Patent ID: 7478289

Claim:
A computer system configured to use only regions of a memory element that do not include memory failures, the computing device comprising: a host device, including: a host memory that stores a software driver, host processor connected to the host memory and configured to execute the software driver, and a system interface connected to the host processor; and an integrated circuit, the integrated circuit including: a programmable graphics processor configured to process graphics commands; a graphics interface connected to the system interface and configured to communicate with the system interface, and a graphics memory element connected to the graphics interface, wherein the graphics memory element has a first region and a second region, a first memory state indicator that indicates whether the first region includes a memory failure, and a second memory state indicator that indicates whether the second region includes a memory failure; wherein the software driver is configured to: read the first memory state indicator via the system interface and graphics interface to determine that the first region includes a memory failure; read the second memory state indicator via the system interface and graphics interface to determine that the second region does not include a memory failure; and use the second region and not use the first region.