamic thermal budget logic whether the amount of current or power being consumed is less than the assigned number of credits.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein each of the plurality of fixed periods of time is 20 microseconds or greater.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the amount of current or power being consumed is approaching, is at, or exceeds the assigned number of credits further comprises:
determining, by the dynamic thermal budget logic, whether an amount of current or power being consumed by a first memory group from among the plurality of memory groups is approaching, is at, or exceeds the assigned number of credits for the first memory group; and
determining, by the dynamic thermal budget logic, whether an amount of current or power being consumed by a second memory group from among the plurality of memory groups is approaching, is at, or exceeds the assigned number of credits for the second memory group.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
when it is determined that the amount of current or power being consumed by the first memory group is less than the assigned number of credits for the first memory group, assigning a decreased number of credits to the first memory group and increasing throttling of the first memory group;
when it is determined that the amount of current or power being consumed by the second memory group is less than the assigned number of credits for the second memory group, assigning a decreased number of credits to the second memory group and increasing throttling of the second memory group;
when it is determined that the amount of current or power being consumed by the first memory group is approaching, is at, or exceeds the assigned number of credits for the first memory group, assigning an increased number of credits to the first memory group and reducing throttling of the first memory group; and
when it is determined that the amount of current or power being consumed by the second memory group is approaching, is at, or exceeds the assigned number of credits for the second memory group, assigning an increased number of credits to the second memory group and reducing throttling of the second memory group.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein increasing the throttling of the particular memory group further comprises:
increasing, by a switch, the throttling of the particular memory group.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein decreasing the throttling of the particular memory group further comprises:
decreasing, by a switch, the throttling of the particular memory group.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
controlling a temperature of the plurality of memory groups to substantially remain within the thermal budget based at least on the assigning of the credits.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
controlling a temperature of the plurality of memory groups to substantially remain within the thermal budget based at least on the throttling.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
resetting the thermal budget so that each memory group is allocated a pre-determined quantity or fraction of the thermal budget; and
re-allocating the thermal budget across the various memory groups according to the instant power consumption or temperature of each memory group.

12. A system for dynamically allocating a thermal budget for a memory array, the system comprising:
a plurality of memory groups in the memory array;
a switch coupled to each of the plurality of memory groups;
dynamic thermal budget logic coupled to the switch and configured to assign an equal number of credits to each of the plurality of memory groups in the memory array; and
measurement means coupled to the dynamic thermal budget logic and configured to detect at least one of an amount of current or power being consumed by each of the plurality of memory groups,
wherein the dynamic thermal budget logic is configured to determine whether the amount of current or power being consumed by a particular memory group from among the plurality of memory groups is less than the assigned number of credits for the particular memory group,
wherein in response to determining tha

Assignees

• Ping Zhan
• Brennan Robert
• Martineau Jason
• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Ping Zhan
• Brennan Robert
• Martineau Jason

Classifications

• G06F3/06

  Digital input from, or digital output to, record carriers {, e.g. RAID, emulated record carriers or networked record carriers} · CPC title

• G06F12/06

  Addressing a physical block of locations, e.g. base addressing, module addressing, memory dedication (G06F12/08 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06F1/3275

  Power saving in memory, e.g. RAM, cache · CPC title

• G06F1/3221

  of disk drive devices · CPC title

• G06F1/3225

  of memory devices · CPC title