# Patent

## Title
Memory device and method having on-board address protection system for facilitating interface with multiple processors, and computer system using same

## Abstract

A memory device includes an address protection system that facilitates the ability of the memory device to interface with a plurality of processors operating in a parallel processing manner. The protection system is used to prevent at least some of a plurality of processors in a system from accessing addresses designated by one of the processors as a protected memory address. Until the processor releases the protection, only the designating processor can access the memory device at the protected address. If the memory device contains a cache memory, the protection system can alternatively or additionally be used to protect cache memory addresses.

## Background
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/893,590, filed Aug. 15, 2007. This application is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety and for all purposes.


TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates generally to memory devices, and, more particularly, to a memory device and method that facilitates access by multiple memory access devices, as well as memory systems and computer systems using the memory devices.
BACKGROUND
As computer and computer system architecture continues to evolve, the number of processing cores and threads within cores is increasing geometrically. This geometric increase is expected to continue, even for simple, relatively inexpensive computer systems. For server systems, system sizes measured in the number of processors are increasing at an even faster rate.
Although this rapid increase in the number of corers and threads enhances the performance of computer systems, it also has the effect of making it difficult to apply the increasing parallelism to single applications. This limitation exists even for high-end processing tasks that naturally lend themselves to parallel processing, such as, for example, weather prediction. One of the major reasons for this limitation is that the number of communication paths between processors, cores, and threads increases disproportionately to the number of times the task is divided into smaller and smaller pieces. Conceptually, this problem can be analogized to the size of a processing being represented by the volume of a 3D cube. Each time this volume is divided into smaller cubes, the total surface area of the cubes, which represents data that must be communicated between the processors working on sub-cubes, increases. Every time that the number of processors goes up by a factor of eight the total amount of information to be communicated between the greater number of processors doubles.
One reason for these problems caused by increasing parallelism is that most systems communicate by sending messages between processors, rather than sharing memory. This approach results in high latencies and high software overheads, although it may simplify some complex system architecture, operating system, and compiler issues. Unfortunately, as the level of parallelism increases, the processors in the system reach the point where all they are doing is managing message traffic rather than actually doing useful work.
There is therefore a need for a system and method that can reduce software overhead and eliminate or at least reduce performance bottlenecks thereby improving system performance and architectural scalability at relatively low cost.



BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computer system according to one embodiment.
FIG. 2 is block diagram of a portion of a system memory device containing an address protection system according to one embodiment that may be used in the computer system of FIG. 1.



DETAILED DESCRIPTION
A computer system 10 according to one embodiment is shown in FIG. 1. The computer system 10 includes several parallel processors 141-N connected to a common processor bus 16. Also connected to the processor bus 16 are a system controller 20 and a level 2 (“L2”) cache 24. As is well known in the art, each of the processors 141-N may include a level 1 (“L1”) cache.
The system controller 20 drives a display 26 through a graphics accelerator 28, which may include a graphics processor and graphics memory of conventional design. Also connected to the system controller 20 is an input/output “I/O”) bus 30, such as a peripheral component interconnect (“PCI”) bus, to which are connected a keyboard 32, a mass storage device 34, such as a hard disk drive, and other peripheral devices 36. Of course there can also be systems such as servers, that do not have directly connected keyboard, graphics or display capabilities, for example.
The computer system 10 also includes system memory 40, which may be a dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”) device or sets of such devices. The system memory 40 is controlled by memory controller circuitry 44 in the system controller 20 through a memory bus 46, which normally includes a command/status bus, an address bus and a data bus. There are also systems in which the system and memory controller is implemented directly within a processor IC. As described so far, the computer system 10 is conventional. However, the system memory 40 departs from conventional systems by including in the system memory 40 an address protection system 50 that enhancers the ability of the parallel processors 141-N to access the system memory 40 in an efficient, low latency manner. It should also be understood, that the system 50 may be used in memory devices in a computer or other processor-based systems that differ from the computer system 10 shown in FIG. 1. For example, servers and other high-end systems will generally not include the graphics accelerator 28, the display 26, the keyboard 32, etc., but will have disk systems or simply connect to a network of other similar processors with attached memory.
The protection system 50 or a processing system according to some other embodiment can be implemented in the system memory 40 while keeping the internal organization of the memory system substantially the same as in conventional system memories. For example, bank timing and memory data rates can be substantially the same. Further, the system 50 need not be particularly fast as the operations needed are generally simple and fit with current and anticipated memory clock rates. The protection system 50 is used to prevent at least some of the processors 141-N from accessing the system memory 40 at a given time while allowing at least one of the processors 141-N to access the system memory 40. The protection system 50 can therefore solve data coherency problems that can be a major issue in implementing parallel applications. For example, when multiple processes need to update common data, the updates must appear such that the processes perform the updates serially. Complex hardware and software is added to high-end systems to enable this. The lack of this additional hardware and software in less expensive computer system can be a major deterrent to increasing parallelism in such computer systems. The protection system, by creating “protected” memory locations, enables this coherency to happen in a natural straightforward way that has minimum impact on system requirements. In addition to providing coherency between processes, the protection system may enable data to be updated in some process somewhere in a system, while the operation appears indivisible to other processes in that they are prevented from referencing that data while the other process is updating it.
A portion of an address protection system 60 that may be used in the system memory device 40 according to one embodiment is shown in FIG. 2. The protection system 60 is used to prevent at least some of the processors 141-N from accessing the system memory 40 at a given time while allowing at least one of the processors 141-N to access the system memory 40. The Protection System 60 supports multi-processor, multi-thread coherency such that, if a reference is protected, modified commands must be used in referencing a particular protected address. When a memory address is “protected” a processor 141-N must issue protected references so that it can access and modify data, while other processors 141-N that attempt to reference or modify that data item with normal memory commands are prevented from accessing the protected data. That memory addresses are protected or unprotected can provide for coherency coordination between processors and processes. One processor 141-N can protect a memory location. Other processors 141-N then can use unprotected references to that location waiting for the protection to be dropped thus serving as a flag and ordering mechanism. This protection protocol then is the basis for a very general purpose communication and coherency implementation that can be used in multiple ways by application and OS software.
With reference to FIG. 2, the Protection System 60 includes Protection Logic 64 that receives address bits from a Protection Bit Register 66. The address of a protected location, such as a row, is provided to the Protection Bit Register 66 at the same time that a protection command is provided to the Protection Logic 64. The Protection Bit Register 66 then continues to apply the protected address to the Protection Logic 64 until the protection is released by a corresponding command provided to the Protection System 60. The Protection Logic 64 normally routes signals to a Memory Bank 68 that allow a memory operation designated by a command to occur. For example, a chip select (“CS”) signal that is commonly routed to a memory bank to enable its operation may be routed through the Protection Logic 64. In the event an access to a protected address is detected by the Protection Logic 64, the Logic 64 does not couple the CS signal to the Memory Bank 68. Other commands may alternatively be blocked in a similar manner. For example, the combination of signals used to designate a read or a write command may be blocked from the Memory Bank 68 in the event an access to a protected location is detected.
In operation, if a modified command is used to reference a protected address the command (generally read or write) is executed. If a normal (non-protected) reference is made to a protected address, the Protection Logic 64 prevents the reference from being performed and a signal is returned indicating that; the reference is refused. If a protected reference is made to a non-protected address, it also is refused. This protection capability used for coherency operations is described in greater detail below. In support of the protected operations, another line may be provided in the memory bus 46 (FIG. 1), which indicates a reference attempt has violated the protection protocol. By having the memory device 40 provide protected access, the design of the memory controller 44 is simplified over what would be needed if the controller 44 were to support protection and coherency. The memory controller 44 does not have to keep a copy of the each item of protected data active and possibly actually implementing the atomic operations, or even keep track of what addresses are protected. The memory controller 44 can associate a particular address with a specific execution thread, return data to and accept data from the thread that holds atomic rights to that address if processors 141-N cannot generate protected references easily by themselves, and can ignore other references to the protected address by other threads, counting on the memory device 40 to prevent access.
When a reference is made to the memory controller 44 that is from the thread that currently has coherent and/or atomic access, the memory controller 44 may modify the command to a protected reference command. However, the memory controller 44 preferably obtains a different reference type for coherent and remote atomic references, simplifying the design of the memory controller 44. When it detects the different reference type, the controller 44 generates a protected reference that is different than an unprotected reference, and sends that to the memory device 40. If a protected reference is made to a non-protected address, the reference is refused, the same as if a standard reference is made to a protected address. The Refused/Accepted status of the request is then passed back to the requesting processor. However, in some embodiments, the memory controller 44 handles conflicting accesses to protected addresses so that traffic to the memory device 40 is reduced and made available for other references.
The protection system 60 is also usable if the memory device 40 includes a cache memory 70, although a cache memory is not required. Instead of protecting accesses to the Bank 68, the Protection Logic 64 instead or additionally can protect access to the cache memory 70 in the same manner as described above. More specifically, when a location in a cache line is protected, that line becomes locked in the cache memory 70 and cannot be evicted in normal cache references. If a cache miss reference is made in which only locked lines are available to be evicted, the reference is made to the Bank 68 but the referenced line is not cached. Each line in the cache memory 70 can have multiple addresses that have protection. For example, each cache line can have 256 to 1024 lock ranges. Each individual lock protects all references within the address range for that particular lock. If there are 256 lock positions in a cache line, and lines are 1 Kbyte in size, then each lock covers 4-bytes/32-bits in a cache line. If 16×4 parts are accessed for a memory reference then 16×32 bits=512 bits=64 bytes are covered with each lock.
In another embodiment, a relatively small number of registers, such as four, is associated with each cache line, with each register holding a column address for that line. When a reference is made, each of the registers is compared with the corresponding bits of the requesting address. Matching any register contents indicates a protected address. Setting a lock and release then involve entering and clearing or invalidating the protection registers. The registers can be implemented as a push-down stack. This would allow protection down to the individual transfer level, but limit the number of locks to be much smaller than having individual bit-locks.
In still other embodiments, each register in a sub-cache also carries an ID code that is stored when a lock is set. As protected references are always to the cache memory 70, some of the row address bits can be used as identifiers (“ID codes”) for individual locks. The memory controller 44 stores the ID codes, which can then be used to prevent the locks from one program interfering with those of another program.
In operation, the memory controller 44 first sends a Set Lock function to the memory device 40. The lock can be set for an address that is already in the cache memory 70 or for an address that must be fetched from the Bank 68 like a regular miss sequence. The protected read or write reference is then sent to the memory device 40 and the protected state and address are stored in the Protection Bit Register 66. That a protected reference is made indicates that lock protection must be found that corresponds to the requested address. Protected reads and writes can be done as many times as desired to addresses in the protected range. After the accesses have been completed, the memory controller 44 sends a Release Lock function to the Protection Logic 64 since protection of the locked address is no longer needed. The memory controller 44 will therefore keep references to each memory address in order with respect to other requests for the same address. Therefore, any requests that are after the Release Lock is sent will be a non-protected reference.
One example of a mapping of command functions that may be sent by the memory controller 44 is shown in Table 1, below, in which ‘x’ indicates a “don't care” bit. The command functions are coded using the RAS, CAS, and DM signals that the memory controller 44 normally transmits to the memory device 40, and they are decoded by logic added to the function decode logic in the system memory 40 and by the Protection Logic 64. With the protection active, the normal functions indicated by those signals are modified.










TABLE 1





RAS#
CAS#
DM
Function







0
1
x
Activate line (no Rd or Wr)


1
0
x
Unprotected cache reference (Rd or Wr)


0
0
x
Protected cache reference (Rd or Wr)


1
1
1
Set Lock


1
1
0
Release Lock









With reference to Table 1, the Release Lock function is treated as a protected reference. If the reference address is in the cache 70, but not protected, nothing is done, and the memory device 40 returns a “refused/hit” indication. If the referenced address is not in the cache memory 70, the memory device 40 returns a “refused/miss” indication. If the referenced address is successful in providing an access to the cache memory 70, the memory device 40 returns an “accepted/hit” indication, and the memory controller 44 then clears the protection.

With further reference to Table 1, the Set Lock function is an unprotected reference. If the data for a reference address is stored in the cache memory and is protected, nothing is done and the memory device 40 returns a “refused/hit” indication. If the data for a referenced address is not stored in the cache memory, a miss sequence is started, and an “accepted/miss” indication is returned. In such case; the referenced address will have a protected state when the line is loaded into its sub-cache. If the address is present and unprotected, the memory device 40 returns an “accepted/hit” indication along with the read data, and protection is set. When a protected reference is made to a protected address, the function is performed and the memory device 40 returns an “accepted/hit” indication in addition to any read data. If the data for a referenced address is present but is not protected, the memory device 40 returns a “refused/hit” indication. The Activate function causes a memory line to be loaded into the cache memory 70 and so is neither protected nor unprotected. Finally, if a reference misses but no line is available in the cache memory 70 to be evicted, the memory controller 44 converts the request to a non-cache reference. The request is sent to the memory device 44, which writes a line to the Bank 68 and makes a memory reference, performing the needed function without caching.
From the foregoing it will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims.

## Claims

1. A memory device, comprising:
a bank of memory cells; and
a protection system coupled to the bank of memory cells, the protection system configured to prevent at least one of a plurality of memory requestors from accessing the bank of memory cells responsive to a first signal from another of the plurality of memory requestors, the protection system having protection logic configured to receive a control signal to provide access to the bank of memory cells, wherein the protection logic is configured to, responsive to receiving address signals indicative of an access to a protected address in the bank of memory cells:
couple the control signal to the bank of memory cells conditioned upon the protection logic receiving a second signal indicating that a selected one of the plurality of memory requestors has originated the access to the bank of memory cells; and
inhibit coupling of the control signal to the bank of memory cells if the protection logic receives the first signal indicating that a memory requestor other than the selected requestors has originated the access to the bank of memory cells.

2. The memory device of claim 1, wherein the protection system comprises:
a protection bit register configured to receive and store address bits indicative of an address in the bank of memory cells that is to be protected, wherein the protection logic is further configured to receive from the protection bit register the address bits indicative of an address that is to be protected.

3. The memory device of claim 2, wherein the control signal comprises a chip select signal.

4. The memory device of claim 1, wherein the memory device further comprises a cache memory, and wherein the protection system is further configured to prevent at least one of the memory requestors from accessing the cache memory responsive to a signal from another of the memory requestors of the plurality of memory requestors issued a modified command to access the protected address.

5. The memory device of claim 1, further comprising:
an addressing circuit coupled between external terminals and the bank of memory cells;
a data path coupled between external terminals and the bank of memory cells; and
a command decoder coupled to external terminals, the command decoder configured to generate control signals.

6. A method of interfacing within an integrated circuit memory device responsive to a plurality of memory requesters, the method comprising:
preventing a first memory requestor of a plurality of memory requestors from accessing protected memory of a bank of memory cells within the integrated circuit memory device responsive to a first command, after receiving a second command from a second memory requestor of the plurality of memory requestors, wherein preventing the first memory requestor from accessing the protected memory of the bank of memory cells comprises inhibiting a control signal from being coupled within the integrated circuit memory device; and
allowing the second memory requestor of the plurality of memory requestors to access the protected memory of the bank of memory cells responsive to a third command, wherein allowing the second memory requestor to access the protected memory comprises coupling the control signal to the bank of memory cells responsive to receiving the second command indicating that the second memory requestor has originated access to the bank of memory cells.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein preventing the first memory requestor from accessing the protected memory of the bank of memory cells comprises preventing the first memory requestor from accessing the bank of memory cells only if the accessing is to a predetermined address.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the control signal comprises a chip select signal.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising preventing one of a plurality of memory requestors from accessing a cache memory of the integrated circuit memory device while allowing another of the plurality of memory requestors to access the cache memory.

10. The method of claim 6, further comprising protecting the protected memory of the bank of memory cells responsive to receiving the second command from the second memory requestor.

11. The method of claim 6, further comprising, contemporaneously:
receiving, from the second memory requestor, the second command to protect the protected memory of the bank of memory cells; and
receiving, from the second memory requestor, an address corresponding to the protected memory of the bank of memory cells.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein a type of the third command is a protected command type and a type of the first command is a non-protected type.

13. A memory device, comprising:
a bank of memory cells; and
protection logic coupled to the bank of memory cells, the protection logic configured protect a protected portion of the bank of memory cells responsive to a protection command and an address corresponding to the protected portion of the bank of memory cells received from a requesting processing unit of a plurality of processing units, the protection logic further configured to prevent remaining processing units of the plurality of processing units other than the requesting processing unit from accessing the bank of memory cells responsive to a command having a first type received from any of the remaining processing units requesting access to the protected portion of the bank of memory cells, wherein the protection logic prevents any of the remaining processing units from accessing the bank of memory cells by inhibiting coupling of a first control signal to the bank of memory cells, the protection logic further configured to allow the requesting processing unit to access the bank of memory cells responsive to a command having a second type from the requesting processing unit requesting access to the protected portion of the bank of memory cells by coupling of a second control signal to the bank of memory cells.

14. The memory device of claim 13, further comprising a protection bit register coupled to the protection logic, the protection bit register configured to store the address corresponding to the protected portion of the bank of memory cells and to provide the address the address corresponding to the protected portion of the bank of memory cells to the protection logic.

15. The memory device of claim 13, wherein the first type is a non-protected memory access command and the second type is a protected memory access command.

16. The memory device of claim 13, further comprising a second bank of memory cells coupled to the protection logic, wherein the protection logic is further configured to inhibit the requesting processing unit from accessing the second bank of memory cells responsive to a command having the second type from the requesting processing unit requesting access to the second bank of memory cells by inhibiting coupling of the second control signal to the second bank of memory cells.

17. The memory device of claim 13, wherein the protection logic is further configured to provide a refuse signal responsive to preventing the remaining processing units from accessing the bank of memory cells.

18. The memory device of claim 13, wherein the address identifies a row of memory cells of the bank of memory cells.

19. The memory device of claim 13, wherein the protection logic is further configured to unprotect the protected portion of the bank of memory cells responsive to a protection-release command received from the requesting processing unit of a plurality of processing units.

20. The memory device of claim 13, wherein the first control signal and the second control signal are each chip select signals.