Patent Abstract:
An internal memory section of a digital processing system protectable by error detection and correction (EDAC) codes comprises at least one bank of registers for storing digital words and EDAC codes corresponding thereto. An EDAC code is generated for each digital word stored in a register of the at least one bank and the stored digital words of the at least one bank are checked with their EDAC codes. Also disclosed is a method of accessing digital words protectable by EDAC codes in a digital processing system which comprises the steps of: storing digital words and EDAC codes corresponding thereto in at least one bank of registers of an internal memory of the system; generating an EDAC code for each digital word upon storage; reading digital words and their corresponding EDAC codes from designated registers of the at least one bank; and checking the read digital words with their EDAC codes.

Full Description:
[0001]    This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/203,209 filed May 11, 2000. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The present invention is directed to internal storage memory of a processing system, in general, and more particularly, to internal storage memory having error detection and correction protection.  
           [0003]    Internal storage memory of a processing system is conventionally considered memory relatively small in size compared to a main memory of the system, disposed in close proximity to the central processing unit (CPU) and other bus units, like a memory management unit (MMU) and direct memory access (DMA) controller, for example, and generally fabricated on the same integrated circuit (IC) as the CPU and other bus master units. The most common of the internal memory systems is the cache memory which may store anywhere from as small as 4K bytes of digital words with the upper limit usually set by considerations to IC manufacturing yield and fabrication costs .  
           [0004]    Normally, the memory cells of a cache memory are of a relatively simple circuit structure and because of size restrictions, are not multiple voted for protection. Current systems use a parity bit for checking errors in storage and transmission of cached words within the processing system. Parity bit checking is appropriate for most working environments. But, in radiation environments, especially on-board spacecraft and high flying aircraft where there is very little or substantially less atmosphere to absorb the radiation particles, upsets in the memory storage due to radiation particles are frequent and may become a problem if the only protection is a parity bit check.  
           [0005]    Parity bit checking techniques generally permits the detection, but not correction, of an upset in a stored digital word of the internal memory. Upon detection, the parity scheme permits a de-validation of the digital word and forces a re-read of the word in error from external main memory. These re-reads cause delays in execution of instructions by the processing system and if they become frequent will lead to a substantial deterioration in performance of the system. In addition, if an even number of bits are upset in a common digital word, the parity scheme can not detect the multiple errors. The occurrence of multiple errors in a common digital word is considered somewhat rare working outside of a radiation or more severe environment, but the risk of such occurrences increase as the frequency of upsets increase such as in the more severe radiation environments.  
           [0006]    Accordingly, for internal storage memory operating in radiation environments, some additional form of protection against errors caused by upsets is desirable. The present invention overcomes the drawbacks of the current systems and provide such additional protection against frequent upsets in internal memory storage cells caused by more severe operating environments.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, an internal memory section of a digital processing system protectable by error detection and correction (EDAC) codes comprises: at least one bank of registers for storing digital words and EDAC codes corresponding thereto; means for generating an EDAC code for each digital word stored in a register of said at least one bank; and means for checking the stored digital words of said at least one bank with their EDAC codes.  
           [0008]    In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method of accessing digital words protectable by error detection and correction (EDAC) codes in a digital processing system comprises the steps of: storing digital words and EDAC codes corresponding thereto in at least one bank of registers of an internal memory of said system; generating an EDAC code for each digital word upon storage; reading digital words and their corresponding EDAC codes from designated registers of the at least one bank; and checking said read digital words with their EDAC codes. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematic of a conventional internal cache memory for describing a background for the present invention.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematic of an internal memory suitable for embodying the principles of the present invention.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematic of an alternate embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematic of a conventional internal cache memory  10  of a digital processing system. Digital words may be written into and read from the cache memory  10  by any one of the bus units (not shown), like the CPU, DMA controller or MMU, for example, which are generally disposed on the same integrated circuit (IC) in close proximity to the internal memory  10 . A core storage portion  12  of the cache memory  10  is shown within dashed lines and includes a number of banks of registers or memory cells B 0  through B n , where n for the present embodiment is five. In each register in the banks B 1  through B n  may be stored a digital word of m bits in length, m for the present embodiment is 32 bits, for example. Memory cells having the address of the four banks comprise a line of digital words of the cache memory. In corresponding memory cells of the same address in bank B 0  is stored an identification word or tag of the line of words. Along with each tag is included a validation code V which may be stored in a separate individual memory of its own or stored in bank B 0  along with each tag. In the present embodiment, the validation code is one bit.  
         [0013]    A digital word may be presented over a data bus  14  from any one of the bus master units to be written into a line in a selected one of the banks of registers. An address for the digital word is presented to an address register  16 . The address includes the fields of a tag of the digital word which is supplied to the bank B 0  over a tag bus  18  and also to a compare circuit  20  over signal lines  22 , an index which is supplied to the cache memory core  12  over an address bus  24  to access a designated line of words in the cache storage core  12 , and a block field (blk) which is supplied to inputs of a demultiplexer circuit  28  and a word selector circuit  30  over signal lines  26  to identify a designated word in the accessed line of words. Enable signals E 1  through E n  are output from the demultiplexer  28  and supplied to each of the banks B 1  through B n , respectively. Digital words read from the banks B 1  through B n  are supplied to inputs of the word selector  30  over lines D 1  through D n , respectively. A digital word selected by and output form the word selector  30  is presented over the data bus  14  to the requesting device. A tag word accessed from bank B 0  is input to the compare circuit  20  over signal lines  32  and an associated validation bit is input to a NAND logic gate  34  over a signal line  36 . A compare signal output from circuit  20  is provided to another input of logic gate  34  over a signal line  38 . Write and read commands issued over the processor bus may be coupled to enable inputs of the circuits  28  and  30 , respectively, for the selection thereof.  
         [0014]    In operation, if a digital word is to be written into a bank of registers of the core  12 , then the word is presented over the data bus  14  by the requesting bus master unit and its address stored in the register  16 . The index field of the address accesses the proper line in the banks of registers and the blk field is demultiplexed by the circuit  28  to enable the proper bank of registers. Upon issuance of the write command, the tag on bus  18  and the digital word on the data bus  14  are written into the corresponding addressed registers. If a digital word is to be read from a bank of registers, the address thereof is again stored in the register  16 . As in the write operation, the index field of the address accesses the proper line in the banks of registers and the blk field is provided to the circuit  30  to select a word from the words D 1  through D n  of the accessed line. The tag accessed by the address from bank B 0  is compared with the tag of the immediate address stored in the register  16  using compare circuit  20 . If there is a match, an address hit signal is output over signal line  38 . Concurrently, the status of the associated validation bit V is output over signal line  36 . If the validation bit is set and there is an address hit, the logic gate  34  generates a signal over a signal line  40  indicative of the presence of the designated tag in the bank B 0  which permits a read operation to occur. Upon issuance of the read command, the designated word accessed from the core  12  through word selector  30  is output over the data bus  40  for the requesting bus unit to read. The operations of the various circuits of cache memory  10  are governed synchronously by a clock signal (not shown). The read and write operations may take one or more clock cycles to be performed.  
         [0015]    Present cache or internal memories use parity bits to provide protection against upsets, but this is considered inadequate in severe radiation and thin atmosphere environments due to the potential of increased frequency of such upsets. Accordingly, the present invention which will be described herein below in connection with one or more embodiments is intended to provide improved protection, especially in high radiation environments.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 2 depicts an embodiment of an enhanced cache memory  10  for describing one aspect of the present invention. Common elements with the conventional embodiment of FIG. 1 will be referred to with the same reference numerals for convenience. Moreover the connections of the circuitry which remain in common between the embodiments will not be redescribed for the sake of brevity. In connection with this aspect of the present embodiment, error detection and correction (EDAC) codes are added to each of the words stored in the banks of registers B 0  through B n  . Accordingly, the size of the registers in the banks will be increased in length or number of bits to accommodate the additional bits of the EDAC codes which for the present embodiment comprise 8 bits each. Also added to the conventional embodiment is circuitry for the generation and checking of the EDAC codes for each word as it is written into and read from its designated register.  
         [0017]    Referring to FIG. 2, the tag from the address register  16  is input to one input of a multiplexer circuit  50  over the signal lines  18  and the output of the multiplexer  50  is coupled to the tag word input of the register bank B 0  The address tag is also coupled to an input of an EDAC code generator circuit  52  and the output thereof is coupled to the EDAC code input of the memory bank B 0 . A valid bit associated with the address tag is input to one input of another multiplexer  54  and the output thereof is coupled to a valid bit input of the bank B 0 . Moreover the data bus  14  is coupled to one input of a multiplexer circuit  56  and the output thereof is coupled to the digital word input of each of the banks B 1  through B n  and also to an EDAC code generator  58 . The output of generator  58  is coupled to an EDAC code input of each of the banks B 1  through B n .  
         [0018]    Still further, the V bit, the tag and corresponding EDAC code of the selected line of bank B 0  is input to an EDAC code checking circuit  60 . Output from circuit  60  are a conditioned V bit which is coupled to one input of the NAND logic gate  34  over signal line  36  and also coupled to another input of multiplexer  54  over signal line  62 ; a corrected tag code which is coupled to one input of the compare circuit  20  and also coupled to another input of the multiplexer  50  over signal line  64 ; a single bit error (SBE) indication signal which is input of an AND logic gate  66  along with the conditioned V bit; and a multiple bit error (MBE) indication signal which is coupled to an input of an OR logic gate  68 . The output of the logic gate  66  is coupled to select inputs of the multiplexers  50  and  54 . The conditioned V bit indicates a non-valid re-load output back to the tag memory whenever the V bit output from memory B 0  is not valid or a multiple bit error in the tag code or digital word as will become more apparent from the description below. The storage of the V bit shown included in the tag memory bank B 0  is usually fabricated either in special memory cells the are substantially less susceptible to upsets or in protected memory cells that may be all synchronously cleared allowing for fast cache “flush” type operations.  
         [0019]    Yet further, the selected word and its EDAC code output from the word selector  30  are input to another EDAC code checking circuit  70 . Output from the circuit  70  are a corrected digital word which is coupled over the bus  14  and also to another input of the multiplexer  56  over signal line  72 ; a single bit error (SBE) indication signal which is input to an AND logic gate  74  along with the corrected V bit over line  76 ; and a multiple bit error (MBE) indication signal which is coupled to another input of the OR gate  68 . The output of the AND gate  74  is coupled to a select input of the multiplexer  56 . The output of the OR gate  68  is input to an OR logic gate  76  along with the output of NAND gate  34 . OR gate  68  also effects an invalidate signal over a signal line  80 .  
         [0020]    For a write operation, a data word is presented over the bus  14  and the corresponding address therefor is stored in the register  16 . The tag of the address is selected by the multiplexer  50  and a corresponding V bit is selected by the multiplexer  54 . Both are stored in the register of bank B 0  accessed by the index code of the address. In addition, the data word is selected by the multiplexer  56  and applied to the inputs of the registers of the banks and stored in the register accessed by the blk code of the address. In each case, an EDAC code is generated, for the selected tag by EDAC code generator  52  and for the selected data word by EDAC code generator  58  and the generated EDAC codes are applied to the inputs of their respective banks and stored in their respective accessed registers.  
         [0021]    For a read operation, an address is presented to and stored in the register  16 . The contents of the register of bank B 0  accessed by the index code of the address is operated on by the checking circuit  60 . Likewise, the contents of the accessed register of the selected bank B 1  through B n  is operated on by the checking circuit  70 . In each circuit  60  and  70 , the digital word input thereto is analyzed according to an EDAC code algorithm to generate an EDAC code of the digital word which is compared with the EDAC code accessed form the designated register also input to the checking circuit. If the generated and stored EDAC codes match, then neither of the signals SBE or MBE is set and the digital word output over the data bus  14  may be accepted as in the conventional system provided the tag and validation bit are proper. If a signal miss signal is generated over signal line  40 , the data word is not accepted by the requesting unit and will be read from the main memory or other external memory section.  
         [0022]    However, if a single bit error is identified in the tag code, a corrected tag code ( and validation code under some conditions) is generated and the SBE indication signal is set. If the AND gate  66  determines that the SBE is set and the corresponding V bit is set, then it causes a refresh of the stored tag code with the corrected tag code and its corresponding generated EDAC code via generator  52 . This is accomplished in the present embodiment by selecting the corrected tag code with the multiplexer  50  and the correct V bit with the multiplexer  54  and writing them along with the newly generated EDAC code into the register designated by the immediate address. In this condition, the corrected tag is compared with the tag of the address in circuit  20 .  
         [0023]    Now, if a single bit error is identified in an accessed digital word, circuit  70  will generate a corrected digital word which is output over bus  14  and input to multiplexer  56 , and an SBE indication signal which causes a rewrite of the corrected digital word into the register designated by the immediate address provided that the corresponding V bit is set. This is accomplished in the present embodiment by selecting the corrected digital word in the multiplexer  56  for storage in the designated register along with its newly generated EDAC code via generator  58 . Note that when a single bit error is detected, in one or both of the circuits  60  and  70 , it means that the stored EDAC code did not match the generated code. Accordingly, the error could be in the word or in the associated EDAC code. Therefor, a rewrite of the corrected word is accompanied by a rewrite of a newly generated EDAC code therefor.  
         [0024]    Still further, if a multiple bit error (i.e. two or more bits in error) is detected in either the tag code or digital word by circuit  60  and/or  70 , an invalidate signal is generated over line  80  by the logic gate  68 . In addition, a miss signal is also generated over line  40  (this signal is also generated if the V bit is not set). If either the invalidate signal or signal miss signal is generated, the data word on the bus  14  is not accepted and the processor will read the data word in from the main memory or some other external memory section. The EDAC codes contemplated for use in the present embodiment can detect most multiple bit errors or upsets including even multiple bit errors, some of which not being detectable by a parity bit.  
         [0025]    An alternate embodiment of the present invention is shown in the block diagram schematic of FIG. 3. In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the multiplexer circuits of the embodiment of FIG. 2 for rewriting the words and corresponding EDAC codes into the designated registers have been eliminated. And the logic handling SBEs and MBEs is changed. In this alternate embodiment, the SBE and MBE indication signals from the circuits  60  and  70  are input to an OR logic gate  90  which effects the invalidate signal over line  80 . In addition, the MBE signals from the circuits  60  and  70  are input to the OR gate  76  in place of the invalidate signal of line  80 . All logic controlling rewrite or refresh is eliminated. If either of the SBE or MBE signals of either circuit  60  or circuit  70  is set, the invalidate signal is generated over signal line  80  which causes a logical zero to be written to the V bit of the tag of the current address. Under this condition, the tag is devalidated at the next clock cycle. Alternatively, if only one of the SBE signals is set, then the invalidate signal may not be set and the corrected data word output over the bus  14  may be accepted by the requesting device. If either of the MBE signals is set, the signal miss signal will be generated and the corrected data will not be accepted.  
         [0026]    While the present invention is described above in connection with one or more specific embodiments, it is understood that no limitations on the present invention should be implied by such embodiments. Rather, the present invention should be construed in breadth and broad scope in accordance with the recitation of the appended claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7