Patent ID: 8990479
Filing Date: 2015-03-24
Classification: G06F,G11C,Y02D

Abstract:
1. A method for collecting memory device performance data and populating the data in a persistent memory component of the memory device, the method comprising: determining via a power-on self-test whether a memory device installed on a computer system is a newly installed memory, wherein the power-on self-test collects serial presence detect data from each of a plurality of bytes of a reserved area of electrically erasable programmable read-only memory of the memory device that are each reserved for encoding manufacturer information for the memory device, and a processing unit of the computer system automatically uses the collected serial presence detect data to configure a memory controller of the computer system to interface with the memory device; in response to determining that the memory device is a newly installed memory, determining a power-on-hour offset for the memory device by subtracting a current power-on-hour count of the memory device from a current power-on-hour value of a computer system power supply that supplies operative power to the memory device; saving the determined power-on-hour offset into a byte of a free area of the electrically erasable programmable read-only memory of the memory device that is designated by computer system firmware for the power-on-hour offset; and in response to the computer system powering down, determining an accumulated power-on-hour for the memory device by subtracting the power-on-hour offset of the memory device from a current power-on-hour value of the computer system power supply, and saving the accumulated power-on-hour for the memory device to a byte designated by the computer system firmware within the free area of the electrically erasable programmable read-only memory of the memory device for the accumulated power-on-hour for the memory device; wherein the free area bytes are different from the reserved area bytes, each of the free area bytes are available for data storage by the memory controller, and data stored in the free area bytes persists after operative power is lost to the memory device, the memory controller or the computer system.